Chapter 15

Given that the streets were crowded with people, the soldiers were not able to catch up with the thief. However, they could easily keep track of him from their height and could still track him as the swerved between people. The thief dashed down the street then seeing his pursuers were still following he quickly turned down an alleyway. The horses couldn't fit down the alley. So, the three soldiers hopped off to give chase, while the fourth kept the horses. After they gave chase, they spotted the thief making a right down the next street.

At that moment the Captain also arrived and seeing that his soldiers were turning right at the opposite side of the alley he spurred his horse to continue down the street in the same direction. As long as the crowd thinned out and the thief didn't turn, he could catch him at the next road intersection. The Captains prediction was right.

As soon as he rounded the street corner the thief dashed into the intersection. The Captain could now see the thief was a young teenager with brown raggedy hair and clothing. He spurred his horse to speed up and he leaned over as far right as he could on the saddle. Reaching out he attempted to scoop up the young thief and capture him.

Just as the thief ran in front of the Captains horse it suddenly got spooked from nearly hitting the teen but from the awkward position of the Captain and veered to the left! The Captain only managed to knock the thief over in his attempt to capture him.

The thief rolled over twice on the dusty road, but it only slowed him down for a moment. He immediately jumped off the ground and scrambled down the street. The three soldiers in pursuit quickly caught up and were right on the thief's heels. The Captain righted himself on the horse and wheeled it around to continue his chase.

The young thief saw his situation was worse and he was exhausted. Making one last ditch effort to escape he turned down a dead-end ally way. The thief knew that at the bottom of the wooden fence there was a hole he could crawl through and the men chasing would be too big to fit through and the fence too high to climb.

The thief reached the end and dived for the hole headfirst. He scrambled forward nearly out from under the fence and tossed the bag in front of him to stand up. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed his ankle before he was all the way through!

"I got him!" One of the soldiers called out. A second hand quickly clasped around the thief's other leg as he tried to shake off the soldier.

"I'm going around." The Captain said turning his horse to round the building.

When the Captain rounded the building and came to the other side, he couldn't help but chuckle. Two of his men were holding on to the struggling thief by his ankles. They only have their arms sticking out from the wooden fence making it look like some tentacle monster was attacking the young teen thief.

The Captain got off his horse and put on a serious face. He walked quickly up to the teen and grabbed him by his shirt. "I got him now!" He called to the men on the other side. They let go of the thief's legs and started to come around.

"Now listen punk." The Captain said getting in the teens face. "You have no idea who you just messed with."

"She's just some rich woman." The teen mumbled. "She'll be fine."

"Seems like you have no idea who she is." The Captain said pushing the teen onto the fence. "She the Lady Mayor of the big town. She's here to buy supplies for the whole town. Without her this village wouldn't have nearly anything to trade to anyone. So, you're not just stealing from her but everyone here."

"Like I care what happens to them. They never cared for me." The thief said rolling his eyes.

"Shut up and get moving." The Captain said putting him down. He pulled him by the collar and pulled him back towards his horse. Then the three soldiers rounded to corner.

"Here take him." He said handing over the thief to them. "Let's take him back to the Lady and let her decide what to do with him. Also, good job getting him."

The men nodded and one held on to the thief, while another took some twine and bound his hand behind his back. The four then walked back to the food stalls while the Captain road his horse.

The Lady Mayor soon spotted them coming and seeing the thief was with them she immediately hopped off from the cart and went to meet them. "What happened?" She said looking then over.

"We caught him and brought him back to you for judgement." One of the men replied.

"I see." She looked at the thief with a stern gaze. He couldn't be no more that fifteen or sixteen. "Why did you do this?" She asked bluntly.

From the way she was looking at him the thief couldn't look at her, he wasn't used to this kind of pressure. "I don't have nothing and needed to eat." He finally mumbled.

"That's it!?" The Lady said tossing her hands up. The young thief looked down at the dusty road.

"Captain, hand me my bag please." She said looking up at the Captain.

"Yes of course." He replied handing her the bag. She opened it and looking inside after a moment she nodded, meaning that all was accountable. Then she pulled out a small pouch and looked at the stall next to her.

"Sir one large sandwich please." She called out.

Everyone looked surprised, even the man behind the stall, who had apparently listened to the whole thing. The man nodded and handed her the sandwich and she gave him a few coins.

Then turning back to the thief, she said, "Now this time I'll forgive you, since you said you were hungry. If you said you needed the money or that you were working for another I would haven't of been so nice. Now untie him please." He said to the soldiers, who then glanced at the Captain, who nodded yes back.

The soldiers untied the thief and she handed him the sandwich. He gently took it from her unsure if this was actually some sort of trick. But she really was giving him the sandwich and he quickly took a big bite.

"Now that's better." She said smiling at the teen. "Alright Captain we're done here. Let's go get the rest of the supplies and go home." She turned and got back onto the cart with a smile.

The Captain was impressed. He had no idea that the Lady Mayor could be so forgiving. His opinion of her had risen a good bit.

Soon after a few hours of collecting and delivering items to the village they returned back at the big town safely and before dark. The way back was a pleasant one. They all talked about different things concerning what was to be done if somebody tried to steal from them again and not to be too relaxed when going about their business. Then about some other times they were chasing other thief's in other cities. Some of the tales were quite funny.

When they arrived the Major and some other men were waiting for them at the Mayors residence.

"Welcome back." The Major said saluting.

"Yes, yes glad to be back." The Lady said hopping off the cart and brushed past the Major in a hurry. "I must be getting some rest now; it's been a long day. Good night Captain!" She said quickly going into the house.

"Good night." The Captain called back. Then he thought to himself, "Why was she so nice to that thief, but so obviously rude to the Major?" But he shrugged off the thought and being tired himself decided to worry about it another day.