Dinner was a great success and the wine had flowed freely already. The dining table had moved into the living room as the kitchen wasn't big enough for the ten people seated at it. The starter had been a Pasta bake made by Robyn which was a popular ingredient to any dinner that was held as it was superb. Main course was a sausage casserole made by Kit which was also growing in popularity around the tables of Lazytown. Dessert was a chocolate soufflé which again was made by Kit; everyone was loathe to eat it because it looked delicious.

When everyone had tucked into their share of the dessert and were almost done Kit went upstairs and got his recently purchased knife throwing board out. He also brought down his long serving throwing knives and a pillow case. All he needed was a volunteer which it didn't take him long to find. The Mayor had held his hand up rapidly after Kit had asked and a comment had been made that living with Bessie was starting to get to him finally.

Once the Mayor was ready Kit showed him what position to stand in against the board. There were five balloons on the board: two either side of the head, two under each hand and one that went between the legs of the person standing against it. It didn't take long for the Mayor to get in position and he didn't appear to be at all nervous.

To create an atmosphere of suspense like any great entertainer Kit staggered around pretending to be just a little bit more drunkified than he was already. It was only when Kit put the pillow case over his own head that people started to get nervous. With his trick being a success and the atmosphere right for his performing his stunt he placed the pillow case over the Mayor's head.

After walking back several places Kit picked up his knives and before throwing or even sharpening them together he juggled them with his expert skill and everyone watched with bated breath. Much to everyone's amazement and relief Kit caught every single knife by the handle and suffered no injuries.

"For someone who may have lost his hands through substantial injuries caused by knives you'd have thought he would be more careful than this," Doctor Cole commented. "You do like to live dangerously don't you?"

Kit smiled at Doctor Cole, "Yep. I'm danger man, everyone takes risks in life whether they know it or not. I'm just a little more open about the risks I take."

Remembering that the Mayor was stood waiting to have knives thrown at the board he was standing against Kit stopped juggling and after asking the Mayor if he was ready threw the first knife. It had been aimed at the balloon to the left of the Mayor's head and made flawless contact with it. The second knife was aimed at the second balloon and again Kit's aim was dead on and after two balloons with two knives the Mayor was unharmed.

Balloons three and four were popped with similar flawlessness and flair and now there was one left. A couple of the men in the room automatically crossed their legs when Kit started to take aim at the balloon placed dangerously between the Mayor's legs. If Kit missed a very important body part would go missing.

Much to everyone's surprise and amusement Kit didn't throw the knife but after making everyone believe he would he just simply walked up to the board and popped the last balloon with the tip of his remaining knife. This caused everyone to laugh and applaud while an audible sigh of relief was heard from underneath the pillow case.

Once Kit had put away his knife board and all related paraphernalia he came back downstairs and was accosted by everyone who wanted a story. He remembered that he'd promised and tried to think of one. After asking which story they wanted his choice was limited to a story of his experiences out on the road. They had asked for one of his earlier experiences and he found one is his memory.

"I've got one but it would ruin the evening, it's not the happiest of stories." Kit said sitting himself down on his chair.

"Tell us, we can all cheer up afterwards." Trixie urged she was supported by several people round the table nodding.

Kit gave in, "Ok. Everyone ready?"

Kit's audience made themselves more comfortable in their chairs and nodded when they were ready.

"Right," Kit began taking in a deep breath. "It was winter. This particular day was cold, ever so cold. They reckoned it was the coldest day in the whole year and perhaps even on record. I didn't feel the cold much because I'd been given a coat by a labourer who'd seen me walking around without one on and shivering in my little shoes. Being only seven at the time and the labourer being a fully grown man the coat was massive on me but because of the size difference it was lovely and toasty warm.

Anyway, during this day I was standing in a street. The street was abandoned and snow fell in droves all around. From where I was standing I could see a man huddled up in a shop doorway. The shop was all boarded up and he was lying down in this doorway. Even though I was standing on the other side of the street from this man I could see him quite clearly. He had no coat on, no jacket and no shoes. From what I could see he was an old man with a big bushy beard and he was lying there shivering.

I turned my attention from the man when I heard hurried footfalls coming my way in the street; a woman with an arm full of shopping was on her way home. She paused for a second when she noticed me but it was just a second, as she walked past the man she threw a penny on the ground in front of him. A penny! This man was freezing to death, he was turning blue. She threw the penny down as if a penny would stop him freezing, as if it would safe his life and buy him some food. She didn't even look at him, not one look and carried on walking after slinging the penny, carried on walking back to her nice warm house with her nice warm fire and her nice food. Just a morsel of the food would have been of much more comfort to a dying man than a stupid penny.

The man was trying to reach out for the penny, it had been thrown near him but was out of his reach and he was too weak to move. His bony arm was trying to reach this penny so desperately but he couldn't reach it. Being only seven at the time and not knowing any better I ran up to the man and handed him the penny. This guy's hand was like ice, it was ice and he was shivering so badly. When he took the penny from me a tear fell from his eye and down his cheek, it was so cold outside; he was so cold that the tear just froze on his cheek.

Taking off my coat I put it over him; he was a lot colder than me and needed it more than I did. Once I'd put the coat on him I sat down next to him and snuggled up to the coat to share some of the warmth. After a little while the man stopped shivering and I thought he was sleeping. Thinking that he was sleeping I went to sleep too. I smiled because I thought my coat had made him nice and warm and he could sleep without shivering.

Several hours must have passed and the sun rose through the scattered snow clouds. I heard something pull up near the shop and woke up. It was a big white van and two men came out of it. One of them knelt down in front of me and said, 'go home boy, there's nothing more you can do here.' And he handed me my coat. Once he'd helped me put it on he put something in my hand and pushed me on my way. After walking a little way I turned back and watched as they put the old man in a big black bag, a big black bag that zipped up at the front. I watched them throw this bag into the back of the van as if it were a heap of rubbish. They shut the doors of the van and drove away.

When they'd gone I looked at what had been put in my hand and it was a penny. Seeing the men throw the old man in the van told me what had happened to him. He must have been minutes from freezing to death when I put my coat on him and I was too late. All of what I saw faced me with my own mortality and at seven years old it's a terrifying thing to happen. Something at the back of my mind told me, 'you'll die out here. You'll die out here and no one will notice. All you'll have is a penny in your hand and you'll be thrown into a big white van wrapped in a big black bag'."

During his story Kit had grown increasingly upset but had carried on to finish it. Robyn held him offering him support and it had helped a little.

Trixie felt guilty for urging Kit to tell the story, had she known how close to his heart it was and the circumstances she wouldn't have asked. She wasn't the only one left crying after the story, no one in the room had dry eyes and knew the true depth of the horrors Kit had seen in his fifteen years of drifting.

Wiping away his remaining tears and smiling Kit stood up, "coffee anyone?"

Everyone nodded wiping their tears away too. No one could deny that Kit had an extremely strong spirit which had overcome the worst kind of hardships.