In Beau’s, drinks arrived. Joe and Moira calmly savoured the hoppie goodness of Beau’s best brew while Ned and Danior stared at each other. Only when the two bosses put down their glasses did the two lieutenants reach for their own. Moira wiped the back of her hand across her lips to remove any beer moustache that might have grown. “This meeting is pointless, Joe. We don’t have your lassie.” “Well, that’s the problem Moira. I have an anonymous note that says you do.” “And how the feck are we supposed to find the truth of it? Even if I were to invite you and your whole bloodthirsty gang of ne’er-do-wells to come and search for her, the fact that they wouldn’t find her isn’t going to mean squat to you is it?” Joe folded his arms. “And that’s the problem.” Joe and Moira reached for their glasses again, hoping to find an answer in the golden brew. Ned and Danior immediately put their glasses down. It wouldn’t do for either pair to be having their eye off the ball. Moira barely sipped before returning her glass to the table. She was shaking her head. “Joe, all I can do is give you my word of honour that I don’t have the girl.” Back at the Gold household, Silvanus and Shelta were just arriving with Finny, hands bound in front of her, after having been marched through the streets of The Borough like a prize turkey on it’s way to market… a parade witnessed by dozens of staring, whispering citizens. Once behind closed doors, Shelta managed to drag her eyes off their victim long enough to turn to her brother. “What shall we do with her?” Silvanus thought, actually rubbing his chin as he did so. Since the proposal Mammy had made to Spivey about pairing Patrin with Joe’s baby cat-burglar, Silvanus had made it his business to find out as much as he could about Finny. What he’d learned was telling him now that just dumping the fiery-tempered and apparently resourceful nine-year-old in their cellar all by herself probably wasn’t the best option. Besides, there were all sorts of dangerous implements down their that she could use to defend herself when he and his twin did find time to play. No, the girl needed watching; trouble was, they were a mite short of manpower in the house now that Mammy and Danior seemed to have taken most of the staff away for some reason. Then he remembered Patrin’s minder. That big feeble-minded thug, Bill Skye. Silvanus smiled. “We’ll put her upstairs for now, Bill can babysit her with Patrin.” At Krook’s Rag & Bone Merchant Plastic Micky held out an arm to prevent the other three from entering the yard. “Something’s wrong.” Casper appraised the situation in typical Casper fashion: Yard – empty – no threat. Big, gaping doorway – empty – no threat. Windows and roof equally devoid of threat. Then he, too stopped and squinted suspiciously. Despite all the facts indicating there was no threat… in this place and at this time of day, that in itself was a red light. There should be people, noise. Instead, there was just the smell of old bones and wee. “Nobody’s here… we better be careful.” The four boys literally tiptoed across the twenty feet of open yard towards the dark maw of the warehouse entrance, all the while heads swivelling in all directions and ears alert for sounds of danger. They flattened themselves against the wall and Casper leaned to one side to peer into the badly lit interior. No people, just abandoned benches where everything that had been brought in was sorted into one of several bins that surrounded each workstation. Casper, barely able to make out the far wall where the stairs were, stepped around the corner into the gloom to better adjust his eyes to the darkness. Micky’s head replaced his own. “What can you see?” “Nothing, there’s nobody…” Then his dilating pupils untangled the mess of shadows at the foot of the stairs. Micky, worried about him, Lucas and Onetooth being so exposed in the sunshine hissed as loudly as a whisper dare. “What?” Casper was stepping slowly towards the stairs, concentrating on the pile of… rags? “I think… I think… I… I think you better see.” Casper had made it halfway down the length of the sorting area where he had stopped. The other three joined him, and Casper pointed. “Bodies… blood…” Every fibre of his soul was screaming at Casper to turn and flee. But he didn’t... because he couldn’t. So Casper exhaled slowly then took a step towards the bloody scene at the bottom of the stairs. “C’mon.” The four boys crept forward. Dead bodies were not an uncommon sight in New Flagstaff. Shootings happened often enough that the new corpse was usually ignored, confident in the knowledge that the Union would lean it up in an hour or so, if they weren’t on a break. But these bodies indicated that, if Finny was here… was she alive? At the foot of the stairs, they stopped to listen for a full minute before Casper set the first foot on the first stair. Stepping around the bodies, they made their silent way up to the next floor. Another corpse halfway inside a doorway indicated the way. Finny wasn’t there, but she had been because her almost-new red jacket was in a pile on the only chair in the bare, sunlit room. Micky pushed his glasses up his nose. “Fudge.” Casper crossed the floor and picked up the jacket. He checked the pockets just in case Finny had deliberately left it there with a clue for him to find. The absence of any such thing made it clear to Casper that Finny had not left this room willingly… this was her favourite jacket… well, her only jacket, but she called it her favourite one and she would sooner die... He turned to Micky. “Any idea where she might have gone?” Micky just shrugged and looked helpless. Bill and Finny stared at each other in mutual recognition for the briefest of seconds before turning they eyes to anywhere else. Silvanus pushed her into the room where Bill and Patrin were playing poker on the floor, Lego blocks for chips. “Keep your eye on this one Bill, she’s not to leave this room. We’ll be back for her soon.” The look on Shelta’s face just before the door closed sent a cold shiver down Bill’s spine. Fortunately, Finny hadn’t seen it. Patrin was staring up from his cross-legged position on the rug. “Hi. You were at the funeral of that man, I saw you.” Finny managed a smile, she’d recognised him instantly from the funeral Joe had made her go to. “Yeah, I saw you too… Hi.” “Have you come to marry me then?” “Sorry. What?!” The Finny Stories In chronological order: 000 Finny Intro 001 The Locket 002 Rats 003 A Christmas Finny 004 The Secret Adventurer’s Club 005 The Secret Adventurer’s Club: Second Adventure 006 Finny’s Birthday 007 Union Candy 008 Then There Were Three 009 Then There Were Four Again – Sort Of (WIP)