The new mistress shouted, "Wait a minute. This isn't over. I didn't come here to waste my time. I must have my due. This vandal must be punished heavily."
His mother paused and asked him, "Did you do what she is accusing you of?"
Arthur shook his head innocently and said, "I don't know what she's talking about."
No one there believed him. There were seven people there who heard his reply, but none of them believe him, including his mother, who asked the question.
But his mother turned to the new mistress and said, "You heard the boy. He said he didn't do it. You must have the wrong person. Now leave me."
The mistress pointed at her speechless. All she could manage as her face turned purple was, "You, you, you..."
His mother wasn't listening. She resumed her more important quest of getting back into her house.
But the new mistress would have none of it. She finally managed to say something coherent. "Do you take me for a fool? What kind of childish trick was that? You're insulting yourself, not me, if you think that is going to work."
Lady Vena finally turned back. She wasn't angry. There was no anger on her face. Instead, there was mockery and disdain.
She said with disdain, "You're the one with a feud with a child. I am not so sure if I am the childish one. I will ask that you bring proof of your claims next time you come so that you won't embarrass yourself like this."
She said that with the certainty that the new mistress would return soon. After all, it had happened many times in the past.
But the new mistress was new to this strange situation. She couldn't believe what was going on.
She said, "Everyone saw him. Everyone here knows he did it. He has always been a sore in our lives."
She was ranting and shouting.
At this point, the people in other houses on the streets had already heard the shouts and were paying attention to the commotion.
They found it interesting, but Lady Vena was already bored. She yawned and said, "Enough of this farce. You want me to believe that he carried a cup of sand and threw it across the kitchen into a pot of stew standing on a high platform while he was standing outside of the kitchen?"
She shook her head. "That's unbelievable. The Arthur I know is very lazy. He can't even lift a spoon to feed himself. His nurse has to spoon-feed him every time. How do you expect me to believe that he threw something so heavy?"
The mistress shouted as if she was going crazy. "That's because you spoil him. That's not normal at all. You spoil him then by not forcing him to feed himself, and you spoil him now by not punishing him. You're going to ruin this boy. You're a bad mother. You're..."
Lady Vena didn't care. She turned back and resumed walking into her house. This time she didn't pause or stop for anything.
It is not that she doesn't think what the new mistress said was right. She just doesn't care that Arthur is spoiled, and she doesn't care that he will turn out rotten.
Arthur kept a straight face and didn't try to snigger during the conversation. But he did make sure to give Sheila a look that indicated that she should prepare herself for what was to come.
Geltra consoled him as she carried him into the room, "Don't listen to her, young master. You're not spoiled. You're just eccentric."
That's what she truly believes. She is not just saying it to please him.
He is a boy that goes to this much extent for food. It is food that he can eat in his own house. But he doesn't eat the food despite fighting tooth and nail for it. Instead, he goes about giving people the food.
If he had done everything he did for selfish reasons, maybe he would truly be spoiled. But he had done them for unreasonably selfless reasons. So he is just a little crazy.
But she can't call him crazy. Eccentric is more appropriate.
Arthur didn't care either way. He was famished and looking forward to being spoon-fed by Geltra.
It is not that he can't feed himself. He is just a little lazy and doesn't see why he should go through the stress of feeding himself when there is someone to do it for him.
If he is being honest, he will admit to indulging himself and acting spoiled. But he is not ashamed of it one bit.
Because not only will having Geltra feed him free up his hands, it will also free up his mind to think about what he should do to teach tattletales a lesson and break their spirit quickly.
He was taken to the house where he was bathed and fed. During the whole process, his mother didn't admonish him for the stunt he pulled. She didn't even speak about it.
It was as if they had a don't ask, don't tell policy. As long as he wasn't apprehended while commiting the act, she will behave as if it never happened. It was what Arthur liked most about her.
Then a doctor came over to examine him. It was an old man with gray hair and a beard.
The old man pinched all over his body, checked his pulse, asked him to explain his problem, and finally asked him to break some tools.
When he was done, he had a conversation alone with Lady Vena and Geltra.
He said, "Frankly, I am out of my depth here. I have never seen this kind of thing before."
Geltra almost fainted when she heard that. But the doctor scrambled and successfully grabbed her which prevented her from falling.
She asked anxiously, "Is he dying? Is my poor Arthur dying?"
The old man helped her up as he shook his head. "He is not dying. Actually, he is in great health. But there are some oddities about him that I cannot understand how they came to be."