Chapter Text
The dark girl stands on her petticoat hem, ripping the bottom flounce out, and ties her brat to her back with it. Frowning, she bends over me. "Can you stand?"
With her help, I can. The brat whines; I flinch, but she holds me steady. She's stronger than she looks. We shuffle into the street; then she stops. "I don't remember the way."
"I do," I say. I'm not staying here while he ... does whatever he's going to do. He said he'd destroy the whole city, but I don't believe him. Humans lie all the time.
I wish I could.