Closer to the Chest by Mercedes Lackey Page B

Dog-Billy, an’ Rufus is on th’ way here, wi’ some paid bully boys, an’ they reckon t’—”
    Mags held up a hand, to quiet the boy and hush the rest of the children, who reacted with terror to the names of their former captors. “It don’ matter none what they
reckon
t’do, because they ain’t gonna do it, an’ they’re gonna be sorry they tried. Pagen, git th’ Watch. Minda, git the littles below. Trey, git up i’rafters; I wants a witness.” As Minda pulled up a hatch in the center of the floor and herded the children down into it, the runner obeyed Mags’ orders to him, and scrambled up into the exposed rafters where he could observe, safely out of reach, and escape through the door in the roof at need. While they all did as they had been told, Mags sauntered over to the fireplace and removed a small lead ball from a cracked bowl of more of the same. These balls were small enough to conceal in his hand, but larger than the round clay balls the children played rainy-day games with. Definitely too large to be swallowed, and just about the right size to use as shot in a sling for a strong child, which was what a very select few of the children were allowed to do.
    While he was there, he also took up a staff that had been leaning against the mantelpiece. Of course, he
could
use the weapons he had on his person, but he didn’t actually want to kill these men.
    :I’ve sent a Herald to alert the Watch,:
Dallen told him.
    :Good, I sent Pagen off after them, and Minda will send someone, too, so this will give us a head start.:
    The cellar was not a potential trap; a properly made tunnel ran between it and the cellar under the pawn shop. Minda would send the most responsible of the children up into the shop to first alert whoever was working there, then run off over the rooftops to find the Watch just in case Pagen couldn’t locate them quickly. When Mags was through with the three instigators, the Watch would have a nice little package to take off to gaol.
    He was absently regretting now that he’d gotten a little bit lazy with these three; in all his other forays into thieves’ dens to free their child-gangs, he’d taken care to beat the thief-masters to a bloody pulp before announcing to the lads that
he
was taking over the gang. That had been more than enough to prevent any retribution. But his reputation had begun to precede him, and with this lot, he’d decided to wait until the thief-masters had gone before he broke into the filthy, drafty hovels they were keeping their gangs of boys in. Once there, all he’d done was to make sure none of them were actually chained up and announce he was there to recruit them, figuring the children would follow him without needing to be terrified into doing so. It had worked all three times; the decent prospects for redemption had all been more than willing to go with him, while those with stickier fingers had scarpered off.
Not
turning their erstwhile master into a quivering heap on the floor set a good example, he’d told himself, and he had been sure that Harkon’s reputation would make those “masters” think twice before having a go at him.
    Evidently not.
    It was quite out of character for them to turn up in broad daylight, but then, he reckoned they intended to make a “statement” about Harkon’s fearsome qualities or lack thereof, and how
they
did not intend to let him take what was “theirs” and flip a finger at them.
    So it appeared he’d have to beat them to a bloody pulp after all.
    :My, aren’t we self-confident.:
He ignored Dallen’s sally for a moment, as he planned out his moves. The three bosses would be leading their hirelings. They wouldn’t be able to go through the door three abreast, so they’d have to let one lead, then the other two would have to squeeze in behind the first. They’d never been here, so they