Read Online The Vagabond Clown by Edward Marston - Free Book Online Page B

now?’
    ‘Locking me in the privy.’
    ‘Is that what happened?’ asked Mussett with a look of innocence. ‘It was not my jest, I promise you. I wish that it had been. If you were trapped in there, you had some idea of what it was like in prison. You were sitting on your own King’s Bench.’
    ‘Silence!’ bellowed Firethorn, cutting the laughter dead. ‘Eat your breakfast, Barnaby. Life always feels more irksome on an empty stomach.’
    ‘I demand that you punish Mussett first,’ said Gill.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because of his outrageous behaviour towards me.’
    ‘He denies it.’
    ‘I do,’ said Mussett with vehemence. ‘I’d never strike a man when he is down. Your injuries earn you my consideration, Barnaby. Why not take the weight off your foot and join us at the table?’
    ‘Join us?’ echoed Gill with indignation. ‘Join us? Do you dare to claim a place among Westfield’s Men?
You
are the interloper here, Giddy.’
    ‘Granted, but that does not mean I played a trick on you last night.’
    ‘Do you have any proof that it was him?’ asked Firethorn.
    ‘Who else could it be?’ replied Gill.
    ‘Any one of a dozen people, Barnaby. You have hardly endeared yourself to us since we left London. Be more tolerant.’
    ‘I’ll not tolerate this! Giddy deserves to be arrested for this.’
    ‘Why not report me to the Privy Council?’ taunted Mussett.
    Even Firethorn’s booming command was unable to stem their mirth this time. It was so humiliating for Gill that Nicholas took pity on him. Moving across to him, he slipped an arm around his waist and almost carried him to a seat, lowering him carefully down. He looked around the table with a stern eye and the laughter gradually died away.
    ‘If you have finished,’ he said quietly, ‘there is nothing to detain you. When Master Gill has been allowed the privilege of eating his food in peace, he’ll join you and we can all set off.’
    They took their cue and rose from the table. Nicholas’s gentle rebuke achieved more than Firethorn’s angry yell. Most of those who withdrew to the yard were slightly ashamed. The apprentices were completely cowed. Accustomed to being bawled at by Firethorn, they no longer feared his rage quite so much. The last thing they wanted to do, however, was to arouse Nicholas’s displeasure. When the others had dispersed, Mussett remained behind, standing at the end of the table like a prisoner before a magistrate. Gill scowled at him and Firethorn glowered. Nicholas then came to the defence of the clown.
    ‘I think you are mistaken,’ he said. ‘Giddy could not have been the culprit.’
    ‘He must have been!’ cried Gill. ‘Who else would stoop so low?’
    Mussett gave a shrug. ‘Not me, Barnaby.’
    ‘That’s an arrant lie.’
    ‘Giddy is speaking the truth,’ said Nicholas. ‘I left here at the same time as you and found him asleep upstairs. It was impossible for him to steal away and play that trick on you. I’d surely have heard him leave.’
    ‘There’s your answer, Barnaby,’ said Firethorn, relieved to hear that Mussett was, after all, innocent of the charge. ‘It must have been one of the others. Or someone quite outside the company. Have you considered that?’
    ‘No,’ retorted Gill. ‘It was a vindictive act. I accuse Giddy.’
    ‘Then you accuse him wrongly,’ said Nicholas. ‘How could he be in two places at the same time? I slept near the door. Anyone going out or coming into the room would have woken me as they passed.’
    ‘In that case, he suborned someone else to do the deed.’
    ‘I doubt that. Who would take on such an office? None that I could name. They hold you in high esteem. Why should they lend themselves to a jest like this?’
    ‘On a promise of reward.’
    ‘Then it came not from me,’ said Mussett. ‘My purse is empty. I had no money to ensnare an accomplice, Barnaby. Look elsewhere.’
    ‘Or dismiss the incident from your mind,’ recommended Nicholas.
    ‘Aye,’ said