Samuel had a strong kick, but an awful aim and each time he booted the ball towards the goal, he felt embarrassed as his teammates had to chase it and fetch it back. One of the boys on the other team was older and considerably larger than his fellows and he obviously considered himself the champion of the game. He became enraged and swore out loud for all to hear each time anyone tried to take the ball from him. Passers-by in the square gasped and commented at the older boy’s language, but it only made the boy grin all the more. Samuel was not keen to wrestle with him as he had seen him punch others in the nose and make them cry-not at all like the fun wrestling the others enjoyed.
‘Careful,’ the freckle-faced boy, Connel, said as he ran past. ‘He’s lookin’ at you.’
Samuel looked to the rough boy, who was running his finger across his throat and pointing to him with the other. Samuel swallowed hard.
As Samuel charged to intercept the ball as it spun free, his feet were abruptly knocked from underneath him and he collided harshly with the ground, cracking his chin onto the stones. He yelled out in pain.
He could hear the big boy laughing and Samuel suddenly boiled over in a rage. In a flash, he was up on his feet. He turned to confront the bully, who grinned with glee and threw himself straight onto Samuel without hesitation.
Samuel was perhaps the more surprised of them both when he actually knocked the bully over and, after a brief moment in which they were both overcome with disbelief, they began wrestling. Samuel drew a free hand and landed a series of quick, knuckled blows on the bully’s amazed face. This was not his first tussle by any means and Samuel had been honing his skills by watching the drunkards fighting outside the various inns and alehouses around the town. The bully was stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered and rolled over on top of Samuel, holding him easily.
The other boys all gathered around and cheered as Samuel’s arms were pinned beneath him, leaving him helpless, as the big boy set about clearing his throat. With horror, Samuel realised what was about to happen and struggled frantically, kicking his legs and twisting about in vain as a large wad of thick, bubbly saliva slapped onto his face. All the boys laughed and the bully fed on their attention, laughing loudly along with them. Samuel was hoping the worst was over, but the bully was not finished quite yet.
‘This will teach you,’ he hissed and began slamming his fists into Samuel’s face and body. Samuel yelled out with each blow until the bully tired of the task and climbed back off him.
‘Now, get up!’ the bully demanded, hands on his hips and waiting impatiently.
Samuel staggered to his feet and looked to the older boy with fuzzy eyes and a buzzing head. His mouth was full of blood and his nose hurt terribly. The injury in his chest stung most of all, making his breathing painful and difficult.
‘That’s what happens to uninvited guests. If I see you again I’m gonna
Samuel limped away, clutching his face with one hand and his chest with the other. The crowd parted with disgust-ridden faces as he made his way through, but their scornful comments passed over him without effect.
‘What have you been doing, you little monster!’ his aunty cried out when she saw him stagger into the yard. ‘Where is my spice? What a truly useless and wicked boy you are!’ she said, and turned away aghast.
Samuel ignored her ranting and shambled into the stable, pulling himself into his dusty stall and collapsing onto his cot. He cried out again as his chest burned under his weight and he had to carefully roll over onto his back where he lay for the remainder of the day. As darkness came, Jessicah appeared, shaking her head with worry.
‘Why are you always in such trouble, Samuel?’ she asked, setting down the tiny candle she carried. ‘I’ll begin to think that Mother is right about you.’
‘Don’t say that,’ Samuel replied, wincing from the pain.
‘I’m only fooling you, Samuel,’ she said. He could see her smile in the faint, flickering light.
She set about washing and cleaning Samuel’s face, humming softly to comfort him. She had a beautiful, soft voice, and she could sing like an angel when she wanted to. Samuel could barely carry a tune and was in awe of her whenever she broke into melody.
When she was done cleaning him up, she went inside and brought his dinner out to him. He was famished and managed to wolf it all down, despite his pains. If it were not for Jessicah, Samuel would surely be utterly and totally lost.
The town soon entered a period of heightened activity, with fairs and markets seemingly every second day. Samuel heard some talk of a Moon Harvest, but he was not in the mood for such things, preferring to see to his chores and keep away from other nonsense that could get him into trouble. All such things did was fill the streets with crowds and make his errands all the more difficult.
He was just carrying his water buckets on one such busy street when a hand reached out from the crowd and grasped him by the shoulder.
‘Wait one moment, young man,’ the stranger said, stepping out to tower over him, and Samuel halted nervously. ‘I noticed your little scuffle in the square some time ago and I see you’re well back on your feet.’
‘Oh?’ Samuel began hesitantly, wondering whether or not to drop his buckets and run.
‘I was impressed with your footwork. You’re a quick little nipper. You just have to learn when to cut your losses and run. It’s not often wise to take on someone twice your size.’
The man was neat and smart looking, a few years older than James.
‘You know, I could use the services of a high-spirited scamp such as yourself. I have some errands that you could run for me-just when you have the spare time, mind you.’
‘I don’t often have spare time,’ Samuel informed him flatly.
‘Don’t be so eager to say no, young man.’ He then took a moment to look about the crowd before turning back to Samuel. ‘You wouldn’t want to miss out on a golden opportunity, would you, Samuel?’
‘I suppose not,’ Samuel replied with a shrug.
The man smiled at this. ‘If you can find your way to letting me know each time a certain person stays at your inn, I’ll make it worth a half-crown to you. All you have to do is come to my office on your way to the markets and let me know. It wouldn’t take you any longer or cause you any trouble-and you would be making a healthy profit for your efforts.’
‘How do you know where I live?’ Samuel asked suspiciously.
‘It’s my job to know everything that goes on in this town. That’s how I make my living. That’s why I need your help.’
That seemed fair enough. ‘Who is it, then?’ Samuel asked. ‘Who do you want me to watch for you?’ The thought of such a high reward for such a simple task was remarkable.
‘Do you know Mr Frost?’
‘Mr Frost?’ Samuel repeated. ‘He has a curly moustache and a big fat stomach. He speaks a bit funny.’
‘Yes, that’s him,’ the man confirmed with a smile. ‘What do you say? Do we have an agreement? It couldn’t cause any harm, could it? And we would both be on the receiving end of something useful.’
‘Very well,’ Samuel nodded. The fellow was right-how could it hurt?
The man looked pleased and offered his hand. Samuel set his buckets down and quickly rubbed his own on his tattered shirt to clean it; then he shook the man’s firm hand vigorously.
‘You can call me Mr Joshua,’ he said. ‘I work upstairs in the building beside the Two Tigers Merchant-house. Do you know the one?’
Samuel nodded. He could probably find it.
‘Very good,’ said the man and pressed a coin into Samuel’s palm. ‘I’ll expect to see you soon, then. Let me know when he comes and, of course,’ he added, touching his finger to his nose and winking, ‘this is just between you and me. Don’t let anyone else know about our little secret. I’ll explain everything to you eventually if our arrangement is successful but, for now, you’ll just need to trust me-just as I will trust you.’
Samuel nodded and the man promptly continued on his way, leaving Samuel to pick up his heavy buckets and hurry back to the inn with glee. After pouring the last of the water, he went to his stall and hid his crown up on a shelf under an old container. It was the first money Samuel had ever had. It seemed too good to be true. For once,
