Avery and Reed hurried into the Stumble as rain really started to pour. The boy with sandy blond hair was laughing about the experience. Reed wasn’t amused. He’d had his fill of being rained on, but he supposed it was probably just the thrill of trying to outrun the wall of water that had Avery so giggly.

Once inside, the boys moved to the rack beside the door and shed their soaked raincoats.

“Avery!” M’boyo called cheerily across the crowded room. Apparently, the caravans had made their way in finally, and the place had filled up for the winter. “Haven’t seen you in a few weeks. And you brought Reed!”

The room had gotten significantly quieter, allowing M’boyo to easily be heard over the chatter.

Reed fixed his hair, re-tying the tail higher.

Avery strode to the bar where a couple seats remained free. “Yeah. Long story.”

Trying to ignore the silent stares as Reed crossed the room, he suppressed a snort at the realization that it was a lot like a scene from a Western where the stranger enters the saloon. The amusement of that thought carried him more confidently to the bar. “Aye-yo,” he greeted the innkeeper. “Did ya miss me or something?”

“Of course I did,” M’boyo said cheerily and dropped a beer in front of Avery and a whisky in front of Reed. “I was hoping you’d entertain my guests again tonight.” M’boyo waved a sweaty hand at the crowd.

Avery gripped Reed’s wrist as he reached for the whisky and leaned in to whisper. “You’re still on medications. You shouldn’t drink.”

“Ah come on,” Reed grumbled.

Rolling his eyes as he let Reed go, Avery sat back. “I guess if you wanna be sick I can’t stop you.”

“What’s this?” M’boyo asked, leaning on the bar to listen. “Secrets?”

Avery leaned in, lowering his voice. “Disciplinary Action,” he said bitterly. “Kelvin nearly killed us two weeks ago. Reed took a hundred and fifty lashes and never made a sound. Just stood there like he was looking at daisies!”

Reed took a swallow of the whisky. It hit his stomach, and he knew Avery was right; it was not going to react well with his medications. Ignoring M’boyo and Avery’s gossip, he looked at the rest of the room. The Durs were talking as if nothing was wrong. The Hans were whispering among each other with furtive glances at Reed. A lot of shaking heads, even though a good number of those Hans weren’t wearing a head-cloth.

Turning back to M’boyo, Reed said, “Aite, I’ll entertain, but I’d like dinner as payment.”

M’boyo’s brows rose; he looked at Reed. “Cheap date,” he said with a chuckle. “Alright. Deal!” He slapped the bar. Pushing off, he went to the kitchen.

Reed considered his options on what to do until he noticed a couple Durs using playing cards at a table near the middle. Everyone else nearby was watching.

“What are you about to do?” Avery asked.

“What? Me? What makes you think—”

“You’re smirking. You’re up to something,” Avery said deadpan.

“Of course I’m up to something. Thought you knew Trouble was my middle name.” Reed hopped off the barstool. Drink in hand, he grabbed a chair at the table. “Deal me in.”

The two men stared at Reed.

“Y’all got shit hands anyway,” Reed said.

“Like you’d know this game.”

“Poker,” Reed said. “Y’all learned it over in Molton.” He sipped his drink.

The two men exchanged looks. One tossed his cards to the other guy. Sweeping the cards together, the man eyed Reed and slid the cards to him.

Tapping the cards together, Reed shuffled and flicked the cards out with practiced hands before picking up his cards and rearranging them. Avery hovered behind Reed, watching curiously. “Aces high,” Reed announced.

Flicking his eyes toward the other men, Reed smirked, shuffled into his pocket, pulled out a couple of shang to set on the table, and pushed them toward the center.

“Cocky,” the man on the left said, and dropped a couple of coins to match.

“Shit…” the other man mumbled and dragged out a matching bet.

Avery leaned in to whisper, “What are you doing?”

Picking a few cards, Reed tossed them to the table and took new ones.

“Gimme two,” the balding man on the left said.

“Two,” the brunet on the right added. Reed dealt them the new cards.

Reed leaned back to Avery, “Lend me some cash.”

Avery squinted at him. “What are you up to?”

“Trust me.” He winked.

Avery sighed with a side-eye, but a hint of a curl at the corner of his lips. Reed set the coins on the table and pushed a few in.

The other two men squinted at Reed, then each other. They pushed more coins in. Everyone was leaning in to pay attention. They didn’t know what was happening, but money was on the table, and that made it more exciting.

Switching a couple more cards, the man on Reed’s left pushed a hand across his balding head. The brunet on the right looked like he might have been the guy’s son.

Brunet switched some more cards and worked his jaw. He flicked a glance at Reed. Keeping calm, Reed took a sip of his whisky. M’boyo showed up with a bowl of stew, which he set on Reed’s left, then lingered to watch.

Another round of bluffing and card switching,

“Raise,” Reed said, sliding in the whole pile of coins Avery had lent him. He set his cards down to eat as he watched the other two men. Brunet was nervous. Balding guy was confident.

Brunet grumbled. “Fold.”

“Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got, kid. Straight.” Balding guy laid out a whole hand of spades.

“Flush,” Reed tossed his cards over.

“Shit.” Balding guy said. “I’m dealing next.”

Reed swept his winnings back to his side as the two men pulled out more money to keep playing.

Gathering the cards, Balding shuffled and dealt.

“I don’t understand what just happened?” someone in the crowd said.

A helpful onlooker started explaining the rules while Reed sorted his cards between bites of stew. “Gimme three,” Reed said. He took his new cards and sorted them. Brunet didn’t like his hand. He also ran his fingers through his hair the way his dad did. Balding was taking Reed seriously now and paying attention to him.

Reed’s strategy was to pretend not to care about his cards.

Avery turned back to Reed after hearing the explanation. “This is wild. It’s from Molton?”

“Hunter’s Guild up there started the game,” Brunet explained.

M’boyo chuckled. “Fish, didn’t you say you got your Name from there?”

“Yep,” Reed said.

Baldie and Brunet gasped. “Wait! You’re Fish?”

“Careful,” Reed chuckled. “Get distracted and I’ll wipe you out.” He turned to Avery and pulled him close to whisper. “I know you can see my cards, so watch your face. This game’s more about trickery than actually what you’ve got in your hands.”

Avery’s brows lifted. He nodded and continued watching over Reed’s shoulder. Reed trusted that the kid wouldn’t give anything away. The pace of the game picked up. This time, Brunet was going in strong with a lot of coins on the table.

Reed considered, then glanced at Baldie.

“Fold,” Baldie said, surprising Reed.

Brunet suddenly looked nervous and laid his cards out. Two pair and an ace.

“Ouch,” Reed said and put his hand down to take the pot again He had four of a kind.

Avery bounced. “More players can join, right?”

Reed looked at the other two men.

“Sure.”

Avery pulled a chair out and sat. “Give me some of that.”

“Sure. Was yours to start.” Reed pushed half his pot over to give Avery.

Someone else dropped into the seat across from them and had his purse on the table. Reed finished his stew and set the bowl aside.

***

The evening went from just the five people playing to a full six. Betting started in the crowd like the players were horses. People bought drinks and M’boyo was happy with Reed’s choice of entertainment.

Deciding he was done for the night, Reed collected his winnings and opened his seat to someone else who wanted to join.

“Reeed,” Avery whined as Reed got up. “Please—?”

“Hell no,” Reed laughed. “I gave you the money I borrowed and then some. Know when to quit.”

Avery groaned and put his head down. Collecting the three shang he had left, Avery left the table. The two open seats were quickly filled, though the people who had been betting on Reed groaned.

“It’s late, we need to get back anyway,” Reed reminded Avery with a tap to the boy’s chest with his knuckles.

“Ahg.” Avery groaned and looked at the clock beside the bar. “If Davis catches us out this late, he’s gonna kill us!”

Reed snorted as he headed for the door to get his raincoat. “Then we’d better not get caught.”

“Boys…” another, unfamiliar voice interrupted.

The pair looked over at the man in generally plain clothes with some kind of cloth over his shoulders. Avery made some weird gesture of respect. “Yes, High Priest?”

The priest held a paper bag that looked a bit greasy on the bottom. “Would you two mind doing me a favor?” The man’s gaze was on Reed, though.

Folding his arms, Reed said, “Depends.”

“Reed. Don’t be rude…” Avery requested.

Smiling, the priest said, “It’s understandable. The Temple hasn’t kept their promise to the Hans. I’d hoped…” He looked down at his bag. “That perhaps a small gesture might help build trust with them.”

Reed finished pulling his coat on, intending to ignore the guy, but Avery took the bag. “Yes, we’ll give it to them,” Avery promised.

The priest smiled. “Thank you.”

Avery pushed the bag into Reed’s hands as he got his coat on, then dragged Reed outside.

Thankfully, the rain had let up and there was actually a spot of stars shining through.

“Are you kidding?” Reed asked, looking at the greasy bag. “Who knows if that guy poisoned this.”

“He would not have done that,” Avery objected, looking at Reed in disappointment.

“What if he put broken glass in it?” Reed asked. “I don’t trust him.”

Groaning, Avery walked sideways to look at Reed. “Why?”

“Because, people don’t do nice things for the poor. Not without a motive.”

“High Priest Oregano is a good person,” Avery insisted.

At the intersection, Reed stared hard at Avery and tapped his fingers on the bottom of the still-warm, greasy paper bag. The biscuits inside smelled pretty good, they were warm, so it was at least kind of fresh. “Know this, Avery. I’m choosing to trust you. Not that Oregano guy.” Reed turned and headed toward the bridge. “Also, I’m testing every one of these.”

“Do what you’ve gotta,” Avery said, following as Reed headed for the riverbank. It wasn’t that far away.

“Look… Avery. Don’t take it so personally. Maybe that guy’s not suspicious, but I don’t know him, and the Hans don’t really like me, so what’s gonna happen if I give them something that makes them sick? My rep is sunk, but he gets to keep running around without any stink attached to him.”

Avery caught up to walk beside him, dropping his hands to his sides. “I thought you didn’t care about who likes you or not.”

“I’d like to not have people cross the street to avoid my path,” Reed admitted.

The streets were quiet. Even though Lockton was big by Mythiric standards, it was dead by eleven. Though this end of town was a little livelier due to the caravans staying over for the winter. Getting to the bridge was easy enough. Reed and Avery crossed to the other side. The riverbank was still flooded, so the Hans were living on the edges of the street without tents because there was no room for that.

Parking himself on the wall a short distance away, Reed knew he had the attention of several people.

Setting the bag down, Reed ripped it open flat and started sorting the biscuits. Looking them over carefully, pulling them in half to check the insides of every last one of them.

“You’re being excessive.”

“You’ve never lived under a bridge before,” Reed retorted.

“Sounds like a story.”

“Not one I’m telling,” Reed said without looking up. He finished his inspection by eating half of one and got up.

“Satisfied?” Avery asked, arms crossed again. “You’re not going to actually give it to them?”

Reed looked at the closest guy that was sitting on the ground nearby. The boy, about ten, had been watching Reed intently the whole time. Tipping his chin up at the boy, Reed turned and walked away.

“You make no sense,” Avery complained, following Reed back across the bridge. He looked back several times, then relaxed and hurried to catch up with Reed. “Someone came over to take them.”