Den of Thieves by William Holden

Author:William Holden [Holden, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2018-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“Thomas, what is the matter?” Pierre stood as I came running into the dining room.

“Christopher, I need your help. Are you free today?” As I came up to the table, I noticed Bess’s absence and figured she had left to fetch her belongings.

“I was going to go back to Bishop’s Stortford to help my parents, but I can delay. Why?”

“My father…” I took hold of the back of the chair and took a breath to calm my nerves. “He was apprenticed at The Stationer’s Company here in London.”

“That was over twenty-two years ago,” Pierre said. “You cannot expect to find out who your father is simply by going—”

“No, you do not understand. I know his name.” I struggled to contain my excitement. “My father was Maarten Vandenberg. They must have a record of him.”

“Slow down, mon amour.” Pierre came up to me. “I feel you have lost Christopher and me.”

“My father had just been appointed a stationer at the company when my mother told him she was with child. They were afraid of Mr. Green and were planning to leave London to get away from him.”

“I am sorry, did we not already know that?” Christopher said. “I thought Mr. Finney told you they were planning on going to Cambridge.”

“Yes, but perhaps someone at The Stationers remembers him, or knew where he was going to go to work in Cambridge. He would have needed a reference from them, would he not?”

“He would indeed.” Pierre nodded. “Especially being so new to the trade. It is as good a place as any to start. Christopher—”

“I shall get the carriage ready.” Christopher grabbed his overcoat and headed out the door. Pierre and I cleared the table from the uneaten breakfast then left and waited for Christopher to pull the carriage around the front of the house.

“I do not want you to get your hopes up,” Pierre said as we walked toward the carriage. “This is a long shot.” He opened the door. I climbed in. He followed and shut the door.

“I am well aware of that fact.” I knocked on the roof. Christopher eased the horses onto the street. We sat in uncomfortable silence as the hustle and bustle of the city passed us by. A heavy weight descended on me as I realized my response to Pierre was less than warm. I bowed my head and looked at him. “Sorry. I know you mean well, and yes, I do realize I am grasping at little, but I am powerless to stop it. Reading my mother’s words…it did something to me.” I paused, trying to collect the thousands of thoughts racing through my mind.

“How so?”

“For the first time in my life, I felt a connection to someone. It was not like the connection I have with you, Christopher, or even Mother Clap. For the first time, I know something about my mother and father, from her own words as if she was speaking to me. I swear I could almost hear her voice. I never realized how important it is to know where I came from.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.