CH. 11.3 Call Me Baca

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In Flint's latest brothel, the room cleared of customers, Alex knelt on the floor in the corner, a rumpled bedroll behind her. The smell in the room was overwhelming: the dust of the road and fear. She crept to a slump in the corner and found a filthy girl, underfed and misused.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to take you to safety." Alex extended her hand and hoped the little girl wasn't too terrified to obey. "I'm a Guardian. My teammates are rescuing all the girls here as well."

"Please, Guardian, may my brother come?"

"Brother?" Alex had unhappy flashbacks of families who sold their little girls into prostitution.

Had this brother done that? Was he hanging around profiting from his sister's slavery?

Suddenly, Alex wanted to meet him. "Where is he?"

"Here I am." A little boy, smaller than the girl, crawled from underneath the bedroll. The bony frame of the little boy was delicate and thin, the ribs and vertebrae of a child still in its growing years. His head was small in size, his eyes were the same color as his sister's, but they were slightly lighter. He hadn't been fed or cared for by anyone at this brothel other than his abused sister; Alex could tell that much from the looks of him.

How could anyone treat a child this way? Was he hurt, too?

"Please, Guardian, take him with us. I . . . I won't go without him."

Alex was speechless at this brave little girl, trembling in fear, but willing to lose her own safety for her brother.

"She's so fearsome," the little boy whispered. "It's no good when the big ones are silent."

The sister shushed him. "If you can take only one, then take him." She clutched her brother, who shook his head. "Mother put me in charge of you. Remember, it's not so bad for me since I'm female. It'll be worse for you as a male."

The little boy shook his head again and his sister looked into his face and said urgently, "Flint said he had a special customer for you tonight. You have to go. I can't protect you anymore. This Guardian can." The little girl tried to quell her sobbing breaths. "I'll be okay."

It was too much for Alex. The two children watched, fear over their faces and bodies trembling, as she swelled with rage.

"You traded your body to keep your brother safe?" Alex's voice shook.

The little girl hung her head while her brother tried to comfort her.

"You take my sister, Guardian. I'll grow up big and strong and kill them all." Now the little boy tried to push his sister forward, but she clung to him.

"You are both coming with me." Alex's voice vibrated with rage. "Tomorrow you will both start on the basics of knife and sword training." Alex held out her hands, but they were frozen, either in shock or disbelief so Alex knelt down in front of them. "If you want, you can both become Guardians." They still stared at her, un-moving. "We have the same roots, you see. My life started in prostitution and now look at me."

Both children flung themselves onto her and hugged her fiercely around her neck. She clasped them close and indulged in a long cuddle.

"Now for some fun, little ones. We fly."

Alex arrived at the Mercy Tent with two astonished, but happy, children. She found Raba first and explained briefly.

"Oh, a little boy." Raba was dismayed. "How could they?"

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