“Oh quit it, Fítheal. You lost that bet, and you know it,” Aengus said, rolling his eyes at a tan, dark-haired kid sitting on a barrel at the docks.
“Only ‘cause yer not a mug like the rest o the mob,” Fítheal replied, jumping off of his barrel. He looked Zamyr up and down. “Who’s this ocker?”
“I’m taking him to St. Mary’s,” Aengus said proudly.
Fítheal laughed. “He a rellie, or one of them ridgy-didge pikers?”
“No, just a friend of my brother’s,” Aengus answered.
Fítheal’s face fell. “Ah, one of his. Not a pommie, fo’ sho’, but still an offsider.”
“He’s not like the rest,” Aengus insisted.
“Pig’s arse! If he work for the mongrel, he as good as the mongrel, I always say.” Fítheal turned to glare at Zamyr. “Yer a journo, fruit loop? Ye be earbashing me ‘bout how a Strine like me get stuck in the woopwoop, a no-hoper in the streets of Ireland? Ye gonna make a doco ‘bout me, ding bat?!”
“Fítheal…” Aengus began.
“Don’t start with me, galah! Ye side with the mongrel!”
“Hold up!” Aengus demanded. “What’s with all this yabber you’re throwing at me?”
“Yer the one who’s knockin’ me!” Fítheal said. “We only have a yarn most times, but ye be bringin’ in one o them!” He jabbed his finger at Zamyr.
“I’m not working for that idiot brother of his,” Zamyr said with a glare. “Now can we get this over with? Why did you have to talk to this dope in the first place, Aengus?”
“Dope? Dope?!” Fítheal exclaimed, turning to Aengus. “What this fruit loop be thinkin’, calling me a dope?” He glared back at Zamyr “Ye think to have a lend of me, is that it?”
“Nobody is taking advantage of you, Fítheal,” Aengus replied, giving Zamyr a meaningful look.
“Ye got game comin’ to me like this,” Fítheal said, still glaring at Zamyr. “All ye tall poppies’ makin’ me sick. Why you here?”
“Well, I was thinking that since we found a way to get Zamyr to St. Mary’s, we could get you out of Ireland,” Aengus said.
“Are ye fair dinkum?” Fítheal asked, unbelieving, turning to Aengus with wide eyes.
“I’m serious,” Aengus answered.
“Then what we waitin’ for? Let’s go!” He turned and started walking down the dock.
“Well that was resolved fast,” Zamyr said.
Aengus shook his head. “Fítheal is just that way.”
“Speaking of which, how did an obviously Australian kid get into Ireland, and why does he go by an Irish name?” Zamyr questioned.
“That’s a long story,” Aengus replied.
“Hey, ye comin’?” Fítheal asked from up ahead, his arms spread out wide.
“Maybe he’ll tell you if you tell us who you really are, Zamyr. You know my last name; it would only be right if I knew yours,” Aengus hinted.
Zamyr shrugged, and the two of them caught up with Fítheal. As they strolled across the dock in the direction of Mullock and Sons Shipbrokers, Zamyr wondered what he would tell them.
***********************
"Laura?" Kalyia asked softly and suddenly. Laura slowed to even her pace with Kalyia's.
"Yeah? What is it?"
Kalyia paused, choosing her words carefully. "Why are we here, again?"
"To help this agency escape from another agency," she replied simply."Why do you ask?"
"I don't know... for a moment, I just forgot why we were here. Do you get what I mean?"
Laura shook her head. That had never happened to her. She then looked at the exhausted group that surrounded her and realized that they had been running for at least half an hour without any stops.
"OK, let's stop for a moment." Laura quietly called.
Everyone immediately stopped and relaxed against the wall or collapsed to the floor.
Taking the opportunity, Laura placed her ear against the floor again and listened for any sign of movement. What she heard had to be impossible. They had unwittingly run into a trap and were quickly losing their only escape route.
"Up. Get up. Now!"
The group groaned.
"Do you want to live or not? Because we have to move now!"
**************
"Why was that bed so heavy?" Connor asked, wiping the sweat off of his brow.
Tyler shrugged, then slid through the narrow space between the wall and the bed.
"There it was again!" Tyler knocked on several bricks on the wall, then found a loose brick. "I don't believe this!"
"Neither do I. You're nuts." Connor replied.
Tyler slowly inched the brick out, then looked into the dark space in the wall.
"Thank goodness you heard me!"
"Armaan?" Connor asked, disbelief flashing across his face.
"I barely managed to escape when they took Katie. Apparently, the walls are completely hollow! Their pipes are huge!"
Tyler examined the hole that he had opened up. "There's no way I'll be able to fit in there. What are we going to do about it?"
"Make it bigger, of course!" Connor exclaimed. He unsheathed a small, sharp knife from a secret compartment in the heel of his boot. The blade was only two inches long.
“They searched us thoroughly and still you managed to keep that?" Tyler stammered.
Connor shrugged. "We hide weapons and other knick-knacks pretty well. Make some space for me, would you?"
*****************