Clamour & Calm

Down in the Dumps

"Take care" ended with Lilly sat in a dumpster or at least she thought it was one, after all, she had never had the opportunity to acquaint herself with one before. She tried to position herself into a more comfortable arrangement on the little bit of sidewalk that wasn't damp and groaned. That fellow, Mutt, had done his fair share of damage picking her up and not so gently shoving her out the door which had left her with quite a nice sized bruise on the base of her neck from when he had not so subtly grabbed her when she wouldn't stop screaming. And then to top off her luck, the heavens had decided that it just had to rain, prompting Lilly to search for shelter which had lead her here, to the current dumpster-like spot. At least it had shelter.

She had quickly also realized that her current attire, which consisted of a simple white dress (now admittedly a bit more greyish-brown looking) had managed to get rather wet at certain parts. Which was proving rather difficult as firstly, her dress was wet and wasn't it bad luck or something to wear a wet dress? she was 80% sure she'd heard some superstitions about the perils of wet dresses. Or maybe it could have just been her aunt. And maybe she also didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Well anyways, secondly, and more importantly she was 100% sure she was going to catch pneumonia if she didn't change out of her wet clothes and into warm ones soon. And more comfortable ones too.

Therefore it ended up with Lilly managing to find a little alcove in a dark alleyway-she made sure it was dark and gloomy, for some reason people tended to stay away from dark and gloomy places, which made it the perfect spot for her to quickly strip off her wet dress and slip on the tailcoat and trousers she'd brought.

A newly transformed Mr. Linton emerged from the alleyway and strode back to the dumpster-like shelter and this time without someone throwing her out. Although the bruise still hurt.

The rain had ceased from a violent storm to a light pitter-patter. She had managed to find herself a tiny relatively dry spot, with the garbage that didn't smell so nauseatingly bad. She could tolerate a little unpleasantness. The sky was now pitch black, the only sources of light coming from the tall street lamps lining the streets. Exhaustion had finally caught up with her and combined with the rhythmic pitter-patter of the rain, lulled her into a deep sleep.

*~*~*~**~*~*~*

"ARGH! LADS I GOTTA TELLS YA' LAST NIGHT I DID ME A GREAT..."

Lilly abruptly woke up blinking in confusion.

"YOU WOULD LIKE A BUTCHERS AT MA' BOTTLE OF JACKS WOULDNYA" the loud voice continued to holler, removing any fantasies about getting more sleep.

The sky was still rather dark, and Lilly didn't have to look at her pocket watch to tell that it was still really really early-probably just the wee hours of the morning. Far too early even for work.

Bloody hell!

Rubbing her exhaustion from her eyes she braced herself to peer over the trash cans currently providing her cover.

Peering over the top of the trashcan lid just enough to not get noticed, she could make out the figures of three men. They were all dressed in similar shades of grey and brown clothing that looked like it hadn't been washed in years-street dwellers then.

The source of the noise belonged to the man in the middle who also seemed to be the leader of the group- a middle-aged rough looking man with shaggy black hair that hung past his ears. His companions lay on the ground around him, apparently too out of it to join in. Looking closer she saw that one of them had a pot belly that a scraggly shirt was struggling to contain and the other seemed to be much older, with greying white hair.

She would have to make a silent getaway without being noticed.

She slowly got into a crouching posture and tried to shuffle her way out of the dump without any of the men noticing, behind the cover of the assortment of trash bags and cans.

There were about five steps between her and freedom. She just had to get out from the dumpster- then she would be able to make a run for it on the street.

She shuffled forwards again.

One step. Two steps. Three-

her knee clanged into one of the trash bins.

The loud guffawing voice paused for a moment.

"EY THERE YEH YOUNGIN' "

Lilly swore and stood up from her spot- no point hiding now.

The man took her in, "What yeh say to a cup O' beer with the lads keep yeh sprightly, keep yew alert an' awake. Especially with the young likes of yeh. Know what I mean?" The man cackled again like he'd told a good joke and took another swig from his bottle.

The fellow was well and truly drunk. His companions merely gave her a weary look and shrugged like they knew it was pointless to interfere.

The man grinned at her, placing a heavy arm on her shoulder " 'ave a drink little fellow" he managed to drunkenly get out and thrust the suspicious looking grainy yellow bottle that reeked strongly of alcohol towards her face.

She tried not to shudder away from the overpowering smell- that also seemed to be coming from the man himself, she now noticed. She opened her mouth, about to come up with a lousy excuse as to why, she most definitely would not 'ave a drink' when-

"Blimey! wuz that you've got there!"

The bottle was retracted from her face and a rough hand took its place instead as it grabbed for her collar.

"wha-" she tried to back away, startled.

"you've got a nice old lump there ma boy" he said again pointedly looking at her neck.

What?

She looked down.

Oh.

Oh.

There was indeed a 'nice lump' formed on the base of her neck-now turning a worrying shade of purple. She hadn't realized that the bruise Mutt had given her had been that serious!

She hurriedly pulled her collar further up, stretching the fabric, trying in vain to hide the bruise.

The man was still standing in front of her, watching her every move.

"Been in a tussle 'ave ya, should watch out, can get real rough sometimes" he gazed off a bit as if reminiscing.

She didn't know whether it was the alcohol that was making him act this way, or whether to feel bad for him, but she sure as hell wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

"Yessir, hard times, I...need to be going actually"

He blinked as if in a trance and spoke in a soft tone "going?"

"yes... real rough, need to help my friend... you see..."

He nodded his head thoughtfully, "yes... you best be going lad, keep your friend outta trouble" and stepped aside. Finally!

Lilly wasted no time in rushing out of the dump. She was never ever going to spend another night out on the streets ever again she convinced herself. She was going to find a way! and show her aunt she was independent! And show...her thoughts sputtered out as a wave of sleepiness crashed into her again. Bloody hell! she had barely gotten any sleep last night.

She just hoped she wouldn't fall asleep at work. No telling what the stone face might do at that. Maybe also kick her out. Wouldn't be the first time she'd been kicked out this week. She sighed. Time to get to work.

Not caring about her appearance at this point, she walked to the streets and waved her hands, flagging a cab. She hoped she had enough change to pay for the ride as she tumbled into the backseat.

"Empire House, 322 Leadenhall street please!"

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