Take a Thief (14 page)

"Kids?" Skif asked. "Littles?"

Raf laughed. "Na, growed people, too! Graybeards, even! I seed 'em!"

Skif could only shake his head at the notion of full-grown adults having the leisure to pursue snow sports.

They heard the Fair long before they saw it, a jangle of instruments, laughter, loud voices, echoing down the narrow street. And when they saw it, it was just a patch of color at the end of the street. Only as they approached it did the patch resolve into people, waving banners, and a couple of tents bedecked with painted signs on canvas.

Obviously, there was far more to it than that to account for all the noise, but that was all they could see at the end of the street.

This was usually the cattle market, where larger livestock was bought and sold once every fortnight. Part of the market— the part where really
fine
horses and stud bulls and prize milch cows were sold— was actually underneath a building on ten tall stone pillars. It was like a fine house where the ground floor had been reserved for stalls for beasts. Skif didn't know what went on in the building atop those pillars, but it was probably some sort of commerce. The rest of the place was just an open square, which on market days had rough wooden pens set up for the more plebeian stock; sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, and those cattle and horses without aristocratic lineage.

As they came to the end of the street, the Fair filled that square and even edged onto the walkways around the perimeter. And the first thing that 89

Take a Thief

met Skif's astonished eyes was a woman, in a flounced dress so short he could see her legs up to the thigh, balancing along a rope strung from the eaves of a shop to the staircase of the stone cattle stalls.

"Na, young'un," Raf said in his ear, "Iff'n ye kin do
that,
ye kin call yersel'

a roof walker, eh?"

Skif shut his open mouth and followed Raf into the aisles of the Fair.

Within a very short time, it became perfectly obvious to him why Bazie had picked
this
Fair for them to prowl. There were next to no women among the patrons, and very little besides food and drink for sale. The drink was
all
alcoholic; mulled ales, wines, and ciders, cold beer, cold wine, and cold spirits of wine, which Skif had only heard of, never seen.

The food was all hot, spicy, or salty. The rest of the stalls were uniformly for either entertainment or games of chance. And there were more entertainers in this place than Skif had ever seen in his lifetime. Jugglers, acrobats, musicians— that was only the start of it. There were trick riders, most of them women and attired very like the girl on the rope overhead—a man who did the most astonishing things with a loop of rope— a fire-eater— a sword swallower. And girl dancers, whose costumes were even more abbreviated than the riders! Which was probably why most of the patrons here were men and boys….

The dancers, of which there were two different troupes, and a set of raree shows promising to display the most amazing oddities, held pride of place in the stone cattle stalls. They'd used their tents to fashion canvas-walled rooms beneath the roof, firmly anchored to the stone sides of the stalls, making it impossible to lift the corner for a free look, to the acute disappointment of the boys swarming the place. The rest of the entertainers had to make do with their tents.

Raf found a good place for him to stand out of the way, just beside the stone staircase, where he also had a fine view of the ropedancers. He disappeared into the crowd.

Wake up now,
he told himself sternly.
Ye're here t'work, not gawk.

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It was hard, though— so many distractions, what with the dancers going across the rope when the crowd tossed enough in their dish to make it worth their while, with the glimpses of men on stilts at the farther edge of the Fair, the music coming from the dancers' stalls, and the enthusiastic bawling of the tent men, each proclaiming that nothing had ever been seen like the wonders in
his
tent.

Well, certainly Skif had never seen anything like this.

Just as he was starting to get cold, Raf reappeared with a cunningly-made paper cone full of hot chestnuts, which they shared— and under cover of which, Raf passed Skif a fat belt pouch. After Skif had peeled and eaten enough nuts to warm hands and stomach, Raf took back the half-empty cone and loudly told him to run on home.

After a brief whining plaint, Skif trotted off, exactly like a younger brother chased off by an elder. And once away from the Fair, he broke into a loping run. In no time at all he had left the pouch with Bazie to be examined and counted, and he was on his way back, more than warmed up by his exertions.

It took longer for Raf to return the second time; Skif hoped that this meant he was being very careful. He also hoped that by the time he brought back Raf's second or third lift, Bazie would tell him that they'd collected enough for the day. Although this Fair was exciting and completely fascinating, Skif couldn't help being nervous about the composition of the crowd—mostly male, and mostly drinking. It wouldn't take much for an ugly situation to develop.

The ropedancers didn't seem to mind his being there, though, which was a plus; he'd been afraid they might chivvy him off. While he waited for Raf to appear again, he watched them closely, trying to figure out how they did it. There were four of them; two girls, a young man, and a little boy; the latter didn't walk the rope himself, he seemed to be there mostly to balance on the shoulders of the young man.

Reckon since ye cain't see up his skirt fer an extra thrill, they figger they
gotta have th' little'un there t' make it more dangerous.

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Of the two girls, the youngest was the most skilled; while the older one just walked the rope, stopping midway for some one-footed poses, the younger one had an entire repertoire of tricks. So far Skif had seen her balance on one foot while she drew the other up with her hands to touch her heel against the back of her head, dance a little jig in the middlemost part of the rope, jump up and come down on the rope again, and make three skips with a jump rope out there. It was even-up between her and the older one for the dancers called out most often— the older one was, well,
older,
and had breasts and all, but the younger one was more daring.

It soon became obvious to Skif that the young man and the little boy were there to draw the crowd— they were the ones that went out for free. The girls didn't dance unless there was enough money collected in the tin bucket hung at the side of the stone staircase— and there was an older man with them who emptied it every time one of them went out. Skif thought there was a distinct family resemblance there with all of them.

Just then, Raf came up again, this time with a pair of waxed paper cones full of hot mulled cider. He handed one to Skif.

"Be kerful drinkin'," he cautioned, in a lowered voice. "They's summut in bottom."

"Seen Lyle?" Skif asked in a normal tone. " 'E sed 'e'd be 'ere, didn' 'e?"

"Oh, aye, an' 'is mum's gonna be right riled," Raf said cheerfully, as Skif sipped the hot, spicy liquid, fragrant with apples. " 'E's 'ad a pair uv beers an' 'e's a-workin' a third."

Lyle's gotten two lifts and Raf saw him working a third?
That was good news. By this point Skif understood why Raf had warned him. There was something hard and heavy at the bottom of the cone, heavy enough that if he didn't finish the cider quickly and carefully, the cone might start to disintegrate and leak. "I'm gonna go 'ome an' see'f Mum'll be lettin' us stay past dark," he offered.

Raf gave him a nod. "I be over t'orse dancers," he said, and wandered away as Skif trotted off again.

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He continued to sip at the hot cider until he could actually see what was in the bottom. It looked like jewelry— chain, with a seal attached. And from the taste now in the cider, it was silver. He ducked into a blind alley and fished the thing out, dumped the last of the cider and then, thinking, put it back into the paper cone. Nobody as poor as he was would waste waxed paper by throwing it away— it was too useful as a spill for starting fires.

So he screwed the thing up into a spill shape with the chain and seal inside, and went on his way again.

Bazie was pleased with the lift, but gave no hint that he was ready for them to stop, so back Skif went again.

Raf had warned him that he might be noticed— by the ropedancers themselves, if no one else— if he went to the same spot a third time. The new meeting point was the tiny corral holding the trick riders; Raf had pointed out a good place the first time they'd gone past, where a farm cart full of hay was pushed up against the corral fence. That was where Skif went, propping hands and chin on the lower railing as he watched one of the riders riding— standing— on the back of a remarkably placid horse.

A heavy hand gripped his shoulder.

Skif jumped— or tried to; with that hand on his shoulder, he couldn't do more than start. Heart racing, he turned his head, expecting a beak.
I'm
clean!
he thought, thanking his luck that he was.
I'm clean! 'E cain't do
more'n tell me t' get out!

But it wasn't a beak that held his shoulder. It was his cousin Beel.

"Beel!" he squeaked.

"I'm pleased you recall one family member, Skif," Beel said gravely. "I'd like to know where you have been."

Skif thought quickly. "Wuz runnin' errand, came back, an saw t'fight," he said, trying to look absolutely innocent. "Saw beaks in't, an— well, 'ad t'spook, Beel. Couldn' do nothin', so I 'ad t'spook."

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Beel nodded. "But then where have you been? Why didn't you come to—"

Skif took a chance and interrupted. "Beel— I
cain't
go back t' Nuncle Londer," he whispered. "Them beaks, they want me t'tell 'em stuff 'bout Maisie— but ye
know
tha's stuff Nuncle don' want me t'tell!"

The corners of Beel's mouth turned down, but he took his hand from Skif's shoulder. "It would be wrong of me to— put temptation in the path of anyone, let alone my own father," he said reluctantly. He didn't say what temptation, but they both knew what it was. "Just tell me— no, don't tell me where you are and what you're doing— but are you continuing with your lessons, at least?"

Skif groaned, and Beel smiled reluctantly. "Am I! They's wus'n you! Set me a sum, I dare ye!"

"Twelve plus fifteen," Beel asked instantly, knowing that Skif couldn't have added that when he'd run.

"Twenny—" Skif screwed his eyes shut and concentrated. "Twenny-se'en!" He looked up at his cousin triumphantly. Beel lifted his hands, conceding defeat.

"But what should I say if my father asks if I've seen you?" the priest wondered out loud, worriedly. "Lying—"

Skif clambered up into the hay. "Tell 'im ye seed me i' cattle market, then ina farm cart frum t'country," he suggested pertly. "An 'twon't e'en be a fib!"

Now Beel smiled ruefully, and shook his head. "You're too quick and facile for your own good, Skif," he said. "You worry me. But all right— if Uncle Londer thinks you've gone and hired yourself out as farm labor, he's not going to bother trying to find you." He rested one hand on Skif's head— in a blessing? —and moved off into the crowd.

Fortunately no one else seemed to have been paying any attention to this interchange. Skif clambered down out of the cart— reluctantly, for the hay 94

Take a Thief

had been soft and warm— before anyone from the trick riders' group could scold him for being up there.

He was still sweating, just a little. That had been a narrow escape. How could he ever have guessed that Beel of all people would show up here?

This was
not
the sort of atmosphere he'd expect a priest to seek out!

He looked anxiously for Raf, hoping the older boy hadn't been caught.

After much too long a wait, he spotted Raf working his way through the crowd coming toward him. The relief was enough to make him feel light-headed.

"Time t' go," Raf said as soon as the two of them were together. "Wut I got now'll gi' Bazie 'nuff, an' I sore yer cuz 'ere."

"I did more'n see 'im," Skif said, as they worked their way out to the street together. He explained what had happened as they walked together toward home.

"Aw, hellfires!" Raf responded, making a motion of wiping his forehead.

"Tha's a close'un!"

"Too close," Skif agreed. "I took't chance on Beel bein' a good'un— ye ken 'e warned me, afore th' to-do. An' 'e is, I guess."

"Well, I saw 'im doin' some beggin' fer Temple; guess tha's 'ut brung 'im there," Raf said. "I'd made lift, an' I nipped off t' look fer ye."

It had been far too close a call and Skif's heart was still beating hard. But at least they'd made some good lifts today, and no harm done.

Skif had managed— by luck and a glib tongue— to squeak out of danger again.

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Take a Thief

7

It was a good, dark night— not quite moonless, but it had been a day moon, shining in the blue sky half the afternoon, and it would be down before Skif was done with tonight's job. Right now, the shadows were perfect for getting into his target. Skif sniffed the air appreciatively, but silently; it was crisp and cold, with a hint of wood smoke, but not as much as there would have been if all of the fireplaces in his target house were running. With a dry autumn this year, there was no treacherous ice on the roof or tops of the walls. In the fall the first bit of cold kept people off the street at night and tucked up in a cozy tavern, instead of wandering about, taking a chance of getting run off by the Watch for the fun of gawking at the show homes of the rich. All except for the rich themselves, of course, who were making the rounds of their estates— if they had them— or their friends' estates. It was hunting season, and no one who was anyone would be caught dead in Haven at this time of year, not when they could go out to the country and use the slaughter of wild game as an excuse to have house parties.