Snuff
with that happy but somewhat glassy smile with which a trader greets an
old acquaintance who he knows will end up getting merchandise with a discount of
one hundred per cent.
âWhy, Fred, how nice to see you again!â he said,
while awakening the mystic third eye developed by all small shopkeepers,
especially those who see Nobby Nobbs coming into the shop.
âWe were patrolling in the area, Bewilderforce, and
I thought Iâd drop in to get my tobacco and see how you were managing, with all
this fuss about the tax and everything?â
The sergeant had to speak up to be heard above the
rumbling of the snuff mill, and the carts that were moving across the factory
floor in a stream. Rows of women at tables were packing snuff andâhere, he
leaned sideways to get a better viewâthe cigarette production line was also
a-bustle.
Sergeant Colon looked around. Policemen always look,
on the basis that there is always something to see. Of course, sometimes they
may find it sensible to forget that they have seen anything, at least
officially. Mr. Gumption had a new tie pin, in which a diamond flashed. His
shoes were also clearly newâbespoke, if Fred Colon was any judgeâand a barely
noticeable sniff suggested the wearing of, letâs see now, oh yes, Cedar
Fragrance Pour Hommes, from Quirm at $15 a pop.
He said, âHowâs business doing? Is the new tax
hitting you at all?â
Mr. Gumptionâs visage flew into the expression of a
hard-working man sorely pressed by the machinations of politics and fate. He
shook his head sadly. âWeâre barely making ends meet, Fred. Lucky to break even
at the end of the day.â
Oh, and a gold tooth, too, thought Sergeant Colon. I
nearly missed that. Out loud he said, âIâm very sorry to hear that,
Bewilderforce, I really am. Allow me to raise your profits by expending two
dollars in the purchase of my usual three ounces of twist tobacco.â
Fred Colon proffered his wallet and Mr. Gumption,
with a scolding noise, waved it away. It was a ritual as old as merchants and
policemen, and it allowed the world to keep on turning. He cut a length of
tobacco from the coil on the marble counter, wrapped it quickly and expertly,
and as an afterthought reached down and came up with a large cigar, which he
handed to the sergeant.
âTry one of these handsome smokes, Fred, just in,
not local, made on the plantation for our valued customers. No no, my pleasure,
I insist,â he added, as Fred made grateful noises. âAlways nice to see the Watch
in here, you know that.â
Actually, Mr. Gumption thought, as he watched the
departing policemen, that was pretty mild: all that the Nobbs creature had done
was stare around.
âThey must be coining it,â said Nobby Nobbs as they
ambled onward. âDid you see the âstaff wantedâ note in their window? And he was
writing out a list of prices on the counter. Heâs lowering them! He must have a
good deal going on with the plantation people, thatâs all I can say.â
Sergeant Colon sniffed the big fat cigar, the
fattest he had ever seen, which smelled so good it was probably illegal, and he
felt the tingle, the feeling that he had walked into something that was a lot
bigger than it seemed, the feeling that if you pulled a thread something large
would unravel. He rolled the cigar between his fingers the way he had seen
connoisseurs do. In truth, Sergeant Colon was, when it came to tobacco products,
something of a bottom-feeder, cheapness being the overriding consideration, and
the protocol of cigars was unfamiliar to a man who very much enjoyed a good
length of chewing tobacco. What was the other thing he had seen posh types do?
Oh yes, you had to roll it in your fingers and hold it up to your ear. He had no
idea why this had to be done, but he did it anyway.
And swore.
And dropped it on the groundâ¦
T he track from the top of Hangmanâs Hill went beyond the trees and down, mostly through furze bushes and rocky outcrops, with the occasional patch of raw and useless soil, all substance eroded away. Wild land, wasteland, home to skinny rabbits, hopeless mice, the occasional concussed rat, and goblins.
And there among the bushes was the entrance to a cave. A human would have to bend double to get into that fetid hole and would be an easy target. But Vimes knew,
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