"Please…please, why are you doing thi-" Myrtle cried as she was kicked again in the stomach, coughing up trickles of blood.
"Witch girl!" Bobby Flannagan, the meanest boy at Madam Ursula's Home for Little Lost Souls, said. His words stung almost as bad as the dull pencils they struck her with. "Your mother, the Oakvale witch, is why!" Bobby slapped her again, leaving a little scratch on her cheek.
"Yeah!" Another girl, Lacy Yew, agreed. "I heard your mother, Elvira, turned Mr. Fletcher in Silverpines into a toad." She spat.
Myrtle Grey, daughter of Bowerstone's former mayor, cried just a little harder at the mention of that name. She had heard all the time before her mother's death that she was a witch, and as her daughter, so was she. But although her mother struck fear into the hearts of others, the children for some reason didn't act that way around her.
"HEY!" A voice screamed from behind the crowd of sneering faces. It was a girls' voice, young but strong. "Leave Myrtle alone!" the owner of the voice pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Myrtle's cowering figure.
"Why? Are you her friend or something, Cents?" Bobby demanded. He and the others laughed.
"I keep telling you never to call me that." Penny Sentin, Myrtle's only true friend at Ursula's Home, said. "Know stop messin' with her before I knock your teeth out, or did your daddy already get all of 'em?"
Everyone became silent. All the kids knew that Bobby had an abusive father, who was sent to jail, the reason Bobby was even here. Penny could tell she struck a nerve by the way Bobby's face twitched with anger.
"I swear, Cents, if we're ever alone-" Bobby began.
"What? Give me alcohol on my next birthday? Send me into the carriage-way tonight? The officers told you what would happen if they found out what you do here. One family member in jail, and they'll be sure to put you in, too." Penny smirked triumphantly.
Bobby growled like an animal (not that he wasn't already one, in Myrtle's mind), and left, the other children following behind like browns following a White in a Balverine pack.
Penny helped Myrtle up. "You okay? They didn't hurt you too bad? Let me see your arm." Myrtle sighed in pain as Penny's hand grazed the large, numerous bruises on her arm. "Sorry."
"S'okay. Thanks for sending them off, Penny." Myrtle cried with relief, but dried the tears with her sleeve quickly.
"No problem. Hey, how's about we go have a tea party. Meet you at the table in a bit." Penny waved as she skipped off out the door of the small house.
"Okay!" Myrtle shouted back. She couldn't wait…