Preserving Hope by Alex Albrinck Page B

of escape by their tightening circle.
    “You gentlemen okay?” Will called from behind them. “I hear there are some criminals on the loose. You should find shelter before you get hurt.”
    “How… how did you get over there?” the leader spluttered. “We had you surrounded… and… you can’t be there , because you were right here !”
    Will frowned. “I’m not certain what you mean, sir. I’m standing here and asking if you and your companions are well. Oh, dear.” Will saw the blood staining the men’s clothing. “It seems the criminals have found and attacked you. Did they take your money?”
    “No,” the leader replied. “They—” He slapped at his pockets. “Hey, where did the money go? I just had it here in my pocket!”
    “Yeah!” one of the others snapped. “The loot I took from that guy is gone now. Where’d it go?”
    “Don’t look at me!” the third growled. “My money is gone too!”
    Will arched an eyebrow. “You’re all injured and you’ve all been relieved of your coins. It sounds as if you’ve been robbed and hit on the head. Let’s get you over to the Dented Sayler and see if we can’t stop that bleeding.”
    The three thieves stared at Will. Was it possible they’d imagined him earlier? Had they actually been robbed and not realized it? The leader of the trio, the man who had feigned being an incompetent merchant, glanced at Will, glanced back at his companions, and shrugged. He walked after Will, and the other two followed close behind.
    They arrived at the Dented Sayler and entered the building. Nicholas breathed an audible sigh of relief at seeing Will unharmed, but looked anxious as the three strange, bleeding men entered his inn. But he moved to fetch more cloths to use to cover the cuts and gashes. The thieves sat on chairs around a table, looking dazed, while the two men they’d robbed earlier look at the trio with great apprehension. Finally, one of the victims swallowed and addressed the thieves. “You… you’re the ones who robbed us earlier. Why are you here in this inn?”
    The leader looked at him, dazed. “Did we, now?”
    The victims looked at each other, and then at Will. “What did you do to them?”
    Will looked confused. “I didn’t do anything. I went to see if anyone else had been hurt, and found these men several streets over, injured, and complaining of missing coins. Since I knew Mr. Nicholas was already caring for victims, I thought I’d bring them back here as well. I don’t think there are any more injured people out and about tonight, though.”
    Nicholas walked in, and nodded. “That’s good, Mr. Will.” He looked ready to add something else, but seemed to think better of it. Will pulled another gold coin from his pocket and handed it to the man. “You’ve been serving these men, though they aren’t even guests of your inn, giving up sleep to do so. We’ve done well this trip, and I’d like to use some of my proceeds to thank you for taking care of them. You’re a good man, Nicholas.” With that, Will began to walk away.
    He paused, as if remembering something. “I almost forgot,” he said. Will reached into another pocket and pulled out two large coin purses. “I found these while I was walking, and thought they might be yours.” He tossed the coin purses to the two victims, then left the room.
    Will didn’t go far, however. He paused, trying to read the thoughts of the thieves. It seemed unlikely that three men could be responsible for the wave of crime in the city brought on by outsiders; someone would have recognized a pattern by now. Even if they rotated the three men between the role of the trader and the role of cargo, they’d eventually have to repeat the pattern and risk exposure and the end of their scheme. That could mean he was seeing one of two possible scenarios. The first possibility was that the men would only visit each town and city three times, rotating the “visible” person each trip, before