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Chapter 13: Fragile

"Now see here, you whelps," the huge, hulking badger said as he walked in front of us back and forth. He wore that cudgel of his on his belt prominently. "Alister's contracts all became void the moment he went in the dirt, and his journeyman never got 'em, so the Sisters sold them to me and all his property."

I watched as a nasty grin spread across his face. There was no way that was true. But how could someone like me prove it?

I tried to get up and say something but Billy pulled me back down and onto the bench, shaking his head and holding his hand to his muzzle to be quiet. I almost shouted at him to let me go.

I looked over at Avery, who appeared terrified. I knew I had to do something. I quickly crawled over to him and put my muzzle to his ear. "Get into the group," I whispered. "Blend in, eyes down. Don't let him see you watching. Don't make a sound, Av."

Avery, who would've probably protested under any other circumstances, simply nodded his head and quickly crawled into the group of boys, standing up when he was safely in the pack and around others taller than he was. Smart. Avery did always know how to blend in and survive.

With Avery at least momentarily safe and away from the eyes of this monster, I turned and slowly stood up, watching the smug badger enjoy his prize.

"Now then," Duncan said as he went back to pacing after pausing to look at me square in the eyes. "There's going to be some changes 'round here, and we'll get to those in time. But for the most part I am going to insist on more profit and less wasteful spendin'. You want good food? You better be earning more than you were! You want something warm to wear? Puh. You'll be in chimneys and be warm enough. Alister was a good businessman but he didn't know how to keep his profits.

"I'm going over his books and his things and stayin' here for awhiles. Some of me own boys from me own shop will be coming and going bringing my things. You!" Duncan pointed at a coyote -- his name was Danny -- whose ears shot right up, his muzzle hanging open. "Come with me. I want to talk to you."

"Wait!" I yelled, and stopped as Danny and the badger stopped and looked at me. For a moment Duncan looked shocked that someone had yelled at him like that. But then he chuckled and turned, keeping his arm firmly around Danny's shoulder to make sure he didn't run away. "What can I do for you, master fox? Do you want to take your friend's place with me?"

I gritted my teeth and stepped forward out of the safety of the group. "I'm... I'm Alister's journeyman sweeper. I've helped him run this place for a year now, and I'm supposed to take over his business. You can't..."

Duncan rolled his eyes and snorted. "You can't even finish a sentence right, what makes ye think ye can run a business? You're a brat, a boy, yer balls probably haven't even dropped yet. No one would take a group like ye seriously anyway. Alister was liked in his areas. But are you, boy?"

I chewed my lip and thought. Was I liked? I couldn't think if anyone in our areas had known me by name or face. I... blended in too much. That must have been why Alister dressed the way he did! He stood out... got remembered. When the realization hit me I saw Duncan chuckle.

"Thought not," the badger said. " 'Sides, yer contracts are mine anyway. So don't think you are gonna just kick me out. Everything I've done here is nice and legal. Now, are you done whining at me, boy?"

I frowned...I didn't know what else to say. I was angry and scared... but if I just ran my mouth, would it actually make anything better?

"Excellent," Duncan said and tipped his hat at me, grinning wickedly. "Don't worry, master fox, you and I are going to become well acquainted. But right now I want to get to know the boy here."

Duncan led the coyote, Danny, to Alister's old room. We had cleared most of his things out of it with some help from the sisters. Everyone thought it was going to be my room. I didn't want it before but now...

The door was slammed closed after the badger and the coyote were inside, the floor silent now and all of us looking to one another and then finally to me. I gulped a little and slid off the bench.

This was the moment that would decide what happened next. We were all scared, hurting, and unsure of what to do. I dug deep and shoved my hurt emotions deeper into myself than ever before and worked up the courage, turning back to my fellow urchins, puffing out my chest defiantly.

"Alright," I said, trying to put on my confidence mask I sometimes had to wear when talking to customers. "Things... things are going to be weird, aye. But we gotta stick together. That means if you see someone who needs help you help 'em. No more personal scores or bets on who works the most, ya hear? I want this place cleaned every day before Duncan gets back from the street, and for his supper to be first."

"But Alister always ate last," a soft voice from the back said. I didn't catch whose it was.

"Alister is gone," I said with another hitch to my voice. "And we gotta adapt, just like he taught us, alright? I know a lot of you don't know him like I do but he never beat us or let us go hungry and even spent money on medicine when he thought we needed it. That could all be gone now, so we gotta take care of each other."

Getting life back to the way it was impossible, I knew that. But anything like the old ways was preferable to just sitting around and waiting for trouble to happen.

So, we got to work making sure supper was ready, Avery taking his time with the stew. Others made sure to clean the tables and put away anything that may be out of place. I watched and helped out as needed, still keeping my eye on Alister's door. What was going on in there?

I sat with Billy and Avery, talking quietly as we tried to just focus on our lives for the moment. Billy was mad at me for running off and even cuffed me on the ear. The big tiger was stronger than he looked. He was already growing out of the shirt he wore under his overalls. Whoever his dad was, he must've been a mountain of a tiger. I wondered how much longer Billy could do this job before he was too big for it.

Billy, oddly, kept talking about Tapestry. He brought up that, even though he had been led there by a creepy bear, he thought the kissing was fun, and he kept hinting that he wanted to go back. I glanced to my left and saw that Avery looked mortified. I think Tapestry had been a bit much for our innocent wolf friend there.

"Can you even afford to use the facilities, Bill?" I said, sipping some water from a wooden cup.

"I mean... Y-yeah," he said with his ears red, looking down at his empty bowl. "I got some money saved up. I think I could do it..."

"You know," I said, putting my cup down, "you go, but you gotta be real careful, Billy. I don't care and I'm sure Avery don't either, but you know what it's like for a molly in London -- you could end up hurt."

"Or dead," Avery chimed in quietly.

"You seem to get by just fine," Billy said under his breath. It made my ears perk up high and turn red. I glanced around left and right and spoke even softer than ever before. "It's a bit different for me. I don't go to clubs... and my... friend, is a street gang leader. He'd break your arm if you tried to make fun of him!"

"Still," Billy said, idly fiddling with the spoon in the bowl, "you make due and you're about as cautious as a runaway train, Simon." Billy grinned at me and winked. He always did that when he teased someone, like we couldn't tell he was goofing us.

I also didn't take the bait. I knew he wanted me to defend myself. I just grumbled and sipped more of my water and pretended to be in a happier mood than I was.

It was moments like this that I would absolutely miss later in life.

It wasn't until an hour into supper that we figured what was going on inside the room. The door swung open and out staggered Danny. He looked half-dead. His nose was bloody and his eyes a little swollen. His clothing, his new shirt and trousers, were ripped. He was holding up his trousers as he stumbled forward and fell down onto the floor. Duncan followed him out, a cigar in his muzzle and puffing away, his shirt discarded. He looked down at the fallen coyote and kicked him. Hard.

I watched in horror as the small canine flew across the floor and against the wall, grunting and crying out as he crumbled at the floor. The scent was unmistakable about what Duncan had done to Danny inside that room. I growled and was on my feet in an instant, and surprisingly, so was Billy.

"Oy!" he shouted, his hands clenched so tight I could see the knuckles through his fur. "What ya doin' that for? Danny is three times smaller than you!" He was walking toward Duncan with the swagger only a tiger could really pull off. He wasn't overly confident, he just never had to deal with someone so much bigger than him before.

"Aw, did I hurt yer friend?" Duncan mocked with a savage grin, chewing on the end of his cigar. "If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's a weak-kneed boy. I didn't even go over him that hard and look at him! He can barely walk. By god he won't be able to work tomorrow. A tougher lad would have least made it to the bench."

"You can't do that!" I shouted, reaching for... something. I didn't have a weapon. Hell, I didn't even own a knife. I needed to get one now. Gideon would know how to get me one. This was bad news. "He's.. he's just..."

"What?" Duncan said, crossing his arms. "Young? Stupid? Boy, life in this city is harder than Alister ever let you know, and if you think what I did to him was bad, you should see what they do to you weaklings down by the docks. There are ones who don't live through some of that mess. But maybe your friend," he eyed Danny who was writhing in pain on the floor, "could use some time down there. Toughen him up a bit."

Billy growled and crouched, lunging at Duncan in a fierce pounce. I saw his claws out, dangerous indeed. They were legally weapons. Some cats who were arrested for assaulting with their claws had them surgically removed... Sometimes you could lose a whole finger if your surgeon was a bit tipsy that day.

I watched in awe as my friend swiped with his large hand, raking the air where Duncan had been standing only moments before. A swift throw of his arm, a jump, a pivot. Billy's tail swayed with the poofed out fierceness I've never seen him have before. For as big as Billy was, he didn't really go for the whole violence thing. Hell, when was the last time Billy even got one in the eye?

And Duncan... For a huge badger, he could move like a cat. I never saw someone that big move so gracefully. He grinned as he kept dodging away from those claws, Billy never coming anywhere near touching him. He was just puffing away at his cigar as he was showing everyone just how dangerous he was...

In a flash, Duncan was behind Billy, wrapping his thick arm around him and pinning those long feline limbs to his side. Duncan had his chin against the crook of Billy's neck, blowing smoke out of the corner and right into Billy's face.

"You can move for a big cat, I give ya that," said the badger, "but you ain't no brawler, kitten. And you are mine now. And I don't let what's mine act like that and not get punishment." All said while his voice changed from being friendly, teasing, jovial, to mean and angry. Billy squirmed as Duncan basically shouted into his ear.

"Shut up!" Duncan said and took the cigar out of his muzzle with his free hand, twirled it along his thumb, and jabbed the burning embered end right into the soft fur and flesh of Billy's neck. The tiger screamed in pain, thrashing hard to get away, but Duncan kept it there, even twisting the cigar right into his neck and fur. It looked horrible and smelled even worse.

Once let go, Duncan whirled Billy around by his shoulder and slugged him hard across his muzzle, then again and again, and finally a punch to his stomach sending him tumbling backwards into Alister's old bedroom. Duncan stood in the doorway and grinned. I heard him say, "Don't worry, kitten, I'll make sure you know your place. Just a moment longer." And the door was pulled closed, Duncan sighing and turning around. "Now who else --"

I silenced him by a slash of a bread knife across his chest. I held the blade in my hand, growling and crouched, tail lashing. I knew this was stupid but my friend was hurt and trapped.

"We don't need you and you can just sod off!" I shouted, holding the knife up like I had seen Gideon. I swallowed hard and tried to not show my fear.

To my credit, Duncan held his bloody hand to the cut across his chest and looked at his hand, rubbing his fingers together.

"Really," the badger said and took a step toward me. "Boy, you forgot the first lesson of a knife fight. The second, too. One..." He was on me like a flash. I felt a boulder hit me in the face, twice, my nose splitting and blood pouring down my muzzle and across my chin and throat. Another punch to my stomach. I tried to fall over but Duncan grabbed me by my suspenders, holding me up so easily with one hand. How strong was this man?

I saw he also had the knife in the other.

"The first rule of a knife fight -- Simon, was it? -- is to never get into one. You get into one, you're going to get hurt. Badly." He walked me toward the front door of the shop as I was still trying to catch my breath.

"Two," he said with a wicked grin. "You don't pull a weapon on someone unless you truly mean to kill me. Your tiger friend did. You... you was just playin' make believe. But then I think you're fine make-believing as long as you are warm and comfortable, eh?" He chuckled and shook me, slamming me against the wall.

"Bugger off," I managed to say, my head still reeling. I felt sick, dizzy. I'd gotten punched before, a few times, but this was like being hit with a heavy plank of wood.

"Still feeling cocky, eh?" Duncan said and brought the knife up, holding it in front of my eyes. I saw them, how green they were... how scared they were. I tried to pull away as Duncan pushed the blade under the shoulder of my vest and pulled up. I felt the fabric cut and fall. I was confused.

But not for long.

Duncan did quick work. He sliced my vest along the seam and then snapped my suspenders off with a quick cut. Slamming the knife into the wooden wall above me that I couldn't reach, he grabbed me by my collar and ripped. I felt the buttons pop as my shirt was torn to pieces. I tried to run, a moment where I was free, but he grabbed me by my ankle and lifted me up upside down. Holding me like that. I took a swing at him.

"Let me go!" I shouted.

"Oh, I intend to, boy." He walked to the front door, the night now having mostly settled in. Dark as it was, it was still chilly. He grabbed my trousers and pulled at the waist until the seam ripped, and shook. I felt myself bob before falling.

I tumbled out of my trousers stark naked. I laid there on the street, shivering, my tail curled around me naturally. I looked up at Duncan who stood in the doorway, holding my trousers in his big mit of a hand.

"Let's see if you can survive on nothing but your wit, boy. You even think of coming back here before dawn and I'll kill that small wolf friend of yours. Now SCRAM. I have a few more lessons to dole out and a naked brat on my doorstep isn't going to make the job go any faster."

He didn't give me a chance. I was kicked right in the chest and was sent tumbling and sprawling away against a wall. I groaned, coughing, and managed to crack open my eyes just long enough to see the door to the only home I had known for years slam shut.

Now, naked, vulnerable, and my entire body aching, I looked helplessly at the darkness surrounding me.

What the hell was I going to do now?