Chapter 4 is finally up. Hope you're enjoying it so far. Thanks for reading.
"Good morning young master. What brings you this early to my modest stall?" said a heavy bearded man.
"Good morning Thomas! How are you today?" James was cautious not to ask for his favour straight away. Greasing Thomas's palm would probably be better especially if he wanted to avoid any reporting to his father later on.
"As you can see, I am already on the deck, prepared to deal with our city's finest painters and their famous luxurious needs. But what about you? Don't tell me you're now aspiring to become an artist?" There was amusement in Thomas's tone. And also incredulity. This was not to James's taste but because of his visit's motive he could not afford to be picky.
"Thomas, my friend..." The shop-owner's eyebrows raised in surprise. "... I've met someone yesterday. And this encounter inspired me to use my drawing skills... or put them to rest once and for all." He decided not to reveal that the person he had met was a woman. It was irrelevant at this stage.
"Oh I see... and who could this person be? A fine lady you enamoured instantly? I always thought you and your young lad were..." He did not have time to finish his sentence as James shut him up, clearly upset about what Thomas was implying.
"Dear Lord! No. I'm not this kind of folk. Anyway it is not important for what I want to draw." Chin up and staring right in the eyes of Thomas, James was making a point to stay objective and on target. There was no space for emotions, not if he wanted to reclaim his uncle's daggers. He wasn't even sure if she was responsible. But at least he had a plan and it was simple on principle: find her, interrogate her and from there he hoped she would lead him to the daggers. It was a long shot and he was totally aware of that but he had to start somewhere.
"I can be a true friend and even help you with my father if you help me in return." There it was of his greasing technique.
"I see..." Thomas's face was revealing a lot. James knew his approach had not been very tactful but he wasn't known for being a fine strategist anyway. He had leverage available so he was using it. "And what can you do to help my case?" said the shopkeeper while folding his arms.
"I..." Quick! Think of something! "I have knowledge that I could share with you."
"I am listening."
Think carefully before talking. You don't want to end up in a mess. James's mind was reviewing in speed mode all the potential information he could gain from without putting himself under his father's radar. It obviously took too long as Thomas broke the silence.
"That is what I thought. You have nothing to share but you want me to help you anyway. You know I'm not a bad man and I could have helped you, should you not have mentioned my debts."
Thomas was turning his back to James and walking towards the front part of his shop when he was stopped.
"I am not sorry about being direct in my requests. However I consent that I should have been more tactful."
"You're too proud. Let me tell you this: if you want to gain respect from the people around you, and even from strangers you need to work of your tongue. It is too quick to attack."
James was not appreciating being told a lesson. He was no longer a child. He was getting impatient. "Are you going to help me, or not?"
"I don't want any additional trouble with your father. I can give you a broken carpentry pencil and you can take this drawing block of paper. It's all I can spare. No paint, no brush..."
James nodded with his head and reached out for what the shopkeeper was handing.
"It will do just fine. However I need to sharpen the pencil. Do you have a blade I could borrow?"
Thomas provided a pocket knife without saying a word. He breathed heavily though to notify his annoyance. James took care of the sharpening and as soon as he was done, put the knife back on the counter.
"Thanks Thomas." said James as he was leaving the shop by the same way he entered. The merchant did not bother replying.
Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong...
The New Church of the market place was announcing 8 o'clock as a small crowd was assembling near Juli's apple's stall. She was a very nice trader, coming to the city twice a month. She was sharing her time between Amsterdam and a few smaller cities on the coast. Her merchandise was following the seasons and in autumn she was the main dealer of high quality apples coming from a secret supplier she was the only-one to know the identity. The rest of the year she did commerce with other farmers but there never was a better period for her than autumn. Everyone knew Juli. But only a few could afford her products. Those were essentially captains, rich painters or a commander. Obviously they were never coming in person. They were sending their maids, lackeys, servants to wait in the morning cold to be the first to get the rare fruits. This morning was no exception. James had even heard about some domestics getting a bonus for managing to get Juli's apples.
Johannes had always been a strong supporter of Juli's products and Anneke would probably be there on the family's behalf. James's eye probed over the mass squeezing up against the stall. He did not dare to approach too close as he didn't want to get caught.
He was lost in his thoughts when a hand crashed on his shoulder and made him jump in surprise. He almost dropped his drawing supply.
"So, this is how you are spending your days? Staring at people in the street?"
"What are you doing here, Oliver? Aren't you supposed to be making candles all day-long?" James was astonished that his friend was not working at this hour. He was not to be wondering in the street during working hours. "Has Petrus given you a day off? That's not like him to let his prays slip through his claws." And that was an under-statement.
"I did go to his shop but it was closed, even the back entry was locked. I hammered the door as you know sometimes he's having a heavy end on the drinks but nothing happened. So I just thought I'd take the day off."
That was out of the ordinary but James could not complain as now he had a companion to help him on his mission.
"And you, what are you doing today? Apart from spying on people?"
"I'm looking for the woman I've met yesterday evening."
"Why?" asked Oliver.
"I can feel that she's involved in the disappearance of my daggers."
"How could she be?" Oliver was dubious.
"It's difficult to explain, really. It's just that... I know she is. Somehow, I know. Do you know what I mean?"
"I'm not sure I'm with you but if you need my help, then you can count on me for the day." Oliver's tone was genuinely offering support to his friend. James could tell.
"Thanks Oliver. But so far you cannot do much as I don't know where to find her. Or worse, I don't even know if she's still in the city. I was going to draw her portrait, from what I could recollect, but after deep reflection I don't remember much."
"Maybe you could try and compare with actual people you can see in the street now."
That is a good suggestion actually. I could use that as a starting point and from there refine a portrait of this mysterious woman. "Yes, that could work I assume. At least it would better than starting from nothing."
"What about her?" Oliver was pointing at a rather old but still very agile wrinkled woman.
"No! She was much younger." James almost burst out laughing.
"How old?"
"I don't know. I'd say she would be around twenty or so."
"So rather young then?"
"I don't know, maybe a bit older. But no more than thirtyish. She was surely not a damsel."
"If she was married, would she be wandering at night?"
Oliver had a point there.
"Yes that's odd. And she's was fair to the eye. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced she is linked to..."
"Do you mean last's night's events at our..." Oliver whispered "... hideout?"
"Yes. It's a strange sensation I have..."
"Shouldn't we go back to where you met her? And ask around for information, clue?"
"I thought about that but there was no one on the street at that time. We've only seen a cat."
Oliver was silent. James didn't know what to do. He had a pencil and some paper but didn't know exactly what to draw. He was not getting much inspiration from the crowd of people passing by.
An hour passed and they were still scanning the passers-by in the hope of finding her only by luck.
"Okay I'm freezing, standing here, doing nothing."
"If you want to go back to your candles, let me know at once. I'm not forcing you to be here." James was getting desperate.
"You should change spots anyway."
"Let's check up on Petrus then. I can still come back here later." As he said that, he turned his back to the market place and headed towards a narrow passage with his friend. Little did he know that her mysterious woman was to pass in front of his spot less than 5 minutes after he left.
Please leave me your feedback so I know what your thoughts are. Also don't hesitate to correct my English (as it's not my native language I do mistakes and if nobody corrects me I cannot improve.). Have a lovely weekend :)
