Authors Note: Thank you for the review. It's definitely been a long time. I guess I ran out of things to say, then found a few more later?

Chapter 10: Kill the Trust

(Many years prior)

"Serves you right you stupid stray."

A large rock whizzed over Mine's head, skittering along on the stony ground. A laugh came from behind her as she continued to run, getting steadily fainter as she moved through the city debris.

As she passed, she saw the rock they'd thrown. Good size, hard, and dangerous-looking. She knelt down and grasped it, feeling it fit perfectly into the small palm of her hand.

"We can work together Mr. Rock," she said.

Her stomach rumbled. Her normal places to beg for food, or maybe get some charitable scraps had come up empty.

As she made her way down the dirty alleyways, she saw a flash of movement. A cat jumped past, resting on the crest of a stone wall.

That's the ticket!

Mine went after the cat, scrambling up a stone wall and into a backyard of some rich person.

Finding no imminent danger, she began to check under bushes and under shrubs, anywhere the cat might be hiding.

Eventually, she found a shrub in the corner. As she approached, the cat she'd pursued darted out, bounding from the walled garden. Mine almost chased after it, but heard some noises in the shrub the cat had fled.

Curious, she poked her head through the dark green leaves. Four balls of fur, young kittens, were hidden under the shrub. Three of them stared back at Mine defiantly, almost looking ready to fight, while a fourth was behind the rest in the corner, nervously scooting around, checking, as if to see if she could go any further into the corner than she already had. The fourth kitten was noticeably smaller. Mine sighed. "They're bullying you, aren't they?" she asked, glaring at the other three, "taking all of momma's milk?"

This was more than trading an animal corpse for a bowl of soup at the meat market. A kitten like this could mean months of hot meals if she found the right buyer. No rich dad could say no to his rich little girl… just like no rock was too large to throw at Mine's head when she was in the wrong side of the city. She sighed again.

"Come on, girlie. We'll be friends, I promise," Mine said gently, as she reached over the 3 hissing kittens for the trembling fourth, scooping its shivering body into her arms.

The kitten made some noises, but didn't so much as poke Mine with her claws.

With the kitten in her arms, Mine surveyed her surroundings seriously for the first time. There were obvious places for her to climb back out of the yard, especially with a kitten in her arms.

The stone wall was high, and the plants were all weak-stemmed like shrubs, flowers, and bushes, or trees with no branches she could pull herself up by. The only path that wasn't blocked by 8 foot cobblestone walls was the doors that led into the house, an expertly-built stone house that was unique in construction, and looked like a rich person house if Mine ever saw one.

As she was pondering her situation, the back door of the house creaked open and a hesitant face poked out from behind it.

"H-hello?" croaked the voice. When he saw Mine standing there with a scowl in his backyard, a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Oh… a visitor! What do you have there?"

Mine frowned. "A kitten. I found it. I did all the work. She belongs to me." She announced defiantly.

"Oh… okay. You're free to take it out of here. I'm sure you will give it a nice home. That's quite all right. Before you leave, there's just one matter we could take care of… please, come in."

Mine gulped.

As she felt her heart begin to pick up speed with fight or flight, she remembered the rock she was holding in her spare hand.

If he lets me in, even if he wanted to do something weird, I could knock him out and rob him blind, she thought.

A sly smile spread across her lips.

"Oh sure… what matter?" she asked innocently, as she sauntered towards the opened door. She walked into the house, and froze for a moment.

How does anyone live like this? Walls were covered with wooden shelves filled with books. Prices to street vendors flashed across her mind as she looked around. Everything looked comfortable, clean, and expensive. If she even sold a quarter of it, she could have meals for years. She grimaced. Why do you even need this stuff?

"Please, come in."

"Okay," Mine said with a shrug. Her eyes continued to wander around the room as she pet her new cat.

They discussed the cat, her and the old man for a bit. He heated up some milk. "May I?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure whatever."

When the kitten's tongue finally flitted out and she began to drink, it did feel very wonderful for Mine to watch. It was almost enough for her to forget that she was about to hit him in the head with Mr. rock.

"So that matter did we have to address?" Mine asked suspiciously, rock still in hand.

"Ah yes…" the old man replied. He turned away into the other room and began to fiddle with a bag.

Aren't you going to try something weird, Mine thought, getting impatient. I just wish you'd get on with it… I don't have all day.

He returned with a bag and a smile and placed it on the table beside her.

"What's in it?"

"Some dried meats and biscuits. It's not much, but maybe you'd like to take it?"

Mine cast her eyes down. "I was… planning to hit you with this rock."

The old man smiled sadly. "Oh…"

"Oh?" Mine asked incredulously. "Is that all you're going to say?"

"Thank you for not hitting me, young lady."

Looking at his eyes, she was struck by this strange feeling. She looked around, seeing pictures on the walls with many smiling faces. "Are you living here alone?"

The old man nodded. "Since my wife passed it's just been me here."

"Are those your children?" Mine asked, pointing to a picture that sat atop a desk.

"Yes, but… they're very busy… they say. So no one really visits."

Mine walked over to the picture and saw two smiling boys in the arms of a younger version of the man and a dark-haired woman. "Very busy…" Mine muttered, trailing off. She placed the rock down and took up the bag of food, and it felt quite heavy.

Mine glanced around the room. She saw dust floating in the air, illuminated by the sunlight that cast through a pair of open blinds, a film of dust covering the books on a nearby bookshelf, and heard a clicking noise from the clock. Click. Click. Click… a tap, to mark the passing of each second.

"If I left this kitten here, you could take care of it better than me… maybe?"

"Oh… I don't know… I wouldn't want to take it from you… after you found it and caught it yourself."

Mine shook her head sharply. "No, I just can't take care of it out there. That's all. And maybe I…" She couldn't bear to look at him. "Maybe I could check later and make sure you're taking proper care of her."

"Oh…" the old man said, voice wavering slightly. "I suppose I could…" he brought his hand up to his eye, giving it a quick wipe. "Did you name her yet?"

Mine shook her head. "No."

"I'll have to think of something…"

Mine shifted uncomfortably. "I need to go… but I'll be back so you'd better take good care of her!"

I just need to… get out of here, Mine thought. It's all… too much.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(One week later)

A confluence of things brought Mine back to that house, including the hunger, the guilt, and the nagging fear that she was actually looking forward to seeing him again.

Why?

There was a uniqueness to a smile that came to a face that hasn't been able to for a long time. Something that made Mine feel warm in a very strange way.

But mostly just the food, those biscuits weren't bad…

Her grin faded as she approached the house and saw the crowd outside. It was a very formal affair, with many people. They spoke to each other in hushed tones, with lots of people holding hands in front of themselves.

Mine stopped cold, puzzled. She didn't understand the rich-people part of the city well enough to understand what was going on. A few strange glances went her way from the crowd of rich people, to the strange girl with her dirty clothes and face.

A burly man with a suit identified her and began to walk towards her briskly.

Mine stood fast. I am allowed to be here. I know the master of that house. I was invited.

The man waved to another, and faced her down behind a pair of shaded sunglasses. "You stay right here," he grumbled.

Mine glanced around. She was outside the front of the house. Now that she was being *handled* by security, she got less looks of concern.

They stood beside a well-kept garden. Mine wondered if the old man had tended to it himself. Looking down, she saw a line of rocks demarking the edge of the planting space, and saw a familiar rock among them.

Hello again, Mr. rock, she thought to herself.

She snuck a glance upwards to the guard to see him scanning all areas but where she was, as if too busy to look at her.

Catlike and quick, mine crouched down, grasping the rock in her hand. It fit snugly enough for her to hide it by holding her hand at her side. Now I'm ready…

A young man approached. She recognized him from one of the old man's pictures. When he made his way to Mine, he dismissed the guard. "I'll talk to her alone. Thank you."

The guard nodded, and excused himself. The young man gestured to a tucked-away place, away from the line of sight of the crowd. "I've been expecting you," he said, "let's talk in a less… public place."

Mine gave him a wary look and followed him, the comfort of Mr. rock still in her hand…

"I see you've come. So you know."

Mine shrugged. "Maybe I do," she replied dismissively.

The young man nodded. "I see. Then you know he passed."

He… passed?

Mine's eyes widened as a squeak of air pulled involuntarily into her. You couldn't keep it together for one fucking week, you damned geezer?

"We used to play chess, my father and I…" the young man began to say.

Mine was still processing the shock.

"He never pulled a punch, that old bastard. He always beat me right into the ground."

Mine glared up at him, eyes flashing with annoyance. "What's that got to do with me? I didn't come here to hear your stupid stories."

"He was trying to teach me something important…" the young man elaborated. He shook his head sadly. "I don't know how you did it… I never figured my father was the type for…" He eyed her with disgust.

"How I did what? What are you talking about?"

The young man spat. "Don't play cute with me you fucking slut, I'm the executor of the fucking will, I know what's written in it."

"The will…?"

"Gave you permission to access the guest room in perpetuity. Do you have any idea how fucking hard that's going to make selling this property? What did you think would happen, we'd keep it open as a museum?"

"A… room?"

"Now… chess. I could bribe you off, sure. But you're still out there as a loose end and any records-keeping is going to create an issue. Open questions. Maybe I lawyer up, bury your ass, and get you struck off, but then it's a public affair and that stains our family reputation, do you understand?"

"I hear a bunch of stuff that isn't my problem," Mine shot back.

The young man sighed, turned his back on her, and pulled out a cigarette.

"What happened to the kitten?"

"That vermin? Even a whisper of that thing will drive the price on that house down by another 5%. Disposed of."

Mine tensed up.

"There's times when a man has to clean up a situation. Nothing personal, kid."

He turned, pulling something from his pocket.

As he turned on her, he looked up with surprise to see she'd already launched herself off a box and was in the air above her. His switchblade was pointed at empty air.

Mine let out a cry as she brought the rock down on his face with as much reckless violence as she could summon. He stumbled back, but his feet failed and crumpled. He fell backwards.

A trickle of blood ran out of his nose as his eyes registered shock.

Mine loomed over him. "When you get there," she muttered darkly, "be sure to visit your fucking dad, would ya?" She cried out again, bringing the rock down on his head.

His legs kicked up violently, and a crunching noise indicated that the job was done.

Mine glanced once around the corner of the alley at the crowd gathered for the funeral, taking one last look at those people, and knew deep in her heart, that something was coming…

Something inevitable.