'Ok, I can do this' the match girl reassured herself as she loosened the rags to display what passed for 'décolletage'. She loosened her hair, and walked up to the first gentleman who came around the corner. Deepening her voice, she tried to sound seductive.

"Matches sir?" She held them close to her chest, and the gin-scented man groped her for a minute, grabbed the matches and tossed her a couple of pennies.

Jenny held her breath until the man was out of sight. Relief mixed with disgust as she clutched the first coin she'd seen since Aunt Connie kicked her out of the house.

'How twisted is this? Auntie kicks me out for not bein' ladylike, dressin' in trousers 'n' all. 'Poor Little Orphan Jenny' wasn't doing so well as a match girl without her guardian's help to create the illusion of poverty mixed with a dash of 'I could be your daughter'. 'Whore Jenny', as she called her new "look" and approach was showing signs of great success.

Although she longed to take her two pennies and buy whatever scrap of food she could find, she wanted to keep working while the men were heading home from the factories. This was prime time.

By the time the streets quieted down, Jenny had sold enough matches for her first real meal in two weeks and her first food of any kind in three days. She sat down to stew and a bun in a tavern called The Gin Palace. She felt dirty after all those men had pawed her like a piece of meat, but she was also relieved as the warmth of the hot stew thawed her hands as she cradled the bowl.

Half dozen men burst through the door or the tavern. "Hey you, wench, get over here!" The Chinese men grabbed Jenny by her hair and dragged her out of the Palace. A hooded figure in the back corner of the tavern threw some coins on the table and slipped out a minute behind the Tongs and their captive

"You tryin' a sell more than matches out there? That's our business and we do not stand for competition. If you're gonna whore, you whore for us!" Jenny tried to scream or even explain, but they covered her mouth, pinning her against the outside wall of the Gin Palace, in the ally.

The hooded figure jumped out of the shadows into action. Jenny seized her opportunity and bit the hand on her mouth.

"Go back inside!" The hooded figure hissed (hissed?). Not needing a second invitation Jenny slipped back in the door as her rescuer used some kind of whip to subdue the group from the Chinese Tong.

Mrs Jenkins drank more gin than she sold, some people thought, but she had a kindly streak, and when the waif came back inside, trembling and bleeding, she tossed a rag over the girl's shoulders and poured her a cup of tea. "Have some more stew lass, on thee 'ouse"

Jenny curled up under the makeshift blanket. 'I recognize that hooded woman' she thought to herself. The shrouded figure had been at her dad's funeral, with a spiky haired man with the oddest shoes.

At her mom's house, and later at her Aunt's, sometimes some fresh butchered venison or wild boar would be left after a quick rap on the door. The hooded figure could be seen slipping into the night. Most of the meat was carefully salted or dried by Jenny's mother and aunt. It provided the Flints with protein for months.

Jenny owed this hooded figure more than she could repay. The match girl had been poor too long and lived rough for too long to believe there wouldn't be a price for her salvation. She waited, terrified, for the woman to return. She hoped that she wasn't saved from the Tong only to meet a worse fate repaying the shrouded figure.

When Jenny's rescuer finally reappeared, she was coated in blood. She came back to her table, where the match girl waited and fretted.

"Thank you ma'am for savin' me tonight" Jenny looked down and blushed, and added quietly, "and for all 'em good meats too."

If Jenny could have seen beneath the hood in the dark tavern, she would have watched her hero's head crests change colour.

"How could you know it was I who brought you the carrion?"

"You've been me guardian angel since me pa died. I'm afraid you come to collect what I owe ya."

In a moment the hooded figure saw a way to finally repay her debt to the girl and to save the child's dignity all at once. She would have gladly take the girl in, adopted and cared for her, but knew this child had too much pride and too much fear to accept such charity. She had watched her for seven years.

"You could come work for me, as a, a maid? An assistant? My accommodations are modest, but I have a plan to better my situation. I'll start you out at a scullery maid's wages, and cover all your expenses."

"Am I to be your slave?" Jenny asked earnestly? "You might better yourself but a scullery maids wage wouldn't begin to repay you for the food, an' what ya did tonight."

"You will be no one's slave, not tonight, or ever, if I have a say in it. I said you'd start as a scullery maid. It's only fitting, you're only 12. "

"Thirteenth birthday today Miss"

"Happy birthday then. I will train you and your pay will increase with your skills and responsibilities."

Jenny was too tired to argue. "Can we discuss this in the morning?"

Jenny put her head on the table and fell asleep.

'Poor little ape', thought the new mistress, and carried the girl up the stairs and laid her to sleep on her own blankets. The rescuer then busied herself getting cleaned up from the night's feast.