## Chapter 55: Adam the Cunning’s Robin
Arthur and his companions walked down a narrow alleyway outside St. Giles Church, the passage too tight for two people to walk side by side. Even a grown man had to hunch his shoulders to avoid scraping his coat against the damp, moss-covered walls. They walked in single file, with Officer Tony leading the way, Arthur bringing up the rear, and Dickens, Tom, and young Adam protected in the middle.
As they walked, Adam suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed on a dilapidated shed built with planks and wire mesh. Tom pulled on Adam’s arm without looking back, only stopping when he met resistance. He turned around, confused, and asked, “Child, what’s wrong?”
Adam blinked, pointing at the building that had lost its original shape under the patchwork of wire and wood. “I want to go back and see my friend.”
Arthur glanced at the rusty, lopsided sign hanging on the door with only a single nail. It read “Church Lane 27,” Adam’s home for nine years.
Arthur turned to Dickens and asked, “Charles, are you busy today?”
Dickens laughed, “I’ve been here for the past month. This is my job, busy or not.”
“Good,” Arthur said, turning back. He accidentally brushed his coat against a patch of mud. He raised his hand and knocked gently on the door, asking, “Anyone home?”
But there was no response, even after a long while.
Adam stepped forward. “Mr. Hastings, there’s no need to knock here. Four families live here, and this door is shared by everyone.”
With that, he reached the door, placed his hands on the bottom edge, and lifted it above his head, creating a gap of several feet.
Young Adam’s face flushed red, his whole body straining. “Please hurry, I can’t hold it up for long.”
Dickens hurried forward to take over, but as he exerted force, there was a thud, and the entire door came off its hinges.
“This…” Dickens held the door, bewildered. “Did I… did I break it?”
Adam shook his head, “No, it’s already broken. We just use it to block the wind.”
Relieved, Dickens said, “That’s good.”
He placed the door to the side, revealing the inside of the shed.
The first thing that caught their eye was a short, semi-open passage. It was called semi-open because the top was simply covered with planks for protection from the rain. On either side of the passage were stoves made of rubble, a common sight in the dilapidated houses of St. Giles.
A black-bottomed iron pot sat on the stove, filled with rainwater from the previous night’s storm. Several unidentified black insect corpses floated on the surface. There were remnants of gray, white charcoal in the furnace, and a stray table leg lay beside it.
When Adam saw the pot, he was stunned for a moment before muttering, “This must be Kyle’s doing. He finished his tea and forgot to take the pot and the remaining fuel back. If his dad finds out, he’ll probably get a beating.”
Arthur, hearing this, picked up the pot, poured the water outside, and said, “Then let’s go get it back for Kyle. Is Kyle the friend you were looking for?”
Adam shook his head and led them up the stairs, “No, don’t get it back for him. I enjoy seeing him get beaten.”
Arthur was taken aback. “Why?”
Adam replied, “Kyle and I have a grudge. He’s two years older than me, so he always picks on me because he’s taller and stronger.”
Tom was also interested, eager to learn about his son. “Why do you fight?”
Adam did not shy away from his grievances with his enemy.
He said, “We have too many reasons. Sometimes it’s over a penny found in a crack in the wall, sometimes it’s because I stole the newspaper he planned to sell on the street, and sometimes it’s because he and his gang look down on me.”
“Look down on you?” Tony laughed loudly. “Adam, relax. There will always be people who look down on you in this world. I patrol every day, and people look down on me all the time.”
Adam said seriously, “Kyle wouldn’t dare look down on the police. He only dares to look down on me. He says he earns six pence a day working in the factory, while I, a scrawny kid, only earn five. But he doesn’t think about it. He earns six pence not because he works harder than me, but because he has an aunt who’s a foreman at the factory. He’s oblivious to it, and he even takes his rudeness as a sign of masculinity.
Back when we worked together in the textile factory, he liked to use a stick to lift Robin’s skirt when he was idle. He’d tease her and say, ‘Hey, let’s take a good look at how white your thighs are.’
Robin cried because of him, and I couldn’t stand it. I grabbed Kyle’s head from behind and slammed him on the ground. Then I got on top of him and punched him.
I even hit his nose until it bled. He covered his face and cried like a cowardly cur.
I was about to win, but his gang, eager to earn an extra penny from his aunt, went crazy and started punching me. They kicked my stomach, trying to separate us.
But I wouldn’t let go. I had to teach him a lesson.
His aunt came running with a stick, yelling ‘little bastard’ while hitting my back with it.
It hurt so much that I had to let go. After that, I was banned from working at the factory…”
Adam fell silent.
Arthur, seeing this, remembered the information he had gathered while chatting with Adam earlier.
He asked, “So this is why your family kicked you out onto the street and made you stay out until you earn five pence a day?”
Young Adam nodded, tears in his eyes.
Arthur smiled, ruffled his hair, then patted Tom on the shoulder. “I have to say, Tom, you’ve hit the jackpot. This is a remarkable young man.”
Tom nodded in agreement, “I think so too.”
He crouched down, wiped his son’s tears with his finger, and lifted him onto his shoulders.
Dickens also smiled encouragingly, “Kid, it’s nothing. They kicked you out not because you did something wrong, but because they’re jealous of you. Jealous of what you possess that they can’t buy with five pence a day, your integrity and conscience!”
Adam smiled and wiped his eyes, “Dad, please put me down.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I still need to dig up the treasure I hid. Even though I don’t need it anymore, I want to give it all to Robin. Robin also lives here, and she needs it more than I do now.”
Tony whistled, teasingly, “Oh, Adam, you’re quite the charmer, aren’t you? Robin, I remember that name. The girl you rescued from that little bastard Kyle? You little rascal.”
Young Adam blushed, neither confirming nor denying. He simply pointed to the ceiling, “She lives on the second floor, the third room after the stairs.”
(End of Chapter)