Children of the Knight (79 page)

The crowd behind and around Arthur’s knights erupted with an ear-shattering roar, “We don’t care! We want Arthur!” The cell phones waved and flickered frantically like angry starlight, and car horns blasted into the night like howling dogs.

Though slightly embarrassed by the people’s show of support, Arthur stood his ground and gazed up at the mayor with pride. And why shouldn’t he? His kids had done tonight what all the adults up there had failed to even attempt.

Villagrana exchanged a look with the police chief, who just shrugged. Fury engulfed the mayor. “You cannot go around taking the law into your own hands!”

Arthur shook his head at the venality of this man and his ilk. “I thought in this country the laws came from the people. Are we not the people?”

The knights and spectators again went wild with cheers and applause and flashing phone lights and honking horns.

“But alas, Mr. Mayor,” Arthur went on, playing to Helen’s camera as well, “I didst forget that in thine eyes and that of your fellow authoritarians, children be not part of the people, but mere property to be bought, sold, traded, and neglected. They have no rights. They canst not even vote for men such as yourself. Well, tonight my noble young knights have proven the error of your ways and your thinking. My knights have accomplished what you and yours could not or would not do, and the whole of this city has benefited.”

He pointed to the dumpster, now overflowing with drug-filled backpacks. “Behold, Mr. Mayor, but a mere fraction of the drugs you have allowed to infest your city, drugs which destroy the lives of children first and foremost, and which took from me one of my most beloved knights.”

He paused a moment as the image of Mark’s soft features pulled his heart with tight emotion, and Lance’s eager young face danced before his mind’s eye. “But Sir Mark’s death shalt not be forgotten. My knights have begun a crusade this day that is not near to being finished. Do
you
intend to finish the job, Mr. Mayor and Mr. Police Chief? The people doth be awaiting your response.”

The crowd and the kids let loose with another resounding roar of approval, and cell phone lights flashed on and off and flickered back and forth in excited waving.

P
ARKED
a few blocks up Temple near the intersection of Spring Street, the limo idled silently. On a flat-screen TV, which had descended from the roof at the touch of a button, the occupants watched the entire scene below them play out live. Lance and Jack had flinched with a sharp stab to the heart when Arthur mentioned Mark and were visibly surprised to hear Ryan’s assessment of them. Always, however, they continuously fixed their eyes on the guns pointed at their sides and sought any possible opening.

Ramirez chuckled as the camera zoomed in on Villagrana’s face. The mayor looked like he’d swallowed a whole onion, so disgusted was his expression.

“Villagrana always has been a fool,” he said to no one in particular. “A useful idiot, but nothing more.” Then he looked at Lee. “Are your men in position?”

Lee pulled his eyes from the TV and nodded.

Ramirez grinned. “Let the diversion begin.”

Lee raised a phone to his mouth and spoke only one word, “Now.”

The frightened boys flicked their eyes from the middle-aged Asian back to the TV monitor, dread clenching their stomachs into knots.

V
ILLAGRANA
and Murphy exchanged looks with Sanders and Gale and the other council members, and they began speaking quietly to one another, debating what should be done to turn this disaster into a win-win for them. All recognized, however, that so far they were losing.

Ryan and Gibson took the moment to eye each other.

“You saw Justin?” Gibson whispered to his partner, his voice filled with pain.

Ryan nodded. “You gonna go get him, or do I have to?”

Gibson looked askance at his partner, who just smiled in that way only old guys with a little wisdom can do. “I’ll go.”

But before he could move, a group of fifteen individuals, dressed in ninja black, faces covered except for their eyes, appeared from behind City Hall and oozed smoothly and rapidly down the steps toward Arthur. They brandished samurai swords, their movements lithe, nimble and sure-footed.

“Knights, to thy swords!” called out Arthur even as he drew Excalibur with his right hand. Esteban pushed Reyna back and unsheathed his own sword. Reyna grabbed Chris, and they backed Llamrei away from the melee. Jaime, Justin, Darnell, and the others surrounding Arthur pulled out their swords, and the fight commenced.

Jenny backed away into the kids surrounding the fighting arena. A huge circle had quickly spread outward from the center, just like for a fight at any high school, with the combatants attacking each other within it.

Helen’s cameraman immediately swung around his camera to catch the action, as did all the others, and the City of Angels bore live witness to the first sword fight ever to occur on the City Hall steps.

Arthur’s knights used their weapons effectively against the attackers, who jumped and spun and wielded their samurai swords with expert and deadly precision. But Arthur’s knights were just as skilled in their own way and managed to block every attack with their shields, and their body armor protected them from glancing blows by the enemy.

The sheer weightiness of Arthur’s swords often knocked the smaller attackers hard to the ground, especially when wielded by Esteban with his prodigious strength. The powerful boy pounded into the fray, swinging and hacking and parrying and dancing, putting technique ahead of brute force, just as Lance had taught him.

Tai, the massive Samoan with the steamroller build, plowed like a bull into the skirmish, swinging and hacking with his six-foot broadsword, disarming one of the attackers with a hard swing that shattered the man’s forearm. Then he whirled and barreled into two more, head-butting one so hard he dropped to the pavement like a sack of potatoes and plowing his shoulder into the other, sending the smaller man crashing hard to the ground where Duc easily kicked the sword from his grasp and held the man down with the point of his own weapon.

All of Arthur’s boys fought viciously, dancing and swinging, dodging killing blows, all their training coming to the fore, enjoying the opportunity to show off their skills, pumped up with the strength of their youth and vigor.

Arthur wielded the massive Excalibur as though it were a kitchen knife, always swinging and slashing and hacking with his right hand for fear of dropping Reyna’s cell phone, which he clutched tightly in his left.

Esteban and Darnell wounded their attackers with measured, well-placed thrusts to the shoulders, and the men crumpled to the pavement, their swords clattering out of reach.

“My God!” exclaimed the mayor, looking over at Murphy. “Do something.”

“Like what?” Murphy retorted. “Have my men shoot into a crowd of kids?”

Gibson gaped in stupefied amazement as his son swung and hacked and parried and danced and easily took down not one, but
two
of the attackers. The boy swung that sword better than Gibson could use his gun. His stomach pulled tight with astonishment.

The attackers were greatly outnumbered and they knew it. But then, their orders were to divert, not to win. Luis and Enrique suffered serious slashes across their sword arms that drew blood, causing them to stumble back against Reyna and Lavern, both of whom already had their bows loaded and cocked.

Reyna smiled at the attacker moving in to finish off Luis, sword poised for the kill. “Sorry, sucker,” she said and let the arrow fly. It struck the man in his upper bicep, causing him to shriek in pain and drop his sword.

Likewise, Lavern let fly his arrow, which caught the other man in the thigh, sending him sprawling to the concrete and the sword tumbling from his grasp.

In all of this confusion, no one noticed a young Asian man creep through the crowd to stand behind Jenny, who fearfully watched the fighting, breath caught in her throat. She suddenly felt something cold and metallic press into her back.

“Don’t turn around,” she heard a soft voice whisper, and she didn’t. Her heart beat wildly, her eyes fixed on Arthur and Excalibur, as though willing the man to look over. But he gamboled and parried against the largest of the attackers and did not even glance in her direction.