The Workings of a Clock

- Chapter 2 -

Jana looked at the unconscious girl lying on the floor. She had dirt everywhere. She had dirt in her hair, she had dirt on her clothes, she had dirt on her shoes and even her face and hand were covered with oil smudges. It took all of Jana's self-control to not scrub every inch of the girl down. She looked about 17 years old, so young to be working in The Market, Jana's eyes moved to the girl's face, under all that grease and gunk, it might even be pretty, but with the bags under her eyes and sullen cheeks, you could see she lacked sleep and food. Her body would also probably be very pretty, if she ever even ate. Her hands were speckled with small little scars and cuts. The hands of a tinker, Jana mused to herself.

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Tarrin slowly drifted back to consciousness and groaned audibly, her head hurt like crazy. What did they hit me with? Tarrin thought sluggishly. Her eyes snapped open when she remembered what happen. She sat up quickly to get her bearings, but that was a bad choice, her head throbbed and she slumped back down. She tried again but more slowly this time. She sat up, finding herself in a square container thing, quite wide, with seats on both sides and doors at opposite sides. Tarrin was on the floor in front of the bench, facing the other bench, where someone was sitting. Tarrin's eyes narrowed," Who are you? What do you want from me?"

Tarrin wondered if this was the person who knocked her out, but quickly discarded that thought because it was definitely not a girl. The girl sat on the opposite bench, she seemed only a year older then Tarrin was. She had brown mousy hair hanging loose down her back and full brown eyes, with a heart shaped face. She wore a simple blue dress that complemented her curvy shape, her hands casually twirled a small little forest flower. That meant they were still somewhere near the town, close enough to have a flower like that. She was staring back at Tarrin with a look of disgust on her face. The girl smirked," You're finally awake; you can say that I'm a part of a group that saved your ass from being shipped off to jail." Tarrin's eyes widened, why did they save me? She voiced out her thoughts, "Why did you save me?", and more angrily added, "And why'd you have to knock me out to do it?" The girl raised an eyebrow," Are you saying you would honestly listen to someone and willingly accept there help without backstabbing them later on?" Tarrin kept glaring at the girl, but she knew she was right. "Besides, 'she said,' you don't get a choice, we need you here."

Tarrin's ears picked up on that, they needed her? Maybe she could use it against them. The door on the right snapped open, bringing Tarrin's thoughts to a standstill. An older boy stormed into the room, his eyes searching till the fell on Tarrin. She had to keep herself from tensing up from the absolute hatred fill glare he gave her. Tarrin stared back, but glanced at the girl, the girl was tense. I don't think this is a good situation, Tarrin thought to herself. As if on cue, the boy started talking in a voice almost too calm for his hatred filled glare," Jana, why the hell is she here? I thought we agreed to wait another month for Tessa." Jana tensed up and glanced at Tarrin," Jamie, it's been 3 months! The train can't keep on running at this stage, we need a new Tinker! ", Jana said almost pleadingly.

The boy's face filled with rage," So what? We're just going to forget about Tessa and move on?! How could you say that?" He practically screamed. Tarrin's eyes were wide, she couldn't help but ask who Tessa was, but that boy would probably rip her head off if she did. Jana's face suddenly looked tired, "You know that's not true, we'll talk about this later, Jamie." Jana glanced at Tarrin. "Now is not the time." The boy, Jamie, glared at Tarrin," Don't you think I'll ever accept you here." He stormed out the room and snapped the door shut again. The car was lapsed with silence.