Nine Lives of a Cat Burgler

An evening with the Laytons.

Night. In the city. The worst time for fear. The best for the cat burgler. The thief whose intent is to be in and out of a house without any one noticing. That is until the sun rises and the unsuspicious victims realise, a pair of earrings 'misplaced', a necklace 'lost'. And by that time the shadow of the night has gone back to where it, or should I say, I came from. Its easy pickings. Tonight the unfortunate residents (who really shouldn't have left their upstairs window open) are the Layton family:a banker, his aristocratic snob of a wife and their 3 spoilt children. The night is fresh, the moon is bright and the music from Layton child #3's birthday party is loud, loud enough to cover any noise of the thief who will be carefully selecting their prize from the treasures above.

There! The light has gone out from the Layton's main bedroom. In other words, the symbol to go. As I cross the perfectly manicured lawn, the party becomes louder, masking my movements. Climbing through the perfectly manicured rose beds is a challenge though. Any footprints proves my existence. The knowledge of my existence is my death. Then comes the drainpipe which is the easy part. I have climbed hundreds if not thousands of drainpipes. This one is no different. While slipping through the slightly ajar window, I stop and stare. How is it that some people have nothing whereas others have everything. This lifestyle is one, someone like me could only imagine of. You might be wondering what I mean as I haven't really explained myself. For all I know, you think I'm the bad guy in this story, which is kind of likely as the only thing you know is that I spend my time stealing from others. But it isn't how it looks. Well it is but let me explain:

Our world is split into two types of people. The rich and the poor. The ones who have everything and those who have nothing. I fall into the latter category and the Laytons fall in to the first. Therefore I have to steal from those like the Laytons to survive. Its simple really. Now back to the bedroom (God that sounds wrong).

It is old fashioned, with wall paper, and ornate baroque features which are surprising as the baroque era was well over 100 years ago. Then there are the light bulbs, and the electricity and the heating. The jewels are kept in the safe hidden behind the ancient family portrait. I know this for two reasons. 1) I do my homework, plan, know all details before I go in. I like to be prepared and I don't like surprises. Surprises can lead to accidents and in my line of work I don't think you can claim insurance. 2) I have done the Laytons before. They really should be more prepared. I mean, generally as a rule, you never target the same place twice but the Laytons, with their arrogance and their riches and their lack of window shutting were just asking for it (fellow thiefs, take notes!).

I choose my reward: a diamond necklace, easy to sell off at the market; a bracelet with pearls embedded and a small delicate silver ring. Never take too much- the owner will notice. Never take anything too big- it is more obvious it is missing.

Turning to go I hear a noise. A silhouette is imprinted against the window. Not a Layton- I know what they look like. Not a guest- this person is too raggedy. Not a cat burgler- too loud (trust me, I should know) He is breathing loudly, not out of fear or exhaustion but out of anticipation. Everyone in this business has an escape plan they stick to religiously when caught. If he has any sense, he will have one too. I get up and walk slowly towards him. It looks like the roses were a challenge to him, that and the drainpipe.

"Who are you?" His voice comes out strained, like I am a spanner in the works. I might be glaring a little too hard, what can I say? I don't like surprises.

"I said, who are you?" fists are tightly gripped, who ever he is, he wants something and is prepared to fight.

"Why should I tell you?" I hear myself saying back. I shouldn't be too hard on him. He is obviously a newbie.

"Cause otherwise I will have to kill you."

"If I tell you who I am, I am as good as dead anyway."

"We are on the same side."

O.k, he has got me with that. What should I say?! He starts to smile slowly realising he has cornered me. Now I can see him in the light, I must admit, the dark hair flopped over his pale face, the dark blue eyes and the arrogant smile is quite cute. His hair camouflages him into the night unlike me who has surprisingly luminous, ketchup red curls which fall to my waist, tangle up and generally get in the way.

The stranger walks towards me, stops suddenly, his eyes widening. Turning around slowly I come face to face with Layton child #2. When lost deeply in the dark eyes of a strange boy little details like the fact I am in the middle of a robbery and that there was a children's birthday party downstairs don't matter. Grabbing his hand I run, towards the window away from the gauping child who will scream sooner or later.

"Get on the windowsill" I avoid eye contact, knowing the consequences.

"what?"

"Just do as I say!"

He climbs up next to me as I untwist the rope from around my waist. I tie it to the gargoyle next to me and thrust the rope into his hands. He stares at me.

"What do I do?"

I sigh and then push him. The screaming sound follows him down the wall until it stops, just near the bottom telling me he didn't hit the ground. Talk about subtle!

I grab the rope and jump down after him, hitting a soft bouncy object at the bottom. Wait, my bad, it was him.

"Sorry" I mumble whilst dragging him into the trees away from the party and the police and the guns. Mainly the police and the guns. As we get to the trees I let go of him. He glares at me whilst brushing himself off. I may have ran a little too fast through those last clumps of trees. I turn away from him, back towards the shadows. It is better if we split up. It makes us harder to find. Taking one last look I see him leaning defeated against a tree. I stop, I sigh, I walk back towards him. "A.B"

"What?"

"Its my name, A.B."

"Why were you there?"

"Same reason as you I suspect, thieves united and whatever." I shrug, wondering what he thought I was otherwise doing in a strangers bedroom.

"I'm not a thief." He says slowly, "I was there to get information, you know, like a spy. The Laytons are a wealthy family and Mr Layton has contacts with some

of the higher authorities. I was there to get information of who they were, for the Resistance. But I failed."

I swear under my breath. I might have known. The Resistance are a group of radicals who believe they can create equality. They are wrong. Our kind shall never be excepted by the other kind. We are too different.

"So why were you there?" he asks pulling me out of my other thoughts. I take the rucksack off my back and show him the jewels. His eyes widen like mine did when

I first saw them. Suddenly realising how vulnerable we are, I shut the bag quickly.

"We have to go, they will find us soon."

"Sure." he seems too relaxed for someone who just broke into a house, met a cat burgler and jumped out of a window. " When shall we meet again, A.B?"

"Sometime, stranger, sometime." I then turn and run, stopping only once to look back to the clearing.

He is gone.