The sneering tones made me want to sink into the earth and disappear.

When he turned to me, his derisive expression made me want to cover myself in shame. Instead, I pulled on the crumpled and torn dress which lay on the floor nearby and covered myself willy-nilly with it, I sat up, hugging my knees to my chest defensively. Rearing my head proudly I met his flinty gaze bravely. Aware that my long hair was hanging in a tangled mess on my back and that I probably looked like a woman of the night as my uncle would have said, I answered, lifting my chin haughtily,

'One… boy.'

His...