[SPEAKER_00]: The Red Hook of Dunhill, chapter 2, a short-hand missile tale by Matthew C. McLean.
[SPEAKER_00]: As the crowds send near the slums of the Galagade, chained as quietly and not without anger.
[SPEAKER_00]: So is this what you do, Rob Thieves?
[SPEAKER_00]: I was wondering how someone so charmedless could find going to drink out most nights.
[SPEAKER_00]: I side-eyed him, pretending the comment on my personality didn't sting, as opposed to robbing the hapless who only want to conduct their lives that fear of the real quitter's axe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan stopped.
[SPEAKER_00]: He handled his low-top hat, pushing it back into shape as dark eyes reevaluating me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that what you think of those men?
[SPEAKER_00]: All gathered amongst themselves at a molly house?
[SPEAKER_00]: I looked up at him, wondering where he stood on the map of the Empire's constant sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thinking of my uncle's predilections in the line of shivers in the alley I replied, I didn't see any children with them, so, yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan brooted with, oh, aren't you with a clever one?
[SPEAKER_00]: He turned me back down the street.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, the least you can do is buy me a meal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Back at Serpent and Ren, I did just that, chained to joining me at a corner table.
[SPEAKER_00]: I slid into my seat, hidden behind his taller frame, as he charmed the waitress with his usual bright smile in order for both of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: In addition to wine, he ordered fessens, potatoes, roasted meat with vegetables, and worst of all, sour crowd.
[SPEAKER_00]: I briefly considered lacing his food with one of the poisons I carried in my spare
[SPEAKER_00]: but decided against it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I filled my pipe, as I said, awfully presumptuous of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's more than either of us order on any given night.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chann's smile increased by a few candellas.
[SPEAKER_00]: Been watching me have you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope the dim light of our corner hid my blushing, so much so that I hesitated in lighting my pipe from the table candle, chewing on its long stem.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chann didn't expect me raising an eyebrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: What are you doing?
[SPEAKER_00]: You look like a child pretending to be a gentleman with that pipe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Opponent, I reach to the candle, whether or not it showed my burning cheese.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm hardly a child, and the smoke helps me relax.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chandel after me, something I was not accustomed to.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do you need to relax?
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen you idling in here night after night.
[SPEAKER_00]: I puffed on the pipe instead of answering, trying to keep the thoughts of the black coats and interned on goals out of my head.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nevertheless, Chanda turned quickly, year in some kind of trouble.
[SPEAKER_00]: He stared at me while I studiously avoided eye contact.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that why you rubbed
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan's constant persistence and accurate observations were continuing to rush blood to my face, making me feel as if the pipe I was sucking on fed me fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was saved from having to answer his question by the return of the waitress with wine and two cups.
[SPEAKER_00]: She giggled and swatted Chan's hand away as he pretended to pinch her bottom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Alone again, Chan died me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that why you're walking
[SPEAKER_00]: A gentleman, I used the word to indicate myself, is always prepared to defend himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Seems like you should be grateful for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan's lips curled into a drool smirk.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is that so?
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't tell if he was amused by the idea that I was pretending to be a gentleman, or that he should be grateful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Either way, he snatched my pipe from me and puffed on it lightly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's quite a fun thought you've got.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know it is quick to theft of my pipe and proud that I possess something that interested him, I placed the cowhoth on the table.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chanted mirrored it while ignoring the implied threat.
[SPEAKER_00]: He pointed at the pistol, tracing the barrels with the pipe stem along to the convex fear at its side.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's this all about, Dan?
[SPEAKER_00]: Unable to hide my pride at the weapon or my knowledge of it, I demonstrated how the cowloth stored powder in the rounded container next to the lock, and that the capped barrel into the muzzle was a ball magazine.
[SPEAKER_00]: A testament to his quick wit, Chen deduced, so it can fire multiple times without being reloaded.
[SPEAKER_00]: I answered yes, and demonstrated the reload process how the powder and balls replaced and how rotating the trigger guard cocked it.
[SPEAKER_00]: and how many times can it fire as such?
[SPEAKER_00]: 7.
[SPEAKER_00]: I answered.
[SPEAKER_00]: A stounding.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wonder why the black codes don't carry them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some do, but the weapon is too fine acrossmanship for every lowly constable to be issued one.
[SPEAKER_00]: With chained leaning over me to inspect the firearm, I snatched my pipe back.
[SPEAKER_00]: He grinned at my own deftness, but it just is quickly disappeared.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, mate, if you're trying to solve your problems to robbery, you picked the wrong mark.
[SPEAKER_00]: I puffed on the pipe.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do you say that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Pitons with the red hook mom.
[SPEAKER_00]: I blew a long stream of smoke to cover my ignorance.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, Chen filled this cup from the bottle, drained it, refolded again, I'm evil entire time.
[SPEAKER_00]: You eat it!
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't even know you robbed the most dangerous gang in Dunhill.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remembering my uncles abuse of me I reach for the bottle.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm supposed to be afraid of a group that hustles and inflate of his children.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just patent.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be an old gin-hound, but he's a red hook from back before Gloria Ana was Queen.
[SPEAKER_00]: the mob has dangerous men, and they aren't going to let one of their codenoles being robbed past.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tired of being the one on the answering part of the conversation, I asked, so if you admire this group of bullies so much, why did they have you standing in line with the rest of the orphans?
[SPEAKER_00]: Shouldn't someone your age have graduated to hire ranks by now?
[SPEAKER_00]: Chen gestured to his dark features.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do you think?
[SPEAKER_00]: I took the pipe from my mouth, pretending to give the questions, I saw it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I pointed it stem at him.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're too handsome.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan's anger disappeared in burst of laughter, slapping the tables for the wine bottle danced.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, he shows some charm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan slugged down his own wine, and I thought I could detect his own cheeks reddening.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm afraid, and the overlords of the Red Hook are immune to my good looks.
[SPEAKER_00]: They'll never let a walk, officially be a member of the ranks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then, why I work with them, I asked, or put up with that bully with the whip.
[SPEAKER_00]: He seems to save it just for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chandlaft, more lightly, less than, certainly.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a normal using guy habit choice.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd rather get knocked out from time to time than end up at the bottom of the tumassus.
[SPEAKER_00]: That rivers, murky waters, had covered many crimes.
[SPEAKER_00]: The waitress arrived with our first course, perhaps sensing the topic had darkened, she quickened away.
[SPEAKER_00]: I flipped a coin across the table.
[SPEAKER_00]: Give that to her when she comes back with a fescent, maybe she'll smile at you again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chand only stared sourly at it, then backed me, I couldn't resist kneadling him with.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you work for this red hook because you're afraid of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chand's jawed, tightened at his joint, betraying the grinding of teeth.
[SPEAKER_00]: I pay them a percentage for protection, protection from them, and the black coats.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of it makes its way into their pockets so they look the other way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really?
[SPEAKER_00]: The penny dreadfuls I read had always cast the black coats as peragons of justice and protectors of the week.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ratella certainly had the right manager's suspicion for my uncle's murder.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan began digging into our meal with his hands.
[SPEAKER_00]: Between mouthfuls he answered, I have to be more careful than most.
[SPEAKER_00]: I drank more wine, knowing I should eat to soak it up, but enjoying feeling the warmth from something other than embarrassment.
[SPEAKER_00]: So how long till you end up working for one of those shepherds you stand in line with, just because his skin is more fair than yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: My teasing resulted in silence.
[SPEAKER_00]: I watched him while mostly drinking wine, waiting for him to pick up the conversation until he didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: He began to rush through the meal.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not wanting Chandali if I asked, how did you end up in Don Hill?
[SPEAKER_00]: Doing such dastardly work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I added the last adjective in the hopes it would appeal to his obvious delight in being a scoundrel.
[SPEAKER_00]: The question did not improve his mood.
[SPEAKER_00]: My mother was an Iya, brought over from the subcontinent.
[SPEAKER_00]: She gutters help him to fix from her master.
[SPEAKER_00]: She managed to hide whom my father was for nearly a decade before his wife's suspicions got to be too much, and she cast his out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Been a tramp ever since.
[SPEAKER_00]: While alive, my father had been kindly, so I had difficulty envisioning a man so hard that he will allow his own son to be thrown out onto the cold cobblestones of Dunhill.
[SPEAKER_00]: This inspired me to ask, who is your father?
[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps we can get a piece of your inheritance that is due to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: That stop chance quick and greasy eating him leveling a gaze of me that burned in the shadows of our corner table.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look mate, I told you my name is Cole, don't remind me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't need your name and you don't need to know mine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone here knows your name, chand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chan's gaze sharpened on me as if I had told him he was in danger.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually he said, I think it's time for me to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: He brushed his hands together, scattering crumbs, then reached for a napkin to wipe the grease from his face.
[SPEAKER_00]: I noticed his long, tapered fingers, the quickness of his stealthy livelihood inhabiting them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Emboldened by the wine, I asked, do you own company?
[SPEAKER_00]: That positive giving me hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was no reason not to take him back to McDownmaner.
[SPEAKER_00]: I considered mentioning it's many comfortable and empty beds before Chends response.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we've risked enough being seen together like this with that he stood.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not understanding I said, don't be silly, don't be an idiot, Chanda interrupted.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Peyton asks around and anyone says they saw us together, I'll be lucky to see
[SPEAKER_00]: Disappointed, but seeing his point, I watched without a word as he flipped on his cloak and grabbed his battered top at.
[SPEAKER_00]: You seem nice enough, mate.
[SPEAKER_00]: He flashed his smile one more time before adding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stay away from me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then he left.
[SPEAKER_00]: MacDowell Hall was particularly cold in empty that evening.
[SPEAKER_00]: Only the black coats I snuck past and my own goals goes to keep me company.
[SPEAKER_00]: Regardless of the cannstabularies desire to speak with me, I continue to sneak out and visit the serpent and ren almost nightly, hoping to see Chand.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: The tavern continued to be filled with its prey, of drunks and rotters,
[SPEAKER_00]: My table only visited by the occasional prostitute that I was tempted by, but sent on their way.
[SPEAKER_00]: I cut snatches of the staff, referring to me as the gloomy ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: I appreciated the illiteration of nothing else.
[SPEAKER_00]: After several nights with no sign of Chan, I pondered using my evening to roam, done hell to in search of another pub.
[SPEAKER_00]: My considerations were halted by the entrance of two men.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was fortunate that I was in my corner when I spotted the crimson lining of each of their cloaks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remembering Chan's comments about the Red Hook, I think deeper into the shadows around my table as they eye the taverns and habitants from underneath their cowles.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both men were armed, which was not strange at the serpent-run, nor anywhere, and all have done hell for that matter.
[SPEAKER_00]: However one had the hard look of a man who knew how to use those weapons.
[SPEAKER_00]: His scarred nose attestement to the painful lessons learned in such matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: I surprised the waitress by slipping out of my corner to quickly pay my bill.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was barely quick enough to disappear at the door before the bar key pointed me out to the two men.
[SPEAKER_00]: I knew this part of Dunhill as well as any Red Hook, so it was easy to lose the killers in its narrow streets and winding alleys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, I found my way to Gallogate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I kept an eye out for anyone dressed similarly to the enforcers at serpent and run, biting my time, waiting for Peyton to visit his alley and collect dues from his urging crew.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even as it passed midnight though, and the little larceness began to gather, the gin-hound did not appear.
[SPEAKER_00]: When a younger Red Hook, a skinny lad, no older than most of the cut-purses appeared, and began collecting dues, I knew Peyton wouldn't show.
[SPEAKER_00]: I swept around the alley,
[SPEAKER_00]: approaching the origin from the darkness beyond the street lamps.
[SPEAKER_00]: In my dark coat and hat, I was nearly upon them before one sharp-eyed tramp spotted me and raised the alarm.
[SPEAKER_00]: Clearly, a practice did avoiding black coats.
[SPEAKER_00]: The gang scattered, leaving me only able to trap two against the brick wall of the alley.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the little dovers actually pulled a dark from his vast, imposing himself between me and the other one.
[SPEAKER_00]: With the street lamps now behind me,
[SPEAKER_00]: I doubt he could see me smile.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's no need for that," I said.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to know where Peyton is.
[SPEAKER_00]: The knife-wielder, a puck-marked, men-seated redhead, proved more able at profanities than melee combat.
[SPEAKER_00]: When his stream of old Guarity showed no signs of stopping, our grabbed his wrist and took the knife from him, pushing him back into the other, he extended hand to protect them.
[SPEAKER_00]: With their dirty white faces and light eyes, there might have been siblings.
[SPEAKER_00]: I disappeared the knife into one of my cloaks, many pockets.
[SPEAKER_00]: I repeat my question, where is Peyton?
[SPEAKER_00]: More cursing followed, but I was able to translate it into something that was equivalent of why do you care.
[SPEAKER_00]: I stared at the pair, time to do intimidate them into submission, then I felt the chill in the air and noticed the many patches and holes in their clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I produced a done hell crown for my purse holding the gold coin between us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Notice anyone missing from your lineup tonight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Peyton ate his useless box, said the eldest, despite his cursy eyed the coin.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cheeky, I couldn't help but smile.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone else?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, right.
[SPEAKER_00]: You were the one working with Chand Rob Peyton.
[SPEAKER_00]: He clutched his tiny fist as if the wish she still had his blade.
[SPEAKER_00]: We all paid for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chand and I aren't partners.
[SPEAKER_00]: Both of them spit at me.
[SPEAKER_00]: The oldest more successfully managing saliva.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you aren't working with him, why do you care where he is?
[SPEAKER_00]: I held the coin in the air long enough to give them both a good look at it while I plumbed my own depths that come up with an honest answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because I like him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even with the promise of gold, I could see that reluctance pool in their eyes.
[SPEAKER_00]: I changed tact.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you like Peyton?
[SPEAKER_00]: No answer came forth, but I could see their reluctance flow into fear.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you tell me where Peyton and Chandar, I'll give you this crown, and my word that you will never see Peyton again.
[SPEAKER_00]: From behind the younger, urgent, finely spoken, high voice of a frightened girl, do you promise?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and that is the closest thing that you will get to an ironclad oath this side of the river sticks.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nudge Dawn by a sister, the eldest looked from her to me, and then said, they're in the red hope layer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Patence given Chanda slowed death over training the mob.
[SPEAKER_00]: At these words, the mercy I felt for the pair threatened to boil into a rage that needed another outlet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where is the layer?
[SPEAKER_00]: Staring firmly at the crown now, the eldest rushed into.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's an inn, close to the city walls, called the Open Wicked, there's a bar door on the back.
[SPEAKER_00]: If Peyton has him, he's there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Specifically enough instructions I decided.
[SPEAKER_00]: I produced another coin, giving one to each of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: With that, I turned to walk away.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, the oldest yelled.
[SPEAKER_00]: What about my knife, you nanny hammer?
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't help but admire the impertence of the little salt mouth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come by McDowell Hall in a few days.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll give you lessons on how to use it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Once you convince me you can possess it without hurting yourself, I'll return it.
[SPEAKER_00]: With the urchins jettings chins at me, I left them with gold and a promise I looked forward to keeping.