kitchen I was pleased but nervous to see my sister absent Our neighbors frequently praised my sister for bringing me up by hand She had a hard and heavy hand She was tall and bony and most always wore a coarse apron with the bib front stuck full of pins and needles like armor Joe was as different from his wife as storm is from sunshine A strong man in body but sweet in nature he paid hard for marrying my sister Mrs Joe is looking for you Joe said She’s due back Best hide behind the door I took his advice but when my sister threw open the door she knew what kept it from hitting the wall She hauled me out and threw me at Joe Joe slipped me behind him I’m sure she would have snatched me again if he weren’t such a stout wall Where have you been while I’ve worried and fretted she demanded The graveyard Graveyard she grumbled The two of you 8
will drive me to the graveyard one day What a pair you’d be without me My sister then cut our nightly bread and butter Though I was hungry I knew I must hide my bread for the graveyard man and his terrifying partner Joe looked at me as I sat holding my untouched bread Finally he turned his head and I slipped the bread down the leg of my pants When Joe looked again his eyes widened in alarm Pip you mustn’t gobble your bread like that he said shaking his head It’s a mercy you ain’t gobbled yourself to death Been gobbling his food has he cried my sister She grabbed me by the hair and said the most awful of words You’ll need a dose My sister was fond of a home remedy of tar and water that she believed cured anything On this particular evening my case demanded a pint of it poured down my throat Joe got off with half of a pint 9
I slipped away during his dosing and hid my guilty bread in my tiny bedroom Then just before bed I heard guns in the distance Another convict off Joe said I was on fire with questions What convicts did he mean Where had they come from Who was firing at them My sister glared at me From the prison ships in the river she snapped I wondered aloud about who was put into prison ships and why they might be put there My sister flew into a rant about how the murderers and robbers aboard the ship began their evil ways by asking too many questions Then she sent me to bed I barely got any sleep knowing I must rob the pantry at dawn When the black of night turned to gray I grabbed a load of food nearly at random in my panic over being caught Then I took a file from the forge and ran for the misty marshes 10
chapter 2 My Convict I raced to meet the convict through the chilly fog I jumped at every sound certain my life as a thief would soon be found out I spotted a man folded upon himself with his back to me and head down as if asleep I touched him on the shoulder and he leaped to his feet and spun to face me Though he wore the same gray clothes and the same thick leg iron this was not my convict I knew instantly it must be the young man who enjoyed cutting up boys I jumped back as the man took a weak swing at me He stumbled as he missed Then he rushed past me into the mist 11
