Chapter 4: By the Horns

"You say I stole your stuff? Why would I want to take any of your stupid rotten vegetables?" Fingers whined at Norman

"I say ye took my pomegranates withou' payin' me."

Fingers kicked Norman's leg hard and ran off, while Shepard watched from behind the stall. He dropped the box of produce he was carrying and ran after Fingers. He ran past Norman, who yelled after him, "Shepard! Where ye going?"

"I'm gonna catch Fingers for you!" yelled back Shepard

"You can't catch me Shepard!" yelled back Fingers

Fingers turned a corner, exiting the marketplace. Shepard swung over a low-table to take a shortcut through a meat vendor. Fingers looked behind him and smirked with smugness. Shepard crash tackled him from the side, coming out of nowhere.

"Oof!" cried Fingers as he hit the ground with Shepard on top of him.

Shepard quickly twisted him around and found Norman's pomegranates under his shirt.

"Owowowow!" whined Fingers, Shepard backed off him, holding the pomegranates tightly against his chest. Fingers got up and dusted himself off, though it didn't help much.

"So Shepard, you stole from us and then you attack me. Erin's gonna kill you!"

Norman finally came up behind Shepard and stood imposingly staring down at Fingers.

"I don' think so kid."

Shepard turned around to face Norman

"I got your pomegranates back mister Norman."

Norman took the pomegranates and ruffled Shepard's hair, "Great job Shepard. Ye know this kid?"

Shepard turned and glared at Fingers, "Yeah, I used to. He's part of a gang of kids I was with for a while. I didn't like the way they worked so I left."

"And he stole our fish." added Fingers

"I took two fish that I helped you steal. It's only fair." Replied Shepard

"I think ye should stay away from Shepard, he's my responsibility now kid." Said Norman, his voice grave

Fingers blanched, then backed away slowly, before running full pelt down the street, almost getting crushed by a parking car.

"Thanks mister Norman." Said Shepard

"Ah, it's OK Shepard, I was pushed aroun' by kids when I was yer age too. Ye gotta make them listen to ye, sometimes through words, sometimes through actions. Come on, let's get back to the store."

For the rest of the month, Shepard lay anxiously in his bedroll that Norman had provided, thinking about what the gang would do to him now that they knew where he was, but they never came.

"Maybe Norman was right, and he intimidated Fingers enough to make him leave me alone."

Shepard was comforted by that thought, and rolled over and finally fell asleep, watching the cars fly through the city night.

Shepard built up quite the significant amount of upper body strength over the time that he worked for Norman, and eventually became part of his business as if he were an employee, but was technically still a minor, so Norman couldn't pay him outright, but he gave him the leftovers that he couldn't sell before they went off, and Shepard became less gaunt and scrawny due to his healthier diet. He noticed that he had started growing too, as he could reach his arms all the way around the smaller boxes when before he couldn't.

"Hey, Shepard. Come here a minute would ya?" called Norman, Shepard picked up the next box and jogged lightly and put it in the back, walking up to Norman who was going through his accounts. He saw Shepard standing there and looked at him strangely,

"Yer an orphan, but did ye ever learn how ta read or count?"

"I learnt how to read, but not my numbers."

"Well, it's about time ye learnt. After we close down today, ye comin' back ta my house. Me wife's a teacher, she can help ye."

Shepard grinned like a mad idiot, but thought about it for a second before responding.

"Mister Norman, why are you helping me like this? You could have let Fingers let Erin know about me, and now you're going to teach me numbers."

"Ye real smart fer yer age Shepard, maybe too smart. I didn't let that kid have at ye because it would've brought the rest of them here, and I don' want that. and I'm gonna teach ye numbers so ye can help me behin' the counter."

Shepard's face brightened as his suspicions were lifted

"Oh, OK then!"

Some hours later, as the sun was going down, Shepard and Norman hopped into Norman's truck and he drove them to his house. It was a long drive, and Shepard watched the sun fall down past the horizon before they reached it. Norman walked into the house, a modest building that had several areas attached to it by hand.

"Mister Norman, did you add those parts of the house?"

"Nah, me brother in law did all that fer me. Come inside, I told me wife you were comin'."

Shepard entered the house after Norman, who held the door open for him. Inside the hallway were two children running towards Norman, who knelt down and scooped them up in a big hug. The children squealed with delight, and Norman introduced them as his children, "This is Peter, and Anabelle. Peter's five and Anabelle's three. Kids, this is Shepard."

Peter waved vigorously at Shepard, who smiled and waved back, while Anabelle shrieked and hid her face in Norman's shoulder.

"Honey? Are you home?" called a voice from down the hallway, which preceded a tall woman in a flowery dress with auburn hair tied in a bun behind her head.

"Oh, is this that Shepard boy you talked about?"

"Yep, this is Shepard. Shepard, this is me lovely wife Heather. Heather, he's been helping me around the stall, carryin' boxes an' such. He actually stopped a thief from stealing me fruits."

"Well, you said you wanted me to teach him, so let's get started. This way Shepard."