Read Online The Devil and His Boy by Anthony Horowitz - Free Book Online Page A

shot.”
    Moll slammed down her tankard. “I knew it was a mistake coming after you,” she muttered. “Now I’m stuck with you. A boy! The last thing I need!”
    “Maybe I could learn how to be a thief … like you?” Tom suggested. But even as he spoke the words, he knew it wouldn’t work. Tom lived in a world where there were as many thieves as honest men. He had spent his entire life surrounded by them. He knew that many people had a simple choice. Steal or starve. But even so, there was something inside him that told him that stealing was wrong and that it wouldn’t work for him. His heart would never be in it.
    Moll must have sensed this because she shook her head. “No.”
    “Then what?”
    “Listen to me.” Moll leaned forward. “If you are going to stay in London, you’ve got to go somewhere where Ratsey won’t find you. And that means you can’t stay with me, even if I wanted you to. Everyone knows everyone down here. Paul’s Walk isn’t just a meeting place. It’s where everyone finds out about everyone else. That’s why he was there yesterday and that’s why he’ll be there today.” Moll looked nervously over her shoulder. “We’ve been in here half an hour,” she went on, “and who knows who’s seen us together? Someone could be on their way to Ratsey even now. You stay with me, he’ll find you soon enough. Believe me. You won’t be safe with me.”
    Tom nodded, feeling gloomier by the minute.
    “We have to find you work. You need money in your pocket and a roof over your head.”
    “But what sort of work can I do?”
    “That’s a good question.” Moll thought for a minute. “I could get you into a tavern. You say you’ve handled horses and there are people I know. No…” She shook her head. “Forget it. Ratsey knows your past and that’s the first place he’ll look. He’s probably checking out every tavern in town even as we sit.”
    Tom said nothing.
    “All right.” Moll pointed with her pipe. “We need to get you a job so let’s consider your qualifications. Can you cook?”
    “No.”
    “Can you read?”
    “No.”
    “Can you sew?”
    “No.”
    “Can you sing?”
    “I’ve never tried.”
    Moll sighed. “A typical boy. Completely useless. All right. There’s nothing you
can
do. But is there anything you
want
to do? At least that might be worth a try.”
    Tom thought hard. What did he want to do? Here he was in London, the greatest city in the world. He could be anything he wanted to be. But what did he want to be? Not a thief. Not a beggar. Could he work in the market? No. He would never make himself heard in all that din. How about a shop assistant? No. That would mean handling money and he couldn’t count.
    And then he remembered. He had only ever been completely happy once in his entire life. For just a few brief hours all his problems had been forgotten and it was as if he had been transported to another world. At that moment, Tom knew that there was only one thing he wanted to be. He wanted to join the people he had seen two nights before, at the Red Lion of Enfield.
    “I know what I want to do, Moll,” he said. “I want to join the theatre. I want to act.”

auditions
    “I still think it’s a stupid idea,” Moll said.
    “But you don’t like the theatre,” Tom replied.
    “I love the theatre! I go there all the time.”
    “Yes. But only to rob the audiences.”
    It was six o’clock in the morning, two days after their unsuccessful visit to Moorfield. Tom was still lying on the floor, wrapped in a blanket, but Moll was already up and fully dressed – which was hardly surprising as she slept in her clothes.
    The day before, she had visited Paul’s Walk and come back with exciting news. An advertisement had been posted on the
Si Quis
door (this was the name of the door that Tom had himself noticed). Actors were wanted for a new play that was about to be performed at the Rose Theatre, not far from where Moll lived. Those interested were to