it occurred to granny later that it never actually made contact , but then , it never needed to-when six are against one in a melee in the shadows , and especially if those six are n't used to a target that is harder to hit than a wasp , and even more so if they got all their ideas of knifefighting from other amateurs , then there 's six chances in seven that they 'll stab a crony and about one chance in twelve that they 'll nick their own earlobe .