Midsummer's Eve

It was wonderful to live near the sea. On hot days Jacco and I would take off our shoes and stockings and paddle in the cove just below Cador. Sometimes we would get one of the fishermen to take us out and we went sailing out of the harbour and along the coast towards Plymouth Sound. Sometimes we caught shrimps and baby crabs and we hunted for semi-precious stones like topaz and amethyst along the shore. We often saw the poor people down on the beach collecting limpets which they used for some sort of dish, and perhaps buying the last of the fish which the fishermen had brought in and which had failed to find buyers among the more monied folk. I liked to go down with Isaacs our butler and listen to him bargaining for fish. He was a very stately gentleman and even Jacco was a little in awe of him. When Isaacs took the fish back to the house Mrs. Penlock, the cook, would examine it carefully and if it were not to her liking she would show her disapproval in her usual forceful manner. She was a very garrulous woman. Many times I heard her complain: "Is this the best you could do, Mr. Isaacs? My patience me, what am I expected to do with this? Couldn't you find me some nice plaice or some sizable John Dorys?" Mr. Isaacs always had the power to subdue any of his staff. He would sternly retort, "It is God who decides what goes into the sea and what comes out of it, Mrs. Penlock." That would silence her. She was very superstitious and afraid to question the matter when put like that.

It was at the quayside that I first noticed Digory. Lean, lively, his skin tanned to a deep brown by the weather, his black hair a mass of curls, his small dark eyes alert and cunning, his trousers ragged and his feet bare, he darted among the tubs and creels with the slippery ease of an eel and the cunning of a monkey.

He had sidled up to a tub of pilchards while fisherman Jack Gort was arguing with Isaacs about the price of hake and had his back to Us- I gasped, for Digory had thrust his hand into the tub and picked UP a handful offish which, with a skill which must have come from long training, he slipped into a bag.

I opened my mouth to call Jack Gort's attention to the theft but Digory was looking straight at me. He put his finger to his mouth as though commanding silence; and oddly enough I was silent. Then, almost mockingly, he took another handful of fish which went into the bag, conveniently there for this purpose. He grinned at me before he, darted away from the quayside.

I was too astounded to speak, and when Jack Gort had finished his conference with Isaacs, I said nothing. I watched anxiously while Jack surveyed the tub but apparently he did not notice that some of his stock had vanished, for he said nothing.

I believe Digory thought that because I had witnessed his villainy and not reported it, I had more or less connived at it; and that gave us a special understanding.

Shortly afterwards when I was walking in the woods, I saw him again. He was lying on the bank throwing stones into the river.

"Hi there," he said as I drew level with him.

I was about to walk haughtily past. That was not the way in which humble people spoke to our family and I thought he could not know who I was.

He seemed to read my thoughts for he said again: "Hi there, Cadorson girl.”

"So ... you know me?”

"'Course I know 'ee. Everyone knows Cadorsons. Didn't I see 'ee down at the fish market?”

"I saw you steal fish," I said.

"Did 'ee and all.”

"Stealing is wrong. You'll get punished for it.”

"I don't," he said. "I be smart.”

"Then wait till you get to Heaven. It's all recorded.”

"I be too smart for 'em," he repeated.

"Not for the angels.”

He looked surprised. He picked up a stone and threw it into the river.

"Bet 'ee can't throw as far.”

For answer I showed him that I could, whereupon he picked up another stone and in a few seconds we were standing side by side throwing stones into the water.

He turned to me suddenly and said:

" 'Tweren't stealing. All fish in the sea belongs to everybody. Tis anybody's for the taking.”

"Then why don't you go and fish for it like Jack Gort?”

"Why should I when he does it for me?”

"I think you're a very wicked boy.”

He grinned at me. "Cos why?" he asked.

"Because you stole Jack Gort's fish.”

"Telling on me?" he asked.

I hesitated and he came closer to me. "Don't 'ee dare," he said.

"What if I did?”

"Do you know my granny?”

I shook my head.

"She'd cast a spell on 'ee. Then you'd wither right away and die.”

"Who says so?”

He came closer to me, narrowed his eyes and said in a whisper: "Cos she's a ...”

"A what?”

He shook his head. "Not telling. You be careful or it'll be the worse for 'ee, Cadorson girl.”

With that he leaped into the air, and catching a branch of a tree, he swung on it for a few seconds, looking more than ever like a clever monkey. Then he dropped to the ground and ran off.