Page 59 - A Tale of Two Cities

‘Stupid boy!’ the man cried. ‘He forced my brother to fight with him.’

There was not a touch of pity or sadness in his voice.
‘Have you seen her, Doctor?’ the boy asked me.

‘I have,’ I said.
‘She is my sister, Doctor. She was a good girl. My family and I all lived
on this man’s land.’

It was painfully difficult for him to speak, but something inside him

made him strong enough to continue.
‘We were robbed by this man, as we poor people all are. He took endless
taxes from us, and forced us to work for him without pay. My sister
married a good young man, but this man’s brother saw how beautiful she
was, and he was jealous. He made my sister’s husband pull a carriage by
day, like a horse, and then he sent him out into the mist at night, to work on
the land. That went on until he died.’
The suffering was pouring from this boy like fire, as he went on. ‘Then

this man’s brother came and took her away, to be his wife. When I told my
father, the news broke his heart, and he died that very day. I have another
sister, a younger one, and I took her to a place where she would be safe from
these men. Then I followed them here. I wanted to kill the man who had
taken my sister. But his knife was sharper and stronger than mine.’
He forced himself, with my help, to sit up now, and turned his face to
look at the older brother.

‘Marquis,’ he said, ‘when the time comes for my people to take their
revenge for these things, you and your family, every one of them, will pay
the price.’
With these words, the boy fell gently back, and I laid him down dead.

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