Charley's eyes rolled all the way to the back of her head when he bowed. The little show-off was going for theatrics, and that was her trick! Her face set into a scowl, aimed right at the taller boy's backside when he sidled up right in line with Mrs. Gallagher's adventurous pace. She grumbled in a low voice to herself, "Thinks he's a knight or summat."

While she fell into step behind them, the urchin couldn't keep herself from stepping up closer to the boy. Enough to set her feet down just behind his, nearly touching the back of his shoes. The boy might have dropped his stinky delivery behind them, but Charley was sure he was still up to something. She planned to be right there, nipping at his heels, ready to catch him before he could assault any more of their senses today.

"What sort of questin' can ya do in town, anyhow?" Charley scuffed at the cobblestone street, still close —but not quite touching— at the boy's heels. "En't seen a dragon here for years, leastwise any shiny cups."

She sniffed, and not for any smell. There was one still, beyond the boy's lingering stench and the musty sort that came along on the highland breezes. The woman seemed to have little clue where it might be, but Charley didn't feel like fighting the direction for the moment. Searching it out would give her time to float more sinister ideas into the boy's nearby ears. "Mebbe spy a werewolf or summat, if we're lucky afore the moonlight. Kill him dead, take his pelt to the ministry, y'know? Prolly be a reward for it, s'pose that's a quest."

"If ya live to tell the tale..." Charley grinned to herself, thinking of all the many stories she could spin for the wanna-be knightly boy.

---