Free Ghastly Glass by Joyce and Jim Lavene

apprentice now.”
    A handsome, young black man stuck his head out of the back door and smiled at her. “Mary, there’s a customer who’d like to meet you.”
    “See what I mean?” She put her basket down and told the young man she’d be right inside. “Damian’s a sweet-heart. I hope he never leaves. Unlike some people who get a mite cranky when they think they aren’t the only one in your life anymore.”
    “Are you talking about Jah? ”
    “You’re a slow top today, missy. Is that the only person you can think of who might mind Damian being here?”
    A dim light was forming in my brain. Roger and Mary had been a couple for a long time. Was he worried about this young man in her life?
    “I can see you got it now.” Mary laid her pipe down in a bowl next to the door. “He’s been like a bear with a thorn stuck in his paw for the last few weeks. He thinks there’s something going on between me and Damian that ain’t baskets. He told me to get rid of him or he’d break it off. I told him where he could put that notion, and the sun don’t shine there.”
    I jumped up, suddenly understanding Roger’s horrible surliness. “So he’s all alone and missing you. Are you doing something with Damian besides baskets? ”
    She snorted, a terrible sound no human should make. “I’m not going to answer that. He’s a fool to think I’d fall for some young, pretty face after all this time. But I’m not crawling back to him. He’ll have to come to me . Excuse me now. I have to sell some baskets. Good to see you, Jessie.”
    “But you’d take him back if he was willing to make the first move, right?” A plan to save my apprenticeship, and Roger’s heart, formed in my brain.
    “I’m not saying until I see him on his knees right here.” Mary pointed to the grass outside the shop.
    I watched her walk inside and close the door behind her. I could do this. All my friends said I was the best matchmaker in the world. If I could do anything , I could get Roger and Mary back together. It would be good for them and good for me. Now that I understood the problem, I definitely had the answer.
    I decided to wait until morning to implement the first step of my plan. I’d have to do some crawling first to get back in Roger’s good graces. But it was absolutely necessary if I was going to save him. I had to be close at hand to make things happen.
    “You seem lost in thought, my dear.” William Shakespeare, aka Pat Snyder, addressed me as I walked by his usual spot for creating odes. “Dost thou wish for an ode or a sonnet to cheer you? ”
    I’d known Pat since the first day I’d been in the Village. He’d created a sonnet about my eyes, comparing them to a summer’s day. Not terribly original, but it had cheered me up after getting my first assignment, which was to be a servant at the castle. A drudge, at that. I’d wanted so much more, but I’d worked myself up to being a varlet in no time. I always thought about Pat when I remembered those days.
    “Yes, good sir.” I sat on one of the chairs in his gazebo. “I am feeling rather blue and would enjoy any kind word.”
    “Prithee, allow an old man to remark on your beauty and charm. Yon sun shines the more brightly for you being here, fair maiden. Pray tell me what causes your sorrow? ”
    “I can help with that.” Henry had zoomed in on my location and was standing too close for my peace of mind. “She lost her apprenticeship with Sir Roger of the Glass Gryphon. Not much an ode can do for that.”
    “Go away.” I turned my back on him. “Pray continue, Sir Shakespeare.”
    I should’ve remembered one of the first rules of modern warfare, which is: never turn your back on the enemy. It will only bring you grief.
    In this case, it brought me Henry wrapping his arms around me with his hands in questionable positions on my chest. Shakespeare laughed and strolled away, probably thinking we were having a lover’s quarrel. I was so astonished that Henry