Jack and Julie watched as Arc disappeared down the street, already feeling at a loss without him watching out for them. They only known him not much longer than a week and now they found themselves without purpose in Pembroke.

“What do we do now, Jack?” asked Julie, breaking the sad silence.

“Get the lay of the land?” replied her brother.

“That’ll have to do,” said Julie meekly, still watching the spot where Arc had vanished from sight.

“Cheer up,” said Jack, putting his arm around his sister’s shoulder. “We’ve got a whole town brimming with potential before us. Once Jamison finds us work, we’ll be laughing about everything that’s happened since we left Fallbrook.”

Julie poked Jack in the chest sharply. “You are not to cause trouble this time, do you hear me? No stealing no matter how desperate we get.”

“Alright,” said Jack, wanting to say much more but keeping silent.

He had neglected to tell Julie the full details of why they had been kicked out of Fallbrook and he knew it would crush her if he ever repeated the words he had heard spoken about her. He had attempted to steal a gun for her protection, but got caught in the process. That tale was one of those things better left untold and the pair could build their lives anew here in Pembroke without Julie realising how much danger she had been in back in Fallbrook.

“Shall we?” Julie asked, looking down the street.

“Go for it,” replied Jack.

The two walked along the street, letting their eyes run from building to building while their brains worked out what each of them were for. As best as they could tell, most of them were houses, but at least a dozen of them were shops. The lack of signs outside didn’t give it away, but the stalls and goods often did.

“Fresh melon?” asked a man, twirling one around in his hands. “Only place you’ll be able to get melon for fifty miles, guaranteed.”

“No, thank you,” said Julie.

“You two looked parched,” said a man with a missing eye. “Got a lovely bottle of moonshine with your name on it.”

“We’re thirteen,” said Jack, shooing him away.

“I don’t think moonshine would quench thirst,” remarked Julie.

“I don’t think he cared much about that,” said Jack, looking over his shoulder. “Maybe we ought to spend the money Arc gave us on a gun. Just in case somebody tries something underhanded and we need to fight.”

“And what are we going to eat?”

“The bodies of our enemies,” said Jack with a devious smile.

“Nasty!” cried Julie, thumping him on the arm as he chortled away.

“I was joking, Jule. About the cannibalism, at least. Having a gun would be a good idea, no?”

“We don’t know how to use guns.”

“Not true. Dad showed me once before, but…well, I’m a bit rusty.”

“Oh, what’s that,” said Julie walking over to a shop that had salted meats in a window display. “These would keep, wouldn’t they?”

“Yes, but how are we supposed to cook them?”

“With fire, of course,” came a boy’s voice from behind them.

They turned to see a young man with black hair and a white smile beaming at them. He walked over to the window and leaned against it, holding out his hand to Julie.

“Name’s Quentin,” he said. “And you?”

Julie was taken aback by his forwardness. “Julie,” she said, slowly shaking his hand.

“And what about your boyfriend?” asked Quentin, nodding to Jack without taking his eyes off of Julie.

“Boyfriend?” asked Jack, the disgust in his voice palpable. “I’m her brother.”

“And his name’s Jack,” said Julie.

“Ah, twins? You clearly got the good looks in the family, Julie.”

“Tell us what you want or beat it,” said Jack scornfully. “We’re busy.”

“That’s how you react to someone introducing himself?” asked Quentin with a raised eyebrow. “Not got great manners, do you, Jack?”

“He’s sorry,” said Julie, scowling at her brother, who rolled his eyes. “What he meant to ask was how come you’re introducing yourself to us?”

“Just being friendly,” shrugged Quentin. “I haven’t seen either of your faces before and thought I’d say hello. Simple as that.”

“Oh,” mumbled Julie, blushing. “Hello, Quentin.”

“Hello, Julie,” said Quentin with a wink.

“Yes, very good,” said Jack. “Hello. Now let’s move along, Jule. We’ve got…stuff to do.”

“Where are you heading?” asked Quentin. “Perhaps I can show you the way.”

“We don’t have anywhere to be,” said Julie.

“How about we take a look around a few of the stalls in the town square? There’s always a good spread out on Saturdays.”

“We can go with him, right, Jack?”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Sure,” said Jack through gritted teeth.

He didn’t like the look of this Quentin fellow. He had a handsome face and a slick approach that no doubt drew attracted the girls, but there was something about his beady eyes that didn’t reminded Jack of a trickster. He would have to keep a close eye on him.

“Shall we?” Quentin asked, holding out a hand.

“There’ll be none of that,” said Jack, pulling Julie’s hand back as she moved to take Quentin’s.

“What is you probl—”

“Nah, it’s alright,” said Quentin. “Can’t fault a brother for being protective. I would be the same with my sister, if I had one. We’re all good, right Jack?”

“All good,” said Jack coldly.

“Come on,” said Quentin, leading the way along the street.

He guided the twins a few streets away, deflecting the peddlers effortlessly. In no time at all, the trio rounded a corner and were in the town square. It reminded Jack and Julie of Purdue, except for a much smaller town hall, no statue and it was smaller. Jack wondered if it truly was smaller or it just felt that way because there was barely space to move between the stands, stalls and nearly two hundred people roaming around.

“Amazing,” said Julie breathlessly. “I can’t believe Arc didn’t show us this before he left.”

“He probably wanted us to start looking for a job rather than spending the little money he left us with,” remarked Jack.

“Arc? Arc the Hawk?” asked Quentin. “I didn’t know he was a friend of yours.”

“You know him?”

“Nah, but he’s a legend around here. Strolls into town every now and again, picks up a bag of silver and gold for killing a scumbag or monster and goes on his way again. He’s not someone you want to make an enemy of. Word is that he killed a lich a few years back.”

“A lich?” asked Julie.

“Yeah,” said Quentin, raising his eyebrows. “Some sort of skeleton wizard. I heard they were notorious back before the Arcanaclysm, but there aren’t many of them left. Maybe they’re waiting until the world is populous enough again to have skeletons to raise from the dead to serve them.”

“Eugh,” said Julie, wrinkling her nose. “I’d rather not think about that.”

“Fair enough,” said Quentin, walking into the crowd.

As Julie followed him, all Jack could think about was how he didn’t realise how lucky they’d been to find Arc out by the car wreck. If it had been anybody else, they wouldn’t have bothered helping get him and his sister to somewhere safe. They certainly wouldn’t have been charitable enough to leave them with some money to keep them fed. He wished he’d taken the time to ask Arc a few more questions about his life and maybe even learned a few tricks from him.

Jack looked over his shoulder, hoping to see the spellslinger leaning against the wall behind him. Maybe he’d ask the twins to come along on one of his adventures. Jack was self-aware enough to know that he would have questioned Arc endlessly about the dangers, but it wouldn’t have taken much to push him into agreeing to come. With a sigh, he walked into the crowd to look for Julie and Quentin.

“I don’t know how it got there!” cried Julie with a trembling voice. “I swear!”

“Liar!” called a gruff voice.

Jack was suddenly knocked aside by a sprinting Quentin.

“Sorry,” he said with a look of panic as he continued his flight.

Jack had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and pushed his way through the crowd to where Julie was still protesting her innocence about whatever it was that had happened. He found her standing by a fruit stall while a bald man with a stringy beard held her by the arm.

“Julie, are you alright?” asked Jack, trying to pull her free from the man’s grip, but he was too weak. “Let go of her!”

“You a rotten thief too?” asked the man, holding up an apple in his other hand. “This was on my stall moments ago. Somehow, it disappeared and this girl had a round lump in her pocket.”

“Quentin,” spat Jack. “Wait here.”

“Jack!” called Julie as her brother rushed off through the crowd.

The young man ran as hard as he could, heading the direction he had seen Quentin fleeing, but there was no sign of him in the crowd. He must have headed back into the quieter streets to create some distance, the rotten vulture. Jack pushed his way free and sprinted back the way Quentin had led him and Julie until he saw the older boy scurrying into an alleyway. He said nothing as he chased Quentin, not wanting him to know that he was being followed.

Jack rounded the corner and saw Quentin slow to a walk, but Jack kept up his pace and raised his arm back. He threw a punch at the back of Quentin’s head, sending the young man flying forward.

“Son of a…” muttered Quentin, standing up and turning around, only for Jack’s other fist to smack him across the cheek.

“Thought you’d use my sister as a mule, did you?” asked Jack, grabbing Quentin by the shoulders and kneeing him in the stomach. “Two new folks in town won’t be missed if they’re caught and kicked out the day they arrive, is that right?”

Quentin shoved Jack away and then followed up with a kick to Jack’s leg, bringing him to his knees. As Quentin raised his foot to kick again, Jack grabbed him and threw him back, knocking him back onto the ground. Jack immediately dove on top of him and started punching him as many times as he could and as hard as he could. He may not have been as big as Quentin, but he had been in enough scraps to know how to handle himself.

“Get off!” yelled Quentin, grabbing a loose brick from the ground.

As he moved to swing it against Jack’s head, Jack bit Quentin’s arm, making him drop the brick. He threw another hard punch at Quentin’s face. With a crack and a splattering of blood, Quentin’s nose broke and he screeched in pain.

Jack stood up and backed away. “You’re going to make this right,” he said.

“Make me,” said Quentin sitting up and spitting blood onto the floor.

“Suit yourself,” said Jack, grabbing Quentin by the legs and dragging him along.

He kicked and struggled, but he was too tired and battered to put up much of a fight. Before the pair had even left the alleyway, he swore he would confess.

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Jack, grabbing Quentin by the back of his jacket and marching him along. “And before we parts ways, you’re going to apologise to Julie and swear you’ll stay away from the both of us. Understood?”

“Understood,” grunted Quentin, spitting another mouthful of blood out.

“I hope I’ve made it clear to you that nobody so much as looks at my sister in a way I don’t like and gets away with it.”

Ignoring the staring faces in the crowd, Jack pushed Quentin on through and towards the stall owner, who was now talking more calmly to Julie.

“The second you said his name,” said the stall owner, “I knew what had happened. This isn’t the first time he’s pulled a stunt like this. Ain’t that right, Quentin?”

“Yes, Brendan,” said Quentin. He started tonguing his teeth to see if any of them were broken. He could have sworn a couple felt looser than they had ten minutes ago.

“What happened?” asked Julie, her face turning white as she looked Quentin up and down.

“He’s got something to say,” said Jack, shoving Quentin forward.

“I…I’m very sorry,” said Quentin, avoiding eye contact with her. “It was wrong of me to take advantage of newcomers.”

“And?” asked Jack.

“It was wrong of me to…to steal. Neither of you will ever hear from me again. If we cross paths in the street, I’ll…I’ll just keep moving.”

“Roughed you up good, didn’t he?” chuckled Brendan. “Got what you deserved though, boy. I have to say.”

“Come on, Julie,” said Jack, turning to leave.

“Sorry again, Brendan,” said Julie sincerely.

“It’s alright, lassie,” said Brendan before turning to Quentin. “You on the other hand…”

Jack and Julie didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as they walked back through the crowd and onto the street leading them away from the town square.

“What did you do to him?” asked Julie breathlessly.

“What needed to be done,” said Jack.

“I was able to talk things through with Brendan calmly.”

“Doesn’t matter. He needed to be taught a lesson.”

“Maybe…”

“Jule,” said Jack, looking her in the eyes. “I need you to trust me, alright? I knew there was something off about Quentin from the start. If you can’t trust me, then what am I doing here?”

“Yes,” said Julie, apologetically. “Yes, you were right. I need to trust you.”

Julie wasn’t sure what else to say. On the one hand, she was grateful that Jack was looking out for her. On the other hand, if he had beaten someone to a pulp on their second day in Pembroke, how long would it be before he got himself into more trouble?

Jack, however, wasn’t concerned. He kept on walking with a defiant look of assurance on his face, backed up by his belief that he had done the right thing. Julie was all that remained of his family and he would be damned if anybody put a single toe out of line when he was watching over her.