Easy money.

The body was floating face down in the murky waters of the canal. Decomposition had caused the skin to turn a marbled grey-green colour whilst noxious gasses bloated the internal organs causing the flesh to appear puffy and deformed. A smell of rot emanated from the corpse, saturating the air with a nauseating stench and causing the gathered watchers to cover their noses with whichever item of clothing came easily to hand. What little remained of the corpse's clothes were tattered and mouldy, clinging damply to the flesh in a vain attempt to cover what was left of the expanded body.

Rats poked it with a stick, trying to get the corpse to roll onto its back in an effort to see its face. The pair of spectators stood warily beside her, nodding slightly in approval.

“S’man, ain’t it?” piped the young boy, not more than eight and wearing what could best be described as an oversized brown sack, tied at the middle with a length of string.

“Nah, s’woman I reckon. S’got tits.” replied his accomplice, idly picking her nose. The girl was of similar age and dress, her tatty hair cut short and boyish.

“It ain’t got tits. S’just fat an’ all. S’man, like” muttered Rats, reaching out as far across the canal as she dared, trying to catch hold of the corpse’s clothes and drag it closer to the bank. “Besides, s’got nice boots I reckon. Proper leather an’ stuff. I wonder if he’s got anything else on him?”

The boy widened his eyes in alarm. “You ain’t gonna touch it are you, Rats? That’s real manky. Got them diseases an’ stuff in it. My ma says you gotta stay well away from dead things.”

“You scared or somethin’, like?”

He paused for thought. “Nah! Anyway, she were talkin’ about mice an’ cats an’ stuff. I reckon a dead human’s probably alright an’ all, ain’t it?”

Rats sniggered. “Yeah. Somethin’ like that an’ all”.

She leant out, letting out a triumphant cheer as she managed to hook the stick around the corpses mouldering belt. Dragging it towards the bank she took stock of the floating carcass, its sickening smell permeating the air around them.

“S’definatly a man, like. I reckon he were proper fat ever before he died an’ all. ‘Course, everyone knows that fat people are rich. They gotta be on account of them havin’ so much food. Ain’t that right, Pugsy?”. She winked at the boy. “You want to be rich an’ all, like?”

“Yeah. 'Course.” mumbled the boy, rolling his eyes and snorting derisively.

“Like, proper rich an’ all, like them lords an’ stuff?”

Pugsy thought about this for a moment. “Not proper rich I don’t reckon, Rats. Just, like, rich enough an’ all. Everyone knows that when you’re proper rich you forget, like, who you are an’ stuff.” The girl nodded with approval at this.

“An’ of course, bein’ rich gets you dead, don’t it?” He pointed at the corpse.

Rats blinked a couple of times, slightly taken aback. “Yeah. ‘Course, like.” She nodded quickly and returned her attention to the body, poking it once again for good measure, hoping it would make an interesting noise. It didn’t.

“Tell you what an’ all then,” she gestured to the boy, “You see that proper nice ring he’s got on an’ all then?”

Pugsy squinted at the corpse. “Yeah? ‘Course.”

“Now you just reach in an’, like, get it for me, yeah? I’ll give you two copper for it. S’alright if it’s a human body, ain’t it? Your ma said so.”

“Well she didn’t say…” Pugsy frowned.

“Go on! You can do it!” his accomplice interrupted, encouraging him.

“You ain’t scared or nothing, right Pugsy?” Rats smirked.

“Nah! ‘Course not!” Pugsy glared back defiantly.

“Pugsy’s a scaredy-cat! Pugsy’s a scaredy-ca…” chanted his accomplice, ducking behind a lamp post as the boy flung a peddle at her.

Warily, Pugsy leant forward, reaching towards the gently bobbing corpse with a grubby paw. What remained of the corpse’s hands were bloated and disfigured, green, and speckled with mould and maggots. The boy closed his eyes, screwing his face up tight as he closed his hand around the corpse’s finger, slipping and sliding on the wet flesh; trying to find purchase enough to pull the ring away. The ring was stuck fast, fused into place as the flesh decayed around it. With a scrabbling heave, Pugsy yanked at it and gave a yelp of surprise as the corpse’s hand came away at the wrist with a gloopy, sucking sound, sending him rolling backwards on the shoreline. The girl giggled. Rats watched patiently.

“Ewww! Ewww!” He cried, dropping the severed hand on the cobbles and wiping his own frantically on his clothes. “S’manky! Ewww! I touched it an’ everythin’!”

“You did good I reckon, like” Rats nodded approvingly, grinning as the boy jumped up and down in alarm. She trod down hard on the hard, cracking the fingers beneath her feet and delicately picking up the tarnished ring from the mess.

“This’ll clean up proper nice I reckon.” She reached into the depths of her back pocket, pulling out two dull copper coins. She flicked them towards the agitated boy.

“Here, like. You did good.”

Pugsy wiped his hand on his clothes once more before bending down to pick up the coins. He muttered to himself.

“Go enjoy yourselves, like. Go on. Scram before the Guard turn up an’ all” Rats waved a hand dismissively at the pair. “Get outta here, like!”

She watched as the pair scrambled away quickly, heading back to who knows where, and kicked the mangled remains of the hand back into the canal, leaving only a trace of slippery gunk on the cobbles. She rolled her eyes and pocketed the ring. That had to be worth gold at least, she thought, slipping silently into the depths of the Old Town.

Easy or what, like?