The Devil and His Boy by Anthony Horowitz

Author:Anthony Horowitz
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781406305692
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Published: 2007-01-16T06:00:00+00:00

9

The Garden Players

There were eight men in the company known as The Garden Players, but with Tom that figure was brought up to nine.

Tom had followed Dr. Mobius back up the south bank of the river. The sun was still shining brightly, but Tom couldn’t help noticing something rather strange. Mobius preferred the shadows. Whenever the street widened out—when they crossed Long Southwark, for example—his beady eyes searched for darkened alley-ways and hidden entrances. If he saw people coming toward him, he chose another way. And so they barely saw anyone as they followed the Thames, heading east, past London Bridge and on to Bermondsey.

They finally arrived at the river itself, and Dr. Mobius stopped, blinking in the light. It was snowing now and Tom could see the surface of the Thames beginning to ice over. He wondered how long it would be before he was able to cross it on foot.

“Here we are,” Mobius panted, speaking for the first time since they had set off. He waved a hand. “We are here.”

“Where … ?” Tom began.

The river was lapping at a derelict wooden jetty in front of them. A single ship was moored there, obviously no longer seaworthy. The sails hung in rags from its four masts, and there was a gaping hole in its side where the wood seemed to have moldered away. But there were no buildings close by—no taverns and certainly no theatres.

“The ship, Tom!” Mobius pressed his fingers together. “We hired a ship. To save money, you understand. We live there. We work—the deck is a perfect stage. We are, if you like, a family afloat. Yes, I like that. The family that floats. And now you are part of our family, Tom. A very welcome part. Please! This way….”

Dr. Mobius walked up a half-rotten gangplank, and Tom followed.

“This way!” Mobius pointed at a door and a set of steps leading down inside the ship, and disappeared. Tom stood for a moment, feeling the deck moving underneath his feet. He had never been on a ship before and had no idea how so much wood and rigging could possibly float when even the smallest stone would sink instantly. But this was no time for such questions. Nervous now, he crossed the deck and went through the door.

There were seven men, sitting in chairs or lying in hammocks around a coal brazier. The room was full of smoke both from the fire and from the candles that lit it. Mobius had removed his hat and was helping himself to a glass of sherry from a small wooden cask. “Gentlemen,” he said, “our new boy! Yes! His name is Tom….”

The men nodded at Tom, and one or two of them smiled. The first thing that Tom noticed was that like Dr. Mobius, they were all rather dark. The oldest of them must have been about forty, the youngest (playing a woman, as it turned out) only a few years older than Tom himself. They were dressed in leather trousers, thick shirts, and boots.

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.