You meet an escaped Prisoner

July 8^th

            "You cheat! Son of a cock-loving whore! You owe me forty more tiers and you know it!"

            "I don't owe you anything except a kick in the arse you ungrateful little wench! Get out of my shop. Miko! Get her ugly little face out of my sight!"

            Dwella felt all the air rush out of her as Miko threw her out on her rump as if she were no bigger than a child's ragdoll. She scrambled to her feet to give the brute a slap in the face (or the chin, as was more likely) but the door to Saro's shop was already closed, and Dwella felt her cheeks heat up with anger as she heard the bolt slide into place.  

            "I'll be back! I'll be back for my full pay and don't you think that I won't be!" She screamed, putting all the volume that she could muster from her tiny frame into her voice. With a growl, she spun on her heel and marched off down the dirt road, viciously kicking rocks ahead of her as she went. She shoved both hands into the pockets of her shorts, stuffing the small bag of fifteen of the Queen's tiers out of sight.

            "Aye! You lot, look, it's the manny bitch! You've got a pretty mouth, Dwell- why don't you c'mon over here and put it ta good use, ey?" Dwella's fists clenched and she bared her teeth as she rounded on Maynerd and his group of cronies.

            "How about you shut your damn mouth you blighter!" She did her best to look big and intimidating, but the boys only laughed.

            "Careful Maynerd, by the looks of her she'd sooner bite your prick off than suck it!" Dwella took a vicious stomp forward as the boys laughed, but was suddenly stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

            "Now then, that's no way to talk to a lady." a voice said from behind her. Dwella looked up and saw a boy standing behind her, dressed in sloppy briches, a shirt that probably used to be white, and an old, tattered newsboy's cap.

            "And who are you to say, ya numpty troll?" The boy smiled, and Dwella found that she didn't quite like the look on his face.

            "Just a courteous passerby. Now why don't you boys scurry along, back to mummy and daddy, huh?" At that the boys advanced on Dwella and this new stranger, cracking their knuckled and baring their teeth in an angry show of masculinity.

            "You'll pay fer talkin' to me like that, ya bum knocker!" Dwella crouched down into a fighting stance; she didn't know who this guy was, but if he was willing to help her kick Maynerd's cocky little arse well, she'd made friends for lesser reasons.

            She was just about to make for Maynerd to give him a swift punch in the gut, but once more was stilled by a hand on her shoulder.

            "Please, let me handle this. A lady should not have to deal with such… crass behavior." Dwella frowned up at the stranger and wrenched her shoulder free from his grip.

            "I can take care of myself, thanks." she spat, but the boy wasn't listening to her. Instead, he just waltzed carelessly past her, hands in his pockets as if he was going out for an afternoon stroll rather than about to get into a fight with the town's most notoriously vicious gang of boys.

            "I'll teach you to fuck with us!" Maynerd snarled as he took a swing at the stranger's jaw. Dwella winced as she watched Maynerd's fist head straight for its target… and miss.

            "What the…?" She mumbled. It was like watching a bunch of drunks trying to swat at a fly. All four of the boys in Maynerd's gang were taking as many shots at the stranger as they could, but it seemed like all the boy had to do was twitch a bit this way or that and their swings would fly wide, actually landing on each other more often than on the strange boy that was their target.

            Finally, after several minutes of this bizarre spectacle, the stranger seemed to get bored. In a flash of limbs, Maynerd's gang was on the groud wheezing and clutching their tenders, a couple of them even crying into the dirt.

            "Hey! That wasn't very sporting!" Dwella called as she realized what had happened. The stranger arched one blonde brow at her in amusement.

            "They attack me four-on-one and you say that I'm the one who isn't sporting?" Dwella paused a moment.

            "You have a point, but still." The stranger smiled again, but the expression was much less frightening this time.

            "You're a very charming girl, Dwella Canesbury. I hope we meet again." Dwella balked as she watched the stranger trot off, disappearing into a nearby alley. Suddenly her attention was drawn away from where he had gone, however, when a couple of bizzies came up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

            "You, girl! Did you see a boy come through here, about half a foot taller than you, blonde, green eyes?" Dwella nodded slowly. "Well which way did he go, lass? That's a dangerous criminal we're trying to secure!" Dwella paused at that. That boy, a criminal? Her eyes drifted slowly over to where he had disappeared into the nearby alley.            

            "Well? Did'ya see or didn't ya?" Dwella nodded.

            "Yeah, I saw him. He ran off down the lane and rounded the corner, looked like he was heading towards Terdie's meadow." The bizzies nodded and took off, following her directions… and going in the complete opposite direction of the boy. Dwella shook her head after them, then glanced at the alley one more time.

            "How did he know my name?"