Healer's Touch (Deadly Touch #1) [Complete]

Chapter 3: Innocent

The little—

The second officer spotted her and started running. Llew shot off down the road, taking the first turn and continuing on a convoluted path through the streets of Cheer. There weren't many routes to choose from, and she had to cover the same ground several times. Clutching her better fitting, perfectly clean new shirts slowed her down, but she didn't want to throw them aside and leave a hint of where she had been, never mind the waste of money.

Damn Kynas! She'd never even met Mr. Maddocks, and she was sure as hell it wasn't the old man lying on top of her that morning. She wondered if they'd found that body yet. It was likely someone had – probably a john taking a leak on the Diamond's wall. But would they be looking for a killer?

Llew hadn't taken the time to check, but she was certain there wouldn't be a scratch on him. Well, nothing deadly, anyway. It was just that there was all that blood. Her blood, but they wouldn't know that.

She headed for the seedier side of Cheer where shadows seemed deeper, drunks seemed drunker and morals were all but missing entirely. She turned down litter-strewn Prince Tanath Road and saw a gang of street kids loitering outside a half-collapsed building. These children were evidence that mining could be dangerous and prostitution had side-effects Llew preferred to avoid.

"Hi, Llew." One girl looked up from a game of knucklebones.

"Annie." Slowing to a walk, she tipped her head to the younger girl in the tatty dress; for now, she was still young and pitiful enough to beg successfully, but she would soon graduate to a place in one of Cheer's brothels. She had never mastered the art of picking pockets. "You didn't see me, okay?"

"Okay." The girl shrugged.

Llew stooped through a hole in the wall to a space under the building's floorboards. The children behind her were silent, watching. She scooted along on her belly, thankful that she didn't have breasts to worry about. Behind her the sounds of the children's games started up again.

Her new shirts were now filthy, and one snagged on a stray nail sticking out from a board. She threw them aside and yelped as her knuckle struck the support beam above her. Sucking at the wound, she peered through the shadows under the building. Cheer's sun was bright, and its light hindered by little since the buildings were mostly only one story. It filtered through the gaps, allowing her to see well enough.

Somewhere on the opposite side of the building, she emerged into Lomirir Way. It was deserted, so she clambered out, dusted herself off, and walked briskly in the general direction she had been going before. If the Farry was still after her, there was nowhere she could disappear into permanently. She had to hope that he had enough doubt in Kynas's accusation to give up, although she didn't doubt that simply removing another kid from the street could be incentive enough.

She rounded a corner, walking past a man sitting on the rickety wooden steps at the back of an old store.

"Lady Llewella, are we peddling our goods today?" The words were slurred.

"No, sir." Head down, she carried on walking past, not looking at him. How could he have picked her for a girl, let alone known her name?

"You wouldn't turn away a paying customer now, would you?" His feet scuffed the dusty road behind her.

"Your pa ain't been chasin' me for it."

Well, of course he hadn't.

Too many people knew who she was – hair short or long, dress feminine or masculine. She'd just been a tomboyish girl when her father had been around. But all her father's friends still recognised her. She had hoped their respect for him would be enough for them not to put pressure on his daughter to entertain them. Apparently, she was wrong, at least in this instance.