Chapter Two: Dawn

I warily crept out of the alley, hearing the girl’s footsteps behind me, and listened for any other sounds in the night. I heard nothing. As I looked out of the alley and into the dark, cold streets, I observed the horizon, knowing the sun would be coming up soon. The sunrise was something special to me; it seemed that was all I had left. I had lost so much… But now was not the time for such thoughts. I shook off the memories like the dust of my old life and turned back to face the alley.

She was standing in the alley, scrutinizing me. I nodded at her, ‘C’mon now. We’ve got some work to do.’ I beckoned to her. She followed me warily as I explained my plan.

‘We’ll go to the marketplace at dawn. That’s where the best stuff will be. You follow me. Just copy what I do and we’ll get along fine.’ I didn’t tell her all my plans, as I had no reason to trust her with my true intent.

The market was busy, but full of the usual venders selling cheap trinkets for tourists, sausages, flowers, candies and many other things I fancied. The drab scenery of the square was the same as ever, old stone walls lined with equally old houses and wilting vegetation. The wooden gate stood open, welcoming visitors into the inner circle of the market, flanked with venders’ stalls and graced with the smells and sounds of the city. As we moved through the quickly filling market, I kept an eye out for the police and the venders who knew me.

As I came across a vender I knew, I would hang around the stall for a bit and advertise the seller’s wares. In return, the vender would sometimes give me some bread or sausage or maybe even a coin, if I was lucky. The girl watched me closely and after a few repetitions of the same scene, she managed to direct some customers to venders’ stalls, although she never spoke. When I was satisfied that she could manage on her own, I set out on my own.

I faded into the crowd, seeing as that was the best way to become invisible for a while. I mingled with the merchants and came away with a few wallets, some old boat fare tickets, a watch and a small knife. I threw the boat tickets into the river, extracted the money from the wallets and then disposed of them too. I hid the knife up my sleeve and the watch too. I looked around and found I had strayed a little too far from where I could watch the girl. I’d have to go find her.

I spotted her across the plaza, eating some sausages and I took a step towards her, but at the same moment I heard a police whistle. So, they had finally come for me. I dashed across the plaza, grabbed the girl by the hand and dragged her into an alley. ‘We gotta run. Follow me!’ We stumbled through the alley and in the dark, I tripped over something soft.