Thieves of Weirdwood by Christian McKay Heidicker

Author:Christian McKay Heidicker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

13

THE GENTLEMAN THIEF

Arthur sloshed through the Mirror sewer. The stone tunnels stretched dark and endless. Every hundred yards, a slant of moonlight streamed through a drain above, lighting massive arches of ancient stonework, laced with cobwebs. The air was thick with the cold rot of death.

Yes, the sewers were as delightfully creepy as Arthur had imagined whenever he read Alfred Moore’s books. But something was missing. In the stories, the gloom was banished by crackling torches, raucous laughter, and bawdy songs sung by Garnett Lacroix and his Merry Rogues. All Arthur could hear now was the gurgle of water and the shrieks of rats.

He passed a pile of bones and hesitated. If the topside of Mirror Kingsport was filled with scavengers and Ogre Oakers and living embodiments of disease, what would the sewer hold?

He had heard of people flushing their pet baby alligators down the toilet when they became a nuisance. These babies grew to monstrous sizes beneath the city. Their massive tails clogged the drainpipes, and their giant mouths hung open like caves, waiting for children to explore the city’s depths. It was an urban legend, of course. But in the Mirror City, those legends came true.

Arthur hugged himself against the sewer’s cold. What had he been thinking, abandoning the girl with the swords? He had to remind himself that Sekhmet had betrayed him. Conned him, in fact. Good riddance to her. Arthur could take care of himself. He’d been doing it since he was eight.

He sloshed through the ankle-high water, trying focus on more pleasant things. Instead of a titanic alligator around the next bend, maybe the Merry Rogues would be waiting with smiles and songs and a warm cup of wassail. Arthur would finally get to shake Garnett Lacroix’s hand!

Tunnels branched left and right, black as pitch for their lack of drains above. He stopped and stared into the impossible darkness, his eyes wide and hungry for torchlight.

“Hello?”

Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

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