Moonlight washes over the waves and casts gentle
light upon the bridges and buildings. Water consistently laps at the walls,
which are held just above the surface. While the residents of the beautiful
city drift into sleep listening to the quiet splashing of their streets, a
group of clever thieves run along the few pathways, hidden under the blanket of
night.
A fact unexpected by most is that every one of
those sly bandits are still children. Besides Prosper and Bo, who are runaways
and the newest members, the group is composed of four other people. There’s
Riccio, with his hair that sticks out everywhere, Mosca, who is known for his
old boat and broken radio, and finally Hornet, who refuses to give her real
name. And leading the ragtag group with confident stride, his signature plague
doctor mask obscuring his face from sight, is Scipio -- Or, as the citizens of
Venice know him as, The Thief Lord.
Though there is plenty of mystery surrounding
everyone, Scipio is the most mysterious of them all. He seems like just another
orphan from Venice, but he holds many secrets, and he holds them very close
indeed.
To protect his many secrets, one ability that
Scipio has developed to be surprisingly great is his ability to deceive others.
His main lie would probably be about his past. He keeps the lie fairly simple,
so it’s easy to miss looking over it as something false. According to Mosca’s
answer to Victor’s question of how much they know about him, this is the story
Scipio has fabricated for his past: “‘Scipio grew up in an orphanage, just like
Riccio. He did tell us about it once. He ran away when he was eight and since
then he’s been looking after himself. He lived with an old thief for a while
who taught him everything he needed to survive. When the old man died, Scipio
stole the best gondola from the Grand Canal and laid the old thief in it. Then
he let him drift out on to the lagoon. Since then he’s been by himself.’” The
lie does get a bit more extravagant at the end, but for a bunch of kids, it
isn’t too hard to believe.
But why was Scipio lying in the first
place? He could’ve just ignored the orphans, but instead
he went out of his way to help them. This makes him a very kind-hearted person.
As mentioned various times in the book, Scipio was the one who gave them a
majority of their money by stealing things for them and he was also the one who
showed them the Stella. An example of one mention is when they’re talking to
Victor and he comments on how strange their hideout is. “Prosper looked
around. ‘Scipio found it for us. He also makes sure we have enough money to
live on. If it wasn’t for him, we’d be in real trouble.’” A few pages later, Bo
proves that Scipio gives them their clothes, coats, and other things as well.
“‘Scip brought us coats and blankets. And he even gave me these.’ Bo sat down
next to Victor and held up one of his kittens.” While he could have used the
money for himself, he instead let the orphans have it.
The Thief Lord may be very nice, but he’s twice
as brave for taking such a big risk of assisting the orphans. With
such a strict father, getting caught would mean a harsh punishment, but he kept
going, even with that knowledge. And besides that, when the Conte made his
offer, Scipio accepted, even though he had never actually broken into a house
and stolen before. If he would’ve gotten caught, Scipio could have had a
serious punishment for breaking and entering, yet he was brave enough to take
on the challenge even so.
When all is said and done, Scipio is a complex
and great character -- Even though he’s a bit less mysterious and mystical than
he first seems.
