Private The Docks Two Kits in a Trench Coat

[Ruffano Quickwhistle]

Ruffano watched the back-and-forth with a cool detachment, arms crossed loosely over his vest. As Finn sputtered and Griblo griped, he gave a long-suffering sigh and shook his head with exaggerated pity.

"Gadzooks, Griblo...such mean words to call such an enterprising fox."

He turned slightly, offering a conspiratorial wink in Cricket’s direction. "The gecko girl will not suffice alone. Why, she needs her business partner!"

His voice dropped, the velvet tone gone cold. From some hidden fold of his vest, Ruffano produced a tidy sum of twenty gilders, and pressed it into the ferret’s paw.

"Now stick to the plan and be at yer post."

A spark passed between their eyes. A flash of shared understanding. Whatever this plan was, it ran deeper than threadbare costumes and alley banter.

Griblo flinched just a touch, tucking the coin away with practiced sleight.
"Aye, I’ll be dere… but fer now, how ye intendin’ on stuffin’ two kits in a trenchcoat?"

The fox snapped back to his full height and extended his arms like a maestro commanding a stage.

"Now now, it’s nothing to be fearful of, dear kits." He gestured to Finn and Cricket with all the pomp of a casting director addressing new talent. "You are brave, ambitious go-getters! We simply need… some innocent deception to get you in."

"But why not jes’ take ‘em in de back?" Griblo jerked a paw toward the still-cracked stage door.

Ruffano gave him a glare that could curdle milk.

"Because, addlebrain, the only way under this blasted stage is the hatch at front center. This is no opera house..."

His voice softened suddenly, a wistful sigh escaping as he gazed beyond the alley walls.

"...not anymore."

Snapping himself back into motion, he clapped his paws briskly and spun toward the kits.

"Simply put, they must enter through the front. Now, beasts aren’t yet familiar with those of Crocus’s nature," he gestured to Cricket with gentle precision. "So I’m thinking: a tod on the bottom, a gecko on top, and a trench coat sausage in between ought to get past the fool at the front desk."

He beamed, as if the most logical plan in the world had just been unveiled.

 

[Cricket]

If it was at all possible for Cricket's scales to fire any brighter, the indignity of being labelled a salamander would have done it. She bristled at once, pawing at the old knife tucked into her makeshift belt as though it would be any great threat. The blade was hanging on by a thread to its handle; the damned thing barely cut fruit let alone would be much good against a beast. Still, she was clearly agitated.

Having decided she did not much like Griblo, his derisory treatment of Finnian (even if his comment would have earned her a chuckle under normal circumstances) was met with a glower. She patted Finn's shoulder roughly with her other paw in solidarity as Ruffano admonished the ferret himself. The change of tone between them did not go unnoticed, but the machinations of the adults was of little interest to her: she had no intentions of returning the ring should she find it first. As far as she was concerned, Ruffano's generous offer was a deep undercut of the value. She was going to make a fortune, and Finn could partake in the spoils.

That being said, her increasingly sulky mood was somewhat tempered by the preposterous suggestion. Cricket was at heart a playful beast and any suggestion in opposition to Griblo was acceptable by her. She stared for another moment at the old trenchcoat and snorted. "You're insane," she snorted. "But I like it. 'Ey, Finn, what do you think? Could be fun."