Read Online Closer to the Chest by Mercedes Lackey - Free Book Online Page A

up you’d have to remember later.
    It did help, of course, that Trey was in the rafters, loudly seconding everything Mags said. Not that they would doubt the word of a Herald, but Mags wasn’t being Mags at the moment, so a witness would come in handy if one of the three raised objections in front of a judge.
    Therefore the Watch had no reason to make any sort of objection to anything Mags asked, and what he asked was that the three bullies be taken off and locked up, and let the law handle them. They just trussed the three thugs up and carted them off. When the whole group was gone, Mags pounded his staff on the hatch, signaling to Aunty Minda it was safe to come up again.
    But before anyone but Minda could emerge from their hiding place, he tossed the staff and the lead ball to Trey, who had scrambled down out of the rafters, and left, smiling a little, but only to himself. Standing there to be congratulated and fawned over by a pack of littles was not in Harkon’s nature, and it would reinforce that, and enhance his reputation, if he stalked off as if felling the three thugs by himself was inconsequential. There had been no witnesses but Trey to the fight, but the arrival and departure of the Watch would surely bring the curious flocking to find out what had happened.
    The result was that he was well out of the way by the time a crowd started to gather around the door, and out of sight by the time Trey began his story, which would likely be much embellished. Although the fight hadn’t made much noise, the arrival of six stout fellows of the Watch was not something that would pass unnoticed in this part of town. The departureof the Watch with three notorious gang-masters trussed up and in considerable pain would bring just about everyone out to see what was going on. Mags wasn’t particularly concerned about repercussions; the three thugs didn’t have any friends in this neighborhood. In fact, since the general opinion hereabouts regarding Rufus, Dog-Billy, and Hatchet was “good riddance to bad rubbish,” the only reaction to seeing the trio hauled off would be “who did ’em and how did it happen?”
    :Well, this isn’t going to do Harkon’s reputation any harm,:
Dallen observed.
:Well done, by the way. How did you know you’d take them by surprise?:
    :All three of ’em like to speechify before they beat a feller up,:
Mags replied.
:They’d ’specially want to speechify in front of the young’uns. It’d make it easier t’herd ’em all up and drive ’em back t’whatever bolt-hole they’re using now.:
    He was pretty sure what had been their plan after that; divide the littles up according to their own pecking order. The next order of business would have been to start beating the younglings, then put them back to work as thieves again once they were suitably cowed and broken.
    Which just showed how short-sighted and stupid they were, first, that they would assume that beatings would keep youngsters who’d seen a better life in line, and second, that they’d go right back to the risky business of running a ring of thieves and pickpockets. Moronic, really, when they could just as easily have taken over Harkon’s messenger-service to a safer, if smaller, profit. But he reckoned that simply wouldn’t occur to them.
    :Honestly I’m pretty pleased it was those three. I’ve been expectin’ some blow-back for a couple of moons now.:
He took to the back alleys; too risky to go running over rooftops in broad daylight if you weren’t a youngster.
    :You
have
been breaking up gangs that rely on children and then stealing the children, so to speak,:
Dallen agreed.
:But why are you pleased it was these three?:
    :They ain’t as sneaky as some of the others. They came at me, ’stead of ambushing me. They got no friends in my part of town, and I didn’t have to get . . . radical.:
Nobody had died.