Eveline Meets a Mugger

Faster than Julie’s eyes could follow, Eveline whirled around, threw her arms around the attacker, and sank her teeth into his neck. He let out an astonished squawk and staggered backwards. With similar lightning speed, the girl drew a small rectangle of paper from her wallet and pressed it into his hand. Running over to where Julie was standing, she grabbed her arm.

"Come on," she said. "Allons-y."

They ducked through a number of alleys and around corners, finally emerging into a crowded, brightly-lit street. Eveline sighed in relief, and pulled a silver cellular phone from her pocketbook.

"Hello? 911? There’s a man at the intersection of" – she rattled off a set of directions Julie couldn’t hope to follow – "who’s been bitten by a snake, and he needs medical attention urgently. A Palestine viper, I believe. Yes, I know that’s highly unlikely, but I saw it happen – I’m something of an authority." She listened for a moment. "I believe it was provoked. He didn’t strike me as having the largest reserves of common sense. But regardless, he’s in need of attention. Yes, thank you."

She locked her phone and calmly slid it back in her pocketbook. "Yes?" she asked.

"What did you give him?" Julie asked curiously. "Money?"

Eveline gave a wry chuckle and shook her head. She produced another slip of paper and handed it to Julie, who could see it was a business card of some sort. She took it and turned it so she could read the classic font.

"You have been bitten by:

­Vipera xanthera palistinae

Please seek medical attention immediately."