worthless things. She turned her back resolutely on the knickknack stall. I’ve got to make sure , she thought, reaching for her moneybag, that I find this blacksmith Llewyn was telling me about instead of standing around with my mouth open . As long as she had no work, all she had left were her savings.
Suddenly she broke out in a cold sweat. She looked under her shirt—there was nothing there! Then she reached for the leather cord around her neck. It was still there, but the purse with the money was gone, cut off. Her heart began to pound, and she felt a humming in her ears. Frantically she reflected on how and when the theft could have taken place. Had she forgotten, after buying the fish pasty, to slip the purse back down again under her shirt? She looked around helplessly. Who could have stolen it? Was it perhaps the nice little pasty vendor? She felt as if an enormous hole had opened up in front of her and was about to devour her. Her eyes filled with tears.
At that moment she caught sight of the purse thief that she had seen before. He was pushing his way through the crowd, moving farther and farther away from her.
He was the one who had robbed her! She tried desperately to fight her way through the crowd as well, but she just couldn’t catch up with the boy and eventually lost sight of him. He must have turned into one of the narrow alleys.
In despair Ellen leaned against the wall of a house. She stared blankly into space with tears in her eyes, unable to think about what to do next. She had nothing left but the clothes on her back. The tears were running down her cheeks—she had worked so hard for her money, and now what could she do now? She wiped her eyes and looked around helplessly.
A tall, older man caught her attention. She was so struck by his appearance that for a moment she forgot her grief and stared at him in disbelief. His elegant, long clothes were of the finest dark blue cloth and trimmed with brown fur. He had a walking stick with a silver knob on it that he leaned on as he strode along. The stick, his fine clothing, and his glistening grey hair lent him an aura of elegance. But it was his piercing blue eyes and the pinched look around his mouth that intrigued her so much, as it reminded her of her mother. Instinctively, she followed him up to a large house where he stopped, took a heavy iron key from his belt, and prepared to open the elaborately carved oaken door. Before he could place the key in the lock, however, the door opened by itself as if by magic.
A young girl appeared in the entrance.
Ellen moved closer to the two in order to get a better view.
The girl’s sky blue dress was made of shiny material and was embroidered with silver threads at the neckline. It looked precious, elegant, and unpretentious at the same time. Ellen had never seen anything more beautiful! But when she looked into the face of the angelic figure, she gasped. It was Aedith! She had grown since Ellen had last seen her.
The old man, who looked so much like Leofrun, had to be her grandfather!
Ellen suddenly felt a huge lump in her throat, and a wave of homesickness came over her. For a moment she thought about going to the two and embracing them. She was bursting with curiosity about her grandfather, and suddenly her anger at her sister seemed to have disappeared.
Aedith must have come to Ipswich in order to marry the silk merchant to whom she was given in marriage by Leofrun more than a year ago. Ellen wondered whether Mildred and Kenny were also there.
As Aedith closed the door behind the grandfather, she briefly glanced at Ellen, clearly thinking her sister was just another simple street urchin not worthy of attention.
She hasn’t changed , Ellen thought bitterly, disappointed that Aedith had not recognized her.
As Ellen walked away, despondent, she suddenly caught sight of the young thief again, who seemed to have already found a new victim. Her anger at his shameless behavior and the hope of getting
Catelynn Lowell, Tyler Baltierra