Summer lived in the woods.

In a tiny shed she and Boyd had built years ago. Big enough to accommodate her cot, a few blankets, her books, a few pieces of clothing and a pot. She only went inside to sleep, and did almost everything else outside. Including taking a bath.

That evening, the creek was unusually cold. Water frozen needles on her skin, teeth chattering, she dove in one go then emerged. It didn't take long before her skin was finally desensitized to the chill. She rubbed her body and hair, then floated for a minute. The shed was deep enough in the woods that no one ever ventured its way, so she took her time and relaxed.

Her concerns, however, refused to stay at bay.

Her heart ached for Rose and her son. He had been sick ever since he was born, one bout of illness after another. The worry had shaved years off her friend's life. And the physician was useless. The only good thing he did was put Rose in contact with the medication provider.

Time was running out. If Berry was too sick to travel like the physician said, maybe a doctor can come instead. But Summer knew from her experience in life that people never did anything out of the goodness of their heart.

Maybe she could travel, put a knife to some doctor's neck, and bring him down here under the threat of a sliced throat.

It was wishful thinking, though. Summer had never left this place. Boyd had taught her how to survive in the woods on nothing but what the earth offered. Travelling to places unknown would certainly be different.

"Bother, bother," she said out loud, staring at the darkening sky overhead. "This would be a perfect time for a miracle."

Unfortunately, the sky didn't open with avenging angels, nor did it rain riches on her. After a few minutes she stood on her feet again. "Well, all we can do now is have enough medicine to keep Berry alive. Until we figure something out. Hopefully."

Her eyes caught something bobbing along the water's surface. She moved closer, and snatched the unknown object out of the water. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small size. How could it be floating with such a weight?

It looked like a pendant. A fist-sized, round pendant. Its metal was an unusual shimmering blue. Its surface was engraved with ruins and odd symbols. But what interested Summer was the opaque white stone embedded in its center.

"A gemstone?"

She'd never seen one like it. But her experience with gemstones was limited to the sparkling pieces she saw in a jeweler's stall or adorning a woman's neck. They were all glass like and glittering. This stone was opaque and pure white. It looked more like a regular stone.

She touched it.

For a second, Summer felt her body's weight disappear- no, her body disappeared. For a split second, she felt like she was hanging midair looking down at the empty creek. The illusion lasted a blink and everything went back to normal with a whoosh of wind in her ears.

Summer blinked and shook her head. What the...?

It must be the hunger. It was making her hallucinate. She should have ate more than the loaf of bread she swept from the baker's stall.

"Hmm." Anyway, the white gemstone should be good enough. Maybe she could pawn it off tomorrow. She didn't like the pawnshop owner; he had untrustworthy eyes. But if he was willing to pay, she was willing to tolerate him.

***

Summer was the first person to set foot in the pawnshop. He presented his jewelry in a market stall in front of his shop by sunrise. So Summer was in his shop before then. It was a small square with a counter spanning the length of it, displaying various kinds of jewelry and knickknacks.

It took him a moment to notice Summer. He pointed at her.

"You! What are you doing in my shop?!" he moved around the counter, as if intending to physically throw her out. "Get out! I don't need your bad luck rubbing on my-"

He stopped when she held up the object she'd found the evening before. It was funny how people forgot all about her supposed rotten luck when there was something to gain.

She had tried to take the stone apart from the pendant, thinking she could perhaps get more money if she pawned them separately, but it had refused to budge.

"Where did you get that?" he stepped closer, squinting his beady black eyes.

"Found it in the woods," she said. "So? How much are you willing to give for it?"

He reached with his bloated hand, but Summer slipped out of the way. He glared at her, the lines on his weathered face becoming more pronounced. "I have to inspect it first."

Summer hesitated. If he took the pendant and kicked her out of the store without money, no one would do anything about it. She could certainly kick his fat butt and take the item back, but he might complain to the guards.

And even if she hadn't been on their bad side, they would surely side with the shop owner, for he was one of the people who paid them for protection and to keep their mouths shut about any shady dealings.

Sp she handed him the pendant and crossed her fingers.

He weighed the pendant, took it back to his counter and inspected it using unfamiliar objects. He was quiet for a long moment, staring at the pendant speculatively. Summer took the opportunity and snatched it back.

"So, how much?"

He licked his lips, eyes trained on the pendant. "I'll give you three hundred."

Damn. It must be really expensive if he was willing to go that high.

"I'll take no less than eight hundred."

He choked on his words. "Eight- are you insane! Three fifty. That's it."

She put the pendant back into my pocket. "Never mind then."

"No wait." He cursed. "Four hundred."

"You can afford more than that, you-" she wanted to add 'you coin-pinching asshole', but insulting him would hardly get her what she wanted. "Seven fifty, come on, you know you want it."

"Six hundred! Take it or leave it! I'm the only pawn shop that will deal with you."

She didn't remind him that he was the only pawn shop in town. But the point was moot. She wouldn't be able to sell it anywhere else. And six hundred was more than she'd expected.

"Fine. Money first."

He gave her the money, snatched the pendant from her hands and shoved her out of the store. She almost fell on her knees.

"And don't come back here! I won't have my trade suffer because of you." The door closed with a bang.

"Nice doing business with you too, asshole," Summer muttered.

People stared at her, some whispered and pointed, others scurried away. Being famous was overrated. Well, at least she walked out of the shop richer than she walked in.

She pulled her hood on and hurried through an alley. By the time she reached market street, she was invisible to the townspeople again.

The money would buy a few more weeks for Berry. Now she needed to get herself a new top or dress. She had to wear her cloak over anything she put on because all her clothes were washed to thinness and patched beyond reason.

She was debating whether to borrow some of the money from the six hundred in order to buy what she needed, when she spotted two men walk out of the inn. Outsiders. Very nicely dressed outsiders.

Their cloaks were edged with lush fur and their boots looked sturdy and of higher quality than anything she'd seen before. Hmm. Surely they wouldn't notice a few coins lost.

She followed them.

The town rarely if ever got outsiders other than the merchants, so Summer was also curious. They strolled about the market, with no definite destination in mind. Summer decided the smaller of the two men would be the oblivious sponsor of her new closet. He kept buying things, his coin purse leaving his pocket enough times to give Summer a clear target.

As she got closer, she noticed that the slightlybigger man- dark haired with a pleasant face and soldier-like bearing- kept his right hand firmly beneath his cloak. At his hip, where a knife was strapped out of sight.

She hesitated, but only for a moment. The smaller man ventured closer to an herbs stall while his companion surveyed the street.

"Just do it." Summer whispered to herself as the usual jitters erupted in her stomach.

She crept closer. He was haggling with the seller, surrounded by other customers. Her weightless hand sneaked the purse out of his pocket as she walked past him, unnoticed. And she slipped through the mass of patrons like a fleeting summer breeze.

Hours later, when the market paused for lunch, Summer went into the clothes shop. The owner was about to close for lunch, but stopped when Summer walked in.

"Make it quick, girl." The owner scowled, used to Summer coming in occasionally for clothes.

Summer always paid the set price without bargaining, which was one of the reasons the owner tolerated her as a buyer.

The money in the purse would probably buy her half the shop. Summer walked to the ready made section. Beautiful flowing dresses, embroidered shirts and wide legged pants, long tunics and tapered trousers. The shop had everything a woman could ever need in clothing. Summer spent a few seconds admiring the colorful dresses and hair nicknacks, then she picked up one attire of her usual choice: undergarments, a long tunic and tapered pants in plain gray, paid for the purchase and left the shop.

She didn't need any more. Besides, spending all the money would only bring unwanted attention to herself. The guards suspected how she made her living, but they could prove nothing because she was careful and never greedy.

The money in the outsider's purse was too much, too. She had very rarely felt guilty for robbing others, mainly because she stole as little as she could. But the outsider's purse was flowing with coins. What if he needed it to pay for the inn? What if everything he had for his travel was in the purse?

Damn her morals. She could've taken the money to Rose; the woman needed it. Instead, Summer sneaked into the inn, found out the room number of the small, auburn haired outsiders by patiently listening to the maids' conversations, and broke into his quarters.

The man must be some kind of scientist, Summer thought. He had all kinds of herbs and vials, notes and books scattered all about the simple one bed room. She had just put the purse on the table when she spotted it. The royal crest. It was burned into the strap of a leather bag overflowing with books.

Were these people guards? She doubted it, they looked much more elegant- as elegant as the magistrate looked the rare times she spotted him in town. Maybe they were royal guards. Summer shook her head. She didn't care.

She debated whether or not to take the purse after all, since the man worked for an institution she abhorred. People with authority often, if not always, abused it. They didn't care for the fate of the weaker and less fortunate. Why should they? They lived in comfort with full bellies and warm houses, their children never lacking for a thing while the orphans were damned for cheap labor and servitude. She hated power, hated authority. In her life, all they did was take from the weak.

Summer climbed out of the window after she took back the coin purse. Rose and Berry needed the money more than these people did.