She was running. She had been running for so long, but she couldn't stop yet. The weight was heavy under her arm, and her chest was heaving, spikes of pain running through her, but still, she kept running.

Around a corner, bundle under one arm, the other grabbing the wall to help swing the turn, and then back to running. Behind her, the shouts had waned, but she couldn't stop yet.

Over a fence, past the discarded pipes, which had been sitting there for so long that grass had grown up and around and through them, then into the junk at the back of the builders' yard. Ducking under the remains of rotten discarded carts, weaving through years of old rubbish, and then, behind a stack of old clay tiles, she came to a final, heaving, stop.

Under her arm, the bundle wiggled, and with a start she stopped gripping it so tightly, opening up the bag so that its occupant could breathe, crawling into her final hiding space with laboured breaths.

There, in the gap under a pile of old roof beams, Littleshy slowly caught her breath, in and out, in and out, the roaring in her ears and the pain in her chest starting to fade as oxygen returned to her body.

The sack wiggled again, and a little head poked out, staring at her with big round eyes, looking around with curiosity.

The animal didn't seem to be hurt, for all of its wild journey, and she reached out a hand, her laughter drowned out by her beating heart, as a little tongue darted out, licking at her fingers.

The gap they were hiding in wasn't big enough for her to stand up in, never mind sit upright, but she groaned a little and stuck her head outside for a moment.

All around was silence, only the birds singing their melodies, and a dog barking somewhere in the distance. If she listened, there was the sound of sirens on the wind, but it was getting fainter by the moment, her accomplice leading them away with his own decoy bag.

Pulling her head back in, she came face to face with the creature she had just risked her life for. It had clambered out of the sack and was now perched on the earthen floor, little tail wrapped around its legs. The animal's green eyes regarded her with calm curiosity, and Littleshy was struck with the sudden realisation that it wasn't an animal at all she was staring at, it was a person.

She let out a slow breath, sat back on her knees, and locked eyes with it, them? She would go with 'them' for now.

"Do you understand me?" her voice sounded too loud, and she froze for a moment, in case anyone had heard.

In front of her, the creature regarded her and then tilted its head, letting out a confused trill like a baby bird. She sighed, that would be a no, but they were only young, as far as she knew.

Well, she had done it. Leaning against the beams and absentmindedly folding up the sack, Littleshy considered that she had just stolen a dragon.

-

It was fully dark by the time she dared to leave the hiding place, the dragon perched on her shoulder. She had tried to convince them to go back into the sack, but they had sharp little teeth and had politely made it known that that was not going to happen. She hadn't argued.

Maybe she could glue some feathers onto them and pretend they were a parrot? A new exotic breed of pet? These were the thoughts that went through her head as she moved through the dark builders' yard. If had been a moonless night, or if she hadn't known this place like the back of her hand, she might have had trouble getting out, but neither of those things were the case, and they made their way through quickly and quietly.

Crawling under the fence at the edge of the yard, convincing the baby to go ahead first, her heart almost stopped when a voice sounded out above her.

"Why is it not in the bag?" Marshgrass whispered, "somebody's gonna see it!"

She clutched at her chest in mock panic, "they're not in the bag because they didn't wanna be in the bag" she finished pulling herself under the fence, kicking dirt back behind her, "and I wasn't gonna argue with them!"

She couldn't see his face in the gloom, but she could feel Marshgrass glaring at her.

"Besides, who the fuck is gonna see us out here! Weren't you meant to be waiting by the boat?!"

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They were on the towpath between the canal and the back of the builders' yard, and at this time of night everything was still and quiet, the only movement the ripples of moonlight on the water.

"Just get it in the bag and c'mon" Marshgrass hissed, "we're gonna be late."

She glared at him, and then reached down for the dragon, situating them back on her shoulder. "I'm not makin' 'em go in the bag, it's not a loaf of bread, it's a person."

"It's not-" Marshgrass started, and then gave up, throwing his arms up, a dark shape against the silver backdrop of the canal, "just come on, the boat's gonna be leaving in a minute and some of the coppers are still lookin' for me."

She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing more, and together they made their way down the towpath in silence.

-

The barge was still there, silent and still, and Littleshy stepped onto it with practised ease. A nod and a handshake for Marshgrass, and then she slipped down into the dark cargo space.

This boat was known to smuggle all sorts into and out of the big city, mostly alcohol, and as long as they stayed quiet and still in the dusty hold, nobody would bother them. The city guards had long ago learnt to turn a blind eye, and the person who owned it had been well paid to do the same.

Sitting there in the darkness, with the dragon curled up on her lap, Littleshy realised that they needed a name.

-

How did you name a dragon, she wondered, watching as the dawn light shone in through the edges of the tarp above her. She had smeared the animal, person(?) with coal dust in the preceding hours, but had been too worried to leave them alone in the hold, as the original plan had been. She was, unless something had gone wrong, supposed to help the barger with the locks and the horses, but she had no way to communicate to the little thing that she needed them to stay put, that it was too dangerous for them to be outside. The few times she had tried to leave, they had gotten up to follow her, and she hadn't tried again.

She ran her fingers down their spine, admiring the way the scales fit together underneath the dust. It wasn't like the stories she'd heard of dragons. They were supposed to be beasts the size of houses, and everyone knew that there was only one in the world. He had been given to the people by the gods themselves, but she had never seen it herself.

She didn't know where this one had come from. They weren't supposed to exist, and this one officially didn't exist at all. In the papers tomorrow, today, if it was even covered at all, she would have stolen a hunting dog or a kitten or maybe some sort of snake. None of them would say A Dragon, because that would be insanity.

Yet here they were, and here she was. It was the size of a small cat, with dark blue scales, each one perfect and new under her fingertips. As far as she knew, it wasn't old, weeks or months in age at best. She didn't even know where it had been stolen from, the sack had been thrown to her and she had run, as was the plan. Eventually, the two of them would make it to the city of Al'kar and she would hand it off, and that would be that.

As she stroked the tiny head, she wondered where they would end up. Were they destined to deliver letters, like the mythical northern dragon, or was it to go somewhere else? When it was older, the size of a building, would it remember this night in the bottom of the coal barge?

In her lap, the dragon let out a tiny huff, and then snuggled their nose into the crook of her knee. Smiling, Littleshy sat back, and watched the sun rise.

-

That night the boat docked in a little-used mooring on the edge of a quiet town, and Littleshy and the dragon left their hiding place. Her clothes were black with coal and the scales of the dragon were now pitch black, but that was ok. This was a mining town and as long as they kept their head down, nobody would think too much of them.

The mines had kicked out a couple of hours before, and the streets were empty of people at this time of night. Their destination was a new construction on the edge of town, a train yard. Their mode of travel was a big, steam-powered engine, which pulled carts filled with coal or raw iron or who knows what else to the big city almost a hundred miles north. She didn't know the details of how or why it was built or operated, just that it was the next step of their journey.

The wagon that was waiting for them was full of bags of rice, imported from further afield, and she snuggled down in the corner that had been left for her, trying not to smear coal dust on the bags. That wouldn't go down well.

They had stopped at the pump for a drink, but maybe they should have washed while they were at it…

-

She slept for most of the journey, the dragon hot in her arms, but a few hours in and they were both hungry. Some food had been left in the wagon, some sandwiches and pies for her and some chunks of meat, which she suspected may have been rat, for the dragon.

She wasn't surprised when they turned their nose up at it, the meat was already starting to smell pretty rank in the summer air, and with a quick motion, they both watched as it receded into the distance behind the train.

She let the baby have her pies, and ate the sandwiches herself, but it wasn't a big meal and she wished there had been more of it.

They were to travel for a few more hours, depending on delays, and then they would be in the big coastal port, where she would hand off the dragon, get paid, get herself some dinner, and then start making her way home.

Watching the landscape go by, she mulled it over.

"Hey little one?"

The dragon looked up at her, tilting their head.

"You're gonna have to go ahead on your own soon, you know."

They tilted their head one way, and then the other, staring at her with bright but uncomprehending eyes.

Littleshy bit her lip, and then adjusted her seat so that she was sitting more upright. Gently, she placed the dragon on the floor in front of her.

"You" she pointed at the baby, "and me", she pointed at herself, then she thought about it for a moment, and then made a dividing motion between the two of them with her arm. "Separate"

They looked at her for a moment, then at themself, and then around, at the rice sacks.

Then with a shake of their head, they curled up back in her lap, placing their chin very firmly onto her knee.

Oh well, she had tried.