He was rudely interrupted by the butler that came to answer the knock. “You! What do you bring at such a time?” he blurted out in an irritated tone, with a scowl on his face.
“Is this Mr. Colby’s house?” said the boy in a trembling voice.
“Are you blind?” snapped the butler back angrily. “There’s a sign that’s right before your eyes and you have the cheek to ask me that?”
“Can... can I see the master?”
“The master is in bed. Whatever you have will have to wait for tomorrow.”
“But...”
The gate slammed shut onto his face. His sentence was never heard by the butler as he stormed off into the house. “... but... but I don’t have anywhere else to go back to...” he stuttered, in a timid voice. His body was weak, and he was in desperate need of food. Fatigue got the better of him and he crumbled to the ground, barely conscious. He took a handful of the maize and barley in his pouch, ate it, and snuggled against the cold, bare stone wall of Mr. Colby.
The sun rose the next day and brought light back to the land. Still in his sleep, he could feel the sun’s heat licking at his ankles. He woke up with a shudder, wondering where he was. Then he remembered. He knocked on the gate once again, sending its echoes through the house that had barely woken up. The butler opened it up with a snort. “You again! You do have a tendency to come at the ‘perfect’ time, don’t you? Come along, and touch nothing, or you’ll regret the day you set foot on planet Earth.”