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On this bright , neither of Matthew&039;s breakfast hosts knew of his tribulations of the night before; therefore they ard to his headache and sour stomach He kept these injuries to himself, as Hiram Stokely and his wife, Patience, went about the sunny kitchen in their small white house behind the pottery shop

Matthew&039;s plate was filled with corncakes and a slice of salted haht but today was a little too discoood and kind people, and he&039;d been fortunate to find a room over the shop His responsibility to the and kiln, as much as his limited talents allowed They had two sons, one a merchant sea captain and the other an accountant in London, and it see the company at mealtimes

The third member present of the Stokely fa peculiar with Matthew this ht it was the salted ha, nose about hi knife and fork to one of her relations, he could well fathom her displeasure, yet she was surely by now used to these cannibals who&039;d taken her in Surely she knew that after two years of this coddled life she wasn&039;t destined for the plate, for she was a smart piece of pork But the way she snorted and pushed and carried on this day otten all the horse manure out of his hair He&039;d almost scrubbed his skin off with sandalwood soap in the washbasin last night, but perhaps Cecily&039;s talented snout could find so stink

"Cecily!" said Hiram, after a particularly hard push froht kneecap "What&039;s the matter with you todayi"

"I&039;m afraid I don&039;t knoas Matthew&039;s response, though he presu in the sty by soh he wore freshly cleaned trousers, shirt, and stockings

"She&039;s nervous, is what" Patience, a large stocky woray hair pinned up under a blue cottona bellows to fan the biscuit-pan fire "Soristle"

Hiram, as just as physically sturdy as his wife, hite hair and beard and pale brown eyes the color of the clay he worked so diligently, took a drink fro of tea He watched Cecily make a circle in the kitchen before she went back under the table to give out a snort and push Matthew&039;s knee again "She was like this aor two before the fire, you rememberi She can tell when there&039;s trouble about to happen, is what I believe"

"I didn&039;t realize she was such the fortune-teller" Matthew scooted his chair back from the table to make room for Cecily Unfortunately, the lady continued to shove her snout at hi s, ehi"

a day late, Matthew thought

"I recall," Patience said quietly, as she went back to her work, "when Dr Godwin caet his plates Do you remember, Hirami"

"Dr Godwini" Hiram&039;s eyes narrowed a fraction "H soht to know

"It&039;s not ian to eat the last piece of corncake on his platter

"I iht it up at all, it ed "Well, it&039;s justCecily, that&039;s all"

"Yesi and Cecily had what to do with Dr Godwini"

"She acted like this that day, when he caet his plates"

"That dayi" Matthe exactly what the man meant, but he had to ask it: "You , really," Hiraht to be used to Matthew&039;s ravenous questions and particularly the penetrating expression the young ave when he knew he&039;d been thrown a hook "I don&039;t know if it was that day, exactly, or so this subject to light"

"I was thinking out loud," she said, rather apologetically "I "

"Will you stop thati" Matthew, his nerves on edge, stood up to get away fro with sow spit "I&039;d better go; I&039;ve got an errand before work"

"The biscuits are alistrate will-"

"I&039;m sorry, no Thank you for the breakfast I presume I&039;ll see both of you at Lord Cornbury&039;s addressi"

"We&039;ll be there" Hira It&039;s just a pig, playing with you"

"I know it doesn&039;tI didn&039;t say it did and I reject the idea that there&039;s any connection between Dr Godwin andht Do I have feveri "I shall see you this afternoon," he said, and dodged Cecily h the door and walked along the fieldstone path that led to the street

Ridiculous! he told hi&039;s so-called premonitions cloud hisWell, so weather and such before the hu in witchcraft, didn&039;t iti as if he held any stock in that, either!

On this fineit seemed the entire population of New York was out and about on the public ways They meandered, squatted, scurried, and barked all around his The toas becoerie, as on soland The three-month journey had killed half the people and left their livestock to enjoy the greener pastures of North america

The Stokelys&039; pottery shop was one of the last structures of the town proper Just north beyond their door lay the High Road, which led across rolling fields and hills croith thick green woodland to the distant town of Boston The sun shiold flakes on the waters of the East and Hudson rivers, and as Matthew followed the Broad Way over a hilltop he took in the panora on his way to work

Haze fro above the yellow-tiled roofs of scores of houses, shops, and sundry buildings spread before him On the streets moved the industrious citizens, either on foot or by horse and ox-cart The higglers were out, selling baskets and rope and all kinds of ons So too on the ht&039;s animal manure into his bucket-like cart for sale at the farht treasure of a pile over near Sloat Lane

Three white-sailed skiffs advanced before the breeze along the East River a larger sailing ship, piloted out of the harbor by two long rowers, was leaving the Great Dock to a s of bells at the wharfside The area of the piers was of course a center of business and was like a beehive even before daith its asseers, tarboys, shipwrights, treenailto the shops and buildings to the right of the docks, one peered into the dooods either leaving the town or coave occupations to packers, tollers, tally-clerks, stevedores, tide waiters, scriveners, out-criers, and perchemears at the center of town stood the stone structures of the Custom House, the mayor&039;s home, and the newly built City Hall, which had been constructed to bring together in one place the offices of those townsmen who oversaw the day-today politics and essentials of New York, such as the ward officers, the departh constable, and the chief prosecutor Basically, as Matthew thought, they were there to keep rival businessht be the neorld but the old savage sensibilities of London had also

Matthealked downhill into the town, his pace brisk and his destination deliberate By the dint of repetition and the sundial that stood before Madam Kenneday&039;s bakery, he knew he had half-an-hour until Magistrate Powers arrived at the office Before Matthew put a quill to paper this ht a fire under a pair of blacks shops, warehouses, and rough taverns, New York was a pretty town The Dutch pioneers had left their able roofs, and their penchant for weathervanes, decorative chiardens all the structures south of Wall Street bore the Dutch signature, while the houses and buildings north of that delish variety Matthew had gotten into a conversation about that subject a few nights ago at the Gallop; it would be seen in the future, he contended, that the Dutch were of a pastoral ardens and parks, but the English were eager to jam their boxes onto every available space in the name of commerce One just had to cross Wall Street to see the difference between London and amsterdam Of course he&039;d not been to either of those cities, but he had his collection of books and he was always interested in the stories of travelers Plus he was always aroat of these conversant evenings at the Gallop

It was true, hethe Broad Way toward the steeple of Trinity Church, that New York was becowell, hoould one put iti Cos to be noticed around the worldi Or so it seehtly robed visitors froian financiers the picture of serious intent in dark suits and black tricorns, or even Dutchpowder at each stride, indicating that ene table Found planning the trade of coin over wine and codfish at the alehouses day or night emstone traders froo dye suppliers from Charles Town or ambassadors froularly visited a sight not uncoming into the town cartloads of deer, beaver, and bear skins and causing a right hullabaloo as alike Of course slave ships arrived at dock from africa or the West Indies, and those slaves eren&039;t purchased for duty here were sent off for auction to other localities like Long Island Perhaps one New York household in every five held a slave; though the slaves were forbidden by town decree to gather beyond two in nu reports fros of slaves who, perhaps continuing to fight old tribal feuds, attacked one another over perceived territories

Mattheondered, as he walked, if beco cosmopolitan meant an eventual emulation of the sprawl, debasement, and utter calamity of London The tales he&039;d heard of that pande from the twelve-year-old prostitutes to the freak-show circuses and the joy of the man&039;s theater Possibly, with that latter revulsion, he was re burned alive in Fount Royal, and how the merry croould have howled as the ashes flew up He wondered ould be the future of New York, in a hundred years He wondered if fate and human nature decreed that every Bethlehem become in time a Bedlam

as he crossed Wall Street before Trinity Church and the black iron fence around the church ceh in which he&039;d cleaned hiht&039;s misfortune The Dutch fortress wall that had stood here, uard that avenue of attack froed hands soo It occurred to Matthew that New York no longer faced an adversary fro severe epidemic or some unforeseen catastrophe the place was securely fixed He thought that the next threat to the survival of this town ht well co the perils of hureed

On his left, also on Wall Street, was the yellow stone City Hall and the town gaol, before which a notorious pickpocket named Ebenezer Grooder was on public view, confined to the pillory a basket of rotten apples lay within reach of any citizen ished to apply further justice Matthew continued south, entering the smoke-hazed realm of stables, warehouses, and blacksmitheries

It was one of those establishn read simply Ross, Smith, that was the aim of his arrow He went into the open barn door of the place, into the die fla man with curly blond hair was at work on the bellows cord,the fire flare and spit Beyond him, the elderout the vital commodity of horseshoes on their respective anvils The noise was a kind of rough her than the other all the s shards of red-hot metal, and the heat and strenuous activity already at this early hour h the backs of their shirts Cart-wheels, plows, and other bits of far that Master Ross was at no sorrow for work

Matthew crossed over the bricked floor to stand near the young man at his bellows labor He waited until finally John Five sensed him there and turned to look over his shoulder Matthew nodded; John returned the nod, his cherubic face ruddy in the heat and his eyes pale blue beneath thick blond brows, and then he returned to what he was doing without a word, since speaking was useless so long as the ha

at last John knew Mattheould not be denied; Matthe it, in the sluave hio, but he had to pursue it John Five ceased the belloork, waved his aret Master Ross to see, and then held up five fingers to ask for that lance at Matthew that said Soain on the haht, John Five wiped his sparkling forehead with a cloth and said, "How are you, Matthewi"

"Well, thank you and youi"

"Well also" John was not as tall as Matthew, but had the wide shoulders and thick forearms of a man born to command iron He was four years Matthew&039;s junior, yet far fro Street almshouse-then known as the Sainted John Home for Boys, before it was expanded to include two irls and adult paupers-he had been the fifth John of thirty-six boys, thus his identity John Five had one ear; the left had been hacked off across his chin was a deep scar that pulled the right corner of his mouth down into a perpetual sadness John Five remembered a father and , perhaps an idealized s, both brothers he believed He recalled the logs of a fort, and ato his father and showing him the shaft of a broken arrow Hisand blurred figures bursting through theshutters and the door He saw the glint of firelight on an upraised hatchet Then the candle of hishe remembered quite clearly-and this he told Matthew and soe-was a thin rail of aa bottle to hishim to Dance, dance, you little shit! Dance for our supper! and smile or I&039;ll carve one in that fuckin&039; face!

John Five recalled dancing in a tavern, and seeing his small shadow thrown on the wall The thin man took coins from the customers and put the on a nasty bed in a little roo under the bed to sleep, and two otherthe drunk , as the man&039;s brains flew upon the walls and the blood flowed over the floor, that he had never really liked to dance

Soon after that, a travelling parson had brought the nine-year-old John to the orphanage and left hi but fair-minded Headmaster Staunton, but when Staunton had left two years later to answer the call of a drea him to take God&039;s salvation to the Indian tribes, the position had been filled by Eben ausley, newly arrived with co with John Five alongside Master Ross&039; blacksan to speed itself into the rhythms of another day of trade and citizens passed by in their own currents of life like so many fish in the rivers, Matthew looked down at his shoes and measured his words carefully "When we spoke last, you said you&039;d consider er man&039;s eyes, which he could read like any book in his collection Yet he had to go on "Have youi"

"I have," John answered

"andi"

John gave a pained expression He stared at the knuckles of his hands, which he closed into fists and began to work together as if fighting a private battle and Matthe this was entirely true Still, Matthew had to persist: "You and I both knohat needs to be done" There was no response, so Mattheed deeper "He thinks he&039;s gotten aith everything He thinks no one cares Oh yes, I saw hiht He crowed like a istrate because I have nothing and you know the high constable is one of his ga friends So I have to have proof, John I have to have someone who&039;ll speak up"

"Someone," John said, with just a trace of bitterness

"Myles Newell and his wife , and close to it, but now that he&039;s gone it&039;s up to you"

John reether, his eyes shadowed

"Nathan Spencer hanged himself last month," Matthew said "Twenty years old, and he still couldn&039;t put it to rest"

"I know very well about Nathan I was at the funeral too and I&039;ve thought about him, many days He used to come here and talk, just like you do But tell me this, Matthew," and here John Five peered into his friend&039;s face with eyes that were at once racked with anguish and as hot as the forge, "was it Nathan who couldn&039;t put it to restor was it youi"

"It was both of us," Matthew said, truthfully

John gave a quiet grunt and looked away again "I&039;m sorry about Nathan He was tryin&039; very hard to move on But you wouldn&039;t let hi to kill himself"

"Maybe he wasn&039;t, until you kept pesterin&039; him Did you ever think about thati"

In truth, Matthew had It was soh, that he&039;d forced away fro ainst Eben ausley in front of Magistrate Powers and Chief Prosecutor James Bynes would result in a rope thrown over the rafters of the young arret