ROMANI Chapter 4

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Showing Mercy

After subduing the two girls who were trying to rob him; a crowd of locals began to gather around, and were looking somewhat menacingly, but Mark held on to the girls and didn't back down from the onlookers.

Then a couple of London Bobbies showed up, and the crowd quickly dispersed leaving only Mark and the two girls.

The officers wanted to know what was going on and Mark said; “I was going to take the girls down to the Bazaar and buy them some new shoes and a new dress, the people didn't understand and thought I was trying to kidnap them. That was what the noise was all about and when they saw you they realized you would take care of it.” 

The police asked the girls if that was true and they confirmed his story.  The girls said to Mark, “We had better hurry while the sellers are still there.”

As they walked the girls talked about why they were stealing, and they had to in order to survive. They had been taught how to pick pockets, and this was the first time they were ever caught, and wanted to know how he knew what was going on.

Mark didn't tell them that he had done this very same thing for many years so he told the girls that it was just happenstance.  

Their story seemed to be incomplete so Mark pressed them for the full story. They stopped and got a cold drink and gave out their tale of woe.  

Once they had lived in a fine home with their father and mother. The father was fired from a lucrative position, and when he turned to drink and lost their home, they ended up down here.  The father continued to drink anything he could get his hands on, and broken as he was the drink finally finished him off.  Some evil men tried to force their mother into prostitution, and she committed suicide.  

As he asked them many questions he soon realized they didn't have a chance for a life living there.  Before they were in private school, but now they were controlled by evil men, and the only reason Lacy the older sister wasn't put into prostitution was because she made so much money as a pickpocket.

          
When Mark asked them if they would like to leave this place they both said yes but they didn't dare leave for fear of being beaten when found.

When he first caught them trying to rob him Mark had spotted the man who controlled them, and he was outside watching them now.  

 

Mark approached the man and told him to leave and to get lost, and the man tried to stab him.

Having faced this kind of situation before within the Romani community; Mark grabbed the man, and threw him over a rail into the fast moving river.

Mark saw the two Bobbies still in the area and asked them to please escort them away from this area and hail them a cabby.  He identified himself and explained what he proposed, and they were glad to help them.

At the hotel Mark had a suite with two bedrooms and when they arrived to the rooms Mark told the girls to take a bath, and he would have some clothes sent up, and a hair dresser when they were finished. The clothes he ordered were of a causal nature suitable for hotel wear and on the next day they went shopping for a wardrobe for each of them.   

The following day Mark had his business to conduct, so he hired three bodyguards to watch over the girls while he conducted his dealings. 

The girls were having fun with the guards, stealing their wallets, watch bobs and such.  One of the main jobs the bodyguards had was to make sure they didn't collect things from the guests at the hotel.

They dined in the room until they had relearned how to act in a fine restaurant.  The understanding maitre d' had one of his waiters spend time with them, instructing them the proper etiquette for all occasions.

After a few days the girls had full run of the place. They would insist on helping the maids clean the rooms and make the beds or they would be down in the kitchen watching the cooks create their masterpieces.  Everything was a fun thing to do and it kept the girls from being bored.   

 

To be Continued