"Here's how this is going to work," Pinar hissed, pinching her sister's shoulder as they approached the festival. "You are not going to let anyone see you, especially not Indrul. He is going to buy food for me and Prya from some of these stalls and booths, and you will steal some from the others while we talk to them."

"I don't like stealing."

"Well, you need to do your part for our family, especially considering how much you eat." Prya said severely.

"But what if I'm caught?"

"Then we'll grab you and run. Promise."

At least this time she'd have a chance to eat some of what she stole before having to hand it over, while Pinar and Prya were busy with Indrul.

"Here he comes!" Pinar hastily shoved her little sister into the crowd before their friend could see her. She followed them at a distance, watching them laugh and chatter. They stopped to buy something from a stand. While they were talking to the owner, she slipped in, carefully opening a drawer and stuffing her pockets with warm gjallardoodles.

Suddenly, the owner, who was a rather obese man, backed up and bumped into her. "Hey!" He grabbed her by the back of her tattered tunic and lifted her, struggling, off of her feet. She looked at her sisters for help, but Pinar only said, "Oh, my!" and Prya yelped, "Ahh! A thief!" and clung to Indrul's arm. The two of them pulled a bewildered Indrul away from the scene and toward another stall.

"A thief! A thief!" the shopkeeper shook her, and angrily dug through her pockets to retrieve his gjallardoodles.

Well, she hadn't really expected them to keep their promises. They never kept any promises. Why would they? No one was going to make them. A few officers who had been patrolling the crowded streets, noticing the commotion, came over to see what the problem was.

"I caught this rat trying to steal my goods!" he shouted, shaking her again.

"We'll take it from here." A stern-faced officer responded. The man dropped her onto the cobbled street and the two officers took her by the shoulders and pushed her through the crowd, giving her no chance of escape. She looked around, desperate for a glimpse of her sisters, but they had disappeared in the multitude. They had left her. She was alone. She had never been alone, not even the day the four-arms came with big guns and spears and little bolts of lightning, when their parents had gone out and never returned. She'd never understood where they had gone, but at least she'd had her sisters. Now…

They took her to a dark little building with seven tiny,empty rooms that had bars instead of walls. Opening up one of the doors, they threw her inside and locked the cell behind her. She slumped against the back wall, glaring at them sullenly, determined not to cry. Determined not to show any sign of weakness. The guards were talking about her.

"Awful young to be stealing is all."

"I can see why, too. look at her- she's just skin and bone!"

"She was alone. Probably doesn't know any better."

"We should have her put in a home of some sort." The female official knelt in front of the door to her cell to be at eye level. "How old are you, child? Do you know?"

She cautiously held up six little fingers as a response, very wary of these strangers.

"Six? And can you tell me what your name is?"

She blinked and scratched her nose. Her sisters never told the truth about their names. But she was sick of their lies. What could it hurt? No one knew her or her sisters. A home would be so much easier to escape than this. Maybe she could even bring her sisters back some food. She looked up at the officers.

"My name is Petra," she whispered, "Petra Venj."