Chapter 6: The Rescue

Little Joe was happy, and for the first time, he could eat whatever and as much as he wanted. He found it strange when his teacher Nali woke him up and spoke to him kindly. He thought he was still dreaming until, impatiently, she shook him a few times, but the next minute there she was, apologizing to him. "Maybe she's crazy," he thought as he got out of bed. "Wow, what a soft bed. Where am I, teacher?" "You're in the infirmary. Where else would you be after offending Mr. Redivik? Be grateful for being so lucky. I've never heard of people who messed with a knight and lived to tell the tale afterward." Now, little Joe ignored any useless chatter. He was on the main street of the city, crowded with people of all ages and shops along the road. With his hands full of various sweets and snacks, he would eat one, then another, and so he went, always followed by teacher Nali. He noticed that some men looked at her, seeming admiring of her beauty or something like that. Little Joe didn't even want to know about her, since she always picked on him, but out there, with such a beautiful and bright day, he slowly began to notice the beauty of his teacher Nali. Lost in simple thoughts, he didn't realize he was staring at teacher Nali, who soon asked: "What is it? Do you think I'm pretty too?" Caught by surprise and embarrassed, he just replied while hurrying to another candy store: "Get lost, old lady." For the first time, teacher Nali didn't feel angry with such a disdainful comment and started to laugh. "Are you going crazy, teacher Nali?" Joe asked as he returned from the store with a handful of sweets. Teacher Nali didn't have time to respond, as a luxury carriage, pulled by two black stallions with blood-red veins, burst wildly down the street, threatening people, especially teacher Nali. Little Joe had no doubt and, even feeling weak, concentrated his strength and aimed a blow at a single spot. He knew he couldn't miss, as he was used to seeing his father care for and tame this species of horse, and a few times his father had to use this resource. In fact, he had never tried it himself before, but the need had come, and he was teacher Nali's only chance. So he held his blow, waiting for just the right moment to deliver it. Poft! One of the stallions stumbled, but it wasn't enough. As fast as a monkey, Joe climbed the neck of the stunned horse and jumped onto the other, repeating the action. Discreetly, he delivered a blow to the head of the other restless stallion. Poft! And now the horse fell, bringing down the already stunned other. A crowd invaded the place where the fallen horses were, while someone called for help. Little Joe didn't understand why no one was trying to help the person calling for help from inside the carriage, which broke and toppled with the horses' fall. He found it even stranger when he saw that mob of people fighting for a place beside the horses, wanting to tear off a piece of them. He called his teacher Nali, who moved away from that crazy crowd, and tried to carefully enter the carriage. As he had never entered one, he had no idea of the luxury he might find inside and who would be there. "Let me go, you bandit! Get out of here!" screamed a shrill voice of a girl who would be at most four years older than him. "I'm no thief. I just came here to help someone who needed my help," he said, stopping mid-sentence as the girl began to laugh uncontrollably, without him understanding why. The carriage was not as small as he supposed, and soon another character appeared among the clothes and luggage, all messed up by the vehicle's overturning. "Hey, who's that ugly girl there?" asked a boy who shouldn't have been more than ten or eleven years old. "Hey, wait a minute! Who are you calling a girl? Do you want to fight?" challenged little Joe, already forgetting his original objective. Suddenly, the carriage began to shake. Certainly, the horses were reacting to the provocations of the people attacking them. "Hey, little Joe, get out of there, the carriage is catching fire!" Then the young hero had no doubts and began to perform his martial art right there, as best as he could, with slaps and pushes from the two siblings who wouldn't stop bothering him. "Low slicing wind style... Target meeting... Power release," he whispered as he touched the wooden wall of the carriage. Prakt!! The entire side came off, flying away, scaring the two siblings, who quickly left the vehicle. Teacher Nali didn't understand anything, but was happy to see that all the occupants were fine. "Hey, aren't you a girl?" asked the red-haired boy, surprised. "Oh, my brother, how clueless you are. Despite looking as cute as my dolls, he was just wearing one of their wigs on his head. And even so, believe it, he was the one who helped us escape that madness," said the girl, pointing to the crowd still fighting over the rare horses. The boy then introduced himself: "Hello, brave boy. I am the son of..." "Brother, remember the agreement!" warned his sister. "Oh! Alright then. You know, boy, I'm just a new kid in your town. My name is Dimmy and this is my sister Ylsean. Thank you very much for helping me. Here, I have some money you might need." "I don't want money. I'm going to get a present from Mr. Redek Von... from a man there," said little Joe, changing the subject and leaving. "Give him a present too, brother," insisted Ylsean. "Oh! Alright then," said young Dimmy as he ran to the carriage, pulled out a small chest, took something out, and ran to hand it to little Joe, who immediately brought it to his mouth. "Don't be crazy, you strong little boy, that's not to eat." "What is it for then?" he asked naively. "It will bring you luck. Lots of luck. Now goodbye, the escort guards are coming." And returning to him, Ylsean girl bent down and kissed him on the cheek, making him blush with embarrassment. "Ha, ha, ha. He turned red," said Ylsean and teacher Nali together. "Shut up, old lady." It was too late; teacher Nali no longer cared about her student's foolish ignorance, and the more he talked, the more she laughed.