The Deceitful One

Thursday, 3rd December 1580.

It was an hour before sunset; a blanket of snow covering the trees, the streets, and the various buildings came to view as Bryan exited the Sofia Public Library.

He pulled the center front of his overcoat closer together as Bryan exhaled smoke from his mouth. This wasn't the smoke from cigarettes but water vapor—steam, if you like.

The cold air stung Bryan's cheeks as he pulled his gray muffler closer to his face. The temperature had gotten even colder in December. If he didn't have work today, he would have never stepped out of the house.

Bryan started to walk toward the farmer's market, his hands balled up inside the pocket of his overcoat.

He didn't feel like taking out a cigarette and smoking because his fingers would start to feel cold the moment he took them out of his pocket.

The groceries in his apartment were almost over, so he had to make this trip to stock up again. And this time he planned to get a surplus amount of groceries so that he didn't need to come out more often for grocery runs in this cold weather.

Bryan found it surprising how quiet the surroundings seemed. The only thing he could hear was the sound of his black boots crunching in the snow.

The smell, however, was surprisingly fresh and clean, unlike the usual pungent odor of the black smoke that spewed out from the factory chimneys.

Bryan took a deep breath of the cold air as he walked and thought, 'So peaceful!'

After about a fifteen-minute walk, he came across Graham's Clothing Store. He stopped and looked at it as he recalled the time when Detective Watson had given him money for showing him around the city when the latter had first arrived.

This garment store was close to the slums and the farmer's market and sold cheap clothes for workers and low-class people.

He remembered how happy he was when he had bought a new pair of clothes from this store after getting paid 2 pounds by Detective Watson that day.

Bryan then looked in the distance where a bunch of kids huddled around a brown barrel that was burning at the center. They wore rag-tag clothes and most of them were torn and stitched up.

These poor kids tried their best to be as close to the burning barrel in order to keep themselves warm in this cold weather.

Looking at them struggling to remain warm, a sigh escaped Bryan's lips. He then decisively went inside Graham's Clothing Store.

A few minutes later, he came out of the store carrying about a dozen woolen blankets. The blankets had stacked up so high, he was barely able to see what was in front of him.

Bryan then approached the raggedy little kids and smiled, "Everyone, I have gifts for you."

The kids turned around and saw Bryan who was holding so many blankets. Their eyes lit up as they surrounded him.

"Wow! So many blankets!"

"They look so warm!"

"Mister, can I have one?"

"Me! Me! I want one too."

"Me too!"

Bryan's eyes softened as he smiled warmly at the kids who had surrounded him and were looking at him with bright eyes.

But right at that moment, another boy—the eldest of the bunch—around the age of 12 or 13 stopped all the kids from approaching Bryan and shouted, "Everyone, get back!"

Then he walked in front of the group, as if shielding them, and looked into Bryan's eyes with suspicion, "What do you want? You can't fool me."

The boy had black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing brown pants, a black tee shirt, and a stitched-up jacket on top. But these clothes couldn't stop the cold from invading as he kept shivering from time to time.

He maintained a distance from Bryan as he looked at him with wariness.

Bryan's heart ached at the sight of this. The boy was so young in age yet the distrust in his eyes was not something that was common in young children.

'What must he have gone through to have those eyes?' Bryan wondered.

"I don't want anything from you kids. Like I said these blankets are a gift." Bryan replied gently.

"I don't believe you! Don't lie to me!" The boy snapped back as he stared angrily at Bryan. Almost as if he was cursing him for trying to play tricks on all the kids and giving them false hope.

Bryan didn't know what to do as a sigh escaped his lips. He crouched down and put the stacks of blankets near the brown burn barrel.

"I'm going to keep this here. I'll be back in a minute." He then turned around and went to the grocery store that was situated a few meters behind, on the footpath.

The little kids looked at Bryan entering the grocery store then at the boy with black hair. One of them pulled his jacket and asked with a grumpy face, "Jamie, that Mister was so nice to us. Why can't we take these blankets? It's so cold."

Jamie turned to look at the young boy as his eyes softened, "Abe, you can't trust these rich people. He must want something from us in return."

"But it gets so cold at home…" Another little girl spoke softly as her eyes began to tear up.

"I have an idea! Shall we steal it and run before he returns?" Said the youngest of the group.

When Jamie heard this, he turned silent and hesitated for a long time. But ultimately he decided against it.

'If we steal this and that guy finds us later, we might get into even more trouble. It's best to just leave.' He thought.

Right when Jamie was about to instruct the kids to leave, Bryan came out of the grocery store with two brown paper bags full of baguettes.

"Wow! Look, so many long breads!" A little boy's eyes shone as he started to drool.

"I haven't had anything since yesterday. Let's go to that Mister!" The little girl who spoke earlier had already rushed toward Bryan.

"No don't!" Jamie shouted. However, it fell on deaf ears as the remaining five kids had already started to follow the little girl.

Jamie gritted his teeth and followed after them. He looked Bryan right in the eye and yelled, "You! What are you trying to do? What do you want!?"