It was a shame. The rat – that is, the child – had not asked to be born into the gang, true. And it was for his or her own good that the gang had not included the child in their affairs. The child would be better off in the justice system for it. But nonetheless, as Sargent Willowby knew with a certain pride, the child would suffer greatly in the coming months. If he knew anything – no, if she knew anything – certainly, the child was a girl…. If the girl knew anything about the whereabouts of her parents or her parents' gang, the sheriff would get it out of her. And once she had confessed, she would be sentenced to hard labor and discipline until the stain of rebellion had been worked quite out of her dirty blood. She would never marry well. She would never get up in the world; but if a citizen took pity on her innocent, helpless state, she might be adopted into a household as a servant.
But she would be out of here, out of this filth. She'd never see it again as her horrid home. That was the justice one such as her could expect from the state – it was all the justice she had earned and the state owed it to her by law.
The child hadn't seen him. A scurrying and crying had brought him in to investigate. Silence and stillness had concealed his presence.
Finally, only now, Sargent Willowby had spotted her. And she was coming closer and didn't notice him in the shadows. Only one shot at this or he'd lose his net and she'd be much harder to capture. Sargent Willowby was aware of his disadvantage. The child had apparently been here some time and could climb anything in her way. But he had the training that she lacked. He had cunning and justice on his side.
As he raised his cannon to aim at her, she froze and stared in his direction, seeing him for the first time. Every slender muscle in her body tensed as she crouched in fear. Now, he realized, was his only chance. She turned to jump and he fired his cannon. The net spread out behind her tiny flying body and wrapped itself snuggly around her like a security blanket.
The child crashed into a beam with a bank. And fell toward the floor, yards and yards below. Sargent Willowby watched, feeling a little disgusted as she thudded to the floor. She could hardly have survived that fall…. No. She wasn't moving. It was just as well.