Broken Boulder from rags to recovery

The man's attention wasn't on Arcas. When an answer did not arise to his question he found himself tight-lipped and watchful, following the line of Mahler's glare to the ugly woman that had raised such a fuss on the other side. With Mahler between them and staring her down he would not see the brief flare of amusement that overtook Arcas' otherwise bored features. There one second, gone the next — and look, so was the woman, maybe off to gossip with the others as women were often driven to do.