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“Can you climb?” he asked.
The terrified boy nodded. Of course, he knew how to climb. He was from the rookeries.
“Right, I want you to climb, then. From the rooftops, we can evade those bad people. They won’t see us, but we shall see everything. Understand?”
The boy’s eyes widened. Perhaps he was afraid of the height. Jarvis was about to reassure the boy that he didn’t have to be afraid, but the boy lifted his finger and pointed somewhere behind Jarvis’s back.
At that moment, Jarvis heard slow, quiet footsteps behind him.
Damn. He was so engrossed in talking with the child that he hadn’t even noticed someone creeping up on him. Good thing the boy decided to trust him.
Jarvis leaned closer to the boy and put his finger to his lips.
The pistol cocked.
“Leave the child alone,” a familiar voice said behind him.
Jarvis frowned.What the devil?
He straightened, put his hands up in surrender, and turned. Before him stood the man he’d expected the least.
Ford Gunning, the thief-taker, had his pistol pointed at Jarvis’s face. Jarvis was ready to laugh at this situation, but it was as dire as it was comical.
He couldn’t say anything because he didn’t want to reveal himself, for the thief-taker was sure to recognize his voice. So he just kept his hands raised while he thought about how he’d get out of this situation. He heard the voices of approaching criminals and cursed softly under his breath.
“Keep your hands above your head and do not move,” Gunning said.
Didn’t he hear that bandits were approaching?
“Child. Come with me, I shall take you home,” Gunning said, still aiming his pistol at Jarvis.
The silence from the child was deafening, so Jarvis turned to look at him. The boy stared at Jarvis, his eyes wide. Jarvis pointed the finger at Gunning, looking sternly at the boy.
The boy didn’t budge.
“I am trying to help you, boy!” Gunning gritted.
Still silence from the boy. But the footsteps were getting louder.
“Are those your friends closing in on us?” Gunning asked.
Jarvis shook his head.
At that moment, three men appeared from different directions, surrounding them.
Gunning pointed the gun at each of them, one at a time. “Come any closer, and I’ll shoot!”
“Do it,” one of the bandits said. “Waste your shot.”
The bandits were getting closer.
“Shoot, damn it!” Jarvis yelled, not caring about his vow to keep silent, and Gunning complied.
He fired, and one of the thugs fell to the ground. At the same moment, the other two attacked both Jarvis and the thief-taker. Jarvis took out his sword and easily deflected the attack until the bandit kicked the sword out of Jarvis’s hand.
Jarvis lunged, just as the bandit threw a punch that landed solidly on his bad shoulder.
Jarvis groaned, the pain shooting from his shoulder and echoing through his entire torso. The distracted bandit probably thought it was over, for he stood proudly before Jarvis.
