Queen's Princess

PART I: Chapter 3

"There. I think that'll do it for now."

"I'm going to head inside. I need to take care of these," I said and gestured to my sunburns.

"Your mother found a herbalist today and got some ointment for ya sunburns. Until then, ya can hold off on finding those parts. I want your skin to heal from being out there too much."

I nodded and grabbed my bag, heading inside and towards my room, which was very small. It was big enough to hold my bed, which wasn't a bed. More of a slab of metal with some torn cushions I found in the junk yard. There was some small space on the floor for the things I find. I flopped down onto my bed and my mother came over, sitting on the edge of the makeshift bed.

"Dad said ya went to a herbalist today to help treat my sunburns."

"I did," she said and brought out the ointment. "Here. Rub it on ya burns. The herbalist said every two to three hours since yours are pretty severe. Once they're starting to heal, once a day."

"Thanks, mum," I said as she kissed my forehead before getting up to leave my room.

I opened up my bag and pulled out the list of materials my father needed. Some of these parts I had already seen. I knew where the parts were and which part of the junk yards I needed to go to. It was going to be an easy trip, that is, if those boys from earlier don't come back. They weren't going to be making a living here easy. When the sun had gone down and the moon had risen, everyone was asleep and now it was my chance. I grabbed my bag and the list before quietly walking out of my room. The backdoor was ajar just a tad bit, allowing some of that nighttime air to circulate in the house. I quietly opened the door and put it back in the position it was in before heading to the junk yards I needed to go to. 

Everything was going smoothly. Most of the parts I needed were exactly where I had seen them last time, or I should say, had seen them earlier today. I was halfway through the list when the boys from earlier were coming into the junk yards. I hid behind a pile as they walked past, snickering to one another about the encounter we had today. I sighed, but I snuck past them and continued to get what I needed. And when I thought I was in the clear to head back home, they were standing by the gates of the junk yard, as if they were guards of a palace.

"You don't let anyone in and you don't let anyone out," their ring leader said.

"Yes, boss," the two lackeys saluted.

The ring leader boy headed deeper into the junk yards. What were they doing here? Trying to cause more mischief? Or were they following me because the ring leader was following my tracks I left in the sand. I looked behind me to see my tracks were everywhere. I let out a sigh, walking closer to the exit, but making sure I stepped on anything that wasn't sand. 

"I know you're out there!" the ring leader yelled. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

I hid behind a pile of car parts, watching as the boy was getting closer to me. I picked up a bolt and tossed it aside, hearing a clanking sound from far away. He turned and walked in the direction of where it came from. I was so close to the exit, but I needed to deal with the two lackeys. How was I going to get rid of them? The answer was: I wasn't.

"Ah, there ya are."

I turned to see the boy was standing behind me.

"Thought ya could try an' be sneaky, eh?"

I was in deep trouble now. He eyed my bag to see there were things inside of it.

"What ya got there?" he asked, trying to peek inside.

"Back off," I said, closing it and standing my ground.

"Getting cocky now, eh?"

"I need to be whenever you're around," I said.

I looked behind me to see his lackeys were coming up from behind. All three of them jumped and I darted out from the middle, causing them to knock into one another. I didn't take two steps until I was tripped. There was a rope that was strung outside of the entrance. I sighed and tried to get up, but the rope had twisted around my ankle. The boys got themselves untangled from one another and the ring leader came over, picking up my bag that had fallen. 

"Let's see what ya got in 'ere," he said and opened up my bag, dumping out the parts. "All useful things, all useful things," he muttered to himself. "I think I might take these parts and keep 'em for myself."

"Why don't ya look for things yourself, mate?" I barked at him.

"Because that's too hard. I might as well follow naive people like you and take it since ya certainly don't need these parts as much as I do."

I gritted my teeth as they picked up the parts and put them in my bag. One of the other boys grabbed the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Let's get out of 'ere."

"Hey, come back here!" I yelled, trying to get my leg out from the rope, but it was useless. I let out a defeated sigh, knowing I wasn't going to be able to get those parts again in the junk yard.

Hearing a thud, I turned to see the ring leader was on the ground, holding his nose. The boy who had my things dropped my bag and the second boy picked up their ring leader and took off. Someone grabbed my bag and walked over to me, setting it down in front of me.

"Believe this belongs to ya," they said.

"T-Thanks," I said.

"Here, let me help ya out," they pulled out a small knife and cut through the knot, freeing my ankle.

"I can't thank ya enough," I said, grabbing my bag as they helped me up.

"It's the least I could do."

I looked into their amber like eyes, immediately captivated by them.

"Again, thank you," my voice trailed off.

"Odessa."

"Odessa."

"But you can call me Dez," she said and winked at me before running off into the night.

"Dez," I smiled, feeling my heart race.