The Thief: Part 3

By MEGAN WHALEN TURNER, Illustrator DAVID WATT

I had enough chain to allow me to pace in an arc from a front corner of the cell out to the centre of the room and back to the rear corner. My bed was there at the back, a bench made of stone with a thin bag of sawdust on top. Beside it was the chamber-pot. There was nothing else in the cell except myself and the chain and, twice a day, food. The cell door was a gate of bars. The guards looked in at me as they passed on their rounds, a tribute to my reputation. As part of my plans for greatness, I had bragged without shame about my skills in every wine store in the city. I had wanted everyone to know that I was the finest thief since moral men were made, and I must have come close to accomplishing the goal. Huge crowds had gathered for my trial. Most of the guards in the prison had turned out to see me after my arrest, and I was endlessly chained to my bed when other prisoners were sometimes allowed the freedom and sunshine of the prison's courtyard.

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $14.95

Age group: 11 plus years