Live and Let Drood

there, and shrugged glumly. He looked unhappily back and forth between us, as though he couldn’t make up his mind which of us unnerved him most.
    “Well, sir—and miss, of course,” he said finally. “Strictly speaking, you shouldn’t be here. We’d been promised no one would be here. We were, in fact, informed that Drood Hall had been blown up, set fire to and generally reduced to wreck and ruin.” He glanced past us at whatwas left of the Hall and seemed to draw strength from the confirming vision. “We were told the Droods were no more, that the Hall and its grounds were no longer defended, and that there were rich pickings for everyone. Or at least for whoever got there first. So I rounded up the boys, fuelled up the rigs and put the hammer down all the way here.”
    “How did you know where to find us?” I said. “Drood Hall isn’t on the map. Any map.”
    Chapman swallowed hard. “Whatever it was that was hiding you, it’s gone now, sir—and miss, of course. We were given a sat nav that brought us straight to you. In fact, I think you can be pretty sure there are a lot more…plunder-orientated organisations already on their way here, eager to get their hot little hands on Drood riches. We just got here first because we’re more professional than most. We are, after all, the best in the business. The old firm, picking up unconsidered trifles and selling them for big profits, for centuries. We’re a family business, just like you!”
    “No,” I said. “You’re nothing like us.”
    “Road Rats,” said Molly. “Never met a disaster you didn’t like so you could take advantage of it.”
    “You got here first, so you’ll make a fine example to all those who come after you,” I said cheerfully to Chapman. A thought struck me. “You said you were informed that the Hall had been burnt down. Who informed you?”
    “We keep our electronic ears to the ground, sir. And miss, of course. We monitor all the unusual frequencies for occasions such as this.”
    “So you can kick people while they’re down and take what little they have left?” said Molly.
    “Best time,” said Chapman, regaining some of his confidence. “A chance to loot a place like Drood Hall only comes along once in a generation. If then. The minute we got the word, from a very important gentleman, we were off and running. In fact, he went so far as to say we’d be doing him a favour if we were to strip the place clean from top to bottom. He guaranteed he’d buy everything we brought him. No matter how unique or dangerous the item might be. He hasconnections everywhere, you see.…Well! Couldn’t turn down an opportunity like that. Could we, sir? And miss, of course. How could we say no?”
    “You should have,” I said. “You really should have.”
    “Yeah,” said Molly. She cracked her knuckles, a sudden loud sound in the quiet, and Chapman actually jumped.
    “You’re facing a Drood in his armour,” I said. “And the wild witch of the woods. Hell, you should be grateful we got to you before the scarecrows did. You have heard of the scarecrows…yes, I thought you might have.”
    “Bollocks to this!” Chapman said abruptly. He turned and ran back past his truck, yelling to his people farther down the line. “Sod this for a game of soldiers! Get them, boys! There’s only two of them! A nice little bonus to whoever brings them down first! And get a bloody move on, before the scarecrows get here!”
    A whole bunch of large, muscular young men appeared out of the cabs of parked trucks and headed straight for us. Most of them hard, cold-eyed thugs, in grubby T-shirts and jeans, the better to show off their gym-sculpted torsos. They advanced steadily on Molly and me, carrying various nasty-looking weapons. Twenty, thirty, forty of them, looking tough and highly motivated. Anyone else would probably have been impressed. Chapman stopped at the far end of his truck and grinned unpleasantly back at me.
    “You’re not the only one with a family business! You Droods aren’t the only ones who can do the hard stuff, if it comes to it. We’re the Road Rats!”
    “Thought you were Plunder, Incorporated,” said Molly.
    “That’s just for appearances! When there’s dirty work to be done we’re still the Road Rats, and no one does it better than us! Right, boys? We don’t take no shit from no one. We do the taking! Boys, peel that arrogant tosser out of his gold shell and pound him into the ground! Whoever takes