A shadow watches from the darkness as they make their way from the refuse pile. Once they move off a suitable distance, the shadow disengages itself from the dark and crosses over to the refuse pile where it digs until it finds the sack with the bloody boards. The shadow then removes the sack and takes it with it as it hurries down the road after James and Miko.
They don’t travel long before James realizes that they are on the outside of the outer wall, in the poor sector. Moving down the road at a quick pace, they are soon approaching the gate leading back into the city. The smaller gate for travelers stands open and is brightly illuminated by several torches. The two guards standing watch suddenly turn and look through the gate at the sound of an approaching horse. Shortly a rider appears and nods to the guards as he leaves the city.
James and Miko stay hidden in the shadows as the rider makes his appearance. James feels Miko’s hand grip his arm as he points to the rider passing through the gate. “James, that’s one of the guards who chased us from Lord Colerain’s estate.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Very sure,” replies Miko.
They watch the rider come through the gate and turn down the lane they had just vacated.
James starts for the gate when Miko suddenly stops him. Turning toward Miko he hears him say, “If we go through the gate now, and should Lord Colerain’s men later question the guards about those who entered tonight, then they will know we’re back in the city.”
Considering the possibility a moment, James says, “Good thinking, I wouldn’t have thought of that. What do you propose we do?”
“Find someplace to hole up for the night and then come in with the crowd in the morning,” whispers Miko.
“Where do you suggest we go that won’t leave us robbed or dead by morning?” he asks.
“Out of town a ways,” he suggests. “Perhaps down by the river.”
“Alright,” agrees James, “let’s do it.” He leads Miko down the street again until they come to a junction with a road heading away from town. They turn down that road and continue for another half hour until they’ve left the outer buildings of Cardri far behind. At that point they look for a spot to hole up for the night. Off the road to the west sits a field of tall grass, James leads them out into it where they lodge some of it to make a camp of sorts.
Lying down under the stars, they settle in and soon fall asleep. The shadow watches from the road, and once it’s sure they are down for the night, leaves and heads back to town.
Morning dawns another sunny and soon to be warm day. James’ head still throbs, but nothing like last night. He can still feel a tender lump on the back of his head when he gingerly checks it with his fingers.
Looking over the tall grass, they see the road to Cardri is already beginning to swell with the traffic of the day. They get up and join the people entering through the gates. The guards pay them no notice, they are simply another set of anonymous faces entering the city.
Making their way through the streets they arrive at the Dancing Squirrel. Going up to their room, they find most of their belongings still there except of course for the tarts and crumb cake that their captors had taken with them.
“What do we do now?” asks Miko as he settles down on one of the beds.
“We do what we came here to do and get out as soon as possible,” replies James.
“Exactly what are we here for?” he asks.
James takes out his medallion and shows it to him. Indicating the design on the face of it he says, “I want to find out if this design has any special meaning.”
Looking closely at it, Miko asks, “Why, what’s so special about it?”
“I can’t really explain, but let’s just say it’s something I think I need to do,” James explains. “I also want to keep the fact that we’re investigating this medallion a secret, okay?”
“Sure, I understand,” Miko agrees, intrigued by all the secrecy. “If you like, I could go out in the street and see if there is any place around here where you could do that. Someone like me could get around without arousing suspicion, I’m just another of the street brats.”
“Okay, but be very careful,” James cautions as he begins to gather the rest of their baggage. “Lord Colerain may yet have other plans in the works for capturing us. I still can’t believe he’s still after us just because we were trespassing.”
“That’s the way with some nobles,” explains Miko. “Especially, Lord Colerain. I once heard of a boy who on a dare from some of his friends, threw a tomato at his carriage as it was passing through town. Two days later, the boy disappeared and was never seen again. It was never proven that Lord Colerain was the one who took the boy, but that’s the general belief.”
“Sounds like someone we need to stay clear of,” he says. “I’m planning on moving us to the Silver Bells, the inn where Perrilin said he was engaged to play. When you find out anything, meet me there.”
“Alright,” says Miko as he opens the door. “I’ll see you there.”
Once Miko leaves, James changes into a clean set of clothes and then finishes gathering the rest of his things. Going down to the common room he finds Inius there sitting by the front window looking out into the street.
He turns as James approaches, a sad look on his face. “What’s wrong?” James asks.
“Furball is missing,” he says. “She was around last night when I locked up, but I haven’t seen her since.”
“That’s too bad,” consoles James. “I’m sure she’ll turn up.”
“I hope so,” Inius says, “she’s all I have left of my Eliena. Of course, I have grown fond of her too.” He sees that James is carrying his belongings and says, “Leaving us today?”
“Afraid so,” James replies as he hands over the room key. “Something’s come up and I need to go. You can go ahead and keep the advance for the next two days, I really enjoyed your inn and your people.”
“Thank you,” he says. “If you are ever in Cardri again, I hope you will stay with us.”
“I’m sure I will,” he assures him. “And if I should see Furball, I’ll get her back to you.”
“I would appreciate that,” Inius says as he turns back and continues staring out the window.
Exiting out the back, James goes over to the stable and finds that his horse has been well cared for, the straw in the stall looking clean and fresh. He comes over and pats him on the side, “They treating you well, boy?”
“Of course they are,” a voice answers from behind him. Turning, he sees the surly stableman from yesterday, the man’s disposition apparently little improved. In his hands the man carries a bale of fresh straw.
“Good day to you,” James greets cheerfully, stepping aside as the man brushes past on his way to deposit the straw in the next stall.
“I suppose it may be,” the man replies. “You leavin’?” he asks as he grabs a pitchfork and spreads the straw evenly across the floor.
“Yes, heading out today,” he answers as he continues readying his horse.
The man looks at James over the stall wall, makes a grunting noise and then walks back out the front.
“Friendly sort of chap, eh?” he asks his horse. The horse just snorts for an answer. “I agree,” he says as he finishes up with securing all his bags to, and around, the saddle. He then mounts and rides from the stable, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be taking a special interest in him. Since last night he intends to keep on his guard, watching for anyone that may be following him.
When he arrives at Cardri’s middle wall, he finds but a single, wide gate giving entry here where there had been two in the outer wall. The gate is quite busy with many people passing through, though not nearly the crowd that had bottlenecked the outer one. As James approaches the gate, the guards visually inspect him as he rides by, but make no attempt to approach him.
On the other side he finds the streets to be much cleaner, and once you get past the immediate area of the gate, the buildings slowly make way for residences and estates. A broad thoroughfare runs left and right from the gate, extending further into the city. Seeing a man walk by with several packages, most likely making deliveries by the modest way he’s dressed, James hails him, “Excuse me sir.”
The man turns and sees James to be the one hailing him. “Yes sir?” the man asks as he stops to see what he wants.
