Matthew only caught the very end of the fight. He slipped into the back, but the crowd had already started to dissipate before he could think about intervening. Jack, a local drunkard, started to push past him, holding his bleeding nose.

"Jack," Matthew reached out to touch the man on the shoulder. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Jack threw Matthew's arm away. "Nothing happened, father." Matthew winced at the tone; the man could get in serious trouble for talking like that to some of the other priests. Jack just sneered and stormed away. Matthew stood for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"That man just got beat up by some blind girl, father." Matthew didn't recognize the young girl.

Matthew's mind was already whirling. Jack was a known fighter, and he wasn't that drunk today. There's no way he'd lose to a blind person; perhaps she was just wearing dark glasses and the girl was confused. Nonetheless, couldn't keep the irrational interest from perking up.

"Thank you, child. Could you tell me which way the blind girl went?" The girl pointed towards one of the outer districts. "Thank you very much," Matthew said, absently pulling a piece of candy from his robes and giving it to the girl.

Matthew thought quickly as he began to walk in the direction indicated by the girl, trying to rationalize what he was doing. It's a bad mark on my parish if I have brawls going on just a few blocks from the church; the least I can do is find out who the instigator is and warn them. He chuckled, shaking his head; he already knew full well that Jack would be the instigator. He was looking for the "victim."

He hoped it was more than that.