The Doppelganger: Book One - Steve's Chance

by Mark Mulle

  Chapter Five

  “Huh, that Bartholomew is a clever one. He’s stolen from us a few times, but to go so low as to pretend he was an old man was pretty good.” Wendy was pacing around once Steve had told her the news.

  “You’re not mad?” Steve asked.

  “It’s happened every now and then. We’ve even hired mercenaries to keep the goods safe, and the thieves still steal everything. It’s not your fault; I should have told you to be suspicious of everyone.”

  “Well, now what?” Steve said.

  “I guess we pay the company, count our losses, and be wary the next time we get the goods.”

  “We’re not going to go after the thieves?” Steve asked.

  “Don’t bother. I know where their base is, but there’s no way that I would go in there. I don’t even know mercenaries who would take them out.”

  “I can go. I need to make up for what I did. I’m pretty confident in my swordsmanship.”

  “It’s fine. You need to just continue working and forget that ever happened.”

  But Steve kept telling Wendy about how he should take them out. “We’re not going to get rid of the problem by just being cautious. We have to drive them out and make sure they never steal again.”

  Wendy sighed. “If you really want to, be my guest. But you’re too good of a worker for you to just go die like that. I once caught a thief, and he spilled the beans before being arrested. The thieves are holed up in the Crimson Cave, which is a few miles northeast from here. Like the name says, it’s a reddish-looking cave. You can’t miss it. But don’t go, please.”

  Steve shook his head. “I’m going to go,” he said, and he left the weapons shop. He knew that he shouldn’t, but he needed to make up for his mess-up. It was just what he had always done. When he made a mess, he cleaned it up.

  Steve left town—but not before eating a meal—and set off toward the Crimson Cave, becoming wary of the mobs on the way there. Steve was getting used to swordsmanship by now, and while he wasn’t the best, he could handle himself in a fight. He eventually saw the cave ahead of him. It was reddish in tint, like Wendy had said, and it gave off an eerie vibe. As he approached it, he realized that there was no one around. Yet the cave, when Steve went to its mouth, had torches located around it, so it was obvious that there was someone living in there. Steve went inside and down a tunnel, looking to make sure that no thieves would sneak up on him.

  Steve thought of his childhood. His parents were light sleepers, so he had to be nimble on his feet whenever Steve thought about sneaking out at night. Even going to the kitchen to get some milk on sleepless nights was an epic adventure. Sometimes he was caught, and instead of not doing it again, Steve would better his technique until he was a ninja at sneaking out. Like the sword, however, Steve hadn’t done that in a while. But when he moved his feet and tried to harness his inner child, Steve discovered that it was actually fairly easy to do.

  Steve continued walking, and then the torches stopped as the wall ahead of him merged into a dead end. There was no one in this narrow cave, and for a second, Steve thought that Wendy had been duped. Why would the thieves hide in this narrow cave? Then again, why were there torches around here? Something seemed off. Steve examined the wall in front of him, and that’s when he noticed that the wall didn’t look like it was made of rock but painted to look like rock instead. One of the parts protruding out looked suspiciously like a button. Steve pressed it, and as he did, the wall began to open up like a pair of double doors, leading to another tunnel. Steve followed it deeper into the cavern, only to see another dead end. This time, however, there was a large hole in the ground, and a ladder led down the hole. Steve climbed down the ladder, careful to not make any noise, and he eventually made it to the bottom.

  He was quick and nimble, but as he made it to the bottom, he was wary about what was ahead. In a thieves’ den, finding nothing was something scarier than running into thieves. They could be anywhere, willing to take Steve out at any time, and Steve had to take them out as soon as possible. As he continued on, he heard footsteps in front of him. Someone was ahead of him, and Steve moved nimbly to see what it was. The thief ahead wasn’t Bartholomew, but the sheathed dagger and similar clothes revealed that he had to be with him. Steve brought out his sword and snuck up from behind him. He then swung his sword. Thwack!

  Steve made sure to hit the thief on the head with the blunt edge on the sword, so he was knocked out. Steve immediately began to undress the thief and put on his tunic, dagger, and other attire. Steve noticed that there was a gag and a bit of rope in the thief’s pocket, and Steve noticed a small hole on the side of the wall. Steve tied up the thief, put a gag in his mouth, and stuffed him in the hole. He hoped this disguise worked.

  He ventured on, and a thief passed him by. “You must be new,” the other thief said. “I heard Bart has got himself a great stash, and he’s about to present it to everyone. We’ll be swimming in cash before too long,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’m new. Care to show me around?” Steve asked.

  “No problem. Well, the meeting is happening soon, so I guess I’ll take you to the part of the cave where everyone is meeting up.”

  Steve followed the thief and was soon led to a room that was expansive, with a giant rock in the middle as a podium. About ten other thieves were all gathered around, and Steve blended in with them. They were all talking to each other, and then when they heard a voice telling them to be silent, they all listened.

  Carrying a large sack in his hand, Bartholomew hopped on the podium. The sack was definitely the one he had stolen, and as the thieves stared at it, Steve hoped that Bartholomew wouldn’t recognize him.

  “Hello, all. I stole a great stash for you today. I couldn’t believe it myself. That old man costume that someone suggested actually worked. Take a look at this.”

  Bartholomew reached into the sack, and he was carrying a handful of gold chunks, some diamond ore, and a little bit of other materials, including redstone and copper. “It’s amazing. We’ll be feasting like kings for at least a year or so. And it’s all thanks to this gullible boy!”

  Steve wanted to shout at Bartholomew, but he kept his cool. He found it ironic that Bartholomew was calling him gullible yet didn’t recognize him in a disguise even less convincing. He watched as Bartholomew laid the bag down.

  “Now then, I’m going to take this in my room and sell it for a lot of cash when I find the right customer in the black market. In the meantime, you are all dism—”

  Someone came running in the room, and everyone turned around. Steve did as well, and he gasped. It was a man in his underwear, and he looked out of it. It was the person whom he had knocked out. How was this possible? Steve had made sure he was tied up well.

  “Someone knocked me out and stole my clothes. It’s a good thing the rocks around me were pointed, or I wouldn’t have gotten out. One of these people is an imposter!”

  Bartholomew dropped the bag, and as he did, he said “You didn’t see who did it?”

  “Nope, hit me from behind.” The man looked at the thieves. “And there’s so many different thieves who are around that I’ve lost track of which ones look unfamiliar.”

  This caused chaos. People were pointing fingers at each other, saying that they were an imposter, and the accused ones proved otherwise. No one tried to accuse Steve, fittingly, despite the fact that he seemed to stick out. Even Bartholomew joined in the accusing, leaving his bag unguarded. Steve thought that this was his chance. He ran to the bag and grabbed it, and before the thieves could see him, Steve was making his way toward the exit. One of the thieves spotted him, and all of the thieves looked at him.

  “Um, yoink?” Steve said.

  Bartholomew said, “That’s the gullible boy. H-how did he find our base? Get him! No, don’t get him. He’s mine!”

  Bartholomew came running. Steve ran away, but the bag slowed him down. Steve held the bag in front of him as Bartholomew took out
his dagger. With one hand, Steve cradled the heavy bag, and with the other, he was blocking Bartholomew’s blows with his sword. Bartholomew was quick and experienced, but Steve could keep up. Slowly he made his way back to the ladder.

  “Just hand it over, and I’ll let you go. Sound good?” Bartholomew asked.

  “Are you sure?” Steve asked.

  “I’m sure. Thieves’ honor. Just give it to me, and I’ll let this all slide.”

  Bartholomew was lying; even the most trusting person could see that. Yet Steve realized that Bartholomew thought he was that clever. Steve dropped his sword, and Bartholomew relaxed a little.

  “Yeah, you got me. I’ll just hand this over . . .”

  Thwack! Steve swung the bag as hard as he could and knocked Bartholomew out and then grabbed his dagger from him. He began to climb up the ladder, looking down to make sure that Bartholomew was still out. With the bag, climbing was a struggle, but he could do it. He needed to make up for the fact that he had failed to keep the bag on him, so he kept climbing.

  When he was halfway up, he heard something from below him. Steve continued the pace, but as soon as he tried to go faster, someone was grabbing his ankle. He looked down, only to see Bartholomew.

  “We thieves are thick, and that includes the skull. Now, hand it over!”

  “Or what? I have your dagger. You can hold onto me all you want, but I’m not letting this go!”

  Bartholomew reached into his pocket and pulled out something. He held it, revealing that it was a bundle of dynamite. Before Steve could do anything, Bartholomew lit the dynamite with a match and held it up.

  “Give it to me, or I blow us both up. Sound good? I’m not kidding around, kid. You made a mockery of me, and you’re not getting away with it!”

  “Wow, you’re pathetic. I thought thieves had honor and were a crafty bunch, but you’re a joke.” Steve began to shake his leg as Bartholomew kept a tight hold on it. The fuse in the dynamite was going down fast, and Steve didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, Steve had an idea. He didn’t want to do this, but there was no other option.

  “Fine, here’s your bag,” Steve said, and he let the bag go. It fell down the ladder, and that shocked Bartholomew. So much that he let go of Steve’s ankle and lost his grip on the ladder. Bartholomew fell, and then Steve heard an explosion. The ladder shook, and then he felt the cave shake as rocks started to fall. Steve quickly climbed to the top and noticed that the explosion was causing the entire cave to collapse. Steve ran down the corridor, avoiding the rocks, and jumped out of the mouth of the cave. As he did, the entire cave crumbled, and the mouth was closed up by rubble. Steve breathed a sigh of relief.