The Boy-Bishop's Glovemaker by Michael Jecks Read Free Book Online Page A

room behind, but here again there was no one. He touched the backdoor latch gently. The peg had been thrust through the latch to lock it in place, and he pulled it free, opening the door with a frown of confusion. No one there.
    ‘Master?’
    The only other place to look was the chamber, and he went to it, climbing up the ladder. There was still no sign of his master, however. He went to the small chest by Ralph’s bed and tentatively checked the lock. It was a relief to see that the chest was still there, but to his surprise the clasp yielded to his hand; it wasn’t locked. He began to lift the lid, but let it fall shut when he heard something. It sounded like someone downstairs, but not in the hall, in the shop. He listened and soon was rewarded with the squeaking of a cart with a bad wheel. He must have misheard things: it was just a fellow in the street.
    Elias returned and lifted the lid once more and then his face went blank with dismay. It was empty; all Ralph’s money was gone. ‘Oh, oh!’ Elias wailed and bit at his lip. Somebody had robbed his master. What would Ralph say when he got back? Mostly that he had employed a fool, a cretin, as an apprentice.
    ‘Ralph? Ralph, where are you? Elias? Are you here? Where’s your master?’ came a voice from the hall as the door slammed again. Elias was pleased to recognise the voice as that of William de Lappeford, the Bailiff of the City.
    Slipping hurriedly down the ladder, Elias gave the tall, stern-looking Bailiff a nervous smile. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘I got here after fetching bread for his breakfast, but he’s not back yet.’
    William glanced about him. ‘Is he late? I thought he was a regular man in his habits.’
    ‘Oh, I expect he decided to go out to another shop when I didn’t turn up,’ Elias said. ‘But I couldn’t get in. I’d left my key behind. And his money has been stolen!’
    ‘Strange,’ William said. He was a large man, as a Bailiff must be if he is expected to fetch rents from rougher areas of town, solid, with a deceptively slow manner of moving. Dark Celtic features gave him a harsh appearance, but his bright blue eyes were often crinkled at the edges. There was no humour in them now. ‘He asked me to come and see him today. He was worried about something – said he thought he’d discovered a theft.’
    Elias gaped. ‘A theft? But it’s only just happened!’ William nodded slowly, eyeing him with a sharp expression and Elias suddenly felt a cold sweat break out upon his brow. ‘What is it?’
    ‘Who else would a man suspect of theft but his own servant?’ William asked.
    ‘I wouldn’t steal from my master!’ Elias squeaked. ‘He’s been good to me, better than I should have expected, and . . .’
    The Bailiff ignored him. He had walked out to the back room while Elias spoke and was slowly climbing the ladder to the upper chambers. Elias trailed after him, plaintively declaring his innocence and his complete bafflement as to where Ralph could have gone. The Bailiff stood a long while staring down at Ralph’s open chest.
    ‘I opened it in case someone could have robbed him,’ Elias explained, his voice breaking.
    The Bailiff had a blank expression, as if all his thoughts and suspicions were secured inside until he should choose to release them. ‘The lock wasn’t forced,’ he said. He studied Elias silently for a moment, then turned away and went to the ladder, slipping down to the ground with an agility that looked out-of-place in a man with such a large body.
    ‘I told you he wasn’t here,’ Elias said sulkily.
    ‘What about the shop?’
    ‘It’s locked. Wait a moment, I’ll get my key,’ Elias said and scampered back upstairs. He went straight to the truckle bed in his chamber and put his hand to where his bunch of keys should have been, but there was nothing there. His heart lurched in his chest like a wild animal trying to fly, and he scrabbled about urgently for it: gone! And with it, his