Sing for your Supper
CHAPTER1
Red Beard
3The smell of mutton pies woke Jamie up.His nose twitched before his eyes opened Jamie's mother was dead.His father had gone to sea and not come back He remembered the big round sails as the little galleon moved out of Plymouth harbour, but he'd forgotten what his father looked like For two years he d lived on the streets and begged for his food,so he got used to sniffing out pies.
4He'd been dozing on a pile of straw beside the horse trough when the man walked by with his tray.
Pies,Jamie thought at once.Fat warm pies.
He didn't have a coin to his name,but he jumped up and followed the man He was heading for The Boar*s Head.
5Jamie saw him push his tray into the crowd at the door and disappear.
'After him/Jamie said to himself.
He dropped to his knees and crawled through a forest of sturdy legs.Jamie could tell by a sniff that the pie man had stopped by a table in the corner Keeping an eye open for the innkeeper he crawled on.The pie man had set two steaming pies on the table. He was counting a handful of coins into his purse.
His customers weren't ordinary sailors.They wore stiff ruffs and a line of fancy buttons down the front of their tunics.Jamie had seen one of them around Plymouth before-the one with the red curly hair and the pointed beard.
He must be important Jamie thought Wherever he goes there*s bustle and talk But he looks like a man who might share his pie with a hungry boy.
6'No mutton pies after we set sail；the man with the red beard was saying to his friend.'Ship's biscuits and hard cheese and not much else'
'But maybe some Spanish gold to spend when we get back,eh,Francis9*his friend said.
Francis So that was his name And Spanish gold Thar meant sea-fights,didn't it9Maybe they were pirat
es.
Well,Master Francis/Jamie said to himself, 1 can t wait for your gold but'i.tke to share a bit of your pie.*
And he popped up from behind the table as the redheaded man was about to eat.
'Can I sing you a song.Master Francis?)amie asked him
Francis blinked at him with his mouth still open
7'Please,Master,'Jamie said.*A song for a mouthful of pie/
The man laughed and asked him if he had a good voice.
'A wonderful voice,sir.Sweet as the birds,I promise/
8If you want to earn the price of a pie'said Francis's friend,'you can go down to the harbour and help load our ship/
'What ship is that sir?Jamie asked.
The Pelican.And it's being loaded for a voyage to…'
But before he could say another word,Francis held up a hand to stop him
'Quiet,Will,*he said A busy inn is not the place to talk about our plans.*
Will shut his mouth and looked round the noisy room.Jamie looked round,too And sure enough -or so he thought・there was a thin man at the next table,leaning towards them as if to catch every word.For a second Jamie's eye met his,and the man scowled.
A face to sour the milk,Jamie thought And full of trouble,too.After two years on the streets,Jamie knew trouble when he saw it.
9A shiver of fear ran up his spine But Francis was speaking to him again
Come on then,lad/he said.'Sing up.'
10Jamie opened his mouth to sing,but a broad hand took hold of his neck and he felt himself jerked to his feet
Tve told you before；boomed a voice.'You leave my gentlemen in peace*
It was the innkeeper.He crooked an arm round Jamie's throat and crushed him against his greasy apron.
11Jamie kicked out and flailed his arms but it was no use.The innkeeper hauled him backwards to the door and swung him out into the night
He twisted through the air and landed with a thud in the street Instead of the smell of mutton,his nose was filled with he stench of straw and horse dung.It was the second time he had been thrown out of The Boar's Head that night.
He stood up and shook himself Across the street he saw the glow of candle-light from The Swan. The hum of voices inside tempted him to try his luck there,but he d been thrown out of The Swan,too He didn't feel like being dumped in horse muck a fourth time.
Oh well,*he mumbled as he wiped himself down,maybe I should go down to the harbour If they*re loading for a voyage,maybe I can pick up some scraps/
12Soon he heard the lap of water against wooden hulls and ropes slapping in the breeze.He saw masts swaying against the blue-black sky.The ship in front of him was The Pelican.There were others, too,lined up behind it
13The harbour was busy for the time of night.Dark figures with sacks on their shoulders hurried backwards and forwards.Some dumped their loads on the harbour wall and others tottered up planks onto the ships.
14He stopped one of the sailors and asked if he could help
'Clear off, little*un.f the sailor growled.Youll only get under our feet*
Jamie sighed and sat down in the shadow of a wall.His stomach grumbled with hunger in the dark His head hurt.He watched the men loading their stores Hed seen ships being loaded many times Once he'd seen a sack drop and split open,sending cheeses rolling over the cobbles.
A good round cheese would do nicely now,he thought.Maybe someonell drop a few sacks tonight Sack after sack he saw carried onto the ships But no one stumbled.Nothing spilled.At last the men stopped work and went off together,laughing and joking
For a while Jamie watched the moon climb slowly in the sky.Then he stood up and stretched
15'Nothing doing here,' he said softly to himself.
He was about to wander back into Plymouth Town when something caught his eye.
16Two of the men came back.Or were they the same men?It was too dark to e properly and they were wrapped in long cloaks
They moved like the men who d loaded the ships,trotting along with their heads bowed,but there was something different about them.
17At first Jamie couldn't think what it was.Then it came to him.They had no sacks on their backs. They were running up the plank onto The Pelican but they carried no stores.He saw them drop into the ship and disappear in shadow.Jamie sat down again and waited.
A man with a lantern on a pole came wandering along--the watchman,keeping his eye on the ships with their load of fresh stores.He walked steadily along the harbour wall until he reached the ship furthest from The Pelican.Then he paused for a moment before turning round.It was then that the two men came scuttling down the plank again.One was tall with pale hands which fluttered in the dark. Jamie knew him.It was the sour-faced man from The Boar s Head The other man was short and thick­set
18They moved nimbly and silently,and this time they were carrying something.At least the short one was.It was more like a black bag than a sack and the short r man carried it on his shoulder like a barrel.
Jamie shrank back into the shadow of a wall.He saw the men look round and spot the watchman. The tall man stooped and picked up a stone in his pale hands.
19He hurled it high over the masts of The Pelican and Jamie heard it drop into the sea with a deep splash.
Along the harbour wall the watchman heard it too.He spun round and held himself still.Then he lifted his lantern and peered between the ships,trying to see where the sound had come from.
While he was still staring at the sea,the men hurried away in the opposite direction,their cloaks flapping behind hem as they ran.
21CHAPTER2
Pale hands
Jamie's mind was racing He knew that something odd was going on He waited until the men were almost out of sight,then set off after them.When they turned into a side street,he forced himself to run faster.
Mustn't lose them now,bethought as he pounded along.Theyll disappear down some dark alley.
I must keep up.
22Jamie had seen plenty of thieves on the streets,but these rwo were different-and he was sure they were dangerous Common sense told him to stay out of it But he was curious And maybe there was the chance of pleasing Red Beard and earning some pie.Maybe even something better than pie.
Mustn't lose them,*he said to himself over and over.'Mustn't lose them*
As soon as the men reached the safety of a side street,they stopped running to catch their breath They were bending down to examine the thing in the black bag when Jamie hurtled round the corner and ran straight into them
He fell over one and rolled onto the other.There were rough shouts,the rustle of cloaks and a waving of arms.
Jamie's struggle didn't last long.
23Soon he felt a knee on his chest and Jong fingers tightening on his arm.He twisted his head and sa
w the same pale hand that had thrown the stone.There was a silver ring on the middle finger A face came close and spoke to him in a harsh voice.
And where do you think you're going?sing for you 歌词
24It was the broad man,the one who was kneeling on him,and the stench of his breath made Jamie flinch.
Tm sorry,master/he said.Tm sorry'
Then the tall man spoke and his voice was a thin whisper.
'He's following us.Tom.I saw him talking to Red Beard in The Boar s Head.'
'No,sir/said Jamie Tm not following you,I m running away,sir.Honest The watchman's after me.*
The fingers loosened on Jamie's arm and the men darted a look at each other They glanced nervously back at the corner of the street.
They only looked away for a second but it was enough for Jamie.He wriggled from under Tom s knee and scrambled to his feet
The men grabbed at him,missed,and he was charging off into the darkness.
25'Hey!Come back here!'the man called Tom shouted after him
Jamie dived into an alley and barked his shin against something he couldn't see.From the way it clattered against the wall behind him he guessed it was an empty barrel.The men came lumbering after him and one of them kicked the barrel too.
26Jamie came to a gap between two houses and ran blindly into it,hoping there*d be nothing in his way this time There wasn't
He groped along a wall until he found a low fence.He swung himself over it and dropped into a little garden.
27His fingers touched damp cabbage leaves and a fish head.He crouched there wide-eyed,trying to still his gasping breath
Heavy feet thudded by him,only yards away The sound disappeared into the night and then there was silence.He waited.A dog barked in the distance.A sharp pain began to throb in his leg.He hadn't noticed it when he was running.
After two or three more minutes he let out a long sigh and climbed painfully out of the garden. 28You should save your nose for sniffing out pies,Jamie/he told himself.*And keep it clear of bad men in long cloaks1
He imagined what the men might do if they caught him*The thought made him shudder
Maybe he should look for Red Beard・Master Francis.And then what?Tell him what hed seen? No.Men like him didn*t believe beggar boys like Jamie.Still,he thought,it'll be safer in the warm glow from busy inns than alone here in the dark
29So he rubbed his leg and started slowly through back streets and alleyways towards the heart of the town.After a while he found himself outside The Boar's Head again
30'Well,here I am again/.Jamie said out loud,'and I'm worse off than I was before.Still.I'll be safe and warm in here,as long as I keep my head down.'
He slid in at the door and looked cautiously around
31The place was full,and noisy with talk and laughter The pie seller had gone but he thought he might be able to scrounge a scrap of bread.He squeezed onto the nearest bench and made himself as small
as he could.
The men next to him kept their backs turned and talked in low voices.Jamie could see two beakers of ale on the table in front of them There was no bread,though,so he soon lost interest in them.
He was looking round for more promising customers when one of the men reached out to pick up his beaker.
Jamie turned and looked,then looked again and his heart gave a sudden jump.
The man's hand was long and pale,with a silver ring on the middle finger.
33CHAPTER3
A bit of bread and cheese
I told you.Tom/Jamie heard the thin man say.The boy was in here talking to Red Beard.He was watching The Pelican.He must be a spy.*
'What if he is?'Tom said shortly.
'We've got what we were after.Jack And if we see him again I II do for him No need to worry then/
If Tom.If we see him again/
34'Stop going on about it.A scrap of a hd like that can't harm us/
The man called Jack sighed and shook his head He banged the beaker down on the table so hard it made Jamie jump.
They'll kill me,Jamie thought And nobody will know or care I ve got to get way from here
He glanced quickly at the open door.There were three or four people standing by it.laughing away as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Just then Tom coughed and leaned over to spit on the floor Jamie caught a glimpse of his broad face and his heart began to pound in his chest
Run,he thought.Run,Jamie,and run now.
But as he turned away,a huge sailor with a thick brass ring through his ear plumped down beside him.
35And he was trapped,squashed between the sailor and thin-faced Jack
His head began to spin and points of candle-light swum before his eyes And Jack had seen him Jamie saw his mouth drop open-a gaping red mouth studded with two or three black teeth 'You/the mouth said in a whispery voice
36The hand with the ring took Jamie by the shoulder and squeezed.Jamie squirmed but could not break free.
His face was white with fear The big sailor nudged him fiercely and told him to sit still
Look what weve got here,Tom1hissed Jack
Tom blinked with shock ar the sight of Jamie sitting there Then he scowled,drew a fat finger across