The Nabs find togs
30 days of Fantasy Prompt 9, Thalenra short story. A look at Marnie's past with the Nabs. Also, lots of socks.
Written for Prompt 9 of the 30 Days of Fantasy challenge, hosted by Luna Asli Kolcu. Come through the door.
A cold wind blew through the twisty back streets of Velcirra. It caught hold of loose scraps of paper and cloth from the muddy paths and swirled them around as in play. Few took much notice of it, too concerned with just keeping warm. One grouping among those few were three small children, slightly apart from the rest of the Nabs that called this particular alley home; far enough to speak privately, close enough to run for protection if needed. They pulled their worn wrappings closer around them when the chill tugged them, huddling together in whispered conversation.
“I’m tellin’ ya, it’s legit info. Gabby’s never off on this stuff,” Said one. A boy of maybe seven or eight, skinny, as all the Nabs were, with more scrapes on his face than most.
“I don’t know, Scrap, it seems a bit off. Why’d a high-class joint need t’hitch togs for, an’ why they wasting that infusin’ stuff on em’?” asked Wart, shivering in the cold. He looked around nine, the oldest of the three, and wearing the least, having outgrown the last lot of clothing they’d found.
“’Cause they is worth somethin’, Wart. I bet Harmon could get a load for ‘em.” He looked at his huddling companions. “An’ Seven knows, we could do with some. The tykes are freezin’ their bits off.”
All three looked over to where one of the other groups of Nabs was huddled, partly behind a tarpaulin they had managed to grab the other day. There were six of them, the oldest around five and the youngest maybe nearly three. They hadn’t moved much for the last couple of days, keeping close to the small fire the Nabs had risked setting.
The third of the little group spoke up, a girl slightly smaller than the other two, but somehow seemed older. “I think it’s worth a go, Wart. Even if there’s not a crate full of togs just lying around, there’s bound to be a few bits waiting to be picked up they won’t notice. An’ with the new kid, we can be in and out, no fuss.”
Wart immediately started nodding. “Well if you think so Delly, then I’m in.” He glanced over at one of the huddled tykes, the smallest one. “Sure she can handle it? We have to reach the washers by nightfall.”
“She kept up alright on the vittles hitch. Never had as smooth a run before. An’ she ain’t heavy. We can carry her some of the way,” said Scrap.
“Go get her, Wart. Scrap, grab sacks. We head now, before we freeze here,” said Delly, and the boys ran off as ordered.
—
Marnie was having fun. Sure, it was a lot colder away from the huddle pile, but she could see so many things from up here. The big boys kept moving her between them as they ran between lots of dark places. There were less of them than when they had chased the wagon, but from the sacks the girl was carrying it seemed like they might get some tasty things again.
The shorter boy who had been carrying her, put her down on the ground, and the three of them crouched down next to her. They were next to a wall with a door in it, and Marnie could tell something interesting was on the other side. The girl poked her on the head to get her attention and started speaking.
“New Nab, I’ve got a ‘portant job for you,” she said, and pointed at the door. “In there’s a bunch of togs we want, t’keep us warm, an’ Harmon happy. I need you to do to this building what you did to that wagon last week. Think you can do that?”
Marnie cocked her head and ‘listened’ to the building. There was something there watching. ‘Go sleep now, we’re not here.’ The watching feeling disappeared. She looked up at the girl. “It’s sleeping now.”
The girl patted her on the head, and said “Good job.” Marnie smiled at the praise, and pushed on the door, which opened as she thought ‘I want to go in’. She poked her head inside. Her three friends did likewise, whispering above her head. “How she do that?” “Don’t know, but saves us pickin’ it.”
The short boy pointed at one of the doors, and whispered. “Gabby said it’s in the first left.”
Marnie went towards where he pointed, ‘listening’ for anything else that might answer. There was something in there. Something new. “Can I go in there? I want to see.” Whispering like her friends were.
“Sure thing” said Delly, and they all crept into the room. There wasn’t a lot in it from what Marnie could see. A big crate with a pretty panel on it, lots of coloured lines. That was the new thing. She went over to the panel, while the others looked inside the crate.
“We’ve hit the jackpot, Wart. This’ll do all winter and then some.”
“I don’t know. They’s a bit on the fancy side, ain’t they?”
“We can sell ‘em and buy a bunch cheap, or cut ‘em down. Point is we’re gonna be warm.”
“Quit yapping you two and load these up.”
Marnie could see them putting things in the sacks. It didn’t seem like they were getting food from here, but she didn’t mind. She had something new to look at. She placed her hand on the panel, and ‘listened’. ‘Hello? What do you do?’ An understanding came back to her. It collected items from big tubs and kept them here. It liked its work. Marnie could sense something though, something stuck. It couldn’t collect everything it wanted to.
Marnie looked at the coloured lines on the panel, and could see where they disappeared below the crate, an image appeared in her mind as she focused on them, of coloured threads and little pictures in a pattern. One of the threads was waving at her, getting her attention, asking for help. ‘I’ll help you. You need to be pulling better. Go here.’ She told the pretty threads where to go, and the thing wasn’t stuck anymore.
There were several cries from the Nabs, as a rain of socks landed on them.
“What in seven is going on?!” Yelled Wart. “We’ve been caught!” Shrieked Scrap. “Shh!” Hissed Delly, the only one to keep her head.
She quickly began bundling the new items into an already brim-full sack, throwing some over the edge, along with a smaller sack. “Marnie, be useful and pack these in. We need t’get out, pronto.”
Marnie did as asked, and soon the four were leaving the building the way they came in, with sacks stuffed full of clothing. No one seemed to have heard their cries. “Alright, New Nab, do ya’thing with the building.” Marnie nodded, and gave the watcher a little nudge. ‘I’m going now. Wake up.’
Quietly the four headed into the night, back to the chilly alley the Nabs called home.
—
“Come on, Harmon! They gotta be worth somethin’. What if you said it was a new style or, we cut them in half an’ stitch different halves together?”
Harmon laughed. “You’ve got good hustle kid, but that only gets you so far. I can get a bit for the tops and robes, no probs, but no one is gonna want single socks.”
Scrap shoulders drooped as he looked around at the laid out socks. Around a hundred of them, and not a single pair in sight; not even if you tried pairing almost similar ones together would they get away with claiming they were.
Harmon patted him on the shoulder in sympathy. “Best to do what that Marnie kid is, and add them to your wrappings. I can get you some needles for cheap.” He gestured over to where the tykes were huddled, passing brightly coloured socks amongst themselves. Marnie was trying to tie them to the wrappings of the others, with not much success.
Delly, from where she sat nearby, nodded. “Do that for us, Harmon. It’ll stand out a bit, but they’ll be no mistakin’ a Nab for anything but, if we have that many pockets. Might even make enough of a name for ourselves to keep the others off us for a bit.”
Wart, looking warmer now with the new togs he’s picked, safely under his own wrappings, agreed. “Sounds good, but we need t’make them less sock-shaped.”
—
Shortly after, as the cold wind blew through the twisty back streets of Velcirra, rumours could be heard in its chill gusts, of a band of street kids. They stealthily did the jobs the bigger gangs couldn’t, the only sign of their passing a few brightly coloured scraps of cloth flashing past; and the occasional solitary sock, left behind at the scene of a job.
Thanks for reading! Here we have the first look at Marnie’s past, before things went bad for her. Can’t say I planned on socks being a major part of her back story, but that’s how things go sometimes.