The Thief Lord

“Scipio, the Thief Lord. He liked to act grown-up, although he was not much older than Prosper, and a good bit smaller than Mosca—even in his high-heeled boots. These were much too big for him, but he always kept them well polished—they were black leather, as black as the strange long coat that reached down to his knees. He never went anywhere without them.”

Scipio’s outfit as Thief Lord makes him seem like an adult. This introduces the theme of Coming of Age Versus Wanting to Grow Up and foreshadows the choice Scipio will make on the merry-go-round.

“‘Well, I don’t only read comics,’ said Hornet, putting her arm around Riccio’s shoulder, ‘and I’ve never heard or sugar tongs. And even if I had, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get all stuck-up about it!’

Scipio cleared his throat, avoiding Hornet’s look. Finally he said more gently, ‘I didn’t mean it, Riccio. You can get through life perfectly well without knowing what sugar tongs are.’”

Scipio mocks Riccio’s ignorance of sugar tongs, foreshadowing Scipio’s secret wealth. The exchange also illustrates the group dynamics: Scipio thinks he’s smarter than everyone, but because he lives apart from the group, the others have a bond that he doesn’t share.

“‘Should be child’s play for someone—’ Barbarossa twisted his face into a scornful smile ‘—who likes to call himself the Thief Lord, shouldn’t it?’

Prosper didn’t answer. The redbeard had never seen Scipio and so he probably thought he was dealing with an adult. He didn’t have the faintest idea that the Thief Lord was just as young as his messengers.”

Barbarossa has just offered a job to the Thief Lord, which he calls child’s play. His mockery of the Thief Lord foreshadows Barbarossa’s betrayal of him, but it is also (unbeknownst to him) a joke at his own expense: The Thief Lord is literally a “child,” and Barbarossa does not appreciate what children can do.

“‘Do you sometimes wish you were grown-up?’ he asked as they crossed a bridge and looked down at its hazy reflection on the water.

Riccio shook his head with astonishment. ‘No. Why? It’s great being young. You don’t stand out so much and your stomach fills up more quickly. You know what Scipio always says?’ He jumped from the bridge onto the street. ‘Children are caterpillars and adults are butterflies. No butterfly ever remembers what it felt like being a caterpillar.’”

The theme of Coming of Age Versus Wanting to Grow Up appears explicitly for the first time in the book. Prosper wants to grow up so he won’t be separated from his brother. Riccio points out that being a child is better because children see the world through a magical lens. The conversation introduces the tension between the two worldviews as well as the different characters and their life circumstances.

“‘Maybe you’re a better thief than all the grown-up thieves in the city, but when Barbarossa sees you in your high heels with all your grown-up playacting, he’ll just laugh at you.’ The others looked at Scipio in embarrassment. Never before had any of them dared to talk to him like that.

Scipio stood completely still and stared straight at Hornet. Then his mouth twisted into a sneer. ‘Well, the redbeard is not going to see me!’ he said, pulling the mask over his face. ‘And should he ever dare to laugh at me then I’ll just spit into his moon face and laugh right back at him, twice as loud. He is just a fat, old man. I am the Thief Lord.’”

Hornet cautions Scipio not to take the job since he’s a child, and Scipio takes offense. His reaction demonstrates his desire to be an adult. When Hornet mocks the very things he uses to feel older and braver, he gets angry and makes a bad decision—a lapse in judgment that ironically demonstrates his immaturity.

“He wasn’t homesick—he hadn’t been for a long time, not even at night. This was his home now. The city had welcomed Bo and him like a great, gentle animal. It had hidden them in its winding alleys and had enchanted them with its exotic sounds and strange smells. It had even provided them with friends. Prosper didn’t ever want to leave again. Never. He had grown so used to hearing the water smack and slurp against wood and stone.”

To Prosper, Venice is home. His aunt and uncle’s house never welcomed him as his new Found Family and Home do. The personification of the city creates a sense that it is almost a parental figure to Prosper; it even “provides” for him.

“‘Well, if he doesn’t, then Scipio will just have to tell him that he’ll never be a famous thief with his blonde hair. Bo would fly if Scipio asked him to.’

‘That’s true.’ Prosper smiled, although he felt a small stab of jealousy.

‘Scipio will just love the whole detective business.’ Hornet shivered and rubbed her arms. ‘He’ll probably just be disappointed that the man’s not after him. That would be quite an interesting job for a detective, discovering where the Thief Lord sleeps. Maybe he rappels at dawn from the Palazzo Ducale, after having spent the night in some cozy dungeon?’”

Prosper struggles with Bo’s worship of Scipio because he feels like it diminishes Bo’s love for him. The exchange also reveals more of Scipio’s character and how the others view him—namely, as a mysterious figure with a love of drama.

“Hornet answered before Scipio could say anything. ‘Because we three are not good enough to be in the Thief Lord’s crew! Bo is too small, you look hardly any older than eight, and I’m a girl, which simply isn’t good enough! No, we three would make you look foolish, wouldn’t we, oh Thief Lord?’”

Scipio has told Riccio, Bo, and Hornet that they can’t come to the meeting with the Conte, and the boys are upset. Hornet points out that Scipio only wants to bring people who bolster his image, sarcastically pointing out his prejudices as she does. Hornet is the only one of the crew who stands up to Scipio, and she is not afraid to tell him the truth.

“Scipio knelt bolt upright. ‘Indeed. And you are very old, judging by your voice. Does age matter in this transaction?’ Prosper and Mosca exchanged a quick glance. Scipio might have had the body of a child, but he could express himself like an adult, with a confidence that they couldn’t help admiring.

‘Not in the least,’ the old man answered. ‘You must forgive my surprise at your age. I must admit that when Barbarossa told me about the Thief Lord I did not imagine a boy of, say, twelve or thirteen years of age. But I do agree, age is of no consequence in this case. I myself had to work like an adult from the age of eight, although I was small and weak. Nobody cared about that.’”

The contrast between Scipio and the Conte and the assumptions they make about each other reveal the characters’ attitudes toward age. Scipio is insecure about his age, but the Conte takes him seriously despite it, knowing firsthand that some children grow up quickly. The Conte’s response foreshadows that he isn’t nobility but a servant.

“Victor didn’t like to admit it to himself, but there was another reason why he didn’t want to take Bo. It was ridiculous, but he just couldn’t do that to Prosper—to have him find his brother missing when he came out of the Basilica. Victor shook his head and sighed. I shouldn’t have taken this case, he thought to himself. What next? You can’t feel pity during a game of hide-and-seek.”

Victor sympathizes with Bo and Prosper, which foreshadows his eventual decision not to tell the Hartliebs about the boys’ whereabouts. Victor’s frequent thoughts of hide-and-seek also reveal that he is childlike and an ally to the children.

“‘Why are you all so nice to him? It’s his fault we have to find a new place. This is our...’ his voice faltered a little ‘...home. The best home we’ve ever had. And he spoiled it all. And now he gets coffee as a reward?’ The others were lost for words. Riccio was right. They had all felt safe here, even though the room was scary at night, and it was already so cold that they could sometimes see their own breath. But this was their Star-Palace, their shelter from the rain, and from the dark night outside. This was their safe haven. At least that was what they had believed.”

Riccio speaks directly to the theme of Found Family and Home. It isn’t grandness that makes a home but atmosphere. The Star-Palace was broken down, but the children found each other there and made it home. It doesn’t feel safe after Victor finds it, but they still don’t want to leave, illustrating their emotional connection to the place.

“Prosper hadn’t said anything all this time. But now he cleared his throat. ‘You won’t have to throw the snoop into the canal just to stay here,’ he said haltingly. ‘If Bo and I leave, he won’t have any reason to come here again. This is all our fault and so we’re going to go. We’ll have to anyway, now that our aunt knows we’re in Venice.’

Bo looked at his brother, his mouth open wide. Hornet turned toward him and stared at him in disbelief. ‘Nonsense!’ she shouted. ‘Where are you going to go? We all belong together. Your problems are our problems.’”

Knowing firsthand how painful it is not to have a home, Prosper doesn’t want Riccio and the others to have to leave theirs, so he selflessly volunteers to do so. Hornet quickly dismisses this idea, demonstrating the motto of their found family: that they share one another’s problems.

“‘What should we know about him?’ Mosca leaned against the tiled wall. ‘None of us talk much about the 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 to the lagoon. Since then he’s been by himself.’”

This is the legend of the Thief Lord that Scipio told the others. Because Scipio cares for them, they wanted to believe the clearly fabricated story. The story also shows who Scipio wants to be as well as his shameful feelings about his real identity.

“‘Don’t you understand? I told you: The snoop didn’t lie,’ he cried. ‘The only one who lied was Scipio. He lives in that palace. Bo and I saw his father. They have a maid and a courtyard with a fountain. Thief Lord! Runaway from the orphanage! All his mysterious ‘I can cope on my own’ and his ‘I don’t need adults’—they’re all lies. He must have really had a laugh at us. Hey, let’s play street-kid for a while, that sounds fun! And we fell for it.’ Prosper wiped his nose on his sleeve.

‘But the loot...’ Mosca’s voice sounded very faint.

‘Oh yeah, the loot.’ Prosper laughed out loud. ‘He probably stole those things from his parents. Thief Lord?—Liar Lord, more like.’”

The children have just found out Scipio’s real identity and feel betrayed. They don’t know why he’s been lying to them but imagine the worst—that he was simply toying with them and doesn’t truly see them as people. This is a turning point in the novel, as the children try to do things apart from the Thief Lord after their discovery.

“‘Don’t you understand?’ Hornet’s voice sounded angry, but there were also tears in her eyes. ‘That’s even more crazy than sneaking into some house. We all belong together now, you and Bo, Riccio, Mosca and me. We’re sort of a family now and...’”

Prosper threatens to take Bo and leave Venice, but Hornet begs him to reconsider, reminding him that they’re now a family. By contrast, Scipio’s absence from her list shows that the group no longer thinks of him as family due to his lies.

“Suddenly Scipio said, ‘I’m not going back.’ He sounded choked up. ‘I will never ever go back home. That’s it. I don’t need them. If that merry-go-round really exists, then I’ll be on it faster than the Conte, and I’ll only get off when I’m at least a good head taller than him and with a beard on my chin. If you don’t want to take the deal, then I’ll do it alone. I’m going to find that merry-go-round so nobody can treat me like a stupid pet animal ever again.’”

Scipio reveals his motivations for lying and assuming the identity of the Thief Lord: He wants to be an adult and is ashamed of his life. Scipio’s seemingly charmed life is unhappy, and he’s desperate to win back his friends, who turned their backs on him after finding out about his betrayal.

“Scipio’s face froze. Prosper could see the old Scipio returning, the stubborn, arrogant Scipio who would fight to get his way. ‘I see,’ he said. ‘You’re not going to throw out Prosper and Bo, even though it’s completely their fault the detective came sneaking around here in the first place. But I—I’m not allowed to stay. I showed you this place. I gave you money and warm clothes. I even brought you the mattresses—and I nearly drowned in Mosca’s rotten boat doing it. When it got cold, I brought you blankets and heaters. Do you think it was easy to steal all those things from my parents?’

‘Of course it was easy.’ Mosca gave Scipio a look of utter contempt. ‘They probably suspected the maid, or the cook, or another of your thousands of servants.’

Scipio didn’t answer that. He just turned bright red.”

The children want to cast Scipio out of their gang, and he responds with anger, arguing that he deserves to be there. However, his response merely demonstrates his privilege. It does not occur to him that his parents would likely blame a servant for his thefts, but the other children, who are lower class themselves, recognize this immediately.

“The woman leaned against the deck rail and eyed Scipio with puzzled amusement. ‘He wants to be grown-up. How different dreams can be!’

‘Nature will soon grant your wish,’ the Conte replied. He was wrapping the wing in a tarpaulin. ‘We wish the opposite to be true.’”

When exchanging the wing with the Conte, Morosina tells Scipio he’s too young to be stealing. Scipio takes offense because he views his thieving as a demonstration of his maturity.

“Scipio had asked Ida to drop him off about two bridges before his father’s house. He wanted to walk the last few steps along the snowy bank of the canal. The cold air gave him the feeling of being strong and free—as long as he didn’t think of the others, or of the big house that would soon make him feel small and weak again.”

Scipio’s first point-of-view sentence reveals that he feels “small and weak” at home, which is why he created the Thief Lord persona. However, everything has fallen apart, and now Scipio feels like a failure everywhere.

“Had they come here to adopt a child? They probably wanted a small one, a baby if possible. The little ones had a good chance of finding new parents. The others would have to wait, year by year, days, weeks, months until they were grown-up. It took so long to grow up.”

Hornet watches a couple walk through the courtyard and reflects that nobody wants to adopt older children. The reality of orphanage life shows why many of the novel’s children are in a hurry to grow up: It is hard to be a child without a family, not least because children cannot seek out a new family for themselves as adults can. This is one of several examples of Adults’ Failures to Understand and Protect Children.

“Prosper sat in Ida’s boat and let the tears run down his face. He had believed that this was his city—his and Bo’s. He used to believe that if they came here—the most beautiful city in the world—then they would be safe from Esther. Esther despised Venice. She was an intruder. Why didn’t the pigeons poop all over her? Why didn’t the marble dragons bite her in the neck and the winged lions chase her out of their city? How wonderful they had seemed the first time Prosper had seen them with his very own eyes, after learning so much about them from his mother. He had looked up and there they were, standing like sentinels among the stars on their pillars. He had felt they were the guardians not just of Venice’s splendors—but of him too. He had felt as safe as a king in the center of his realm, protected by lions and dragons—and by the water all around them. Esther hated the water. She was afraid to even board a ship. But still she had come here and taken Bo from him.”

To Prosper, Venice was a symbol of magic and possibility. Esther’s dislike for Venice shows her to be an antagonist because it echoes her attitude toward children; she dislikes what she sees as their unpredictability and impracticality.

“Prosper stared at his hands. A child’s hands. He thought of the condescending look he had received from the porter at the Sandwirth. He thought of his bulky uncle and how he had walked next to Bo, his hand possessively on his brother’s thin shoulder. And suddenly Prosper wished that Scipio was right. He wished that out there, on that island, there really was something that could turn the small and weak into the big and strong. And suddenly he knew what he wanted to do.”

Prosper doesn’t long to grow up to get rich; he wants to grow up to protect Bo. He desires the power that comes with adulthood in a world that denies this power to children while simultaneously failing to protect them.

“‘We read the story of Peter Pan at school. D’you know what? He’s a stupid boy, and you and your brother are just like him. Turning yourself into children so that adults can push you around and laugh at you again! Yes, I do want to take a ride. That’s why I came to this island. But I want to ride it in the other direction. I want to be grown-up. Grown-up! Grown-up!’ Scipio stamped his foot so forcefully that he crushed one of the little soldiers.”

Scipio explains that he wants to grow up because he doesn’t want to be “pushed around” as he is at home. He wants to be able to make decisions and have people take him seriously. Renzo and his sister respond differently to their own unhappy childhood, riding the merry-go-round in the hopes of redoing it.