Morris beamed at him, his riot of Prodigal teeth flashing out again from behind his lips.

"You wouldn't have thought it could happen, would you? You would have thought I'd be back to doing light work out of other folks' pockets, wouldn't you?" Morris bounced slightly on the balls of his feet in excitement. Just watching him made the bones of Harper's feet ache.

"Well, you were quite good at it," Harper replied.

"That is all too true. Even Sister Celeste said there was no honest work for a yellow-eyed bastard like me." Morris swept the broom across the store steps, splashing the puddles of water aside. "But Mr. Stone says, such is not the case. He says it like that too. 'My lad, such is not the case.'"

"Well, congratulations." Harper patted Morris' shoulder and started to turn away.

"Captain, would you come in and meet Mr. Stone? I told him all about you and how you kept dragging me back to the charity school. He said if I saw you again, I should have you into the shop so he could thank you." Morris leaned a little closer to Harper. "Mr. Stone will probably give you some free grub."

"Well..."

Morris looked entreating. It clearly meant a great deal to him to have Harper meet the good Mr. Stone. In any case, Harper thought, having food in his stomach could hardly do him any harm.

"I can't stay long," Harper told Morris.

"Mr. Stone will be so pleased."

"Lead on, then," Harper replied.

He followed Morris into the red brick building. The warmth of the bakery made Harper feel suddenly more tired. The room smelled of yeast and vanilla. A big man with a black beard and thick black hair looked up as Harper and Morris entered.

"Mr. Stone. This is the captain I was telling you about." Morris gestured to Harper.

Mr. Stone frowned slightly as he regarded Harper. Harper knew he looked bad. He hadn't shaved, and his clothes were stained with both oil from Hells Below and mud. He didn't come close to presenting the proper image of an Inquisition captain.

"I imagined you'd be older," Mr. Stone said after a moment.

Harper shrugged.

"Pleased to meet you, in any case." Mr. Stone held out his hand and Harper shook it. Mr. Stone's hand was hot and callused. "You look like you could use something to eat."

"Thank you. That would be quite kind."

"Would you like a butter pastry?" Morris asked.

"Give the man two, lad," Mr. Stone said before Harper could answer. "Make sure they're good and cool first. And check on the beef pies while you're at it." Mr. Stone tossed an oven mitt to Morris. Morris caught it and then darted through a curtained doorway just behind Mr. Stone. A hot billow of air rolled out as the curtains swung behind him. Harper guessed the ovens were back there. His eyes drooped almost closed as the new wave of heat wafted over him.

He didn't think he had been this warm in days.

"I hope you don't mind me saying so," Mr. Stone said to Harper, "but you look dead on your feet."

"I was on my way to bed when Morris saw me," Harper replied. Mr. Stone continued to study Harper curiously. Harper decided to redirect the conversation before Mr. Stone could ask any difficult questions.

"It really is kind of you to take Morris on," Harper said. "Most men wouldn't want a Prodigal in their shops, much less working for them."

"Well, I wouldn't want most of them," Mr. Stone replied. "But I can say the same for most of the natural men I know as well. I think Morris was meant to be a baker."

Harper didn't know if it was his exhaustion or the seriousness of Mr. Stone's tone, but it made him want to laugh. The last thing he would have thought of Morris was that he was born to bake. Not with those teeth. Harper had a jagged scar on his forearm from the first time he had encountered Morris.

"The heat," Mr. Stone continued, "it gets most men. Hurts their eyes and makes their skin crack. Wears them down, but not Morris. He looks as rosy as a cherub after a whole day back there. He takes to the work better than my own son ever did, I'll tell you that."

"That's good. I'm glad Morris has found an honest living." Harper straightened as he realized that he'd been slumping over Mr. Stone's counter.

"But you see, Captain." Mr. Stone dropped his voice. "There's trouble with him taking to it so well."

There was something about the low whisper that grabbed Harper's attention.

"How do you mean?" Harper asked.

"My own boy hasn't been good for anything. He doesn't work and he doesn't give a damn about the shop. He thinks he's going to sell the place when I die."

Harper frowned slightly, not at the thought of Mr. Stone or his unruly son, but simply at the idea that he was getting dragged into their business. Harper had more than enough troubles of his own at the moment.

"This bakery's been in the family since my great-great grandfather's days," Mr. Stone went on. "It doesn't just belong to the family; it's what our family is built on. I don't want him selling it. I want Morris to run it after I'm gone, but legally—"

"It will belong to your son?" Harper finished.

"Yes. That's the short of it."

"Well, if you're set on keeping the shop from your son, then you can disinherit him."

"No, I couldn't do that. He's no good, but he's still my son."

"Your only other choice is to adopt Morris and will the bakery to him. Your natural son couldn't contest it, if Morris was also legally your son."

"Can that be done?" Mr. Stone asked. "I've never heard of it."

"There's no law barring it," Harper replied. "So long as you didn't mind making Morris your son..."

"I get on with him better than the real one, I'll tell you that. I'd have done it a year ago if I knew I could." Mr. Stone smiled for the first time, and Harper noted that the man's teeth were nearly as crooked as Morris'. "I thought a man of the law might have an answer for me," Mr. Stone told Harper. "That's why I said to Morris that he should have you in next time he saw you. I'm sorry for keeping you from your bed, though."

"I'm just a little tired." Harper forced his bloodshot eyes open wide.

"Hey, Morris!" Mr. Stone suddenly shouted.

"Yes, sir?" Morris yelled from the back rooms.

"The captain is going to be asleep on his feet if you take any longer."

"I'm just cutting the bread. I'll be up before you can say your grace."

"Your grace," Mr. Stone said under his breath.

"Very funny, Mr. Stone." Morris pushed the curtains aside with his shoulder as he came into the front room carrying a wax paper bag in one hand and a steaming tray of beef pies in the other.

"This is for you, Captain." Morris handed him the bag.

"Thank you." Harper could smell the sweet buttery pastries even through the parchment wrapped around them.

Morris grinned and spun the baking tray in his hand.

"We've also got customers coming in, Morris." Mr. Stone took the tray from Morris and slid it into the rack of savory pies.

A gust of cold wetness tumbled in through the door as two nuns rushed in. They were followed by small pack of schoolboys in red uniforms.

They all seemed so familiar with Morris. The old nun teased him harmlessly, returning his ragged smile with her own toothless one. Harper suddenly thought that Mr. Stone was right. Morris did seem to belong here.