Three Converts

Part 26

They were rough. Shaggy and disheveled. Nothing about them made me think they might be friendly, yet Griffin seemed to relax. One of the men growled, "What are you smiling at, Bruiser?" Griffin lifted his hand to his cheek, but didn't reply. They were fully surrounding us now and one particularly malodorous man bumped roughly into me. "You two don't have much to offer us do you?" I sagged in relief. If they were only looking to rob us they were welcome to it. We had nothing.

"Oh, I don't know. Lookit here." Before Griffin could whip around with his knife, one of the men had his wallet and was thumbing through the bills. Even I was surprised at how much was in there. Still, Griffin remained quiet and still, so I followed his lead. "Sometimes it's the guys that don't look like much that surprise me with the fattest wallets!" the man laughed. Griffin laughed with him. I tried to send him a what the heck? look, but he was preoccupied. The thug stopped laughing, but Griffin continued. Finally, he hollered, "Dobson! You scofflaw! Get out here!"

The gang backed away from us, shocked as I was when a ninth man emerged from around the bend. He was dressed a hundred times nicer, if not sensibly, in a navy-blue suit and top hat. I half-expected him to dance a jig, but instead he set eyes on Griffin and burst into laughter, running into him. The two embraced tightly. I cautiously made eye contact with the man holding Griffin's wallet, but he gave me a confused shrug. We shared a weird bond in that neither of us knew what in the world was happening. The Dobson fellow slapped Griffin's wallet into the air, caught it adroitly and handed it back to Griffin. "Whadduya think yer doin'?" he hollered in a rough voice that contrasted his dapper appearance. Dobson whacked the thief (for whom I was actually starting to feel a little bad) upside the head. "Ya don't steal from my buddies, understand?" Another smack on the head. "Understand??" The man shrunk away, as did all the thieves- backing around the bend, supposedly to wait for their next victim.

"Griff! What are you doing up this way? How's my brother, Gordo? Who is this lovely lady?" His voice was prim and proper as could be now. He gave me a polite smile, which I returned, unsure of exactly what else to do.

Griffin (Griff?!) answered his questions in backward order. "This is my friend, Lucy. Lucy, Dobson." I put my hand out to Dobson (something I never had reason to do before), which he took and kissed. Griffin rolled his eyes. "Gordo's good."

"Ah. He's still on the straight and narrow?"

Griffin half-smiled. "He's trying at least."

"Good for him." He looked back and forth between Griffin and I. "Join me for a meal, you two!" He snapped his fingers and his men sprung into action. In short order there was a blanket over a rock and a spread of food. It was the closest thing to magic I'd ever seen. Dobson motioned for us to sit on a rock as though they were thrones. "So. You two are in trouble. On the run from the law? Or running off into the sunset?"

One of Dobson's cronies guffawed. By now I knew what was what and that we were VIPs, so I took the liberty of glaring at the man. He didn't seem intimidated at all. Griffin gave Dobson a playful punch. I popped something that looked like fruit into my mouth. It squirted juice with my first bite and I coughed. It was as good as Annie's donuts. "Neither, exactly. Lucy had to defend herself using... quite a bit of force earlier today against one of the Robes. They might be looking for her." Griffin answered. I saw violence in Dobson's face, and understood immediately how he was the ringleader of this bunch. He could be absolutely terrifying, regardless of his quick smile and top hat.

"The Robes? Those lousy, mountain-clinging, sons of-"

"Lucy just left her home there," Griffin interrupted. Dobson mustered up a little shame, but just barely.

"Sorry, Lucy darling. I don't have a particularly good rapport with your bunch."

"Oh, me neither," I assured him. "Except my family." He raised an eyebrow at me. "They don't belong there either," I explained, realizing in that moment it was true. They were scared to leave, but that didn't mean they belonged there.

"I see," and he did, I could tell. I gave him an appreciative smile, which he returned along with a stroke on my cheek.

Griffin cleared his throat. "So. Good seeing you, Dobs. If you do run into any Robes... maybe..."

"I think we could detain them for a bit. For Lucy." He gave me a wink.

"Thank you! Thank you so much. You won't... you won't hurt them though?" I'd had enough violence to last a lifetime.

Dobson sighed. "Fine. I suppose we don't have to hurt them. Unless they strike first, Lucy. Then all bets are off." I agreed. The council wouldn't dare be violent with this group. Dobson tucked the leftover food into our satchel, then hugged Griffin tight, slapping him on the back. I saw his lips move by Griffin's ear and Griffin nodded. Dobson came to me next and kissed my hand again, then hugged me. I tried to convey my thanks in a little squeeze. Before Griffin I'd never hugged a boy before. I hoped this wasn't wildly inappropriate. It didn't feel like it though. It felt like friendship.

"You're in good hands with Griff, here." Dobson said almost wistfully. "You two take care of each other."

"We will," we promised Dobson. And with ourappetite satiated, and the comfort of Dobson's protection, we continued downthe rocky path.