The Magician's Sons

Chapter 55

A ball of nerves, Charlie felt his heart beating a little faster, and his skin was crawling with anticipation.

This could be it! We might actually find our man tonight! he thought, half in excitement and half in fear. Joy budded and started to bloom inside of him. Today, he would become a hero. Tomorrow, he would be a wealthy man.

Bob paused before The Jolly Adder and peeked in at the window. His eyes scanned the people's faces inside. He saw all kinds of men within, but he didn't see the one he was searching for.

Next, the man glanced from the rowdy crowd of top-heavy drinkers to the respectable lad beside him. Sometimes, despite all his pomp and boldness, Charlie looked very small and vulnerable.

"Ever been in a tavern, Boss?" he asked, trying to prepare the boy.

Charlie straightened his shoulders with pride. "I most certainly have not! It may seem strange to others, but my family has never tasted a drop of alcohol! It is our creed!"

"Good on ya then. Yer a clever kid—man, that is!" Bob blundered. Charlie cast him a teasingly frustrated glare. "An' bein' so clever as you are, I'm sure ya knows all about a den like this one, don't ya? They're all 'gentlemen o' three outs', if'n ya knows what I mean. They're out a money, out o' sense, an' out o' manners. I know 'cause, once, a long time ago, I fink I was a sailor. I'm sure I was; though, I can't remember why or 'ow it came about. But there's a whole lot o' drinkin' and touslin' about when yer a sailor."

He paused for a thoughtful moment. Something flashed through his memory that sent an icy chill through his body. With his face drawn by grief, he carried on. "Fact is, when blokes drink, they does stupid fings they'll regret in the end. Sometimes, they even kills the innocent." Charlie started and looked up at him worriedly.

"But o'course, ya know all that, don't ya, Boss?" Bob continued. "Course you do. An' ya knows just what we've gotta do, don't ya? We gotta go in 'ere like we knows what we're about. But we can't look like we care a stitch about other folks's business. It's better not t' look 'em in the eye. If they see you a-glancin', they'll fink yer tryin' t' start somefing. Ya know what I mean? An' if they sees you a-lookin' scared an' nervous, they'll fink yer good sport an' pick a fight wiv ya.

"But I dunno why I'm a-tellin ya all this, Boss. Ya already knew it, didn't you? An' ya already knew that ya can't go into a place dressed in this square-rigged toggery," he went on, pulling at Charlie's fine-looking jacket. "An' people, they'll look at us all cutty-eyed if ya go in speakin' glib gabbet an' jaw-breakers the like's o' them ain't never 'eard afore."

"Glib what?" Charlie asked in perplexity.

"You know, fancy words, o'course."

"Oh, yes! Of course! I...I knew that!"

"We gotta be like one o' them so's they won't guess our business an' start makin' trouble for us."

Charlie wasn't convinced that he had "known" all of that. But he was glad that Bob had thought he did. Not wasting a moment, and trying to conceal his ignorance, the lad pulled off his betraying, nice-looking jacket. He stuffed it behind a big flower pot where he hoped no one would notice and steal it. Then he felt Bob ruffle his well combed and oiled hair.

"'At's better," his friend said. "Ya looks as proper common as a dustman now."

Dustman! Charlie shrieked inside. Well I like that! First, I am a rubbish boy. Now, I look like a dustman—really! Oh well, it didn't matter. In a short amount of time, he would scuttle up the ladder of high society and find himself at the very top. Then no one would have a right to call him common or lowly again.