Outside the city walls of Helmstand, the land was bare and on a full moon night such as this one, a guard could see a furtoe running from a quarter mile away. But Fingers Philodendron knew that, and so did his friend Felicity Fox. So, when they reached the expanse of bare land that lay between them and the city they were about to rob, they waited for the right time to move. But they did not wait long, as an overhead cloud moved into just the right position as to darken the grounds on the northwest side, which was the side that Felicity and Fingers were waiting on. This gave them cover to move in towards the cities’ outer walls. They scurried as fast as they could manage carrying all of their gear and made it to the outer wall just as the cloud moved, allowing the moonlight to reveal the open land again.
Tonight’s plan was the same as any other: sneak into the city through an old unused, unlocked sewer maintenance tunnel, sneak into the houses of the wealthiest citizens, steal just enough food and supplies as not to arouse suspicion, and then sneak back out of town before daybreak. They had been at this for months, taking from the opulent and well-to-do of Helmstand, and feeding those who were left behind by progress, tossed out with the obsolete and discarded as trash. For Felicity Fox, there was nothing else. These were her people.
They passed along the outer wall until they came to the old maintenance tunnel. Fingers pulled his pack off and from it pulled a small bottle of oil, which he handed to Felicity. She opened the bottle and dripped a few drops onto the hinges of the tunnel door, then closed the bottle and handed it back to Fingers. She placed a finger over her mouth to make a “shhh” sort of gesture and then counted backwards from four using the same hand. Fingers shouldered his pack, and as she gestured “one” he helped her slowly open the door, then they stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind them.
“Meet you back here in three” she whispered as they hugged each other.
“Be careful” he replied.
They went in different directions, Fingers going down a side tunnel that led to the upper east side of town where all of the rich business owners lived. And Felicity went straight ahead to the city center, where the king and the royal family lived. She didn’t like robbing royalty, but she had robbed the magistrate on the last go-round, and it was just their turn. She slipped quietly along and then climbed up an access ladder that led up to an alley system that went largely un kept and unwatched. From here she made her way around and through until she arrived at the wall of the Kings house.
She waited; a guard was just passing over on the walkway above. She watched as he passed out of sight, and then leapt up to the walkway, and along it in the same direction. The guards never broke from their mundane round-a-bout routine, and she knew that she could enter the house through an open window in the king’s bedroom. So, she tiptoed along the balcony to the window and climbed inside.
The king was snoring loudly. It was an awful, disgusting sound, as if he was having trouble breathing. Sometimes it would seem that he was so engrossed in his dreams, that he would stop breathing. At which point he would stir himself with a snort and a cough, roll over, and fall back to noisy sleep. The Queen, who slept in a separate bed, had some sort of contraption around her head that covered her eyes and ears. She slept sort of half sitting up, and next to her bed was a large fancy basinet that wasn’t there the last time Felicity robbed the royals. She stepped quietly closer and saw that there was a baby asleep in the basinet.
She turned, unmoved by the adorableness of the well-fed baby, and snuck her way toward the bedroom doorway. As she went, she noticed a large odd-looking structure in the corner of the room. It had several platforms and was covered in some sort of cloth. There were three chambers in it, and in one of the chambers was a fuzzy little ball of hair. She moved silently past, through the doorway and down the hall to the kitchen where she filled her pack with food from the pantry.
She made her way from room to room in the giant castle of a house, evading detection and pocketing items she thought could be used for the good of others, bandages, herbs, scissors, even a sewing kit from the maid’s closet. Then she made her way back to the king’s bedroom, and her exit back into the world.
Before she reentered the room she listened and smelled for anything different. She could still hear the kings snoring and still smell the stench of privilege. She peeked in through the doorway and noticed the little ball of fur was gone from the corner structure, but that the room otherwise was unchanged. She scanned the room again, and found no sign of the furball, so she moved in and across the room towards the window. But as she made her way across the room, the baby stirred and began to cry.
Felicity’s heart pounded into her throat, and she bolted to hide behind the curtains, dropping her pack to the floor. She stood as still as possible as she heard the Kings snore turn into an annoyed groan, and the queen move to pick up her baby, reassuring it and laying down with it in her own bed. Several moments passed before the sounds of three sleeping people could be heard, and no movement detected. She peeked out from around the curtains to see just that, and her pack open on the floor.
She waited a moment longer and then she silently moved from behind the curtain, picked up her pack, and as the guard passed by the balcony on the walkway below, she dropped down and snuck back into the alleyway. From there she went back along and to the ladder that led down to the tunnels, where she would wait for Fingers Philodendron.
But when she got to the end of the tunnel, Fingers was already there.
“It's about time” he whispered, “I was getting worried.”
They were about to open the tunnel door when Felicity felt a movement in the pack on her back, and heard Fingers ask, “easy now, who this?”
She turned her head as far as she could manage to see the little furball from the corner structure in the king’s bedroom, only now it had a head and whiskers, as well as two great big eyes. Felicity quickly took off her pack and pushed it back down.
“Don’t look at its eyes. It has magic powers, and it will put a spell on you.” She said, and Fingers quickly covered his eyes. “Take the food back to the others, I’ll have to return this creature back to where it belongs, or these little supply runs will be over. I’ll meet you at the riverboat.” She gave him the food from her pack, making sure not to look at the evil fury wizard, and then she hugged Fingers Philodendron, and pushed the door closed behind him as he left the city tunnels.
She turned and headed back to the ladder and up to the alleyway. As she was climbing the ladder she noticed a faint light beginning to grow in the sky above, she would have to be quick. She hurried down the alleyway just as a horn blew somewhere behind her, and then suddenly there was a clamor of guards on the walkway above. She drew in close and tight against the wall. The kitten let out a tiny whimper, but the commotion above was too loud for anyone to hear it.
Felicity slithered along the wall to the spot where she would need to jump up and onto the walkway, but here was a guard standing there looking off to the east. He was armed and seemed to be angry, yelling at something or someone she could not see. Her only way was blocked. Then another horn blew, this time from the other direction, and the guard turned and ran to the other end of the walkway. Felicity seized the opportunity and leapt and pulled herself up onto the walkway.
But just as she was about to head towards the window, she heard a guard yell, and she felt as if the eyes of several of them were looking right at her. She was in a tight spot for sure, and for a brief moment she didn’t know what to do. But just as she was about to have a heart attack, she saw a flash of movement and noticed all of the guards running away from her towards the lower part of the city. She quickly ran to the balcony and took off her pack. She reached in, grabbed the kitten, and tossed it up onto the balcony. Then she turned, shouldered her pack and ran back and down into the alley way again. Down the alley she ran, as the sky above turned into a light blue, and down into the tunnels, where she hoped she could escape easily.
When she made it back to the door, there stood Fingers Philodendron. He was smiling and holding onto the door. “Come on then,” he said, and they opened the door together, letting in the morning light.
They made their way along the wall, Fingers gave the motion to follow him, and they zig zagged across the barren expanse to the first row of trees and undergrowth.
“I told you I’d meet you at the riverboat.” She said, watching him pull his pack from the bushes.
“Yes, you did.” He said with a grin.
And the two friends made their way back to the river to feed the hungry and starving people who lived there.
Fin
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