She had a free day and Rose had been washing her clothes upstream. It was a hot day and she hadn’t minded the chore, for at least it was her own work, and she could do it at ease and enjoy the cool water, and the singing of the birds, and the alternation between the warm rays of sunlight and the shade of leaves. While the clothes she had been washing were drying, Rose took off her shoes and socks, pulled the rim of the back of her skirt in between her legs and up to put it in the front and create some sort of shorts. Then she stepped into the water until she was in to her knees and closed her eyes, enjoying the cool sensation.

"What do we have here?" Benny noticed a girl at the river and at first had thought someone fallen in. He realized she was relaxing, then identified her. Seeing here there alone made him get a shot of confidence. He walked to the side of the water, hands in his jacket pocket looking rather leisure as he watched her.

"Here you are, and no one for you to use to fight your battles, hm?" He folded his arms. "I should slap you. It'd be fair."

Rose's eyes shot open and she turned to face Benny. Her face turned red and quickly she pulled the rim of her skirt down. Her skirt fell back in its usual position, covering her legs - and getting soaking wet. Her mouth was suddenly dry. She took a hasty step back, but then she lost her balance, and plunged into the water. It fully immersed her, before she struggled up, fighting against the stream and grasping and coughing.

Benny watched her, for a moment worried she might drown despite the pain she was to him. Seeing her slowly rising up , though a but waterlogged, he felt assured she'd make it out. He watched her and laughed at her pitiful predicament.

"See what happens when you panic? You're lucky you didn't drown or get swept away. You deserve this though."

He slowly stepped closer to the edge to glare down at her. He crouched down and checked once more to make sure no one was around.

"You feel better now? Making a fool of yourself cause you thought I wanted to see your stupid legs or somethin?"

Coughing and soaking wet she finally won against the stream. Rose made her way out of the water as far from him as she could, nervous more than angry. They were alone. "What do you want?... I'll scream if you hurt me and they'll arrest you!" She wanted to fetch her clothes that were drying over a tree, but the man stood in between. Rose shivered, the water dripping from her dress and hair. Her bun had untangled into a long braid.

Benny smirked as he moved to keep her trapped between him and the stream. "You think I want to hurt you? Aren't you impetuous? First I try to speak to you alone because I was truly worried your father might be cruel to you. And then I come to simply get a little revenge on you and hope you realize your error. "

He tsked and shook his head folding his arms. He gave her a sharp frown. "If I wanted to hurt you I could have done it by sneaking up on you. Hell, I could have ran into the stream while you were under. Not like a scrawny girl like you could stop me."

Rose spat in his direction. "How dare you say such things of my father." Admittedly father could be strict and Rose had always been afraid of him. But she also loved him and would defend him against this thug. "You shouldn't have grabbed me in the first place!"

"I took your arm. I didn't even have a firm grip. You could have pulled away easily at any moment. Besides, I can talk about your father any way I want. He charged me for the lunch, so it was more business than him being a good Samaritan,l. So I didn't owe him a thing. And I don't know him so I don't know his character. I saw you were scared of him though. You can't lie and say you weren't. "


He almost mentioned his own brutal past, but he wouldn't give this angry woman an ounce of power over him. 

"My words and intent were harmless, maybe an attack at character at best. You tried to have me beaten."

Rose was still shivering and dripping wet. She took her braid and started to squeeze the water out, but she kept her eyes on him. "I wasn't trying to have you beaten. You frightened me!"

Benny rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "I didn't have a firm grip, your father was still very much in view. I didn't even lead you far. I wasn't going to take you away from your yard in fact. You didn't give me a chance. But I am willing to bet every penny I own that you do that to any stranger you meet?" He huffed and stared at her, seeing if she was going to try to deny it.