The Thief's Apprentice

The Thief's Apprentice — page 5 — had seen And Mr Scant had not been alone Peering out from my hiding place I saw that a man dressed all in black stood before him brandishing a short curved sword and wearing a cloth mask that hid all but his eyes Mr Scant faced him calmly the golden claw raised at his opponent On the tip of each fin ger was a long blade like a thin kitchen knife with a complex arrangement of brass hinges and pistons running over the back of his hand The one and only photograph of the Claw the halftone of him up on the pediment of the Fitzwil liam Museum depicted him standing with the tips of the blades touching at his chin The pose had given him his popular name but entirely failed to capture the strange and evil look of the contraption itself its eagerness to bite into the flesh of an enemy and stain itself red Such an enemy had clearly emerged As I watched the man in black surged forward his blade catching the dim light from the streetlamp outside the window but Mr Scant reached out and grabbed the blade stopping it dead The claw had closed around the sword like the mandibles of some terrible insect yet the loudest sound to be heard was the grunt from the man as he pulled his weapon loose 4

The Thief's Apprentice — page 6 — This was the strangest part of all the fight had been almost completely silent as though the claw could cut the very sound from the air Nothing was any louder than somebody setting down a knife and fork at the dinner table even though at night the tiniest sounds usually boom like church bells Mr Scant looked almost lazy as he leaned away from vicious cuts at his throat but the claw’s blades flashed out forcing the other man to leap back They had an odd brightness to them the curved sword gleamed while the claw danced with soft luminescence As Mr Scant danced around his opponent I remembered Mother’s remark that when going about his butler’s duties Mr Scant crossed the house silently as a cat She had once gone so far as to scold him for creeping up on her which was the talk of the household for days afterwards Then there was the time when the farm boy almost dropped one of the big pails of milk only for Mr Scant to rush down the steps to catch it without spilling a drop At the time I reasoned it was a case of being in the right place at the right time but in truth Mr Scant had moved like a viper Could I have guessed at his secret from that It would have taken greater detective skills 5

The Thief's Apprentice — page 7 — than mine And I would say my detective skills are roughly average for a boy of twelve The masked man began to grow desperate He aimed blow after blow at Mr Scant’s head but the claw caught every one making no more than a soft scraping sound When the stranger leapt at him Mr Scant dodged the thrust of his sword then grabbed the man with his left hand and flipped him over his shoulder onto the old sofa I feared my own breathing would betray me that my heart pounded so loudly the sound was pouring from my ears But at the same time I was mesmerized With an abruptness that made me feel sick the fight ended The man must have decided the best way to upset Mr Scant would be to make a lot of noise But the moment he took a deep breath Mr Scant was upon him When the blades flashed and plunged into the soft part beneath the man’s ribs I was afraid his opponent had drawn his last breath But Mr Scant had curled the claw into a fist and punched all the air out of the man before he could make a sound Like a puppet with its strings cut the man slumped over Mr Scant’s shoulder Silent as ever the old man stood and quickly made for the main staircase 6

The Thief's Apprentice — page 8 — What the Ruminating Claw planned to do with his victim I had no way to know Nor did I dare risk following him to find out I felt almost as though I had been the one who’d been punched and sat with my back to the chaise longue trying to catch my breath I tried to think but my head was the net of a fishing boat dropped onto the deck The day’s catch had spilled everywhere A dangerous criminal lived here in my home a criminal with the keys to every room whose proper place was within stabbing distance of Father’s back And what I could do now that I knew this secret I had not the faintest idea 7

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