The Roma (part 2)

The second part--where the Roma actually appears.

Will bolted upright, blinking rapidly in a vain attempt to drive away the darkness. He looked around for what had woken him, but heard nothing until a jingle sounded from outside his cell. Creeping up to the door, he heard a muffled curse and looked out through the barred window.

 

A wisp of a boy was barely visible at the end of the dark hall, slowly walking farther away. Will smiled in wonder.

 

“Hey!” Will whispered, his voice barely carrying to the boy.

 

The figure turned and took a few steps toward him, and Will noticed a gleam of metal around his wrists. “Shut it!” he hissed, and turned to walk away.

 

            “Come here or I’ll shout,” said Will with a small smile.

           

The boy stopped, then turned back to Will, walking quietly. “What?” he said angrily. As he neared Will’s cell, the scant lamplight shone on his face and Will realized that he wasn’t a boy at all. Her dark hair was pulled up and her face smudged to give the impression of a boy.

           

“Well, get me out!” Will said, thinking it was rather obvious what he wanted.

 

            “No.”

 

            Will frowned as the girl turned away. “I’ll yell,” he reminded her.

 

            She came back again, visibly annoyed. “Yell all you want,” she snapped. “The guard’s knocked out at the end of the hall, no one will hear a thing. I can’t break two people out, just me. Sorry, but goodbye.”  With that, she turned with an air of finality and walked away.

 

            Will clenched the bars, frustration rising rapidly. He was so close to freedom he could taste it, but it was all for nothing. He’d be hanged by midday, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. “Wait,” he said, ashamed at the desperation in his voice. Then again, he was nothing if not desperate. “Please.”

 

            The girl looked back, and to his surprise and hope, she seemed to be wavering. After a long moment, she made a noise of frustration and drew close again, holding the jingling key ring. Without making eye contact, she fit a key numbered 64 into the lock. Will was surprised to see that the gleam of metal he’d noticed earlier was a pair of cuffs around her wrists. Why would they restrain someone who was already in a cell?

 

            “Thank you,” Will said, shoving the heavy door open. “How’d you get those?”

 

“The handcuffs or the keys?” asked the girl. She reached behind her ear and pulled out a sort of thin metal stick, setting it firmly between her teeth.

 

“Both, I guess,” said Will, a bit bewildered.

 

She raised the cuffs to the rod, setting it in the lock. “None of your business either way, but I lifted the keys, of course.” She wiggled the rod, turning it around and around.

 

Will leaned awkwardly against the wall, waiting with confusion for her to finish whatever she was up to. “Do you need any help with that?” he asked hesitantly after a moment.

 

The girl looked at him like he was an idiot, and he blushed, glad for the darkness.

 

“Does it look like I need help?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Will answered honestly.

 

She rolled her eyes and, to Will’s amazement, the padlock popped open. Before the cuffs hit the ground, the girl bent and caught them. “Can’t waste time with any more prisoners,” she said with a pointed look.

 

Will shrugged. “Come on, then!”

 

The girl led the way, navigating the narrow twists and turns with ease. When Will asked how, she said simply that she’d paid attention and remained silent through his other inquiries. He took the hint and quieted, only to find himself humming after a bit. She shot him a glare, and he stopped immediately, although not before glimpsing a trace of a smile.

 

Before he realized, the girl had led them to a rusty door. She tested the handle with her rod at the ready, but it opened easily. She shrugged and pulled it open, only for the screech of rusty hinges to ring through the building. Will cringed and shoved her forward, hissing for her to go.

 

They darted out, running through the dark fields, making a small path through the seeds prisoners had sown. They ran fast enough to be out of earshot by the time the door clanged shut. The prison was in the distance when the two started walking, having reached the large, deserted road.

 

Will gave a winded, exhilarated laugh, ignoring the fact that the girl hardly looked out of breath. “We did it!” he gasped. “The first to escape Crymer Prison.”

 

The girl looked at him, surprised. “Really?”

 

Will nodded, wondering. Anyone from the city would know that. Anyone from the whole city-state would know that. Where did she come from? “I’m Will,” he said.

 

 “I don’t care,” came the response.

 

Will blinked. The two walked on in silence for a bit before she asked, “what did you do to get in there, anyway?”

 

Tempted to say something outrageous, Will smiled and settled for the truth. “I stole, of course. You?” He’d been curious since he saw her handcuffs.

 

The girl shook her head. “I didn’t do anything,” she said. “That they caught me for, anyway.”

 

Will frowned, then looked closer at the girl. Surely he could figure out where she was from. She ignored his close observation with a roll of her eyes, and he inspected her with a dramatic show of interest. Her long, dark hair was beginning to loosen from a colored hair tie, showing a bead raveled in a few strands.

 

It was familiarly patterned, and Will finally realized the reason for her arrest and cuffs. “You’re a gypsy!” he cried, louder than he intended. It also sounded accusatory, which he didn’t mean either. He grimaced and opened his mouth to apologize, but the girl beat him to it.

 

Straight and stiff, she said angrily, “I am a Roma.” She spluttered indignantly for a moment before calling Will something he’d just heard once from a raucous sailor. She started walking faster, giving him a furious look as he followed.

 

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

 

She looked straight ahead, but Will could see her anger ebbing away.

 

“Come on, we saved each other’s lives.”

 

She looked sideways at him. “I saved your life,” she corrected.

 

Will grinned. “I saved you, too. From the drudgery of never having met me.”

 

She rolled her eyes, a better reaction than Will expected. They walked a bit in silence until the girl sighed dramatically. “I’m Katia,” she said, having apparently decided at last to reveal her name.

 

Will gave a little happy skip in his walk. “Nice to meet you, Katia,” he said gleefully, before finally registering the fact that he had no idea where they were going. He turned around in a circle. “Wait. Where are we?”

 

Katia shrugged. “I figured you’d know.”

 

Will groaned. He was really only familiar with the West Sector. He crouched next to a patch of dirt where a cobblestone had come loose, gesturing for Katia to do the same. She kept to her feet, and he shrugged.

 

With the stone’s edge, he drew a square. “This,” he said, “is Crymer.” He traced an X through it, point to point. “These are the 2 major roads, Graves going northwest and southeast, Bennett northeast southwest. They split the city into four sectors: North, where the palace is; South; West, where I’m from; and East, where the prison is.”

 

Katia nodded. “So we just don’t know which road we’re on, or which way we’re going.”

 

“Yeah,” Will said. He looked up, trying to get his bearings, when he suddenly recognized the lights in the distance. Standing up quickly, he laughed. “Never mind! That’s the Main Square!” At her questioning look, he added, “Where the roads meet, there’s a giant, busy square. Once we’re there, I’ll know where to go.” He set off happily, only to stop when he realized Katia hadn’t moved.

 

He cocked his head, and she looked at him without expression. “If the Main Square is straight ahead, is the way out of Crymer the other direction?” she asked stoically. It was as if she’d shut all emotion out.

 

Will’s stomach dropped, and it was all he could do not to let his hurt puppy eyes show. “Yes,” he said softly, torn between letting her go and begging her to come with him.

 

Katia nodded and quickly turned around, walking straight away as Will’s eyes bored into her back. “Wait,” he said, surprising himself as much as Katia. He took a breath. “Why do you have to leave now? I know where you can eat and rest a while before going.”

 

She turned back to look at him, her small figure suddenly seeming fragile. “Coming here was a mistake,” she said softly. “Staying would be another.” Almost to herself, she muttered, “And worst of all would be getting close.”

 

Will stared at her silently as she turned again and walked into the distance. As her dim figure receded from sight, he slowly headed for the Main Square.

Author's Note

A little long, sorry. Again, chapters aren't in any order, but this is the second part of the same story. Please review!