Eden

55

I walk forwards slowly, leaving Lexi and the water-seller behind. I walk into the crowd of watching people, towards the tied-up woman, and people stare, and whisper, some stretching past each other to see.

I walk up to the tied-up woman, and look at her carefully. I look more closely than I have until now, hoping to work out something about her. Hoping to decide whether I can trust her, I suppose, even though just looking at her isn't going to tell me that.

I look anyway.

She is as tall as me, and wearing the same kind of dress as me, the kind that most people here seem to wear. Hers is a bit dirty, though, and seems spotted with something, which I realize, after a moment, is blood. I suppose because of the murdering.

She has dark hair and dark eyes, and seems to be wearing shadow and liner, too. I think so anyway. I can't see properly, because of the dust on her face and because she has darker skin, but it looks like makeup, which seems a little odd, here. I mean, I can't imagine they have liner pencils just lying around here, so perhaps it's made out of soot and oil or something like that, instead.

Her hair is out, and draped down her back, and looks shiny and damp and a little producty, like she has oil or something in it, the way other people do. She has jewellery on, too, thin metal bands around her arms. Not bracelets, really but actual wide bands, as wide as my hand, made of some shiny reddish metal that I think might be copper. I look at her arms. She has strong arms, cut arms almost. Her legs look strong too, when I glance down. She looks strong, the way a boxer or something is strong, with that same kind of wiry lean strength.

I stand there for a moment, looking at her, and thinking. I'm unsure what to do next.

I'm unsure, so after a moment I just say, "Hi."

She seems surprised. She looks at me, then says, "Hello."