When we last saw Edward, he had just arrived on Offal Street.
"Help! Help!" Edward cried as Tom's father, John Canty, dragged him home. A few people followed them.
"Are you all right?" a man in black called out to Edward.
"No, I am not all right!" Edward said indignantly. "I am Prince Edward, and this stranger has kidnapped me!"
"Be quiet, you miserable boy!" John threatened Edward with a stick.
Suddenly the man in black reached out to snatch Edward away from John.
"Stop interfering!" John struck the man, who fell to the ground.
Without looking back, John dragged Edward into a house. They climbed the stairs and John pushed Edward into a smelly, crowded room. Tom's mother was cooking over a fire in the fireplace, while his sister, Nancy, hung laundry nearby.
"I found Tom wandering the streets," John said.
"I told you before that I'm not Tom!" Edward stamped his foot. "I'm Prince Edward. Take me back to the palace gate, and my father, the king, will send Tom out to you."
"Oh, my poor boy!" Tom's mother put her hands on Edward's shoulders and studied his face. "All your reading about royalty has made you think you're a prince. But that's not true. Can't you see that I'm your mother?"
Edward shrugged off her hands. "I've never seen you before in my life."
Tom's mother began to cry. "Oh, Tom, what's wrong with you?"
John laughed and ordered Nancy to curtsy to the prince.
"Father, please stop teasing Tom and let him go to bed," Nancy said. "He'll be better in the morning."
"Speaking of the morning . . ." John turned to Edward and held out his hand. "The rent's due tomorrow. Hand over what you earned begging today."
"Begging? Princes don't beg!" Edward was insulted that John was bothering him about money.
John growled. "Go to bed before I lose my temper and hit you!"
Edward looked around the room but didn't see any beds. "Where am I supposed to sleep?"
"Over there in that corner as usual," Nancy said quietly. She pointed to a pile of old blankets and straw.
Edward was too tired to protest. He went over and lay down on the floor.
Later, when everyone was asleep, Tom's mother tiptoed over to Edward.
"I saved you some bread crusts," she said.
Edward sat up and took a bite of stale bread. "Thank you, good woman. The king will reward your kindness."
Tom's mother shook her head sadly and went back to her bed.
"Something's not quite right," she thought. "Maybe this boy isn't Tom. Oh, but that's absurd."
She tried to sleep but kept thinking, "If only there was some way to test him—"
Suddenly Edward made a sound in his sleep as if he'd been startled.
"That's it!" Tom's mother said softly. "Tom always makes an odd gesture whenever he's startled, even in his sleep. He covers his eyes with his palm out."
She crept to Edward's side with a candle and struck the floor with her fist. His eyes flew open, but he didn't make the gesture. She tried twice more with the same result.
"I don't understand. He's made that gesture his whole life." Tom's mother sadly crept away. "Something is wrong with my boy, but I won't give up on him."
Around midnight everyone was awakened by a knock at the door.
Tom's father stopped snoring. "Who's there?" he shouted. "What do you want?"
"I came to warn you," said a voice outside the door. "That man you hit with your stick was Father Andrew. He's badly injured, and you're going to be arrested."
"Get up! We have to leave right now!" John shouted to his family.
Five minutes later the Cantys and Edward were flying down the stairs. They moved quickly through the dark streets. As they neared the bridge, they heard people cheering the prince and the mayor.
"I'm supposed to be at the mayor's banquet!" Edward suddenly remembered.
A line of bonfires stretched up and down both sides of the river. Periodically there was a great booming sound as fireworks filled the sky. People danced and sang in the streets.
The Cantys and Edward joined the crowd.
"If we get separated, we'll meet on the bridge," John shouted to his family.
But Edward had other plans. From the moment they'd left the house, he had been hoping to escape.
Suddenly a man bumped into John, who lost his grip on Edward.
Edward seized the opportunity and ran off. "If I find Tom at City Hall, pretending to be me, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison. I'll make sure of that!"