Midsummer's Eve by Philippa Carr

mentioned.
    It was about two weeks after the beefsteak incident.
    Ferry came to the house, triumphant. He wished to speak to Sir Jake. I had seen him coming and, guessing from his attitude that this meant trouble for Digory, I contrived to be there.
    Ferry stood, cap in hand, turning it round and round as he spoke. “’Tis that boy again, Sir Jake.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “He be in jail, Sir Jake.”
    “What?”
    “Caught. In the Hanson woods, sir. Pheasant in his bag. No mistake about what he was up to this time.”
    My father looked at him blankly. “The idiot,” he said. “What was he doing stealing a pheasant? He’s fed …”
    “There’s some as is natural thieves, sir, and that boy’s one of them. When you think where he comes from … It was Mr. Hanson’s gamekeeper who caught him. Mr. Tregern, sir. He got him charged right away. Serious offence, this, sir.”
    “Very serious,” agreed my father. “All right, Ferry.”
    Ferry touched his forehead and retired.
    I stared in dismay at my father.
    “It appears,” he said, looking at me ruefully, “that this time the young fool has got himself into serious trouble.”
    How right he was!
    Jacco and I were very distressed, looking upon Digory as our protégé as we did. How could he have been so foolish! With our father’s help we had been able to extricate him from the beefsteak incident but this was another matter.
    “Can you get him freed?” asked Jacco of my father.
    “He’s already in the hands of the law. Hanson’s gamekeeper took quick action. I’ve no doubt they’ll get Slattery to speak against him.”
    “Couldn’t you forbid him to?”
    “No, my son. I can’t interfere with the course of justice. It’s true what Slattery says. The boy’s a natural thief. If he escaped the consequences of this there would be another incident before long. We’ve seen that of the beefsteak. You would have thought that would have been warning enough.”
    “It’s just bravado,” I said.
    “It is a luxury which, in his position, he cannot afford.”
    It soon became clear that there was nothing to be done. My father asked Mr. Hanson if he would talk to his gamekeeper and this he did. He came back and told us that Luke Tregern was adamant. There was not doubt of the boy’s guilt and he could not have people walking off with the pheasants. If this sort of thing was allowed to go on he could not be responsible. It would be an impossible situation for him. The last thing Mr. Hanson wanted was to lose such an excellent man. Moreover, as he hinted to my father, they both knew enough about the law to understand that it could not be trifled with to gain special favours for certain people.
    My father said to us: “Of course I see his point. It is a pity about that beefsteak—and Tregern was the one who caught him at that. I warned the young fool and he has flouted me. No, there is nothing to be done. The boy has got to learn his lesson—a hard one it will no doubt be, but it is his own fault and perhaps the only way to instill some sense into him.”
    I wanted to go and see him, to talk to him; but that was not possible.
    Jacco and I rode out to the moors and lay on the grass making wild plans to save him. But there was nothing that could be done. Even we had to realize that.
    “How could he have been such a fool?” I kept demanding.
    “He just liked taking risks. It made him feel good. It reminded him of the old days when he lived with his grandmother. Our father is right. If he had not been caught over this he would have been over something else.”
    Jacco shook his head. I think he was coming to the conclusion that there was nothing to be done to help Digory. He had a grudge against the world. I could understand that. He had seen what they had done to his granny on that night and he hated everybody. He did not completely trust even us.
    He was tried and there was no question of his guilt. As my father had said, Slattery and Tregern were only too