Chapter 25
To The Constables We Go
She sat by the sidewalk for so long, drowning in misery, her legs felt crampy and wiggly when she stood up. Well, what more could she do but to start on her journey back to join the others. They were probably looking for her by now. She retraced her steps through the market, which strangely had become even busier. The crowd pressed on her from the back. Unable to push out of the horde, she was shoved forward until she was right in the center of the commotion. And there was Cherry gleefully munching away in the midst of some strange men, one of which was gripping her reins.
"Oh, Thank God. Cherry, you didn't leave me here," she cried, running to hug the horse.
"Does she belong to you, girl?" the man who held the reins roughly demanded.
"Indeed, she does. I lost her while I was making some purchases in a store," she explained.
"Then you owe us, missy," the man growled, baring his large, square teeth. "This horse of yours threw down one of our barrels of apples and ate through it."
Daisy looked around at the apples rolling on the ground, trampled by passers-by, or being snatched by hungry children hiding under the stalls, and at the half-empty barrel standing beside the burly man. "Oh dear," she cried in despair. "I am truly sorry about that. Of course, I would pay you for the apples."
"You would pay for them, won't you?" The man stroked his chin as he brought his face close enough to hers that she could peer into his brown eyes on eye-level and also, unfortunately, get the full blow of the alcohol-stench breath so much so that her eyes teared. She hated the look on his face.
"Yes, I must pay every pence. How much is it?" she fished for her little pouch from the pocket of her trousers.
"I thought at first glance that you were a mere tomboy servant on an errand but you, missy, are too refined to be a servant. In fact, you must be from a good home, a rich merchant's house mayhaps?"
"What does my household have to do with this?" Daisy said, starting to feel uneasy and thus, irritated at such pointed questions. "Look, my good man, I have to go. If you don't mind, let me pay you back and I'll be on my way. I have already spent so much time looking for Cherry as it is."
The man sniggered and looked around at his colleagues, "She's a fine girl, isn't she? She is pleasing to the eye, and she has quite a mouth on her."
Daisy's spine pricked with fear. She had heard of young ladies kidnapped and ransomed or had worse things befalling them. If the burly man and his companions heaved her over their shoulders there and then, who would care enough to intervene?
"Let's get a good look at her, shall we, Bernard," the tallest and meanest suggested, sucking on his lower lip menacingly. Daisy's skin crawled just watching him.
Bernard, the burly man, stepped closer but before she could dodge, he caught her by the collar of her shirt and made her hat topple down in the struggle to hold on to her.
"Well, it's no wonder she has a mouth. She's Irish for God's sake. She must be an adventurous daughter of one of the merchants that sailed in from the mainland," the tall man said with a snort.
"Not Irish. I'm not Irish." Daisy gritted out, wriggling to free herself from the burly grip. Immediately she came loose, she backed away to a safer distance and rearranged her garments. "It's true my father's mother descended from the Irish but that's a long ancestor down the line and my father is not a rich merchant. He's a farmer, in the countryside." That should settle the matter of her worth to them.
Well, Missy, you just have to pay a strip of silver to settle the score," Bernard informed her.
"A strip of silver? Did Cherry trample on two barrels of apples or you just have the nerve to cheat me?" she fumed.
"Those apples were imported from England. Only the nobles can afford to buy. They are a very special kind. It's not a surprise you can't recognise the brand being a common country farmer's daughter and all."
Daisy cramped her teeth down on her lower lip so hard they could've cut through her flesh. The remainder from her purchases would only amount to about a silver and some pences. Where in the world was she going to get nine more silvers to satisfy those greedy toads?
"This is what we're going to do. I would give you a silver now then in five days time, I'll definitely send someone to bring the rest," she said.
"How can we be sure you won't run away with our money? We don't even know where to find you," one of the men stated.
"So, if I say I'm one of the princesses of the palace, would that make my word more viable? I'm afraid you're going to have to trust my word. I always keep my promise," she said firmly with an impulsive, haughty thrust of her chin which only sent the men bowling over with laughter.
"That is too much to ask from us, missy. We would sell this horse to pay for the apples. She looks like a good breed and she's strong and well-raised and would mate well and foul well too. She should be enough so you can go, princess dear, to your bounty castle. You can afford to spare a horse, can't you?"
"Don't you dare harm Cherry. She's my cousin's, Lady__" she bit down her tongue just in time. "Anyway, you won't if you don't want to be in trouble."
Bernard brought down his hairy head to her face once more. "If you want Brown here, all we need is to know which household to send the bill, Missy. I get the feeling your household, be it the king's or whichever it is, would be more than glad to part with a strip to have her back."
"I can't tell you which house I'm from. It'd be more trouble for me."
"What do we do with you then?" Bernard asked rhetorically but one of his men replied.
"Let's call the constable."
"Let's take her to see the chief. I daresay he would be awfully excited to hear her case. He would find something useful for her to do in return," the tall man said.
Bernard decided on the latter and she half dragged, half carried her into one of the stalls loaded with apples. The so-called chief, astonishly the shortest, tiniest man she had ever seen, jumped down from his stool behind his too high counter and trotted to them when Bernard had explained the 'situation' to him.
"Missy, are you sure you don't want to give the name of your household? We would have no choice but to turn you over to the constables and that would mean even bigger trouble for you," he said.
The constables? Indeed, it would be unnecessary trouble for her at home if it went that far. The chief seemed very decent, unlike his men. Perhaps it would be easier to reason with him.
"Mister__?"
"Sunjun," the chief offered quickly.
"Mr. Sunjun," Daisy tried with an agreeable smile. "I have been telling your man, Bernard, that I can give you a silver now and I would see to it that by the week's end, you receive the remaining nine silvers. I personally have a half a dozen silvers stored away and my daily allowance is a silver so I would have your nine put together in no time. I can even pay an interest of a silver, if you want."
"It would be easy to believe you will return with our money if we know which household to look for you. All we know so far is that you are a farmer's daughter from the countryside. Ours is a merchant industry. If we trust any stranger, we will soon be out of business, don't you think?"
"You are right, but I can't tell you where I am from nor risk you going there to look for me because of this issue. I would be roasted, no, I would be chopped into tiny pieces and roasted in an open fire, I tell you." she said in exasperation.
"No need to get frustrated, Missy," Mr. Sunjun grinned. "Are you willing to do something else in return?"
She stared at him suspiciously, not really agreeing to anything.
"There is one thing you can do for us," he said, rubbing his hands as he stepped closer to her. "You are a pretty young woman. After we have dressed you up nicely in a dress, you'll surely be stunning. You'll do very well. There is an honourable customer coming this afternoon. He becomes very generous when he is entertained." Daisy clinched inwardly seeing where the conversation was going. Mr. Sunjun circled her, sizing him up and down like a prized cow. "You don't have to do anything nasty. Just be nice to him and pour him drinks and we would consider your debt with us paid once he leaves satisfied and with a good portion of his precious fortune parted. We would even send you home with a few silvers if you do very well."
"And if I don't?" She sneered.
"Now Missy, you don't have much of a choice, do you? It's a handsome bargain I'm offering, if you'll consider. If you're worried our customer wouldn't like you, don't you be. You are a refreshing beauty. Your innocence especially will entice him. You're just the right girl to play with him, curvaceous body, a good height, and a full bosom."
Daisy yelped when he pulled her against himself with an incredible strength for a man his size, groping her bosom. Her hand whipped across his face before she could help it, the cracking sound bringing an immediate hush to the room. Daisy was as stunned by her action as Mr. Sunjun was by the slap and they both stood gaping at each other in bewilderment until one of them recovered.
"You wench, how dare you!" Mr. Sunjun screamed. The force of the slap across her cheek knocked her head sideways and sent tears of pain brimming in her eyes. "I thought I would let you off easily. Take her to the station at once. Now! And tell the constable I have no mind to let her go until every coin is paid to me. I would be following right after!"
"Well Missy, you didn't have to go and make the boss angry, did you? Now off we go. And pray the constable is in a better mood than our boss here. He hates being disturbed by impertinent brats when the sun is hot, he does," Bernard tugged her out of the stall into the streets to the station.