Andrew smiled as the boy popped out then went back to hiding. Andrew was wise enough, well maybe old enough, to think going through the crawl space wasn’t something he wanted to do. He wasn’t fat, but he was no longer starving thin either. The crawl spaces were tight when he was young; he hated to think of getting stuck now. The boy would having him in speed and dexterity.   

He chuckled at the thought about the stories about the mad Abbot, knife wielding and part of the thieves’ guild. He was okay with it even become a song as long as they left his name out of it. 

The boy was young almost old enough to wok and someone was watching out for him. He looked like he was being routinely fed and his clothing were “clean” and in good condition. That meant that there was a woman in his life, a mother or an older sister. He might even be a part of a family.

Andrew thought back to his youth, he would not have wanted to come out of the hidey-hole either. Still, the boy should have realized that if he wanted to hurt him the Abbot would have yelled for the guards or grabbed a cross bow and shot through the floor, even taken the sword from the bed and thrust it down into him. Having spent time in the Royal Court one had to always be aware of assassins. The knife was to protect him self not to attack the boy. Any one with basic knife training would have recognized that the knife was being held defensively. He even gave him a chance to interact on his own terms, as guild brothers. Andrew sighed and asked to no one, “Does everyone have to do things the hard way?” It was clear that he needed to deal with the thieves’ guild, quickly. Had the guild master lost that much control? The thought of the guild master having died made him sit down on the bunk. The thought of himself possibly being the oldest guild member alive and therefor the defacto Guild Master hit him hard, right between the eyes.  

He waited for a couple moments giving the boy a good chance to escape. He would give the boy a little room to brag for the evening. Then he had heavy chests moved to block the crawl spaces and passage ways. Tomorrow nails would be pounded into the floors at angles.

[hr]
In the morning, Andrew and his crew, walked to waterfront to examine what they were dealing with. The Abbot called over one of the street kids and gave him a message to pass on. He whispered it to him, “If the one that visited me last night and took my stuff does not call on me, in the day light. The whole town will suffer. They will be feeding, providing drinks, bedding, and dealing with sailors long at sea that are itching for a fight and carry no coins and all will know the reason why.” He nodded at the two large warships and the little ships coming in to pickup supplies. He handed the child a silver coin to make sure the message was passed on. He needed to learn what happened to his guild family. 

They spent most of the day, walking the town. Andrew would stop to look at a flower garden, children at play, he would watch people working their jobs. He spoke very little, lost in thought, nodding greetings to those who spoke to him.