Chapter 7- Humiliation

The entire throng was cheering for Matthew as the King of Fools.

But meanwhile, one of the English guards, holding a tomato, told the other guard, "Think he's ugly now? Watch this!" And he threw it at Matthew. The crowd gasped in horror.

"HAIL TO THE KING!" shouted another guard as he threw another tomato at poor Matthew. Before he knew it, all of the guards were throwing rotten fruit at him, causing him to slip. As he tried to escape, the guards only laughed at him and tied him up with ropes, saying, "Where are you going? The fun's only just begun!"

Matthew just couldn't stand all this derision and ripped his shirt in fury. But as he tried to release himself, the guards only tied him further until he was tied to the turntable. Two of the guards then spun the poor Canadian around to see the crowd's shouts of contempt.

Only Amelia wasn't so disparaging, no, instead, she was angry at what the guards were doing to Matthew.

"MASTER!" Matthew called out. "MASTER, PLEASE! HELP ME!" But his English master could only smirk at what he saw as deserved punishment.

"Monsieur," asked Captain Francois, "I request permission to stop this madness."

"In a moment, captain," said the still-smirking Judge Kirkland, "a lesson needs to be learned here."

But then, the American girl Amelia walked up to the tied-up and torn Matthew. The crowd was silenced.

"Don't be afraid," she said to the Canadian as she wiped the tomato stains from his cheek, "I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen."

Just then, Kirkland shouted, "You, Yankee girl! Get down at once!"

"Yes, sir," Amelia said to the English judge, "Just as soon as I free this poor critter."

"I won't allow it!" Arthur shouted. But Amelia pulled a dagger from her dress and cut the ropes anyway. "How dare you defy me!" shouted the English judge.

"Ya mistreat this poor varmint the same way ya mistreat my people!" said Amelia rather angrily at the English judge, "Ya speak of justice, but you're cruel to them most in need of yer help!"

"SILENCE!" shouted Arthur.

"JUSTICE!" shouted Amelia.

The crowd gasped with awe at the American girl's brave defiance of the English judge as she threw the ropes off of Matthew's shoulders.

"Mark my words, Yankee," growled Arthur with cruel hate in his heart, "you shall pay for this insolence."

"Then it appears that we've crowned the wrong fool," joked Amelia, "the only fool I see in these here parts is YOU!" And with that, she threw the crown at the English judge as her cat hissed at him with contempt.

Then Kirkland, furious, ordered, "Captain Bonnefoy, arrest her!"

So the French captain snapped his fingers, signaling Kirkland's sordid order to the guards. As they approached Amelia, she began to count, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…so there's ten of you and only one of me," she said, then began to feign sadness. "What's a poor girl to do?" She pretended to sob into her hanky and blew her nose. With that she disappeared in a flash.

"Witchcraft," Kirkland said to himself, reacting to what Amelia just did.

"Yoo-hoo!" Amelia called to the guards as she had hid herself and her cat in a basket of masks.

"There she is!" shouted one guard.

"Get her!" yelled another.

And the American girl jumped off the stage with her pet cat and made a run for it, leaping into the crowd as they collectively carried her off.

Two of the English guards tried to leap into the crowd as well, but the crowd moved out of the way, causing the guards to fall and crash their armor.

Three more guards ran after Amelia, but she grabbed onto a cage holding an old Roman named Romulus Imperiosus and used it to hit the guards, upon which moment it snapped from the wheel holding the cage and rolled across the street. At that moment, Feliciano, the little cat leaped onto a Sealandic boy named Peter Kirkland, who was riding on a wooden crate scooter. Amelia followed suit.

Just then four English guards who were chasing Amelia ran into Mathias Kohler, a Dane on stilts, who proceeded to kick all the guards at once, in the groin.

Amelia, Feliciano, and Peter then scootered over a ramp, zooming over some more guards. The cage holding Romulus then fell onto the guards, causing it to break open.

"YAY! I'M FREE! I'M FREE!" shouted Romulus. But no sooner did Romulus try to escape than he tripped and fell into a pillory instead. "Dang it!" he muttered with disgust.

Just then, an English guard on horseback was chasing after Amelia and her cat. She came to another man on stilts, this time a Swede named Berwald Oxenstierna, and pulled down his pants. As the guard tried to get the American girl, he got caught in Berwald's pants and slingshot across the street, causing his hat to fall onto Amelia's head. Amelia took off the hat and gave a low, gracious bow.

Three more guards on horseback came to her, but she threw the hat at the guards causing them all to fall simultaneously. The hat then flew past Francois and hit a pole. "What a girl!" he thought, admiring Amelia's inner strength.

Presently, two more guards ran after Amelia, but then, she came to a Finnish tightrope artist named Tino Vainamoinen. Amelia whistled to Tino, who dropped his wooden pole onto the guards. And before the guards knew it, they ran into Arthur Kirkland's seat, much to his annoyance.

Two more stiltsmen, a Norwegian named Lukas Bondevik and an Icelandic man named Emil Bondevik, lifted the American girl to the top of a tent and with the twirl of a curtain, she disappeared just as the sky grew dark.

As the thunder rolled, Judge Kirkland snarled at Matthew. He turned to Captain Bonnefoy, telling him, "Find her, captain. I want her alive."

"Oui, monsieur," said Francois, who told the guards, "Seal up the area, men. Find the American girl and do not harm her."

Just as it was beginning to rain, Kirkland turned his horse to Matthew, glaring at him.

Matthew was riddled with guilt when he saw his English master like that. "I'm sorry, master," he said to Kirkland, "I will never disobey you again."

And with that he jumped off the stage and walked back into the cathedral, closing the door after he had done so.

Poor Matthew had tears in his eyes. He had never felt so ashamed in all his life.