Torii crawled into bed that night. Her black eye was worse now. She ached in places she never knew she had. She groaned and turned off her lantern, sinking into the cotton blankets on her bed.
A clink. She sat straight up. Another clink. She glanced toward the window. At the third clink, she saw a rock hitting the window. She took the two steps it took to gain the window, and within five seconds it was open.
She stuck her head out. "Who are you and what do you want?" she whisper-yelled.
"Came ta save a pour damsel in distress, me lady. Sir Conlon at yer service."
She giggled. "How is everyone finding me?"
"Dunno, me lady. May I climb yer trellis?"
"No. Jist talk ta me here."
A voice from behind her chilled her to the bone.
"I said if your friends came around here, they would pay. And they will."
Torii turned around to a very angry Fury.
Spot heard the window slam shut, then a cry of pain. But soon he didn't hear or see anything.
- - - - - - - -
A blinding light shone into his eyes. Spot sat up on a wooden bunk. Man, I feel like I jist had a hangova. Wait a sec…if da sun's shinin', wheres…
His thoughts were rudely cut off by a key turning in his cell door. He glanced around the room. An isolation cell in the Refuge. The door opened. Snyder strode in.
Snyder grinned. "So nice to have you here, Mister Conlon. I'm sure you'll enjoy our campus. You'll fit in considerably."
As he spoke, he reached toward the wall. In his hand came away a riding crop. He raised it above his head.
It came whistling down, striking him across the face. A second hit snapped across his right arm, leaving a red welt. The third time it came down, it hit the wooden bed. Spot had dashed around the portly body of Snyder and sprinted out the carelessly open door.
"Just wait 'til I get you back here, Conlon!"
Snyder's worthless threat echoed in his ears he dodged past people on the sidewalk, heading towards Brooklyn.
- - - - - - - -
"So, who's this little child I see you with all the time?"
Torii stiffened and turned to the voice. "Just a boy I found," she said, not wishing to disclose more than she had to.
The Fury gave a malicious smile. "Oh, I think there's more to it than that, my little moppet." She sauntered over so she was standing a foot away from her charge. "Actually, I've heard it's your child, my dear Theresa."
Torii's face entered a state of shock. "But…but…no! I would never do anything like that! You know that, miss!" She pled with her stepmother to dispel the rumor as false.
"You've been away too long, young Theresa. I wouldn't know." Her eyes narrowed and she turned away, her heels clicking staccato on the tile floor. Torii felt as if she were pounding nails into her skull. She sank to the floor, tired and beaten. She could hold with everything else, but this…this broke her.
- - - - - - - -
"Theresa, scrub the entryway."
Torii ducked her head from the Gorgon's glare. "Yes, miss." She turned to get her supplies, but her stepmother continued.
"Use lye. It looks dirtier than usual." Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she turned to lecture her another servant.
Torii choked back her angry retorts. She obediently gathered her supplies, pumped water from the well, heated it, and poured in the lye.
She set the pail down in the immense entryway. To do the entire entryway before the guests arrived tonight at eight would require superhuman stamina. She winced as she plunged her hands into the water. The lye bit her calluses and the open welts on her palms.
Torii quickly began scrubbing in the corner to the left of the door. When the Gorgon said scrub the hallway, that meant partially up the walls, clean the mirrors, and dust.
The grandfather clock nearby sounded five 'o clock. Her stomach growled in time. A maid briskly trotted through the hallway with a stack of starched linens in her arms. She glanced toward the ratty-looking girl in the corner, then continued on, making a note to ask Beatrice to help her.
- - - - - - - -
By the time guests started arriving, the hallway was scrubbed clean, the wardrobe and bureau dusted, and the mirrors sparkling. Everything shined with cleanliness. While Nikki flirted with her many suitors in the ballroom, Torii gulped down watery soup and stale bread with slightly sour milk in the kitchen. Cook had kept what she could warm for the girl. As soon as she finished with her meal, she walked over to the sink and set her dishes by it.
Torii rolled up her sleeves and started filling the sink. Cook watched her. "You don't hafta do that, miss."
Torii glanced toward the rotund, cheery-cheeked woman. "It's alright. You've been cooking all day for this immense party. I'll help."
Cook continued to protest. "I'll have Gertrude and Hank help. They're engaged, you know. They wouldn't mind."
Torii continued to plunge dishes into the soapy water and set them on a drying rack. "They can help, but so will I."
Cook pleaded one more time. "You help me so much already. And you've already cleaned most of the house today for the party, and you never complain. Please, take tonight off. I won't tell the missus."
Torii paused in her duty. She turned to Cook. "How about I do what's here, and they can do the dishes from the party?"
Cook sighed in relief. "Sure. That's fine." There weren't that many dishes on the counter.
Soon the happy couple relieved Torii, and she trudged up the stairs. She entered her room and tiredly curled into a ball on the small bed.
After a minute, she relaxed her body and reached for a small hand mirror on the nightstand. She studied her face. Worse than I thought. At least Blink doesn't see this. He's way too protective of me.
A black, not just blue, eye was adorned with a pair of scars on her left cheek. Welts decorated her other cheek, while a split lip lingered between. She gingerly touched her eye. In the mirror, she could see the moonlight through the window. Then suddenly the moonlight was replaced by a shadow. She whirled around.
There was nothing there. She shook herself. Just your imagination, you silly dingwat. Go to bed.
She turned off the oil lamp, reminding herself to get some more oil, and curled up under the blankets.