“I’m telling you, it’s got to be valuable,” To’phoro said to the rest of the boys in the den.

It was now several weeks after Jake’s initiation and he had become a respected member of the gang. At the moment, To’phoro was trying to convince them all of what he thought they should steal as their next hit: an ornately coloured cloak he had identified in the house of a rich merchant.

“They’ve got plenty of other cloaks, so it’s not like they’ll go cold, but none of them are as nice looking as this one. He always wears it when he’s going out to meet people he’s trying to impress. I’ve noticed.”

“It’s just a stupid cloak,” said Yathom, always challenging To’phoro’s authority. “It’s a waste of time. We should be investigating the jewellery box that Mikros thinks he’s found instead.”

“No. We’re going for the cloak next. I’m the gang leader and I say we’re going for the cloak. I know it’s valuable.”

“Oh, right, just like you knew that crate we lifted the other week was full of valuable goods, which turned out to be rotten vegetables?”

“Hey,” interrupted Jake. “To’phoro may have got that one wrong, but he was right about that hit we did on the cart the other day that was being driven down Rekob Street. And about the chest in the back of the fruit store. He’s been on a roll lately! I say we go for the cloak.”

“It is only a hunch about the box I found,” spoke up the small boy known as Mikros.

“Exactly,” said Jake. “To’phoro’s hit is much more likely to work.”

Eventually they won the other boys round and Yathom was forced to back down from his challenge.

Later that day, undertaking a rare theft during daylight hours, four of them ambushed the merchant with the colourful cloak when he returned from his day of trading while the others created a diversion by upsetting his horse-cart at the same time. Yathom ran at the man and punched him in the stomach while Mikros knelt behind him so that he fell over, then Jake and To’phoro ripped his cloak from his back. After that all of them scarpered, running as fast as they could in different directions amongst the chaos that ensued, before meeting up at the den again later as they had agreed, making sure that none of them were followed.

It was a successful hit. Nobody was caught or followed back to the den afterwards. Jake and To’phoro managed to get away with the cloak safely, a multi-coloured masterpiece woven from flamboyant, brightly-hued threads, although it had torn a little in one place where they had ripped it from its brooch. But best of all, despite the tear, the cloak fetched a very high price on the black market the next day. It turned out that it was made out of very hard-to-come-by threads tinged with the bright colours of a special dye, and in a style that was particularly popular and fashionable at the moment. So much so that they were able to ask around a few different places and haggle for an excellent price for it.

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Jake’s support of To’phoro paid off and he earned himself even more respect in the gang. He was improving more and more in his skills as a thief, both in spotting potential thefts and carrying them out. A tiny part of him even started to enjoy living in this city called Ubal, with its backward mediaeval-era people, and to forget—just the littlest bit—about going home.

One day, when the sun was at its highest and all of the other boys were asleep, To’phoro shook Jake awake from his slumber.

“Wha-?!” said Jake, jolting awake. “What’s going on? Have we been found? Is another gang attack us? Are we going out on another hit?”

“Shhh!” said To’phoro. “No, nothing like that. Come with me, there’s something I want to show you.”

Too groggy to protest, Jake got to his feet and followed To’phoro, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He took care to tread quietly as they went out of the den and into the alley that led to it, where they could be away from the other sleeping boys.

“What is it?” said Jake with a grumble once they were outside. He blinked in the afternoon sun. “Why have you woken up me and no-one else?”

“To show you this,” said To’phoro.

The boy produced a long, sheathed dagger from within the folds of his rags. It was wonderfully made, from steel and silver, and had the pattern of a crown engraved on its hilt. Jake recognised it as the dagger To’phoro had threatened him with on the day that they had first met.

“Er, what’s going on, To’ph?”

“Don’t look so worried. I’m trying to do something, you know…...nice.”

“Where did you get that knife, anyway?” It looked far too nice for it to be something To’phoro owned. In any case, he didn’t own anything.

“Lifted it, of course. Quite a while ago now.”

“But To’ph, I thought that we weren’t meant to keep loot for ourselves? We’re meant to share it with the whole gang. You made that rule yourself, as gang leader!”

“Yeah. I know. Don’t be so uptight. Rules are made to be broken, anyway. And what’s the point of being leader if you can’t have a few...privileges? Like I said, I’m just trying to do something nice.”

Jake raised his eyebrows.

“Look, anyway, it’s yours,” said To’phoro. “You can have it. The knife I mean. I’m giving it to you. Take it!”

Jake was fully awake now. He held out his hands in puzzlement.

“Just take it, alright? You’ve been backing up my decisions a lot in the gang lately and helping me make some tricky hits, and I just wanted to say…you know, ‘thank you’.”

He pressed the knife into Jake’s hands. Jake took it and drew it from the sheath, testing it out in the air. The blade was straight and sharp, undented and unblemished.

“Wow. Thanks, To’ph. But don’t you need it?”

“I have others.” The gang leader grinned from ear to ear and his eyes glinted wickedly. “Look, if you’re ever separated from the gang and find yourself running alone, you can use it to defend yourself—or sell it for money, to survive. It’s like having a safety back-up. You can keep it. It’s yours. Like I say, I have some others. Just don’t go telling anyone else in the gang, alright? It’s just between us, kind of thing. Got it? Friends?”

Jake returned the knife to its sheath and nodded to To’phoro, looking him in the eyes.

“Friends,” he said.