Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer

Author:Linda Buckley-Archer [Linda Buckley-Archer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847388940
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

After a couple of miles they spotted a boy balanced precariously on the back of a black and white carthorse. He was reaching up into the branches of a spreading cherry tree picking off the last of the overripe black fruit that had been spared by the birds. The horse flicked its mud-spattered tail at some wasps that hovered drunk-enly over rotting cherries at the foot of the tree.

‘I don’t think we need announce ourselves,’ said Gideon with a mischievous look in his blue eyes. He slipped off Midnight and glided noiselessly towards the boy almost as if in slow motion. The horse noticed him but, unconcerned, continued to tear up the sweet, yellowing grass. Peter watched in awe and could not help thinking about Gideon’s previous profession. I can see why he made such a good cutpurse, he said to himself. No wonder he never got caught – he moves like a cat.

The boy was straining to get to a couple of luscious black cherries which were just out of arm’s reach.

‘Good evening, young master,’ said Gideon very loudly. ‘’Tis true that forbidden fruit always tastes the sweetest.’

The boy nearly shot out of his skin, and lost his footing. Gideon caught him in mid-air and, laughing, set him down gently on the grass.

The boy was perhaps seven or eight and his grubby face was stained with cherry juice. He attempted to run away but Gideon reached out and caught hold of his shirt. The boy was none too pleased with Gideon and he kicked him angrily about the shins.

‘Are all the lads hereabouts made of such stout stuff?’ asked Gideon half-amused, half-wincing as he held him at arm’s length. The boy kicked him again.

‘That’s enough, lad! I am flesh and blood! How would you like to earn yourself a shilling?’

The boy stopped kicking him and eyed Gideon suspiciously. ‘What must I do for it, sir?’

‘We are in urgent need of a likely lad such as yourself to fetch help. Our carriage is broken, the axle snapped clean through.’

Gideon described the giant oak and asked if the boy knew it, which he did, saying that it was a landmark thereabouts. Gideon reached deep into his jacket pocket and gave him a sixpence. The boy set off at once on his lumbering carthorse in the direction of Aldridge, fingering his treasure as he went.

‘Don’t dally, lad,’ Gideon called after him. ‘There’s another sixpence waiting for you.’

They watched the boy disappear out of sight. The sky was already growing pink and the sun sinking low on the horizon. Swallows called to each other, so high in the sky that they were barely visible as they swooped and soared through the clear, dry air in search of midges. Gideon squinted up at them, his arm shading his eyes.

‘We need not fear rain tonight at least,’ commented Gideon.

‘How many sixpences are there in a pound?’ asked Peter who was wondering how much the boy could buy with his earnings.

‘Forty. Twelve pennies in a shilling, twenty shillings to the pound.

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