Jimmy the Hand by Raymond E. Feist, S. M. Stirling Read Free Book Online Page A

anthill, all swarming movement—although ants
didn’t produce that sort of din, or wave their arms so that you
nearly got clouted in the face walking through. Agitated people moved
quickly from group to group; everyone seemed to be talking at once.
He spied a boy he knew standing apart and went over to him. ‘What’s
happening?’ he asked.
    The boy, dubbed
Larry the Ear because his were enormous, stood tense as a bowstring
watching the frantic activity. He spoke to Jimmy without taking his
eyes from the scene before them. ‘Bas-Tyra’s men are
arresting the girls and the beggars and anyone else they can get
their damned paws on,’ Larry growled. ‘They took Gerald.’
    Jimmy blinked.
Gerald was Larry’s younger brother, not much older than seven,
if that. Jimmy had known Radburn was a vindictive swine, but
arresting babies was beyond contempt.
    He started to
ask, ‘Was he pick . . .?’
    ‘No!’
Larry snapped, turning to glare at Jimmy. ‘He wasn’t
doing nothing. He was just playin’, just bein’ a kid!’
    ‘Damn
Radburn’s bones,’ Jimmy said quietly.
    ‘Damn him
right enough,’ Larry said. ‘But this was del Garza.
Radburn’s out of town—took ship not an hour after the
Princess got away.’ Jimmy blinked. If Larry knew the Princess
had been the one fleeing last night, then everyone knew it. So much
for secrets. ‘Del Garza’s in charge, and he’s gone
crazy mean.’
    Crazy like a
fox, Jimmy thought, motionless, as implications ran through his
mind. Princess gone, Radburn chasing her—del Garza will want
lots of people to pin the blame on when the Duke gets back. Radburn
can at least say he went after them right away. What was that old
saying? Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. Del Garza wants to have as many other candidates for the role of
defeat’s father as he can.
    ‘Del
Garza’s a snake from the same egg as Radburn,’ Larry said
passionately. ‘He’s up to something and even if it takes
hurting a little boy, he’ll do it!’
    Jimmy nodded in
agreement. ‘Well, we won’t let him,’ he said
quietly. ‘Let’s see what the Upright Man decides and if
he doesn’t make the right decision, well, we’ll see.’
He punched Larry’s shoulder. ‘You with me?’
    The younger
lad’s eyes filled with hope and he nodded.
    ‘Who else
do you think will take our point of view?’ Jimmy asked quietly.
    ‘I’ll
find out,’ Larry said, swiping his dirty sleeve over his eyes,
leaving dark smears behind.
    Jimmy nodded.
‘Me too. But we’ll not discuss this again until we’ve
found out what action will be taken.’ And he meant by del Garza
as much as he did the Upright Man and his lieutenants. ‘Let’s
move around, see what we can find out.’
    Larry nodded and
they both moved off.
    ‘Have any
of the houses been affected?’ a fat man was asking a group of
prostitutes. ‘The ones we’re behind, I mean.’
    ‘Not yet,’
one of the women answered, a needle-nosed woman who looked well over
forty. ‘But if this doesn’t get old Jocko what he wants
they’ll be next. Sitting-ducks, so to speak, that’s what
they are.’
    ‘A lot of
the gentry go to those places,’ said one of her friends. ‘They
wouldn’t like having their pleasures interfered with.’
    ‘Oh,
that’ll worry the secret police,’ needle-nose sneered.
‘They’d just love to have something like that on a
gentleman of quality, or a rich merchant with a jealous wife. Mark my
words, even if this does get the bastard the results he wants,
that’ll be their next step anyway.’
    ‘True,’
the fat man agreed. ‘Once he’s begun, why should he
stop?’
    Jimmy had to
agree. He supposed it was more surprising that the secret police
hadn’t already made such a move—Radburn was clever enough
to see it. For a power-mad, soulless bastard it seemed a logical
step, much more so than picking up the street girls. You could learn
a great deal if you had the power to squeeze the sporting houses;