Linua left the school the same way she had come. Bully the janitor, happily, was nowhere in sight. Linua still wore the Keng Boh Kids backpack, which had her water bottle and a radio in it. Apparently there was a Radio Club at school as well, of which Pickle was naturally a member. Once Linua was over the railing, she walked round to the front of the school. Would the thief still be there? Yes, he was. Anith said she thought that he would be waiting for break time, when he would be able to saunter through the grounds and talk to the students. It would be easier than trying to infiltrate the school when the kids were in class.

Linua walked up to the thief, aware of the hot sun on the back of her neck, which was exposed now that Anith had coiled her hair high up on her head. The thief was still smoking a cigar, or maybe had started a new one. He took it out of his mouth as she approached, and flicked ash on the pavement.

“Well, well,” he said. “You brung the storage stick?”

“I’ve got it.”

He held out his hand.

“Good girl.”

“I’m not going to give it to you! You have to take me to where Eret is. I’ll hand it over when I know he’s safe.”

The thief stared at her, then sighed and stubbed out his cigar on the heel of his boot.

“Look, kiddo,” he said. “I’m not taking you anywhere near the boss.” His tone was unexpectedly gentle and sympathetic. “I may not be Mr Law n’ Order, but I ain’t a complete bastard. Ain’t no way I’m taking you anywhere near that man. You give me that stick and I promise you I’ll do everything I can to get your friend out of there. Right?”

Linua shook her head.

“I’m going with you.”

“Kid… I’m not having your death on my conscience! Give me the storage stick, there’s a good girl.”

“You’re implying that Eret won’t be safe even if I give it to you.”

“I’m not saying it’s too late for him, okay? But there’s no point in putting yourself in danger too.” The thief held out his hand and made a beckoning gesture with his fingers.

“No.”

The thief’s mouth flattened and he straightened up. Linua took a step back.

“I’m House trained,” she said. “You won’t find it that easy to overpower me. I got a lock on you last time. And are you really going to attack me in front of a school? What if someone calls the police?”

The thief swore, briefly and comprehensively, in a way that made Linua blink.

“Look, darlin’, you’re messing with bobo you don’t understand. How many times do I have to tell you? These are not good people. I take you in there and turn you over to them, there’s no guarantee you’ll ever be seen again. They’ll just take the stick and throw you in the river.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Linua hesitated. Should she tell him the plan now? He might try to mess it up. But she needed him to agree to take her to his boss. She explained the idea the Astronomy Club had thought up, although she left out Anith’s part, and didn’t disclose where Pickle and Solly would be.

The thief dropped his head in his hands.

“Frig me, youse lot think you’re all Keng Boh Kids. Nim’s bollocks, what did I do to deserve this?” He rubbed his hands over his head and stared up at the sky, as if hoping inspiration would strike him down like a bolt from the blue. “Okay, okay. I can see as how it might work.” He pointed to Linua and then to the back of the moped. “Hop on, darling.”

He straddled the front seat himself and turned the engine over. Linua climbed carefully onto the back.

“Don’t you have a helmet for me to wear?” she asked.

The thief cracked up with laughter.

“Helmet? Helmet, she asks? Crikey! Don’t even got one for myself, sweetheart.”

She wasn’t sure where to put her hands, and was suddenly and overwhelmingly aware that she was doing was a really bad thing, the worst thing a girl could do—accepting a ride from a strange man when no-one in her family, neither at home nor at the Castle, knew where she was. The thought made her feel like she was swimming through an underwater tunnel and past the point where she had enough air left in her lungs to turn back, so she could only go forward.

This was something she had actually done with Sheyboh as part of her training one summer, although the underwater tunnel had been selected specially because it was short enough for the Yi children to swim through.

There were no such guarantees now. But she was committed to this.

She didn’t want to put her hands on the thief’s waist, so she grabbed hold of the handle at the back, even though it felt more precarious.

He wasted no time and zoomed off at top speed. As they turned the corner onto the main street at the T junction, Linua glanced back and saw a small pink electric scooter turning out of the school gates. That must be Anith.

The thief drove inland, away from the sea and up the valley, into the older suburbs. Every so often, when they made a turn, Linua glanced casually to the side and saw the small pink scooter following them. But at one point the thief suddenly dived off into a side road, making several sharp turns before pulling to a stop and waiting. Linua’s heart thumped uncomfortably.

Was he going to try to force her to give over the storage stick? Or something worse?

“Picked up a little follower,” the thief said, peering in the wing mirrors. “But it’s gone now.”

He gave Linua a sidelong glance and she stared back expressionlessly. But inside her heart sank. He’d shaken off Anith, which meant if anything went wrong there was no-one to call the police and direct them to the place where Eret was presumably being held.

After a few minutes, they set off again, this time heading closer towards the river. The street they eventually came to was full of pretty houses in an older style, all very narrowly built with small front gardens.

The thief stopped the moped and half turned to her.

“Alright,” he said quietly. “Just a word o’ warning. There’ll be Himself, plus three of his hired thugs. Do not fuck with him. Be respectful and polite.” He hesitated and rubbed his mouth. “If he tells one of his people to show you out the back way, that’s an order to put you in the river.” At Linua’s blank expression he explained, “Like, permanently, right? He don’t know I know that, I overheard one of his thugs talking about it.”

Linua could hear her breath coming faster and faster. They were actually going to walk into the house of a man who had people killed often enough to have a special code for it. The thief put a hand on her shoulder.

“Keep it together, kid. You’ve got a solid plan, right? Just get through this bit and you’ll be home free.”

Linua nodded and took deep breaths, just like Auntie Hui Ying taught, breathing in for four, holding it for four, and breathing out for four. It helped. She found herself able to climb off the moped and follow the thief as he strolled up the garden path.

There was a big bay window at the front of the property, and the blinds were closed against the promise of the sun, but the top window was cracked open. To the left of bay window was an ordinary wooden panelled door, painted black.

The thief knocked on the door.