Something splashed loudly in the dark waters below them, making Dandy jump. “This is a bad idea,” he moaned.

“What are you talking about? It was your idea in the first place,” Maine reminded him. They crouched on the docks, hunkering down beside a shed reeking of crab traps and fishing gear. The sun had set, and it was now dark and cold, with only the light from the occasional torch or streetlamp to provide illumination. Below them, the waters of the Lower Bay lapped against the wooden piers noisily. Ifri was crouched over by the edge, his nose twitching as he watched the surf below.

Dandy moaned again. “Don’t remind me. If we get caught out here…”

“Not if we’re smart, we’re not gonna be.” Her eyes were fixed on the bar a short distance away, sitting far out at the end of the pier. It was a rough, ramshackle sort of building, made of ill-fitting, loose boards that let the light and the raucous music and laughter from within shine through. The bar sat like a lighthouse at the end of the pier, rocking with the waves and music within as Elders of all types drifted in and out the doors, frequently laughing and swaying as they left.

Maine narrowed her eyes as she watched the large, open double doors. They were certainly inviting, but the two, huge Trolls standing to either side of them seemed a bit intimidating. Somehow, she doubted she and Dandy could just waltz right in.

Dandy edged nearer to her and cleared his throat. “Okay, so I brought you here, so there’s uh… no reason for me to stay, right? I can just go…”

She grabbed the back of his shirt firmly. “What are you talking about? You’re gonna be a legend, the first 33rd Street boy to meet with Old Tilly. Think of how jealous everyone is going to be.”

“Yeah, I’m the first on my block to get eaten. What fun!” He shivered, not just from the cold, and looked nervously at the bar ahead of them. Above the doors and the Trolls was a huge, painted sign of a smiling woman’s face, her red hair wild and flowing free, with the text underneath simply reading Tilly’s. There was something unnerving about the woman’s smile, and not just because it was stretched across the side of the building; perhaps it was the too many teeth, or the slightly hungry look in her eyes, but regardless, the patrons staggering underneath seemed to give it no mind.

“So let me get this straight,” she said. “Old Tilly, the one everyone talks about as running the docks with an iron fist, is real and she works out of this old bar?”

Dandy nodded nervously, his gaze sweeping the docks. “Lilaccy heard it from his brother, who heard it from… I mean, yeah, that’s what I’ve heard.”

“And she’ll really know where the Firstborn are?”

“Probably,” he shrugged. “Supposedly nothing goes down on the docks without her knowing about it. But…”

“But what?”

“But she’s supposed to be like a gangster! People who cross her, they just disappear, just like that!” he snapped his fingers, shivering and moaning again. “Oh I wish I’d kept my mouth shut!”

Maine’s eyes lit up with excitement. She turned back to the bar, looking around eagerly. “Now, how are we gonna get in?”

“We could try again in the morning?” Dandy offered. She grunted angrily, shaking her head. Her eyes drifted around the edge of the building towards the back of the bar, and she noticed a larger gap in the boards. That looked promising.

She tugged on Dandy’s arm. “Come’on! I see a way.” She started slinking forwards, keeping low, and whistled for Ifri.

The kitten turned sharply, too sharply, on the edge of the pier. His back paws slipped off the wood and he fell with a startled yelp, plunging with a sizzle into the dark waters.

Dandy gasped loudly, looking at Maine. “Oh bother,” she sighed.

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“Is he alright?” he asked, creeping over the edge to look down into the water. Nothing was moving down below, just the waves. “Can he swim? Or is he…” He couldn’t finish, looking tearfully at her.

“Of course he can’t swim,” she told him. She looked around, unconcerned, until she finally found the nearest torch burning on the edge of a post a few feet away. “Just hold on a minute, he’s usually back pretty quickly…”

Dandy’s face was confused, looking from Maine to the burning torch. The fire continued as normal for a moment, then seemed to twitch suddenly, the flames sparking. The torch rattled in its holder as the flames contracted and swelled, going from red to bright blue. With a sudden loud MmmmmrrrroooooWWWWW!, Ifri exploded out of the flames, dropping down to the docks. He tumbled head over heels till he came to a stop, blinking.

“There you are,” Maine said, satisfied. She picked up the kitten, kissed him on the forehead, and then stuffed him into her bag. “I told you to be careful near water,” she chided him. “Now just sit there and behave yourself.” Ifri sat blinking dumbly in her bag for a moment,, then started to lick his fur, unconcerned.

“What! How did he?” Dandy stammered, looking from the water to the torch and back again.

“I told you, he’s magic,” Maine shrugged. She started to creep towards the bar, Dandy trailing after her.

“But I mean… Did you know that would happen?”

“Oh sure. You should’ve seen Miss Imi scream the first time she tried to bathe him.” She crouched low behind a bench, peering ahead to see if it was clear. The Trolls were still at the front doors, nodding along to the music inside.

“How does he do it?”

“I don’t know, my Gran’s the one who made him.” There was a Goblin laying against the back wall of the bar ahead of them, but judging from his snores and the bottle of liquor laying beside him, he wasn’t likely to notice anything. She motioned to Dandy, pointing out the gap in the wall. “Go!” she hissed to them, and together they ran towards the bar, throwing themselves against the back wall and out of sight.

They paused, waiting and listening. The music continued from within the bar, and there was no shout from the Trolls. She smiled at Dandy and pointed to the gap in the boards. “See if you can pry it further open.”

He nodded and laid hold of the boards, straining. Maine’s eyes drifted back towards the front, watching for the Trolls, and then she noticed some plastered against the wall. They looked to be advertisements for various musical and stage acts. They were faded and peeling, but she could make out The Cherry Sisters, performing the Dance of Seven Leaves, someone called Rotgut: the Troll with the Filthiest Tongue, and The musical stylings of Delilah–

Dandy looked back curiously as he heard the sound of paper tearing. Maine ripped the poster down off the wall, balled it up, and tossed it over her shoulder towards the water. He watched her silently, till she glared back at him. “What?” she asked, her chin thrust forwards petulantly.

“Nothing.” He tugged again at the boards until they came free with the clatter. “Got it!”

Maine ducked down, looking towards the front nervously, but the Trolls didn’t seem to have heard them over the music and laughter inside. Dim light filtered through the hole, yawning opening before them. She tightened the straps of her bag and pushed Ifri’s head down.

“Let’s go.”

Maine got down on her hands and knees, grunting as she struggled through the gaps in the boards. Once she was through, she stood up, looking around quickly inside. It must’ve been a storage room for the bar, all around her were barrels and bottles, stacked nearly to the ceiling. The heady smell of alcohol and sawdust was thick in the air, and the walls seemed to vibrate to the sound of the bar.

“Ow!” Dandy was rubbing at his arm as he got up behind her, then he covered his nose. “Ugh, it stinks in here!”

Maine heard the sound of tiny feet scampering in the shadows and she shuddered. “Yeah, I don’t think they clean much back here. C’mon, we’ve got to find Tilly.”

They started to creep down the row of barrels. It was very much like a maze, they could hear the noise from the front, but all they could see in front of them were the stacked barrels and wine-racks.

“Do you know where Tilly is?” she asked him. “Or what she even looks like?”

“No, of course not.” He was following so closely behind her that he was almost stepping on her toes. “I don’t think anyone does. I’ve heard that she never leaves the bar.”

“Great.” Abruptly in front of them the wall of barrels ended, and she groped around in the dark for a moment. “Here, the path turns this way.”

There was the sound of something falling behind them, and Dandy suddenly stiffened, his shout choked off. Maine turned round, her fists going up, to see a small girl, younger than either of them, standing behind Dandy. She froze as she saw the gleam of metal in the girl’s hand, and how it was pressed against his neck.