Chapter 26
TWENTY-SIX
JACK
“Are you kidding me?” Abigail was practically giggling as they exited Bateman’s Boutique and reentered the busy streets of New Hope. “You’re officially the worst liar I have ever heard. You were even going to give him your real name?”
“Ugh, I know. I fold under pressure. Put me in the middle of a fight and I can keep my cool, but ask me to tell a bold-faced lie and I fold.”
“It’s not the worst attribute.” Abigail winked.
The two made their way through the busy city streets.
The sun was still high overhead, with the buildings to either side of them rising high in the sky, creating a kind of canyon they traversed.
Jack and Abigail had asked the clerk in Bateman’s Boutique where the largest pub was located.
With a knowing grin, he had directed them to a place called The Wolf where the scene was always lively.
As they were walking down the cobblestone street, Abigail bumped into a well-dressed elderly man. Although the collision wasn’t violent, Abigail stumbled and fell to her knees.
“Oh, my.” The man reached down to lend a hand. “I’m so sorry, young lady.”
Jack also moved to help Abigail to her feet. A twinge of regret touched at his heartstrings as he realized the man would be left a wallet short once their interaction was finished.
“Oh, I’m fine, thank you.” Abigail accepted both men’s assistance to her feet. “I really should be careful where I walk. I’m just so clumsy.”
“Please think nothing of it…” The man continued on, making his apology and polite chatter with Abigail.
Jack lost interest in his words as a feeling of being watched crept up his spine.
The hairs on his neck stood on end. Jack had hunted and been hunted enough times in the Outland to cultivate a kind of sixth sense when it came to these things.
He was sure that they were being watched at that very moment.
Jack turned around, but in the middle of such a busy street, there were people in all directions.
A young boy stood at a corner, shouting the headline of the daily newspaper that was for sale; a gaggle of young girls strolled by, glancing in shop windows; and a horse and carriage trotted by under the direction of a tall man in a top hat.
Jack looked all around, but there was no obvious answer to the feeling he had. Then his eye caught movement on a rooftop. A shadow ducked down behind the roof’s ledge at the last moment.
“And to you, too, young man,” the elderly gentlemen that had bumped into Abigail addressed him. “Have a nice day.”
“You, too.” Jack nodded in his direction. He motioned to Abigail to move down the street. “We’re being followed.”
Her face immediately went a shade whiter. “By who? We escaped the palace dungeon. Who else would be following us?”
“I don’t know.” Jack quickened his pace. “I caught sight of them on a rooftop. There’s one, but there could be more.”
“Leah? Did she allow us to escape after all?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Jack altered his pace again so he was just under a jog. “Come on, we’ll lose him on the way to the bar.”
For the next few minutes, Jack and Abigail weaved in and out of traffic.
They stayed away from areas easily accessible to someone who was traveling on the rooftops.
They ducked in and out of alleys through side streets and even went into a few stores and out the back doors.
With time, the feeling Jack had of being followed died.
“Do you think we lost him?” Abigail finally asked as the two left out through a rear door of a building called Vivacious Luxuries.
“I think so, I hope so.” Jack pointed down the alley to a building across the way, whose swinging sign had thick, black lettering designating it as The Wolf. “There it is.”
“You should probably let me do the talking once we get in there.” Abigail gave Jack a playful grin, then a peck on the cheek. “If I let you do the talking, we’ll be back in the queen’s dungeon by the end of the day.”
Jack followed Abigail across the street. The ache of hunger that had been growing in his stomach over the last few hours demanded he take action soon.
“You can do all the talking you want, as long as we can get something to eat while we’re here.” Jack placed his left hand on his stomach. “I feel like I could eat a unicorn.”
“Here”—Abigail pressed some stolen bills into his hand—“get us a table. I’m going to see what I can learn. Someone here knows something about what’s going on at the palace. There’s bound to be some kind of information that will be helpful to us.”
Jack accepted the bills, once again feeling that same stab of guilt for having stolen from the old man. It would have been a lot easier to accept the idea that he was stealing from people if their targets were rude or dismissive. The old man had been neither.
The building they approached roared with noise. Like some ancient beast of the past, it was prehistoric, with peeling paint and a sagging roof. The bar stood three stories high. Made mostly from stone, open windows provided a glimpse of the madness inside.
Men and women ranging from Jack and Abigail’s own age, to white-haired patrons, yelled and laughed. Drinkers clashed mugs together and shouted to be heard over the cacophony of noise. Jack grabbed the wrought iron handle of the door and swung it open.
The level of noise took on a new volume as they stepped inside the establishment. At once, Jack was hit with the smell of strong beer and liquor. The faint aroma of roasting meat was also in the air, but only as an afterthought to the hoppy smell of beer.
Abigail peeled off into the crowd in search of answers.
The inside of the bar was a mix of tables and chairs, a long bar top on the far end of the wall, and a lounging area with an empty fireplace. The occupants ranged from men and women dressed as elegantly as Jack and Abigail, to those wearing faded jeans and simple tops.
“Need some help, handsome?”
Jack turned to see a young girl about his own age. She was blonde with her hair in pigtails and a skirt so short it made Jack stutter. “I … uh, I was just looking for a table and a menu.”
“Sure thing, doll.” The girl pointed to her nametag first, then to the tables in the room. “My name’s Amanda. It’s self-seating here. The menus are on the tables. Feel free to help yourself. I’ll give you a few minutes to check out the options, then I’ll be by to get your order.”
“Thanks.” Jack smiled, feeling his face turn red as the girl winked at him.
Things were definitely different in New Hope compared to his life in the Outland.
Before, Jack could go weeks without seeing another person besides his father, much less an attractive girl his own age.
These thoughts led to Marcus, the father he had loved and lost to the wolf-like beast in Burrow Den.
Jack found a table near the corner of the room with a pair of stained menus. He concentrated on reading the list of offered food instead of fixating on memories of a dead father.
Whether it was intuition once more or stupid luck, Jack looked up toward the bar just in time to see the young waitress, Amanda, who had flirted with him a moment before, talking to two soldiers. She nodded in agreement with them, pointing toward Jack.
How Jack had missed the pair when he first entered the building was beyond him. Their faces were turned away, but they looked like they were off-duty, the normal, pristine buttoned uniforms loose at the collars and shirts untucked.
A jolt of panic seized at Jack’s heart. It looked like his disguise had proven useless and he’d have to call on his ability over magic sooner than he’d like.