They arrived at the shoemaker’s just as he finished sweeping to close for the day. He began to ask them politely to return tomorrow, but Donald interrupted him, holding out one of Muce’s inverted shoes.
“Do you have the rest of this?” he demanded.
The shoemaker glanced at the soft shoe in the prince’s hand. “The shoe? It’s all there. It’s just been turned inside out, is all.”
“No, not the shoe. The scroll inside. This piece of calfskin. It’s from a larger piece. I need as much of it as you have.”
“I’m not really sure. It’s just an old bit of scrap. That’s called recycling, that is. It’s very efficient. I’d have to look to see if there’s more, though. Come back tomorrow and I’ll see what I can find.”
“Tomorrow won’t do. I need you to look now.”
The shoemaker leaned the broom he held against a workbench and focused his full attention on his new and overly demanding visitor. “Now just wait a minute. I’m not one to turn down a customer, but if I’m not home in time for dinner, my wife will think I’m out at the pub, and if my wife thinks I’m out at the pub, well, let’s just say I’d be willing to lose a customer to avoid it.”
Donald straightened and threw back his shoulders. “I am Prince Donald of Westgrove, son of King Leonard and I command it.”
Not bad, thought Kwestor. Not the commanding voice his father has, but it should be enough to get a man’s attention. The prince impressed him for the second time today. Perhaps the boy could learn after all.
The cobbler looked past the prince to his two companions. Both nodded to affirm the truth of Donald’s pronouncement.
“Well, Your Highness, no disrespect but—”
“And I’ll pay you well for your trouble.”
The cobbler considered only a moment.
“Cordwin!” he called to the back of the shop. A young man emerged.
“Yes Master Hobbs.”
“Run and tell my wife I’m tending to an important customer and will be a bit late. Then come straight back here. I may need you. Off you go.”
“Yes, Master Hobbs,” he replied before hurrying from the shop.
“All right now. Let’s see what we have here. May I see those shoes?”
With the help of the three companions and his apprentice when he returned, the cobbler located a dozen pieces of vellum of various sizes, which appeared to be part of the original whole. These, along with pieces from four other pairs of shoes disassembled in the search, rested on the largest of the shop’s workbenches. “Well, that seems to be it. Why’s it so important, anyway.”
“It could mean the survival of the kingdom,” Donald answered dramatically.
Kwestor thought the prince did fairly well up until that point, but he made a mistake with his last statement. The boot maker had probably just doubled the cost for all of this.