allowed through the town gates by the wall guards. They shuffled along with the motley
crowd, their eyes roving with interest over the colourful scene. Carts piled high with fruit,
vegetables and rural produce jostled behind rustic smocked drovers herding cattle, sheep,
goats and horses. Wagons bearing disassembled stalls of painted wood and dyed canvas
trundled uphill, hauled and pushed by entire families. Ducks and geese flapped between the
wheels, honking and quacking, adding to the noisy cavalcade as the fairgoers, chiding
youngsters and discussing prospects, all shuffled forward, eager to be inside the gates.
As they got closer to the entrance, Ned sent a thought to Ben. 'Look, people are having to pay
a toll to get in.'
Ben turned to Karay and Dominic. 'Looks like it's been a waste of time coming here. We've
got to pay the guards to get in. I don't have any money—do either of you?'
Dominic's face fell. 'I didn't know you had to pay admission. I haven't got a single centime on
me!'
Karay shook her head, stifling a scornful giggle. 'What a pair of bumpkins! Money, huh!
Who needs money to get past those gates? Leave this to me. You two just hang about and
look as you do now, a real pair of yokels. I'll do all the talking.'
Ben shrugged. 'As you say, marm, we'll follow the leader!'
The two wall guards were only ordinary town watchmen, each sporting a crested armband and
a helmet that had seen better days. They carried long, antiquated pikes and barred the gates
after each entrant in an overblown manner of importance.
Ben communicated an uneasy thought to his dog. 'I hope she knows what she's doing—that's
a long hill to be kicked down.'
The black Labrador nuzzled his hand. 'Trust Karay, m'boy, she looks as if she's done this
before a few times!'
As the four of them approached, both guards lowered their pikes, barring the entrance. The
bigger of the two held out his hand. 'Two centimes each, an' one for the dog. That's, er ...'
'Seven centimes,' the smaller guard said.
Karay looked puzzled. She directed her attention to the big guard, letting her hand rest on his
arm. 'But, Captain, didn't our mother or father pay you?'
Being addressed as captain made the guard puff out his chest. He gazed down officiously into
the pretty girl's eyes. 'I don't know your parents, miss, and no one's paid me extra to allow
others in today!'
Karay fluttered her eyes and grasped the guard's arm. 'Oh, Captain, you surely must know
them. Emile and Agnes? Our family has the pancake and honey stall. They left home hours
before we did.'
The guard saw Karay's lip quiver. He patted her hand gently. 'Well, they mustn't have arrived
yet, miss. You an' your brothers stand to one side now an' wait for them, eh.'
Ben was amazed to see a tear spring unbidden to the girl's eye. Karay was clinging to the
guard's arm now, gazing imploringly up at him, her voice all atremble. 'Oh please, Captain,
you must let us in. If our parents are not there, our stall space will be taken by someone else. I
think the wheel must have come off the cart again. Father will be fixing it—they'll be along
any minute now, expecting to find us watching their stall space. We're a poor family, Captain,
but we're honest. I'll bring the money straight out to you, as soon as the stall is set up and
we're selling our wares.'
The guard began to soften. He murmured to his partner. 'What d'you think?'
The smaller guard shrugged. ' 'Tis up to you, Giles,' he whispered.
Karay suddenly brightened up. 'Giles—that's him, isn't it?' Ben and Dominic nodded eagerly
as the girl pressed her point. 'Mother said she'd pay you, Captain, she told us to ask for the
tall, good-looking one. Giles, she said!'
Most of the people behind them were getting impatient and calling out for Karay to move
aside so they could get in. Giles shook his pike and bellowed. 'Silence, or none of you will
enter the fair. I'll say who gets in!'
Karay continued with her pleading. 'I promise, Captain, I'll bring the money out as soon as
possible. I'll bring you a pancake each, too, with butter and honey on it, piping hot!'
That settled the matter. Giles lowered his pike. 'In you go, quick now! Oh, and could you
manage a squeeze of lemon juice on those pancakes?'
Karay pushed Ben and Dominic in front of her through the gateway. Ned stood by her side as
she replied, 'I'll make them myself, with plenty of lemon juice. See you later, Captain. Come
on, boy, before our space gets taken!'
The guard watched them hurry inside and winked at his companion. 'Good manners, that girl
—pretty, too!'
Inside Veron's main square there was a real bustle of festive atmosphere. Stalls were packed
together so tightly that folk had to push and jostle to negotiate the narrow aisle spaces. The
friends sat together on a broad flight of steps that fronted a grand manor house with a
southern exposure.
Dominic chided Karay humorously. 'No sign of Emile or Agnes yet. Oh dear, I wonder where
Mother and Father have got to. You're a great liar, Karay!'
The girl slapped his arm lightly. 'Well, at least I got us into the fair, didn't I, my slow-witted
yokel brother.'
Ben chuckled as he ruffled Ned's ears. 'Don't forget now, you owe those guards seven
centimes and two hot pancakes.'
Ned's thought chimed in on Ben. 'Mmm, thick with butter and honey. No lemon for me,
thanks.'
Karay's eyes twinkled. 'Pancakes, that's what we need, I'm famished!'
She rose swiftly and cut off toward the stalls.
Ned pawed at Ben's leg. 'We'd best go after her. There's no telling what that young madam
will be up to next!'
'You're right, mate.' Ben returned Ned's thought. He pulled Dominic up from the step. 'Come
on, Dom, it's a bit risky letting that little thief wander off alone.'
Karay had found herself a pancake stall where there was only a middle-aged lady attending to
it. The girl stood back, watching everything closely.
'Thinking of stealing pancakes now, are we?'
She turned to see Ben, Dominic and Ned behind her. Karay hissed at them angrily. 'I'm not
stealing anything—she'll give me some pancakes gladly. Now be quiet and let me study that
stall. I'll get us some food!'
Ned nudged his head against Ben's leg. 'I'd do as Karay says if I were you. Give her a
chance.'
After a while Karay sauntered over to the stall, where she waited until the woman was not
busy serving. Passing a forearm across her brow, the woman sighed. 'Pancakes are two
centimes each, three with butter, four with honey and butter, three with just salt and lemon
juice. Do you want one, miss?'
The girl stared hard at the woman, letting a silence pass before she spoke. 'You work very
hard for a widowed lady.'
The woman wiped her butter ladle on a clean cloth. 'I've not met you before, how d'you know
I'm a widow?'
Karay closed her eyes and held up a finger. Her voice was slow and confidential, as if sharing
a secret. 'I know many things, Madame. The eye of my mind sees the past as well as the
present and the future. That is my gift, given to me by the good Saint Veronique, whom I am
named after.'
