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could mean prison. I’ve seen people sent to the mines for less. Yer no better than a guttersnipe. The gutter’s where yer belong and that’s where yer’ll be before tonight’s out. Mark my words.’
    Mel’s heart sank. Ludo, please help . A great feeling of dread overtook him. Arrived and expelled on the same day . How could he face returning home?
    As he was marched away between Minch and the cook he looked around and caught sight of the toe of a boot as it withdrew behind some sacks. Ludo . The first sign of trouble and he’d left Mel alone to face the music.
    Mel was marched up to the steward’s office. Minch knocked and they entered.
    Dirk Tot looked up from his papers. ‘Yes?’
    â€˜Thief,’ said Minch, pushing Mel forward. ‘Proof.’ He slapped the illicit sandwich on to the desk andindicated the cook with a jerk of his thumb. ‘Witness.’
    â€˜Is this so?’ asked Dirk Tot, addressing the cook.
    â€˜Yes, sir. Caught him red-handed, I did. Freshly baked bread and some of the best beef, straight from the spit. An’ this!’ she said triumphantly, producing the apple as if it were the clinching piece of evidence.
    â€˜Is this true, Mel?’
    Mel hung his head and nodded.
    â€˜Very well, Cook, Minch. I’ll deal with this. Please return to your duties.’
    â€˜Just so long as he gets what’s comin’ to him,’ said the cook as she left.
    â€˜â€™Prentice,’ said Minch with a sneer, as if it were an insult. He cast a last, longing look at the sandwich and closed the door after them.
    Dirk Tot fixed his withering one-eyed stare on Mel and said in a stern voice, ‘Is there anything you want to tell me, Mel?’
    Still staring at the floor, Mel shook his head. ‘No, sir.’
    â€˜Was there anyone else involved?’
    Mel said nothing.
    â€˜Mel, there have been hundreds of apprentices through the studio in my time, and more than a few of them have stood where you’re standing now for all manner of misdemeanours. But never after so short a stay. I cannot really believe that after only a few hours in this household, you made it all the way down to the kitchens, found where the bread was kept, helped yourself to a fat slice of the master’s best beef, from the spit in the very heart of the kitchen and then found yourself the means of preparing this sandwich. All on your own. Come on, Mel, who else was in this with you?’
    Mel raised his head. Scrot to you, Ludo . ‘No one, sir. I just found my way there by … by accident and took the food. All on my own.’
    â€˜Very well. You’ve disappointed me, Mel. Cook wanted you punished and punished you will be.’

Lord Brool
    By the time Mel found his way back to the dimly lit dormitory, everyone was busy retiring for the night and paid him no attention. From the far end, where Groot slept, there came the sound of heavy, drunken snoring. As Mel sat down on the edge of his bed, Ludo’s face appeared over the partition that separated their compartments.
    Great . Now he turns up .
    â€˜Sorry, Mel, I tried to warn you when I spotted Cook coming,’ Ludo whispered sheepishly. ‘I only just had time to hide myself. There was no point in the two of us getting caught, was there? It’s not as if the punishment would have been halved if two people had to suffer. Besides, you’re new here. They’d be bound to make allowances. You didn’t say I was involved, did you?’
    â€˜Don’t worry, Ludo, I didn’t mention you.’ Ludo had let him down, but he was still the only friend he had in this strange new world.
    â€˜Thanks. If my family ever heard of this I’d really bein for it. By the way, what did you get as a punishment?’
    â€˜One month’s loss of privileges and stipend, whatever they are.’
    â€˜Privileges are permission to go out and about in the city every Sunday. The