Jeanne: Tread Lightly

Druce stepped carefully over the tiles in the atrium, cutting his eyes back and forth to see if Lucretia was there to notice the dirt that he was scattering. She was not; it would be later before she noticed. He took his besmeared and dirty self across to the kitchen and thrust his head inside, then shouldered the rest of his way into the lively room. Ah! there was Lucretia: busy, with her back to him just now.

"Ai, boy!" he hissed sharply, swinging his hand at the lad perched idly on the counter.