She held on to her stomach as it rumbled painfully. The hunger was the only thing she could think of, as she walked through the mud and muck ridden paths of the Alley. She tried to distract herself by watching the mud and muck squish through her toes of her bare feet. The smell of roasting meat made her distraction fail as her stomach once more clenched with a terrible rumble. She looked up and saw a woman with a couple of children with some kind of meat skewered on a stick held over a crude fire.
Normally she got her food from the people that'd bring food but the last few days by time the crowd thinned enough for her to get to them the food was gone. Her hunger making her brave she slowly walked over to them. She started to speak when the woman looked up at her with a disgusted expression. “Oi, you there, Rat, get outta here! I ain’t given ya nothing,” the woman shrieked at her, waving her off. The little girl pouted and started to speak when the boy stood up.
“Ya’eard me ma! Shove off Rat” he sneered at her and shoved her so hard she not only fell straight on her back but gave her head a good knock. She crawled up on her hands and knees away from the woman who was praising her son for his actions, her head now throbbing almost as bad as her stomach. She couldn’t help but pout more as a few tears rolled down her face as she stood. She wiped her face, leaving muddy streaks as she started her walk through the alley.
“Don’t ya be lookin over’ere Rat!” a man snapped at her as she neared him and she shook her head moving quickly off in another direction only to run into a huge tree of a man. She grunted as she bounced off of him and into the mud again. The man growled at her like some feral beast that made her squeak with fear.
“What do ya think ya’re up to ya dirty rat” he boomed at her and terrified she tried to scurry away from him when he grabbed the poor excuse of rags that she used for clothing and lifted her up off the ground. “Think ya can pinch something off of me? Well I’ll show ya what I do ta rats…skin em real nice like then roast em,” he sneered with a cold cruel laugh, getting out a knife. She whimpered with fear, trying to wiggle free of his grasp.
“Oi, let her down ya oaf! She didn’t do nothin to ya, just a bump. How could a little thin like that pinch nothing off ya!” a woman demanded, walking up to them. The man glared at the woman then let go of the girl suddenly sending her to the mud yet again.
“I see that rat again and I’ll skin’er” he growled at the woman then stomped off but not before sending a glare towards the girl. She shrunk at glare and whimpered some more.
“Nough that girlie. Look at ya, what a mess…don’t ya know nothing?” the woman scolded her and lifted her up gently but firmly. “Walkin round here like that, goodness me. What’s ya name?” The girl thought for a moment, what was her name?
“Ummm, Rat” she replied more like she was asking than actually answering the woman. The woman started to laugh then saw that the girl was serious and stared at her open mouthed.
“Ya don’t know ya name?” the woman asked her and the girl shrugged sheepishly, looking down to the muddy ground. The woman gently put a finger under her chin forcing her to look up at her once more. “Don’t go lowerin ya face, no matter who or what ya got in front of ya…keep ya head high, aye?” she told the girl. “Now come on then, let’s get ya something ta eat. Ya look like ya bout ta keel over” she added then led the girl to a little to a little make shift tent. She sat down as the woman handed her some tough dried meat and some bread that was nearly as tough as the meat but to her it had been the best tasting food she could have ever asked for.
“Thank ya miss” she said once she had eaten all of what the woman had given her and the woman gave her a small smile.
“Aye, yeah.” The woman said with a wave of her hand. “But I can't be doin this all the days, got meself to take care of girlie! Ya gonna have ta feed ya self”
“B-but…I dun know how,” the little girl told her and the woman gave her a small grin.
“Ya don’t say,” the woman teased her. “Dun ya worry girlie. I’ll show ya how I did it when I was ya age,” she told her, ruffling her hair. “But first we need something ta call ya…how about we call ya Rannie, always thought it be a good name for a girlie if I had one.” the woman told her. Rannie thought of it then smiled. “Aye? Then Rannie it is. I’m Deyla and startin tomorrow I’ll show ya what I know…or at least some of it till ya older” she told her with a wink.
