Chapter 2: Jade Square
As Jack and Nolan walked to towards Gwen, she spotted the two friends and greeted them warmly.
“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite boys,” she said with a smile.
“Ho, Gwen,” Jack and Nolan said, nearly simultaneously.
“Let me guess,” Gwen said, putting her right forefinger to her chin as if in deep thought. “A meat pie for Jack, and…for you, sweetie?” she asked Nolan.
When she called him sweetie, Nolan went a slightly deeper shade of red. Without too much stammering, he managed to say, “One for me as well, Gwen.”
“Here you go, boys. Enjoy.” She handed them each a generously sized pie.
Just before they were about to thank her, Jack saw out of the corner of his eye a small hand dart from a rather scruffy-looking kid. Nolan noticed this too and had the little ruffian by the back of his collar before Jack even had time to put down his pie. Judging from the startled look on Gwen’s face, Jack guessed she hadn’t seen a thing.
“Put it back now and I may decide not to alert the Law Brigade that there’s a thief having a go in Jade Square,” Nolan said with a firm grip on the boy’s collar. Jack judged the lad to be thirteen or so. Instead of doing the wise thing and heeding Nolan’s merciful warning, the little rapscallion wriggled free of his grasp and started to bolt in the opposite direction through the multitude of shoppers. He used his small frame to move through the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream. Unfortunately for the young thief, his deftness and agility did little to aid his escape, as Nolan simply dashed after him while full-on shoving others out of his way. Within a moment he had tackled the boy to the ground. There was a resounding crash and a small cloud of dust plumed up as the two came crashing down. Nolan landed with side by side with the boy to avoid crushing him beneath his bulk.
The people in the crowd who hadn’t been shoved out of the way all gave a short clap and a few jeers at seeing the thief fail in his attempt to escape. The people who had been shoved saw from his uniform that Nolan was a knight in training, and so they merely grumbled to themselves something along the lines of knights being able to do whatever they please. After another moment Nolan had the thief by the arm in front of Jack and Gwen.
“Now before I march you up to the Stalwart, return what you stole from Gwen’s stall,” Nolan demanded.
Now that Jack had a long look at the boy, he saw that he was badly malnourished and probably hadn’t eaten in days, an observation Gwen seemed to make as well when the emaciated young man produced only two apples from inside his crude brown tunic and not money, as Nolan and Jack had previously thought.
“Please, Sir Knight, I only t-took enough to feed me and my sis. We’ve been so very hungry,” stammered the frightened lad.
“Oh Nolan,” Gwen said pleadingly. “He looks half-starved and I really don’t mind. Perhaps you could just let the young lad off with a warning this time?” Maybe it was Gwen’s sympathy for the boy that softened Nolan’s usual high respect for the law, because he loosened his grip and let go of the boy’s arm. “I’d better not catch you stealing again, you little Grubber! Now clear off.”
“Here,” said Gwen giving the boy one of her pies, “Share that with your sister okay.”
“Thank you miss, I won’t forget your kindness,” and with that he sprinted off down the hill towards the Lower Quarter.
“Well that certainly could have turned out far worse than it did,” commented Jack.
“I agree, but this is the third time I’ve caught a grubber stealing food this senturn. And that’s just what I’ve come across on my patrol. I’ve heard similar stories from the rest of the Squires as well.”
“That makes me wonder what’s going on in the Lower Quarter. I seem to remember father saying something about how not a single carpenter has been commissioned to do house repairs in the Lower Quarter all spring, which makes no sense at all. The houses in the Lower Quarter always need repairs after winter, usually for the roof if nothing else.”
“Yeah, that is a little odd,” said Nolan.
“Well, odd or not, you two are holding up my customers. This girl’s got to make a living, after all,” Gwen said, flashing the two a warm smile.
“Right, the day’s wearing on and I’m already late as it is. Thanks for the pie, Gwen,” Jack said.
“Bye, Gwen,” Nolan said. The two walked away. Then he turned to Jack and said, “I’ve got to head up to the Stalwart for weapons practice. Fancy a drink at the Fiery Phoenix tonight?”
“My headache says no, but my heart says yes.”
“I’m sure,” Nolan said, chidingly, “that it has nothing to do with seeing Molly.”
Jack laughed. “I’d say it’s about a 70-30 split.”
“Yeah, the other way.”
Jack laughed again. “I’ll see you there as soon as I’m done at Rhodes’.”
“Excellent. Cheers, mate.”
Jack waved goodbye to Nolan and turned down the alley to where he worked, while his large friend made his way towards the Stalwart. Jack walked past the bay windows of his workplace and turned right to open the door.