She ran as fast as she could. She didn't care that she was bare foot or that it was snowing. She felt as though she was on fire. She ran down all the narrow alleyways that would get any Venetian lost. She wanted to get lost, not to be found. She didn't know how long she had been running but it was starting to take its toll. Her run became a jog, a walk, a crawl until her body gave complete way. Lying on the floor she was completely helpless. She could hear voices coming but couldn't gather what they were saying. It was too muffled.
. . . . . . . . . .
.
"What do you think Scipio will bring us tonight" a boy with hair sticking out in all directions, resembling a hedgehog, said excitedly to his companion.
"Hopefully something worth A LOT its getting really cold and we could do with warmer clothes. Bo's catching a cold" his companion replied
"Prop, what's that?" said the hedgehog boy pointing at a heap on the floor. The two boys approached cautiously. It was a girl, badly beaten, not really dressed right for the cold. She was bare foot wearing just shorts and an oversized jumper. "Poke her. See if she's dead"
"RICCIO!" the boy named Prop shouted at his friend
"WHAT!?" Riccio shouted back. Prop just shook his head and bent down to the girl.
"Well she's breathing. I think we should take her to the star palace and get Hornett to have a look and her" Prop said preparing to lift the girl.
"Scipio wont like that" Ricco panicked
"She's in need. He'd do the same if it was him that found her" Prop picked the girl up carefully. She was freezing. "Lets get back quickly"
. . . . . . . . . .
.
"Hey Hornett, has she woken up yet?" Prop asked to a girl with her hair tied in a braid which reached her waist.
"Not yet. I've cleaned up most of her cuts though" she said attending to the girl's feet. "I've pulled out like five pieces of glass already. She must be in so much pain" she replied
"I wonder what she was running from" Prop said in a state of wonder
"SCIP!" the two heard a little voice shout from below. They looked out of the box they were in to see their leader walking into the auditorium.
"Bo is so found of Scipio" Prop said with a hint of bitterness
"Jealous?" Hornett asked leaving him to meet their leader downstairs. Prop just rolled his eyes and followed. "Hey Scip"
Everyone crowed round the stage to see what treasures he had bought them this night. He emptied out his bag and they looked through what he had.
"Where's Mosca?" Scipio asked realising he was one team member down
"He went to get me some bandages" Hornett replied fixated on some sugar tongs. "What are these?"
"They're sugar tongs" He replies "Why do you need bandages?" Just then they heard the door go. Riccio went to answer it followed by a tall built boy whose skin was like the night.
"Has she woken up yet?" He said not realising their leader was there
"Who?" Scipio asked sternly. No one answered. "Mosca?" he asked the boy who had just walked in
"Oh. Well. Erm, well Prop and Riccio found a girl on the way bag from shopping. She was badly beaten and cold and…" Mosca stuttered
"Where is she now?"
"She's on my mattress, I've been clearing her up" Hornett said and Scipio began to run up the stairs to find this girl. He ran in to Hornett's box and found her lying just where they told him she was. She was indeed badly beaten. The others followed him in.
"She looks familiar" Scipio whispered
Hornett went back to the job of cleaning up the girl's feet and putting them in bandages.
"Where did you find her?" Scipio asked
"She was in the alley just before this one" Prop answered "she was just in a heap on the floor. She's actually got freeze burns over her legs where she was in the snow"
"You mean she was out just dressed like this?"
"Yer, odd isn't it?" Riccio piped up
. . . . . . . . . .
.
She didn't quite know what had woken her up, the Hornett girl doing what ever it was to her feet or the many voices that were in the room now. She kept her eyes closed tight so she could find out more about these people who had picked her up before having to face them.
"How long has she been out for?" Scipio asked
"She's been here for about two hours, we have no idea how long she was out side for but as Prop said the freeze burns were rather bad" Hornett replied
TWO HOURS! The girl thought. She shot up and thinking she was in a proper bed tried to jump off which just resulted in her jolting herself and landing straight on her face
"Bollocks" she grumbled staying exactly where she was. Even if she wanted to she wouldn't have been able to get up. The others looked at each other.
"Need a hand?" Scipio said with obvious humour in his voice
"I think I'm good. Umhmm. Yup. Good. Fine. I like it down her. Comfy." The girl replied. Scipio walked over and sat next to where she lay.
"My name's Scipio."
"Francesca" she said sticking her hand up to shake his which he laughed at before shaking it. He pulled her up and placed her back on the mattress.
"What were you doing outside and dressed like that?" Scipio asked
"It seemed the appropriate wear. Shorts, bare feet, lovely" She replied
"You're quite sarcastic aren't you?"
"Not at all" She replied with a smirk
"Care to share your injuries?"
"No. Not really….Where am I?"
"Welcome to my humble abode. I suggest you stay here until you're a bit stronger. We'll keep you safe"
"As lovely as that is I really ought to get home" she replied attempting to get up again
"Where do you live? I'll take you back" Scipio said getting up himself, making sure Francesca kept her balance. He was a good head taller than her. Matter of fact the only one that wasn't taller than her seemed to be Bo and she was only just taller than Riccio.
"Sweet, but I'm sure I can get back by myself. You've all done too much all ready." She finished trying to walk to a way out, "how do I get out of here?"
"Need my help now?" Scipio asked slyly. Francesca rolled her eyes and shook her head before finally nodding. "Sorry I didn't quite catch that"
"Yes please oh great one."
"Not sure I want to help you" Scipio said leaving the box "I guess you'll have to stay here a bit longer" he finished before vanishing down the stairs.
"You might as well stay until morning Francesca, it's far too cold to go out now" Hornett said. Francesca smiled and nodded. Bo took her arm and led her toward the stairs
"I bet you're well hungry. Let's get some cake" He said happily