Some folks can't be bothered to remember anything. But boy, I can recollect it as clear as crystal. Who knows why it was this day in particular that struck the silver chimes of my heart, but it did. It was a sweet, dusty, wintry sort of day. It was not sultry. Sultry I would save for the summer. No, this day was as crisp as a broken bough and there were five - no, six - of them, walking like ducks in a row. The leader wasn't at the head, he was the one directly to the left of the middle. You could tell he was in charge by the arrow in his spine. The dusty haired fellow in the middle was second in command; his gait proved him so. Then there was this clumsy creature rounding out the far left, and lord knows he was only there by the skin of his teeth. There were two boys who looked enough alike to be brothers, walking side by side. I think the group generally liked the shorter one better, but on the whole, favored them as a duo. One lad was bringing up the rear in a lazy stroll. He might have roamed into the boys by chance that very day, and would drift off just as idly as he'd wandered in. 
They looked like trouble. I remember that's why I was watching them in the first place, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. I was sitting in my rocker on the porch, watching the gloaming, and waiting for my coffee to cool when they had sprung up out of the ether and onto the street. I leaned over to turn the radio down, just in case they wanted to discuss their plans aloud, as young vandals do so boisterously. The smallest boy - the one no one liked - had let out a peal of laughter. The rest of the group had remained silent. That's when the lieutenant elbowed the chief with a strained shout. "-Jake!" But the leader didn't need another word. He threw one hand up, made a wide circle with his arm, and thus had sounded a silent alarm. 
At this point I was utterly bemused. I thought maybe they had found a target to destroy, and I was just tensing up to spring when I saw it. There were a few scattered bushes, but the sun was sweating over the mountains enough that I could make it all out. Two dark, tall boys were leaning over a small bundle on the ground. On closer inspection, the lump on the ground proved to be an additional boy, but this one couldn't have been older than ten. He was clutching a whimpering dog in his arms. The older boys had been kicking up dust, evident by the gray cloud settling around the little fellow and his pup. As one kicked into his small back, I saw the other had broken a little tube and was letting the droplets inside  pour over his victims. He pulled out a matchbook, and I understood - 



Well that fellow - that boy Jake - he didn't waste a second. His arm had fallen back to his side, and he shot a meaningful look at his gang. He had made up the distance between himself and the others with just three long strides, and I had my hand on my gun, praying I didn't have to alter any lives this night. 
I needn't have worried though. The first boys were on the lanky ones, and had them down in under a second. Boy, they were pummeling 'em. When the rest had caught up they jumped right in, save the wanderer. He had helped the littl'un to his feet, and was dusting him off, wiping his tears and the like. His little dog had scratched him quite a bit during his bids to escape. Anyways, the boys - the bad ones - they were shouting and crying out for help, but the kids wouldn't let up. They were kicking and elbowing and punching, shirts were being torn and one had even lost a boot. I guess I should have intervened at this point, but I was pretty happy there, just watching. After a few minutes, the leader let out a whistle, and the boys backed off. The wanderer had already led the young one back home. Once the dust had settled, I saw the two boys crumpled on the ground. They were stirring just slightly, so I could tell they were breathing and all. I let out a long sigh, placed my palms on the arms of my rocker, and heaved myself up. I was feeling pretty giddy dialing the phone, and had some trouble keeping my voice steady as I called in the anonymous tip.