The Good Thief: A Novel

The horsemen bring Ren, the twins, and Benjamin back into North Umbrage just after dawn. They pull Tom behind them on a plank, where he's passed out from the pain of a broken leg. The group arrives at the mousetrap factory and are dragged inside. Benjamin's face looks "so swollen and red he looked like a different person altogether" (230) and Brom and Ichy are caked in dried mud. The hat boys bring the group inside the factory, where the girls work on various assembly lines. Ren sees Jenny in the room of metalworkers. She sees them coming and, after seeing Benjamin's face, begins working quickly, "manipulating the wire as if it were a needle and thread" (231). One of the girls stands by a revolving chain, holding her bleeding hand to her mouth. The floor manager hands her a rag then carries her away, calling on Jenny to take the injured girl's place. He calls it a "promotion" (231).Jenny rolls her eyes.

Pilot leads the group up a staircase guarded by two men, to a hall lined with carpet so thick it reminds Ren of "the moss in the woods behind the orphanage" (232).