Ch 4
Two of the town officials were talking amongst each other in a dining room with a wooden table between them. Both had graying hair but one of the men was balding and in clothing of good condition while the other wore old and stretched out clothing. It had been twenty four hours since Warren left the town.
"We still have not found the boys parents. We searched inside of town and on the outskirts."
The balding man looked into a cup of wine he was holding. "What should we do with the boy, Mr. Argor?"
Mr. Argor replied, "We need to find a home for the boy. We can't put him out on the streets. Find him a family."
"You mean to place a boy in a family that is not his own? Do you see the implications?"
The other answered him, "Implications or not, the boy will starve without someone to watch over him, Charles."
The bald man, Charles, responded again waving his hands up in the air, "Mr. Argor, who will take him? Families cannot feed their blood relatives. Taxes are left unpaid. Just today another fruit vendor was robbed of all his fruit. Crime is at an all time high. Villagers are starving, and you worry about a boy?"
"Charles, I understand something needs to be done about the town, but we don't have any more room in the jails for criminals. We can't keep pulling them in especially when they are stealing just to survive. Send the boy to the Ashford family."
"Yes, Mr. Argor."
"Oh, and Charles."
"Yes, Mr. Argor?"
"Tell the family we will give them 3 copper a week for their troubles."
The men finished their wine and the man named Charles went into the other room to bring the boy to the Ashford family down the road. He entered the room and saw the boy swinging a piece of wood around.
"Zeke."
The boy dropped the wood and ran over to Charles. "Hey! Did you find my parents?"
"I'm afraid we don't know where your parents are, Zeke."
The boy frowned and looked up at Charles. "I miss them though!"
"I know. Zeke, come with me. I'm going to let you stay with someone else until your parents come back."
"I want to stay at my home though!" The boy threw the stick on the ground and crossed his arms.
"You aren't old enough to stay at home. This is a nice family that will suit your needs. There is a mother, a father, and a boy you can play with there."
"I don't want to!" Zeke turned his back on the man.
"Let's go, Zeke."
Charles knocked on the door of the Ashford's. It was a small house and Zeke would have to share a room with the boy, Nick.
A woman answered the door. She was middle-aged and had gray hair. In her hand was a hand-crafted broom created from a stick and hay strands. She wore a white apron that had dirt blotches on it and she wore a blue dress underneath her apron.
"Hello, may I help you?"
"You are Kay, correct?"
"Yes, that is my name. Is something wrong?" The woman placed the broom behind the door.
Charles replied, "This child, Zeke Morgan, was found in a street without parents. By order of the magistrate of Creole, Mr. Argor, it will be your duty to watch over this boy and take care of him as one of your own until his rightful parents return."
"I– We can't. We can't afford to feed another mouth."
"And he cannot afford to feed himself. Mr. Argor has agreed to give your family 3 copper a week in payment for watching over the child."
"Three copper can't feed a mouth for a whole week..."
"I'm just the messenger. If you want to negotiate you will need to talk to Mr. Argor. It is not my place to make decisions that only he can make. I apologize for this inconvenience."
Kay coursed her hand through her hair. "Have you any idea where his parents may be?"
Charles responded, "They have been missing for three days now without a trace," and he whispered in her ear, "it does not seem they will be returning."
Her mouth opened and she put her hand over it gently, overwhelmed with sympathy for the boy. She looked down at Zeke, who had held his broad sword on the ground and was looking away at the chickens in the road.
"What is his name again?" Kay asked.
"Zeke. Zeke Morgan."
Kay sighed and said, "Zeke, why don't we go inside?"
She nodded to Charles and he began to walk away.
Zeke sat at the dinner table as the sun began to set. His sword was under the table. Kay sat next to her husband Tate. He was a strong man who had a receding hair line and dirty clothing. He was a carpenter. Sitting to Zeke's left was Kay's child, Nick, who was about the same age as Zeke. Zeke picked at the carrots on his plate when Nick broke the silence.
"So why is this boy with us again?"
"His parents are away for a while, honey." Kay responded.
Tate grunted and spoke to Kay, "Argor is a bastard for doing this."
Kay's eyes widened, "What did I tell you about your tongue?"
Tate pushed himself out of his chair, knocking it over saying, "I'll say whatever the hell I want. He had no right to throw this burden on us."
Tate pointed to Zeke as he yelled at Kay and then stormed out of the kitchen.
Nick pushed himself off his chair the same way his father did.
"Dad doesn't like you very much." Nick started to walk out when his mother yelled at him.
"Nick be nice to the boy. And finish your food before leaving the kitchen."
"Mom!" Nick whined and got back in his seat. He played with his food for a while.
Dinner ended and the sun had set. Zeke was in the corner of Nick's room with his sheathed sword in front of him on the floor. He was huddled up in a ball, staring at the sword. Beside him in the middle of the room there were some blankets and an old pillow set up on the floor as a bed for him.
He put his sword under the blankets and went into the living room where he saw Nick playing with an old train. Nick looked up as Zeke walked over then continued on his own.
"Can I play with you, Nick?" Zeke sat down across from Nick.
"No! Go away..." Nick turned his back on Zeke and kept playing.
Zeke got up and went to the front door to go outside. The door opened in front of him and Tate stood in the doorway.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I was going to go play with the chickens."
Tate's face was red with heat from working outside. "Chase chickens around? Don't be a fool."
Kay entered from the kitchen and addressed Zeke, "Zeke, stay inside. It's too dark out to play. When it gets dark, bad people come out."
Zeke turned toward Kay but felt Tate push him aside and close the door behind him. He looked at Tate then back at Kay. "Bad people come at night?"
"Yes. People come and steal things."
Tate pushed past Kay into the kitchen. She could tell he was in a bad mood from working in the yard.
"Kay?" Zeke walked toward her scratching his head.
"Yes, Zeke?"
"Do you have any apples?"
Kay put her hand on his head and said, "No we don't have any apples. Why don't you go to bed."
Nick looked up and saw his mother's hand on the boy's head. He became jealous and started to scheme at how to upset the boy but pretended to play with his train when his mother looked over at him.
"I don't want to go to bed," Zeke said sulking, "I miss my parents."
"I know, Zeke, I know." Kay rubbed his hair and turned to go into the kitchen.
Tate entered the kitchen doorway with a beer in his hand. "You heard, Kay, go to bed. Tomorrow morning you'll be doing work around the yard. You need to earn your keep here, boy."