Thieves at Heart (2 page)

Before her question could be answered and before she even realized what was happening, there was a loud thump and the shock of her wrist being grabbed firmly by a strong hand. She squeaked and tried to pull her hand back, horrified to have her hand not move at all and was then knocked unconscious when whoever was holding onto her pulled her with such force, she smashed her head into the wall and went black.

The sound of a match being struck and the smell of sulfur eased the girl’s senses into consciousness. She managed to keep her body still, trying to make sense of where she was in the dark. Her head still throbbed with a dull pain. She felt loose, scratchy straw under her bare legs and tickling her neck. The smell of wet stones was close. Her good ear perked up as she heard someone walking around. The darkness turned to shadows and oranges and the stink of sulfur made her wrinkle her nose. When the little girl finally summoned the energy to turn her head, she saw the man sitting on a chair in front of her. Tavi moved her hands, bound at the wrists and looked to him, the candlelight dancing before her. Her mouth was dry and she felt like crying but she swallowed and managed to speak, her voice sounding less brave than she had hoped it would.

“Where…where am I?” The question bounced around the room in a way that made her feel small. A drip of water splashed to the ground, sounding louder than her question and she chewed her lip as she kept back her tears.

The man with the interesting boots chuckled, a low melodic laugh suggesting that she had just told a joke. He leaned forward on his chair, pressing his fingertips together and looking directly at her. His slicked back hair and scruffy face looked menacing in the dancing light. Deep blue eyes and angled features were familiar to her, roughened by a lack of a shave and fatigue showing in his face but not his eyes. This man had been coming to her mam all through the last three seasons and was a favorite of Prisca. He was able to conjure up whatever the girls needed and even brought Tavi something when she had pressed Prisca to ask him for it. It had been a pretty pin she had seen in the market, the head a shiny blue and white bead.

On occasion the girl had noticed the man watching her from time to time but Prisca had always guarded her from him, never letting Tavi keep him company if she wasn’t there and instructing her not to answer any questions he put to her. His name was Derk and Prisca said he was well known among certain circles though ‘The Lurk’ disappeared when he needed to. He was here now. He brought the match to the pipe he held in his hands, pulling on it gently with a quiet breath. Tavi heard the tobacco crackling and the smoke tickled her nose when it reached her. He shook the match out before he flicked it to the floor. Even in the dark, his eyes were intense and he stared at her, pinning her down to the hay with his gaze. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled faintly, the smoke of the pipe drifting off to nowhere. “Where do you think you are…Tavi, is it? Where do the dregs always wind up?”

Tavi drew her breath in sharply, her eyes wide with fright. The Jugs? Panic set in and her chest heaved as she started hyperventilating, worry squeezing at her tiny heart and lungs. Prison. He had caught her stealing from him and turned her in. Stories about the horrors of prison made her head hurt more. Loneliness, hunger, pain, the dangers of other prisoners. But she was just a little girl, wasn’t she? Why would he turn her in? She hadn’t taken anything, not really. But here she was, surrounded by stone and nothing but hay beneath her and the table before her. In front of her was a man who had knocked her unconscious with a flick of his wrist. Tavi wanted to scream. Her face felt hot and her stomach felt sick and something dripped down her forehead that felt like sweat. Fear made her whole body quake, dislodging the panic rumbling in her belly. When her mouth opened to scream, a shock of cold water slapped her in the face, dripping over her and soaking into her worn clothing. It snapped her
brain away from her terror and the man shook her gently, his laughter sounding more nervous than comic this time.

“Come on now, I was only playing,” he said, jostling the girl and smacking her lightly across the cheeks. Her mouth popped open like a fish as she gasped for air and cried, the remains of his bad joke drawing tears from her eyes. “It was only a joke,” he said. He tried to meet her gaze but she looked away, still trembling so hard her teeth chattered, tears running down her cheeks. A rough hand brushed a tear away. “Hey, get a hold of yourself,” he said, and it almost sounded gentle. “You’re not in prison. Though you’ve a fear of the Jugs. Means you’ll do your best to stay out of ‘em. Means you’ll do.”

She was dropped back down onto the pile of hay, the man walking back to his chair to sit. Tavi took a moment to catch her breath, the shock of the horrible joke still causing her to shake. She felt so tired after being so afraid. Her head throbbed but her childish curiosity kept her from yielding to the weariness in her young body. “Do what?” she managed to say and this time it almost sounded like a demand and not a cry for help, kneeling in the hay. “What’ll I do? And what did you do with mam? Did you hurt her?” For the first time she remembered Prisca and the shrill scream that was not her own before she went dark. “If you hurt her-”

“So, you’ve a bit of fire in your belly, as I thought.” The man laughed again, reaching into his pack and pulling out something round, the other hand pulling out a small knife, the blade glinting in the scant light. “You’ll do for me what you were doing for her, though more of it, and better eventually. No hiding behind walls and such. As for that woman you call ‘mam,’ who ain’t your mother.” He looked to her again, as if he was accusing her of something but Tavi shook it off, pressing her lips together. “Well, she’s safe and sound.”

“She’ll want me back, you know, she’ll come and get me,” Tavi declared, her back as straight as she could hold it through her weariness, the ropes starting to dig into her wrists. Her head itched from the hay but she couldn’t scratch it. The adrenaline surge that had come with her panic now sought to serve her in her assertion and she stood on her knees as tall as she could. “Y’can’t keep me here. I’m hers, fair and square, I’m her girl. You’ll have to take me back.”

“Except that she gave you up, dear…Tavera. Tavera is your full name, right?” He cocked his head to the side, the light making the angles of his face sharper, more angular and she would have cowered if she wasn’t trying to be brave at the moment. Derk let the round object in his hand into the light to reveal an apple, red and green on the outside with a leaf still attached to the stem. He cut a segment out of the fruit, bringing the white crescent to his mouth and took a bite of it, his face pensive as he quietly chewed. The smell of the apple mixed with the tobacco made her stomach rumble. He must have heard because he looked towards her. “She won’t be looking for you, at least I don’t suppose she shall. Seeing as how she gave you up to save her business.”

What? Tavi felt as if her joints had gone cold and then melted, though her face was hot with shame and anger. Her head fell towards the hay to hide her face and she hoped it was too dark for him to see. “It…it ain’t true, what you say…” she spoke down, into the hay. “She wouldn’t do that. She…mam….”

“She loved you?” Derk made a sound and Tavera cringed. “I’ve been on the streets longer than you’ve been alive, little one, and I can assure you, no mam ever raised up her girl to lift her skirts for blueies and bits of ribbon. But I’m guessing you know nothing of proper mothers or fathers.” He cut off another piece of the apple and ate it rather slowly, seeming to enjoy the piece of fruit. Then Derk stood up, walking slowly towards Tavi. His figure loomed in the balance between the light from the candle and the darkness of the room.

“But you’ve no need to worry, little Tavi. I’ve been watching you for quite some time and I know what you can do and I know what you’ll be able to do.” He said it quietly. It made Tavera turn her head to look up at him. His eyes were big, as if he were excited. “And, like a real father teaches his children, I intend to take it upon myself to teach you. No more picking pockets of poor saps and coming up with old scraps of fabric or rinds of cheese. No more stealing sausages off the spits and burning your fingers for what you foolishly deem a feast. I’ve a plan and an interest in you. And I can assure you, I won’t be giving you up to no one. You’re my girl, now, and I’m your pa.”

He knelt down by the little girl, supporting her with one arm and bringing the apple up to her face. At first she didn’t understand what he was doing but he pushed the apple towards her mouth. She could smell how sweet it was and finally she bit down into it, half expecting him to pull it away but hoping he wouldn’t. He fed her the apple, not minding when the juice dripped onto his hand as she gobbled it down, the bit of food bracing her against her weariness. When the apple was done he threw the core away into a corner of the room and stood up, brushing his hands on his pants.

“Now, there’s a party upstairs I am expected at and I don’t want you there. It ain’t for little girls.” He wagged his finger at her as he said all this before he wiped his dagger on his pants, the blade disappearing within his clothes with the flick of a wrist. “I’m keeping you tied up for now but I’ll be back soon. We’ll leave tomorrow at the beginning of the first watch. Try to get some rest.” He bowed to her in a comical way but his jest didn’t make the little girl any less frightened. He chuckled when she didn’t and grabbed his pipe and hat off the table.

“Wait! What if the candle goes out? Where’re we goin’ after this? Why are you doing this?” She threw all these questions at him as she forced herself up again. Her heart thumped in her small chest and the corners of the room seemed somewhat darker and more menacing as the man made to leave. Derk reached up and grabbed hold of a rope that hung down from the ceiling and pulled down a set of stairs, the light from above ground seeming warm and inviting. He turned towards her, putting the hat on his head and looked at her quizzically, a smirk on his mouth.

“You’ll be asleep before the light goes out. As to where we’re going, I’ll know by the end of my party. And as to why…I don’t feel like explaining now. I don’t have to explain right now. But I swear by Her tits, it’s for your own good.” He bowed again, more deeply than before, so deep his hat fell off. Derk smiled as he picked it up, smacking it against his leg before he set it back on his head. Then he walked briskly up the steps, his boots making the same strange sound they had before.

For her own good? She trembled slightly as she laid herself down on the hay, trying to get comfortable with her hands behind her back. What he had said frightened her and excited her. Her own good? What did that mean? What one person called ‘good’ sometimes meant a different thing altogether. Prisca had said cutting all her hair off was for ‘her own good.’ Tavera’s face grew hot again as she thought of Prisca. Hadn’t she promised the girl she would take care of her? The woman had shared her bed with her, kept her warm, keeping her safe from the men who had asked after her, promised to teach her what she would need to know to make a man or a woman happy. Tavi swallowed the lump in her throat, sniffing to keep new tears from falling across her face.

She’d been sold before, so why would a prostitute’s silly promises count for anything? Besides, Tavera told herself, her tongue darting out to lick up a salty tear, she didn’t want to be a prostitute anyway. The dressing up, the make up, the bells, the peddling on the corners and steps of the temple…Tavera didn’t like any of it. She didn’t want to sell anything, let alone trade purses. She liked watching the people go by, trying to figure out where they were going, not trying to get them to come home with her. And though she did like taking from people and Prisca had encouraged it, Tavera felt like it was just another trick. Tavera was just another way for Prisca to get more out of her clients. When she asked questions, Prisca had always laughed at her.

The little girl felt her weariness well up suddenly, the candlelight fading slowly as her eyes fluttered closed, her thoughts making a final circle as they started to fade into dreams. Maybe things with Derk would be different. He said he would be her pa. Would it be any different from Prisca wanting to be her mam? She wouldn’t know until he whisked her away from this life into the next and she remembered the way he had looked at her as he fed her the apple, the way he had bowed to her. Maybe he would love her and she would finally have just a bit of good in her life. Maybe he wouldn’t use her and laugh at her. All the times she had encountered him before he didn’t seem malicious or cruel. He smiled a lot and tried to help Prisca and the rest of the ladies. And he had gotten Tavi that pin. A smile curled the corners of her mouth as she settled into the hay. It didn’t seem nearly as scratchy as it had before and before the candle wobbled three times before her drooping eyes, Tavera
was fast asleep.

CHAPTER 2

A Contract of Emotion

Shortly after they arrived in the city of Southwick, the lessons began. The lessons were varied and were meant to teach different things. One of the first things The Lurk taught her was self-defense.

“Now I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that ladies and men have different parts to them,” he said as he flicked the butt of his cigarette into the gutter, the acrid smell mixing with the stench of the open sewer. His shirt sleeves were rolled up and he set his booted feet firmly on the cobbled street, sniffling as he did. “Now this is where you’ve a bit of an advantage, Tavi dear. If any man grabs you for any reason and you want him off quick, just hit him betwixt and off he goes. Don’t show any mercy or you’re more likely to piss the man off. Grab, kick, bite if you have to but make it count and then run. If for some reason you can’t reach ‘em or you’re up against a woman, a quick thump to the nose works as well.” He lightly boxed her on the nose, tears welling up in her eyes making the alley seem like a blur of browns and blacks for just a few breaths. “But much harder,” he said. “Try to draw more than tears.”