The red-haired lady continued to walk as she was thinking about her next course of action. Unconsciously, she returned to the bazaar where she was before.
As if it was offering pity, the sky started to change from its bright blue hue to a gloomy orange.
Every now and then, people bumped into the young lady. She apologized every time but, every time, the people didn't give her a second look and hurried away. She then made her way a pillar distance away from a small square mud building and leaned against it.
The bearded man selling apples beside her gave a disdained look when she touched her belly. Yes, she was angry but stealing some never crossed her mind. She moved a little to the side away from the man's stall and the man moved his glance away from her and continued with his business, smiled and shouted, "Apples, apples, apples!"
"I'm tired..." The lady murmured to herself after taking a deep sigh.
This sentenced was considered simple compared to the multitude of thoughts swirling in her head. To be honest, she wasn't even sure if she was still thinking! She was starving, weary and confused. But it was this statement that summarized her feelings the best.
In a crowd filled with different people making their way and a market where an abundance of flora and fauna are being sold, not one was familiar.
The crimson-haired lady, began to feel a strange flutter inside her, and decided it was from all the pent up anxiety. Despite these feelings, her appearance was the complete opposite. In fact, she looked rather quite dignified and out place from the rest of the bustle and hustle.
She looked up in the sky. It gave her hope. By night, the stars are sure to be present in a delightful spectacle in such a dry desert. She will be able to know where she is and from there things will fall into place.
Facing the crowds who were effectively ignoring her, she felt a little suffocated. While she understood that this feeling was because of her dwelling too much on the issues at hand, she just couldn't brush off the uneasy fear of being on stranger lands.
She looked at her open right hand as if waiting for something to appear and closed and then opened it again several times. Nothing happened. But as she sighed for the second time, an unfamiliar voiced sounded in her ear.
"Stop!"
"?"
She hurriedly raised her head and looked for the source of the voice.
"Don't touch me!"
She followed the voice towards a slightly dark alley. There she found a brown-skinned lady wearing a tattered thawb while carrying a small basket of bread. Next to her were three middle-aged men who appeared to be mugging her.
"I already paid you double of what I owe you!"
The helpless lady was shaking in fear as she was pushed to the wall by the biggest of the three men.
He grabbed the lady by the arm and slammed it against the wall above her head. She almost cried but still managed to hold it in. She was more concerned with basket that fell on the floor and the pieces of bread that rolled out of it.
"You probably don't get how this works..." The man sneered as he drew his face closer to hers. "The deal was that you'll pay us five times of what you owe us."
"You never said anything like that..." the lady objected. "If you've said that from the beginning, I wouldn't have borrowed anything from you!"
"Shut up!" The man demanded as he slapped her in the face.
The four people in the alley have yet to notice the red-haired lady standing at one end of the dark passage but after seeing the man hit the defenseless lady, she couldn't bare anymore not to intrude.
"Let go of her."
All attention went to the red-haired lady.
"Huh?"
Now that she can take a closer look, the other two men that were with the big brute looked simple minded and slow. All together, they didn't look in the least like had decent occupation but if worse comes to worst; she could probably hold her own against the three.
"If you don't, I'm afraid force would be inevitable and you wouldn't like that."
The three men laughed hard after hearing her threat. The two shorter men then put out a type of dagger with a short curved blade from their belts.
"You mean to say that a girl like you would save this ingrate?!" the biggest man said as he rocked and slammed the lady he was holding to the wall several times as if mocking.
The red-haired lady remained quiet for a brief period but then, after making an irritated look, ran towards them. One of the three swung his dagger towards her neck but before it could make contact, she instantaneously hit the man's wrist with the dorsal aspect of her hand. The man flinched at the site of his dagger flying out of his hand and didn't have time to react. And with a follow-up kick from to the stomach, the man fell hunched towards the sandy floor.