Chapter 9: The Escape

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 9: The Escape

Ella quickly untied Lissa. She brought her a blanket and some of the soup that had been cooking.

“So, you do remember me, don't you?” Ella asked.

“I...I Think so.” Lissa said softly. “You're not really my aunt though... are you?”

Ella laughed. “No no, I'm not. Just a close friend of your father's.” She sat back, and wrapped her arms around her legs. “Why are you here? Once things settled down a little, I went back to the house, but no one was there, so-”

“You were caught though.” Lissa said, “They took you away! You escaped!? Where's dad?”

“Your father's not here.” Ella said, “I don't know where he is. I haven't seen him since that day.”

“Why not? What happened?”

***

After you and your mother were taken from the rooms, we were quickly surrounded. You probably don't remember much about that night. Let's see... There was general Adams, that much I'll never forget. He had no less than a doze armed men with him. He told us that if we tried anything, you and your mother would be killed. None of us wanted that. We're not really family, but you and your mother... You were really the closest thing we had to a family. Your mother knew we were all thieves, but she never said anything.

Anyway... I'm getting off track. Adams told us that if we struggled, you and your mother would be killed. So we let him have his men tie us up. General Adams commandeered a wagon from the village, threw us in , and started bringing us to the capital, to Rawlins. We were... fairly screwed. We had just managed to piss off the royals, which is why we were caught with a little more speed than we would otherwise have been. We were told that we were going to be brought back to the castle, questioned, and then killed. I can still see Adams, pacing in front of us, smirking... What an ass.

They started moving. To keep us down, to keep us from getting up and, I don't know, hopping out of the wagon, Adams had gotten a... I honestly don't recall, some kind of metal bar. I didn't know what it was then, and I never bothered to ask anyone. Anyway, Adex was with us... Do you remember him? He had an ivory hand back then. His old hand was crushed under the wheel of a wagon back when he was a real drunkard. He smashed his ivory hand against the meta a god few times, and eventually it broke apart. I guess it was old. He was able to slide his hands out easily then, the rope just slid over the stub he had at his wrist, and then he untied the rest of us very quietly so that the guards outside wouldn't hear us.

There were too many guards to allow us to just jump out, and there was no way of just sneaking out of a moving wagon, unseen by the guards surrounding us. We figured the only thing we might be able to do would be to wait until we got to Rawlins, and then try to escape. But to be honest... A lot of us thought we were done. What we had done was kind of a big haul so to speak. A grande Finale in all our eyes. We figured that your father believed so as well when he said that we should visit you and your mother. I think most of us were planning our final words. Heh. I remember planning to shout, “Eat it, cocksuckers!” from the gallows.

Our plans were half-assed and poorly thought out., more concerned with figuring out how we can cause more trouble for our captors than actually escaping. Your father was quiet though. We figured he had given up altogether. We tried to make our plans even more outrageous... Jesting a little, trying to cheer him up. We weren't really used him to being so down, so quiet.

We got tired though. You can only talk so much about a crazy escape when there's nothing you can do. Twilight came, the guards lit torches, and in the distance, we could see the outline of the city against the pale sky. Normally, it was a view I liked.

They stopped to eat, guarding us carefully, in shifts. Then, one of the younger guards came up, to talk to the other guards, I think. I'm not sure.

We didn't even notice that your father had done anything. We were concerned with other things. We were hungry by that point, and very thirsty. He moved quickly. Grabbed the guard, took his torch, and set the wagon alight.

Well, that got us moving! The roof caught fire surprisingly quickly, and we jumped out. The guards ran to put out the fire, and in the confusion, it took them a second to realize that we were out and untied. We had no weapons, no advantage. Your father, however, was armed with a flaming torch. He was swinging that thing around setting everything on fire, scaring all the horses. He didn't say anything to us, but we knew the situation for what it was. All the guards were focused on the one, half-crazed man running wild with a torch and trying to set everything on fire. It was very easy for us to slip into the woods and escape.

And... I guess that was that. We felt a bad, of course, for leaving him, but there wasn't anything we could have done. Unarmed and outnumbered as we were? We were lucky just to get away. We hid away in the woods until everything cleared up. We went back, and there were only the charred remains of the wagon we had been confined to. We made our way back to Rawlin- well no. I made my way back to Rawlins. Adex came with me, but the others didn't. A couple decided to go home, to their own “families” to see what was left of them. To their homes, a couple went to the islands. I think a couple even tried to go legit. I think one of the guys opened a shop or something in Rawlins. I've seen him a couple times in Rawlins, chatting to merchants, but I've never seen his shop.

And this is what I've done. I've built up a new gang of thieves.

***

“And you're not heard... from my father?”

Ella shook her head, “No... We looked though. Went to Rawlins, and went to every source I have. Nothing. I had assumed they'd have made a big fuss about his execution, but after a year, I stopped looking. I figured if he was still alive, he would have come looking for us.” She sighed, resting her gaze on Lissa, “I had one hope. You and your mother were gone. I thought maybe we went back and got you guys out of there. But I suppose that's not the case.”

Chapter 8: Capture

A Proper young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 8: Capture

They tied her up tightly, and pulled her along after they cleaned up their camp. The drunken man was kicked awake by the men while the woman made sure the ropes holding Lissa were tight. Lissa at first feared that they might kill the man for getting drunk, when he obviously had a job he was supposed to perform. They didn't. They did make him carry all their stuff. Lissa, once she was tied up, was treated with indifference. Once they started walking, they simply dragged her along by the rope. They ignored the main road through the forest, and instead took a series of paths that wound around the trees. In the darkness, Lissa could almost make out the trail, but it was intersected at so many points she got confused. The others made their way quietly, confidently. They knew where they were going. The whole forest was their maze.

Then the forest stopped.

The trees suddenly broke off at the top of a short cliff, which curved and shortened to meat the ground below, forming the shape of a pinky finger, curved sharply in towards the pam. Red light from a fire reflected off the light of the jagged cliff face, and bathed the scene below her in dancing red light. A small band, Lissa counted seven men, sat, lounging and talking easily around the fire. Some of them were sharpening weapons, while others fixed ripped and torn clothes. One large man, who had a mark the colour of plums reaching from his right eyebrow, up over his bald head forming a jagged and crooked image of a crescent moon, sat neat a pot by the fire, gently stirring it's contents.

“We're back.” The woman said. Most of the men turned and gave some form of greeting, ganging from a grunt to a wild cheer from an obviously drink, skinny youth. A man in dirty silk clothes, and a woman wearing a dress of fine green silk, which was obviously too small for her in the bust, ignored the woman completely as they groped one another. One of the men sewing simply looked up quickly, then back to his work. One of the men noticed Lissa.

“Whose the kid?” He called up, causing a collective glance up to stare at Lissa.

“Some dolt trying to rob from our little checkpoint.” The woman said. She jumped off the top of the cliff and landed on the ground. The other men, one leading Lissa, and one drunk and carrying most of their stuff, walked along the edge of the cliff as it slowly merged with the ground intil the height was small enough to simply step down. The other man followed them.

“That distracted you from the job, 'Ell?”

the woman threw a small sack at the ground, just before the fireplace. “Poke through that.” She said, “See what you find. Some gems, some coins, some jewellery. We hit a little Inn, so there wasn't much. The wagon was gone. We might have missed it.”

The man with the wobbly-half moon mark on his head looked up, “You think you can ransom the kid?” He asked.

“Not too sure.” She pulled the rope out of the man's hands, and led Lissa away, towards a cart laying outside the circle of light. “I'll have a little 'talk' with our guest, and see what I can find out.”

She pulled Lissa behind her towards an open wagon. A sheet of canvas covered the bulging contents of the wagon. The woman pulled Lissa behind the wagon, tied one end of the rope to the wagon.

“Sit down.” the woman said carelessly. She pressed gently on the top of Lissa's head, forcing her to the ground. She sat down, crossed legged, and glared up the woman. The ends of her bands stuck into her eyes, causing her to shake her head furiously.

The woman crouched down next to her, rested her elbows on her knees, and gave a lazy stare at Lissa.

“So.” She said, “Rough part of the woods of a young lady, eh?”

Lissa blinked, “How did you know?”

“Well, I guessed. You just told me. Besides, when I kick a man in the balls, I expect him to stay down, whimpering. You did not. So I assumed you were either a girl or a eunuch or something.”

Lissa scowled. She felt especially stupid at having been tricked so easily.

“What are you doing out here though, that's the question.” She pulled on a long, beaded necklace around her neck, and began pulling the necklace around, bead by bead. “Run away from home? Lost?”

Lissa said nothing. She didn't trust herself to speak again and give anything else away.

The woman pretended not to notice her silence, and continued to play with the beads. “Daughter to some noble family perhaps?” She asked “Or not noble? Known? Well off, perhaps, to save their daughter from the hands of a band of thieves?” When Lissa said nothing, she sat back with an annoyed sigh. “You know... If you don't tell me, we can't hold you ransom... Now I know that doesn't seem like much, but consider the alternative. That is, we sell you into slavery. Most likely, you would be working in a whore-house somewhere, so that's not good for you. WE wouldn't get as much money selling you to the asses in Rawlins than if we ransomed you back to your family, and your family wouldn't hear from their daughter again. So you see, it's just good sense to tell me who your family is, so that we can try to ransom you back.”

Lissa said nothing.

“Fine fine.” the woman said, “There's other ways to find things out.” She noticed the glitter of the chain around Lissa's neck. She reached out while muttering, “f' gods sake, most young girls threaten us with their whole, ' do you know who I am' bit.” Lissa pulled back, but being tied, there wasn't far she could go. The woman Grabbed the necklace, and pulled it out, studying it. Her easy, bored expression fell from her face as she studied the coin, with the red gem, on the thin chain around Lissa's neck.

Lissa had time only to flinch when the woman had a long thin, needle-like dagger taken from a hidden sheath within her sleeve. She held the point to the side of Lissa's throat, just above her collarbone.

“Your name.” she hissed. Lissa stared at her, her eyes wide, her mouth dry. “Tell me your name, girl. Tell me your name, and where you got this pendent, or I swear I'll kill you here. I don't care if you're a blasted princess, you'll be dead.”

“Lissa.” she whimpered, “My father gave it to me.”

A moment passed before the woman took the dagger from Lissa' throat. She reached out with her hand, and held Lissa' chin, gently turning her face towards her.

“Well then.” She said, “Don't you remember Auntie Ella?”

A Proper Young Thief: Chapter 7: Fear

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 7: Fear

In the red light of the setting sun, Lissa could see a tall pillar of grey smoke rising up from the forest. She wondered how long it had been there, or if she would have seen it while she was walking on the road before, as she started down at the ground. She felt better now. She had food in her bag, and though she didn't know exactly how far Rawlins was, or how much longer the forest went on, she knew she had food. She even had a knife now. There was a certain lightness to her step to. Lissa felt better than she had in a long time. So long as she didn't let her mind drift back to lord Mintas. So long as she didn't think of Luk, or her mother.

But now, now that she was looking up at the sky, and taking in the freshness of the forest, the clean, skeletal branches which is the fading light seemed to be black cracks in the sky, she saw clearly the smoke in the distance. Smoke meant fire, and that provided her with the one thing she had not been able to steal from the house the other night. Warmth, and a comfortable night's sleep. She slept better having food in her stomach, but how long could she sleep in the woods before she froze in the night?

She looked back and fourth on the road. She had seen no more travellers this day, and wasn't planning on looking through the night for one. Tomorrow, or the next day she might find someone to help her, or she might just get out of the forest. For now, there was the issue of the cold night coming ahead, and the smoke lingering in the distance.

She ran into the trees, and started stumbling along, half walking, half climbing through the trees. The ground was covered in fallen logs, mud and rocks. It was easier just to climb through the trees than try to find any easy footing, and since all the leaves had fallen off the trees, it was easier to see where she was going, and easier to find branches to grab. At least, it was until she came across a path.

IN the middle of the trees, there was a well beaten footpath which twisted among the larger trees. The path was free of fallen leaves and branches, and as such, Lissa could tell that it was recently used. Piles of wet leaves were kicked off to the side. Piled over wet and stamped upon piles of rotted debris over the years. She reached down to touch a footprint in the mud, and felt the mud softly give way under her fingertips.

'fresh prints, or is the ground just wet.' she wondered. She wasn't sure. But she was sick of climbing around, and in the cold, her hands were starting to grow cold and numb, so she jumped down onto the path, glanced up into the fading sky, and took down the path towards the smoke.

It was dark by the time Lissa saw light dancing around the trees. The air was colder than it had been int he last few nights, and Lissa didn't like the idea of sleeping in the cold again. She was going to sleep somewhere warm tonight. She was going to be comfortable.

She didn't care how she did it. She got herself some food, she could get herself somewhere warm to sleep.

Silently, she walked on, and came to a clearing in the forest. A makeshift lean-to stood in the middle of the clearing, a reasonable distance away from it was a deep, well used fire pit. , with charred stones set in a ring around it. Leaning back against a large, fallen log to one side was a man, sleeping soundly with a bottle hanging from his hand. Lissa hid in the shadows for a long moment, listening and watching, terrified that any moment, he would wake up, or that any moment, or that someone would suddenly come out from the shadows. Her heart pounded, and to her, it seemed to resound over the sound of the crackling flame. She waited, saw nothing, made to leave the shadows and explore the clearing, then stopped suddenly and hid behind a tree.

'why wasn't I this afraid the other night.' she thought.

A moment passed, and nothing happened. She took a deep breath, hesitated, then reached into her bag, and took out the knife. She hesitated, almost put it back, then held onto it.

“Ok,” she whispered to herself. “One... Two... THREE!”

She pushed herself out from the trees, and stood still in the clearing at the edge of the flickering circle of light. After a moment, nothing happened. She relaxed, and wandered towards the man

he was obviously drunk. She could smell liquor off him, and and bottle was empty. Far off to one side of the log was a pool of vomit. Lissa was sure that he had passed out. After a moment of staring at him, she gave him a little nudge with her foot. When he didn't move, she relaxed.

“Passed out for the night.” She muttered. She decided that she didn't really want to sleep near him, but it would be easy enough to find a place nearby where she could have a small fire, and a camp set up. She couldn't start a fire herself but perhaps she could make a torch from a stick and her old dress.

She looked around the area, and in the lean-to, she saw a sack. With a quick glance at the man, she slipped over to it and quietly untied the sack. There were mostly bottles inside, some empty, some full. She dug around and found some coins at the bottom, then some jewellery next to some dried meat.

All she thought about was the money, not why this man might have coins and jewels next to food and drink. Money was even better than the food she had stolen the other night. Money meant she could rent a room somewhere, or buy food. Money meant she wouldn't have to live on the streets when she got to Rawlins, at least not for the first night or so.

Money meant options. Money meant she could get to Rawlins, and find work. Failing that, it still meant she could take some time to save what she could find or steal. She quickly began digging through the sack, ignoring the noise she was making, the man was passed out. She grabbed fistfuls of silver coins from the bottom of the sack, and threw it into her own sack. She couldn't wait for find a place to set up a little camp for the night, and count out her coins next to a nice, warm fire.

Out of nowhere, she felt a sudden pain as someone grabbed her neck and pulled her backwards, way from the sack. A soft, feminine voice whispered in her ear, “You've made a bad mistake tonight, boy.”

Lissa was pulled, and thrown away from the sack. She fell to the ground, but wasn't badly hurt. She looked around for her knife, but realized that she had left it next to the sack. Between her and the sack was a tall, slender woman dressed in loose black pants and a worn burgundy tunic. A long black cloak was pushed back off her shoulders, out of the way of her arms. Long, brown hair was held out of her face in a loose braid, slung easily over one of her broad shoulders. She looked up and nodded behind Lissa. Lissa turned to see two men coming at her with rope. She jumped up, and ran to get her knife, stumbling to her feet as she did. The woman kicked her between the legs. Lissa fell to the ground, rolled away, and tried again to grab the knife. The woman stepped down on her chest, with enough force to keep Lissa down but not enough to seriously hurt her.

“Tie him up.” she said after a moment, “ but be gentle... I want to talk to our visitor when we get home.”

M.K.Barry

Chapter 6: Justice

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 6: Justice

There was a change of clothes in the sack that Marc had given to Lissa. There was no money, and more importantly, no food. At first, this didn't seem like a problem to Lissa. As a young child, she often spent many days in the edge of the woods, picking and eating what seemed then like an huge quantity of berries, and as far as she knew, rabbits were easy enough to catch. As far as Lissa was concerned, a person could live and thrive in the woods. Hadn't she heard stories about wild men in the woods? If they could survive, so could she.

One miserable day or hard work later, and Lissa came away with a small handful of shrivelled berries. She had seen no rabbits, and realized that even if she had seen one, and managed to catch one, how could she have cooked it? She also realized that late fall wasn't a time of plenty in the forest.

Sure there were ways to thrive. The trick was to know those ways. Unfortunately for Lissa, her knowledge was limited to cleaning and sewing, and the household skills that she had managed to make a type of living out of.

When she finally slept, she found a little rut to crawl into, made a little next out of her old clothes, covered herself with her cloak, and tried to sleep. Despite her efforts, however, she still woke up shivering. Everything was covered in dew, and she hurt all over from sleeping in such a cramped space. Worse than this, however, was the pain, the distinct emptiness in her stomach. At one point as she was packing away her things, she heard a crow cawing at her from a nearby tree. She grabbed a rock and threw it with all her might, an attempt to hit the bird so she could get it and eat it raw if she had to, but the rock sailed by the tree, clipping a few branches and scaring the crow off. Frustrated, she stomped off, grabbed her sack, and started walking again. She was soon rewarded today when she found a well beaten wagon road cutting through the forest.

“I'll be somewhere soon.” She said to herself. The road had to lead somewhere, and a road also meant people. A road meant that she might even see someone pass by on the road, and they would help her. They would at least give her a ride, maybe even some food if they had any.

She walked on, focusing on the ground just before her. She was still sore all over, and the chill from overnight wasn't leaving, even though the sun was up. For the most of the day, the road was shaded, and even when it wasn't, an icy wind foretelling of a cold winter kept Lissa cold, and somehow, her hunger only seemed to make her feel colder. She had only been two days without food. How long could a person live without food before they starved? Lissa didn't know, it wasn't a question she had wondered about before. She was sure he mother would know though. She wondered how long her mother had gone without food before she went to Lord Mintas.

She remembered the day that they left their little home at the edge of the village, and went to Lord Mintas' house. She remembered her mother, laying on her back on her bed while Lissa herself dug through the cupboards, looking for something to eat. She remembered telling her mother that there was no food, and her mother getting up, looking for herself, and finding nothing. Lissa remembered her mother telling her to stay in the house, and that she would be right back. She was gone no more than an hour, but when she returned, she gave Lissa a loaf of bread, and told Lissa to pack her clothes, and her doll. They were leaving.

They went to Lord Mintas' house because Lissa herself, not her mother, was hungry.

The rattling of a wagon in the distance pulled her from her thoughts. She wasn't sure what direction it was coming from at first, hearing only an echoing in the distance, but after a while she heard it behind her. It was a large, red carriage with curtains drawn over the windows. A man dressed all in black sat in the rider's seat, clutching the reigns of two black horses. Lissa turned and smiled, raising one hand up in greeting. The rider passed by without acknowledging her, without giving any sign that he had even seen her. Lissa was left staring at the wagon as it bounced own the path. She ran after it at first, but realized how stupid that was. She couldn't keep up with a horse-drawn wagon. The wagon was very soon out of sight, and Lissa stopped and sat by the edge of the road, tired and breathless. Her feet were hurting now too, a large blister having broken on the back of her heel. She reached into her sack, and took out her old white skirt, and ripped a strip of fabric off it to cover the blister. It still hurt, but not as much. She rested for a moment more, then got up and walked on.

By evening, Lissa had caught up to the wagon. On the side of the road was a small house. A sign hung from a lit lantern, proclaiming the house to be an Inn. She could see the wagon by the wide of the house, though the horses were not to be seen. She ran up to the house, and knocked on the heaven wooden door. A moment later, a large woman wearing a faded gown and a stained apron answered. She had a large smile on her face, but it faded quickly as she took in Lissa' appearance, her large, baggy and tattered clothes, her grass-stained cloak, her worn shoes.

“Yes?” the woman snapped.

“I was wondering if you had a room to spare... or some food.”

“I”m wondering if you have any money.”

“I don't.” I Lissa said. The woman started to close the door. Lissa held onto the edge, holding it open, “But I'll work! I'll do anything you-”

“I have all the help I need, thanks. I have two sons who help me here, and I won't take food off their plates to feed a drifter like you.” She pulled the door out of Lissa's grasp, but Lissa quickly but her foot in the door.

“Please, I'll take any kind of shelter, any scraps, and I'll work very hard! Just for tonight, and then I'll-”

The woman pushed the door wide open, knocking Lissa to the ground. Wordlessly, she slammed the door closed, leaving Lissa alone in the cold once more.

For a long moment, Lissa sat on the ground, listening to the sounds from within, listening to the sounds of idle chatter, easy, drunken laughter. She could almost feel the warmth radiate off the house, she could smell rabbit stew from within.

“It's not fair.” She whispered. Nothing was fair, and as far as Lissa was concerned, nothing had ever been fair. She shouldn't have been starving outside int he cold when people so close were eating happily. She shouldn't have been out on the road int he woods so late, she shouldn't have to have wandered to far from her home, disguised as a boy. She shouldn't have been beaten, and buried alive for a crime she didn't commit. Luc shouldn't have been killed, she shouldn't have been bartered off. Her mother and herself shouldn't have had to work as servants for Lord Mintas.

Their only crime was being related to a thief. No, it wasn't being related to a thief that did it, it was that thief being caught. It was the hand of justice that had placed her and her mother in their positions, and which led to the injustice that she was suffering now.

She almost smiled. Injustice from justice. It was funny. No it wasn't, it wasn't funny at all. She still couldn't help but smile at it, she couldn't help but laugh. As she stood up and brushed herself off. She was still chuckling. She made her way around the side of the house, and towards the back.

She could accept that her father was a thief. She could even accept that perhaps any punishment she was taking now was a result of the good and comfortable life she and her mother had lived off a thieves earnings. But She had seen Justice used, manipulated so easily, so efficiently by Ghant. He had gotten away with murder and almost had Lissa killed because of it. Just a few words from a rich boy's mouth beat anything, any amount of pleading and logic that could come from her. Here, Ghant was the one at fault, and where was his punishment?

Behind the house was a large back-yard, an empty field form which Lissa assumed this years crops had already been picked. To the far side of the field was a farmhouse. The whole backyard was illuminated by light coming from one open window. As Lissa approached it, she could feel heat pouring out of the window. She peeked in, and saw a small kitchen, much smaller than the one in Lord Mintas' house, but it had a big fireplace, with a bubbling pot hanging over it. In the center of the kitchen was a table with several loaves of bread sitting under a sheet, and a circle of cheese which the large woman was cutting slices off of. Lissa watches as the put the slices on a platter with some sliced bread. She lifted the platter, grabbed tankard from the edge of the table, and pushed open the kitchen door with her large behind. Lissa got a glimpse of several drunken men sitting around a table, laughing and taking as they ate their food before the door swung shut.

Justice and law, working as it was intended, took her father from her, and robbed her of the happy family she had had once, a long time ago. Justice, manipulated and used by the rich, by the sons of merchants, had placed the guild of Luc's death on her shoulders, while his killers went home to their warm little houses, and ate large, warm dinners with their mothers and fathers.

It was easy to climb into the window, and at that point, even easier for Lissa to grab the whole circle of cheese off the table, and shove it into her bag. Two loaves of bread were thrown in quickly after it. She paused, and looked around. She took the knife off the table, wrapped it in a cloth that hung off the edge of a bucket. She looked around once more, then threw the sack out of the window, and jumped out after it, grabbed it off the ground and into her arms as she ran away from the house and into woods. She heard a sudden cry behind her, and angry shouting. She ran until she could not longer hear the woman shouting, then slowed, and collapsed to the ground, breathing deeply. She pulled open the bag, took out one of the loaves of bread, and tore into it, not bothering to cut off slices. After a while, she needed to slow down, she couldn't' breath, she was eating so quickly and she knew she would make herself sick. She had known that from the start. She just hadn't cared.

She set the loaf back into the sack, tied it up, and started walking, trying to find a place to sleep for the night. She had thought that once she had eaten something, she would start feeling some guilt for having stolen something. All these years, she was branded because her father was a thief. It was assumed that she was a moraless bitch, who only needed the chance to prove it. Perhaps that was what she had just done. Perhaps they were right, and this was her true nature right here. But to Lissa, it felt like she was taking something back. Like she was spitting in the face of justice, which had taken so much from her, which had failed her. To her, it felt like real justice.

After wandering a little further, she found a large log laying on the ground. She crawled in, grateful that there were no rats, and pulled out her old clothes from the sack, and used them, as well as her cloak to keep herself warm. She nibbled cheese as she fell asleep.

M.K.Barry

Chapter 5: sunset