Will Grace

Chapter Three

The first few hours of Wills journey were un-eventful, he just rode along at a steady pace on the seemingly endless path to London. The highlight of the journey so far was riding past a herd of cattle. Will was enjoying having the road all to himself, he was able to just think. He thought about what the future was going to hold for him, would he ever return home? Will rode along lost in his thoughts, completely oblivious to the world around him. That's when it happened. Will suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, he fell from his bike and went tumbling to the floor. At first he thought a stone had flown up from the ground and hit him. He rolled over groaning, salty tears rolling down his face. He saw 3 figures, his vision swimming one of them said something Will couldn't quite hear. He quickly realised that something wasn't right, the figures didn't seem to be sympathetic, more interested in him in the same way a dog is interested in a bone. Will felt his gut sink, he assumed that it was one of the men who had hit him and though he wanted to try and fight back he felt completely helpless to do anything but lie there. The men pulled off his satchel and emptied it's contents on to the floor. They took everything of worth from the satchel and then moved on to his beloved bicycle, the men made a neat pile of the things on the verge. One of the men began packing Wills stuff into a big sack leaving only the bike sitting on the verge. The other men closed in on him. They launched into an all out attack, blows rained down on Will, every blow felt like a train was ploughing into him. Will blacked out.

Will woke up to the sound of clacking hooves. He opened his eyes and saw that it was light, his head throbbed and everything ached. He looked about warily and saw that he was in the back of a horse cart lying on a bed of straw. He felt very disorientated because he had no memory of getting into a horse cart. It was then that a girl about his age, maybe a little came in. "How's your head?" she asked. "Where am I? Who are you?" Will asked. "Me and my father found you on the side if the road badly beaten and left for dead, there's been a lot off attacks round here recently what with everyone being so desperate for money. So we picked you up, I've persuaded my father to take you with us to Camden Market." She replied. Will was stunned at this girl, he had never really seen a girl asides his nanny. She was so beautiful and Will was star struck.
After a long pause Will finally managed to stutter out his reply "Thank you".
"It's okay, we couldn't really have left you there could we? I'm Mary by the way." She said, extending a hand. Will took it. "What's your name?" She asked "I'm Will Grace" He said.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Will." Mary replied
"You best get some rest, I'll see you later Will." She said crawling back into the front of the cart.

Will slept like a log, he only awoke because Mary woke him. "Will we're in Camden. Can you stand?" She asked hauling him up onto his feet, she was surprisingly strong considering her slender frame. Will tried to find his feet. He felt like a baby deer taking it's first steps, he staggered a few strides and lent against a wall to steady himself. He prepared himself and found his feet, he looked up towards the blinding sun, he shielded his eyes with the back of his hands and glanced around getting his first proper look at London. He had seen pictures of London in books before but it was nothing like those pictures. The street was made of rough cobbles and the streets were bustling with activity, market sellers shouted above the crowds trying to lure people into buying there products. Horse carts stood everywhere and people weaved up and down the streets. Young children ran up and down the streets laughing and letting out screeches of glee. Some older children dressed in rags silently swept the streets and shined peoples shoes. "I'm going to take you into the Inn, you need to get some rest" She looped his arm over hers and let him up the stairs, her grip firm yet gentle.

The inn was bustling and full of life, men sat in threes playing cards and drinking ale. Mary said something to the barmaid, inaudible to Will over the immense noise of the inn, and then turned and walked him up the stairs. They came to a mahogany door at the end of the corridor with the number 17 set in a dull iron at its centre. Mary placed a key in the lock and fumbled with it until it made a soft click and swung open. Inside the room was fairly plain, it had a worn red carpet and a small bathroom in the corner. The only thing that caught Wills eye were the beds, magnificent four poster beds with pine columns and soft sheets. Mary helped him over to one of the beds "Sorry we don't have any pyjamas for you Will, maybe when your better you can work for papa and earn a little money for some." Will didn't really know what to say so he didn't say anything. He heaved himself, with Mary's help, into the bed.
"Sleep tight Will Grace"
With that Will fell asleep nearly instantly, off into a world of dreams.

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