A Fine Line Runs Through Seville
By Hippy Gypsy (with assistance from Avena)
Chapter 3: Confrontations
Tulio had followed the brunette through the streets after he had separated from Miguel. The woman had taken to the back streets of the city, something he definitely wouldn't have expected from the way she looked. It wasn't exactly the way she dressed, but something about her demeanor and the way she walked…it was as if she were above all it, as if she should have been royalty, even though she had just robbed a man in the streets.
He erased this from his brain as she had turned the corner. Not wanting to lose sight of her, he crept up behind where she had been and carefully took a look secretly from his spot. His suspicions were instantly confirmed.
The brunette came behind another woman and tapped her on the shoulder. "Sorry I'm late," she said kindly. "Hope I didn't slap you too hard either."
"Nah, barely a scratch. You know me." The second woman turned, revealing the Irish redhead she had fought with in the street minutes before. The redhead smiled. "This one guy who pulled me away kept insisting that he buy me a drink to calm my nerves. I got lucky and was able to escape and double back here."
"Was he cute?" the brunette asked, her thin eyebrow raised mischievously.
"God no, Bella. One reason why I ran so quickly." The two of them had a quick laugh before the redhead nodded to the brunette's waistline, where the lifted purse was sure to be hidden. "Did you look yet?"
"No, I haven't got the chance. That walk around took longer than expected."
The stolen purse was taken out from it's hiding place, then the two women leaned down towards the floor of the alley, dumping the coins carefully onto the ground, then picking through them delicately, not exchanging a single word between them. Tulio's curiosity had hit it's peak. The two woman were disregarding the gold in front of them, as if they had completely missed the point. There had to have been at least fifty pesetas in the pile, and in the end, they sat back on their heels disappointed.
"Meg," the brunette said, her voice deep with worry. "It's not here." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "That must mean it must be…oh no…"
The Irish redhead, Meg, leaned forward and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. The Spanish woman merely looked at the ground, her eyebrows furrowed nervously. "Don't worry Isabella," she replied quietly. "We're going to find it. Don't worry-"
"ENGUARD!"
A shadow had appeared at the end of the alleyway, completely unarmed, but ready for a fight that wasn't even being expected in the first place. The two women stood up in place, not as shocked as Miguel would've expected, but rather disgruntled by the fact that someone had merely interrupted him. Rolling his eyes at the situation, Tulio stepped from around the corner and blocked off the other end of the alley. If anything they wouldn't have a chance to escape.
The brunette raised an eyebrow very high. "Who is the hell are you, and why the hell would you yell 'enguard?' You don't even have a weapon on your person."
Tulio stepped up behind them. "I believe the better question is…Isabella was it?"
The two women whipped around, completely unaware of Tulio's presence, but once again, not regarding what they did as wrong. "What's it to you?" Isabella retorted, a sneer crossing her lips. She placed her hands on her hips and a deadly look came over her face. The other woman merely crossed her arms in curiosity.
"The question certainly is why would you and your friend here stage a fight in the middle of the street, in front of a church no less, to rob a man of a large amount of gold, then disregard it as of no value?" He paused a moment, then added, "What in the heck is wrong with you?" Here he crossed his arms. He was hoping to make an intimidating sight to them, but Isabella seemed unmoved regardless. The redhead, Meg, looked at least slightly startled that Tulio had them figured out so easily. She tried to lie her way out of it.
"We didn't steal anything."
"Again, what's it to you?" Isabella repeated. Tulio had the distinct feeling she was searching him inside out, trying to pinpoint his exact motives. Her eyes looked him over, up and down.
"You swear you didn't just steal that money in front of a house of god?"
Isabella stepped up to him, ready for an even bigger confrontation than the one she had staged previous. One thing Tulio was sure of however was that she would not disregard the idea of hitting him if it was needed. "Look nino, what do you want?"
"Well, an explanation would be nice."
"Or maybe a cut of the money?" Miguel piped in from the other side of the alley. Everyone turned to look at him with raised eyebrows, and he only shrugged his shoulders. "What? Seems like a fair trade for not turning you in."
Meg was already placing the coins back in the purse. "Go ahead and take them. We don't want them anyways." She stood up, turned to Tulio, and tossed the small bag into his hands. "Enjoy."
Tulio caught the bag and stared at it, his mind racing. He had dealt with a number of women in his life…in many different ways. But these two he couldn't pin point anything for sure about them. What in the world was their game? What were they getting at? He shook his head and stepped up in front of Isabella. "Look, senorita, cards on the table. What is your deal?"
Isabella took another step forward then shoved the bag of coins back against his chest. Then she pointed to their end of the alleyway. "No deal and none of your business! Now if you want the money, take the gold and-"
"There they are!"
All four of them whipped around to Miguel's end of the street, to where four large soldiers and the rich man Isabella had stolen the money from stood. Miguel gave a yelp of surprise and ran over to the other end of the alley next to Tulio, but the other three threw up their hands, Tulio throwing the purse of gold back towards the soldiers.
"There's four of them! They're in on it together! They stole my money!"
"We don't want it! Take it back!" Meg begged, nodding towards the purse at the other end of the street.
"Get them!" the man yelled.
As the soldiers ran forward, the four turned and tailed out. "SCRAMBLE!"
Note from the author: Well, off to a good start so far. It's going slowly, but surely, so I hope you like it. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Thanks again!
