Lucia led us through the slowly lightening back streets, crowded with small single or double storied rundown hovels; larger blocks of apartments, some of which were not in much better condition than the rundown hovels that surrounded them; and the occasional business either in buildings that were not much different from those hovels, or built within the ground floor of the apartment blocks. Though I had spent time doing my best to learn the streets in Three Bridge, I was completely lost. Though I trusted her enough to know she was leading us towards the Brook Bridge area of Three Bridge.
With two obvious Demi-Humans—both with varying grey skin, one with pale blue hair and the other with vivid glowing green highlights—and a giant of a man carrying a huge tree branch and iron bound strong box the few people we saw either huddled in doorways or rushing through the streets themselves decided they shouldn't have anything to do with us.
Only the bravest, the most nosy, or the most stupid, spared us a second glance before turning away.
During the walk, Nolicia seemed slightly distracted and withdrawn. After what she had gone through, I guessed most people would find themselves like that, so I allowed her to walk in silence, guiding her the best I could by holding her hand. Occasionally giving her hand a gentle squeeze, being careful not to accidentally crush her tiny hand within my giant paw of a hand.
Everything was going smoothly until we were forced to leave the backstreets and entered the shocking well maintained facade of buildings which ran though Three Bridge along the main street along the ancient route to Lundein.
Even I knew we had to stop using the back streets and cross Brook Bridge as it was the only bridge which spanned The Brook. Though Brook Bridge was old, probably a couple of hundred years old, it wasn ’t one of the three ancient bridges that gave Three Bridge its name. But those four bridges gave shape to Three Bridge by allowing a historic and well-used road towards Lundein. In fact, most people didn’t see past the well-maintained facade of buildings either along the route, around Saint Evaine’s temple, or the warehouses and inns in Brook Bridge.
As today was the feast day of Saint Evaine along the main street, and in some more prosperous parts of Three Bridge, have been decorated with flowers, colourful banners, and religious bunting. She was a Three Bridge local who had passed into sainthood centuries ago, someone I hadn ’t heard anything about until last night when Sara told me everything she knew about her, and about love tokens.
Brook Bridge didn ’t span a large river like the three ancient bridges, but a small brook called, unsurprisingly, The Brook. Brook Bridge showed its age, but was well maintained, and had recently had part of its parapet repaired, as indicated by a mismatch of building material and mortar.
Sitting, resting against the repaired parapet of the bridge, was a brown-skinned drunk, wearing poor quality, and too-small, feast day best clothes. Not that I could really compare, as my clothes were about the same quality as his. The drunk probably could've been called handsome if he didn't have the stomach podge straining against his feast day clothes and flushed face from drinking so much called out to Lucia.
‘Hey, darlin’, if I give you me token will you give me you?’
It was maybe the most ridiculous proposition I'd ever heard. Though, I guess, it was what Lucia and Gomes were doing with that extortionately valuable coin—now in the chest I was carrying, or so I hoped it was—he kept passing across to her every time they spent the night together.
The brown-skinned drunk was struggling to get up to his feet. On his first attempt, he pulled down some bunting, which draped colourfully around his shoulders. His second attempt went much better as he levered himself up using the bridge parapet. Standing up, the man was surprisingly tall, still not anywhere near my height.
Lucia stopped. ‘I already got me token.’
I took this pause to lower the large and heavy strong box off my back to give my sore arm muscle a bit of rest, it was never fully right after that massive blow I ’d taken a couple of years ago. Even without that ache, despite the fact I was strong and tough, carrying the awkwardly sized and shaped strong box over my shoulder had become uncomfortable. With a slight groan of discomfort, I stretched my shoulders and rubbed the upper arm and its aching muscles.
The drunk looked at Nolicia's small hand which was clutching two of my fingers, noticing that she was a short, grey skinned Demi-Human like Lucia. Finally, he looked up at my broad, muscular, and giant body. His drunken eyes took in the iron and tree branch wrapped strong box, which stood nearly as tall as Lucia.
‘Sorry, mister, too into me cups.’ He said, sobering up instantly. ‘I leave you be. May Saint Evaine bless your relationship.’
With that needless blessing, as we weren ’t together, he darted off towards the large, and well-built building, which housed The Old Bull inn just the other side of the flint chapel with its imposingly tall pointed tower which sat on the bank of The Brook. The few other people crossing the bridge crossed quietly, doing their best not to attract our attention. I picked up the large, strong box and put it back over my shoulder.
Without saying a word Lucia started walking, guiding us off the bridge, and along the bank of The Brook away from the chapel, past the well-maintained buildings which fronted the main way through Three Bridge. We were now within the Brook Bridge region of Three Bridge, the area of Three Bridge I knew the best. Still, I hadn ’t walked down along the man made banks of The Brook more than a few times in the two years I’d been in this strange mix of the interconnected dual cities of Three Bridge and the capital city Lundein, hidden behind its walls.
After we bypassed the first two large buildings—warehouses—with both of them being larger than most any other buildings within Three Bridge, outside the cathedral, we came across The Brook Inn. The Brook Inn was an impressive four story building, taller than almost any other building within Brook Bridge, other than The Old Bull. Betraying its roots as a converted warehouse, the ground floor held no windows, allowing us to go past without being seen by its, probably if Sara ’s tavern was anything to go by, fully packed cliental.
As The Brook Inn was built right up to the bank of The Brook it would be difficult to squeeze past whilst holding onto Nolicia ’s delicate hand and carrying the large strong box.
This time it was Nolicia who gave my hand a slight squeeze. She then let go of my hand and care freely walked along the bank after Lucia. I had a much more difficult time with it, being that much broader and having to carry the strong box too. But with careful effort, I too made it. Then it was past another well-kept building, another warehouse, and then into one of the few poorer regions of Brook Bridge.
Even if it was one of the poorer regions of Brook Bridge, the two-story buildings here were still in far better than the hovels from the previous backstreets. In other regions, the buildings looked like they would fall down easily, here; they were patched up and the weaker buildings even had scaffolding, or random poles, holding them up. But here, like there, even in the hovels, there were multiple families living together.
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Which is why it surprised me to see Lucia lead me to a dilapidated single story building which was close to falling down, and had large gaping holes in the roof and walls. Unlike elsewhere, bushes, grass, ivy, and moss dominated the building.
The windows were free of glazing, something that only the crudest of hovels went without. This strange building was obviously abandoned, even of homeless squatters or desperate individuals hoping to find any sort of roof over their head. Even if the building could only be entered from behind the block of houses and apartments it was attached to, I was sure that someone would ’ve been desperate enough to sleep here. It was easy to tell, as the long grass around the building was untouched.
‘This be safe house.’ Lucia said.
Tell Truth. I heard Nolicia warn Lucia.
‘Safe house beneath.’
Lucia pointed to where one of the planks from the house had fallen to the floor. Grass grew on either side of it. The plank led to a seemingly impassable line of bushes, which started with a single bush growing out from yet another broken plank in the wall of the building and led down the bank until one submerged itself into The Brook itself.
With a delicate grace, Lucia walked along the plank and pushed through the bushes. Nolicia let go of my hand and followed her, but instead of pushing through the bushes, she crawled underneath her rag dress only just covering her bottom.
I followed them. The plank cracked slightly under the weight of me and the chest I was carrying. But the joy of traipsing through greenery leaving not a sign of my passing was a joy I hadn ’t thought I would feel within the built up confines of either Three Bridge or Lundein. And identifying where the bushes joined and how best to squeeze through the bushes was another fun challenge.
Nolicia was kneeling next to Lucia. She smiled up at me; her smile as bright as her green glowing eyes and the green highlights in her hair after I passed through the seemingly impassable barrier of bushes.
Lucia ’s pale grey face looked up at me quizzically. I joined the two of them, kneeling on the ground around a small flagstone well hidden beneath overgrown grass and flowering plants.
‘If the city is your preferred territory. The wilderness is mine. I spent all my life, until I came to Mægen Scōl, surrounded by nature. It feels… Pleasing and welcoming to me.’
She looked away from me and then dug her fingers under the flagstone, pulling it up as if it was on hinges, ripping all the plants growing over it as she did. Beneath was a dark hole which wasn ’t overly large. The early morning light couldn’t illuminate what was below.
Before I could make a move to go down the hole, Lucia dropped the flagstone with a dull thud. As I watched, within seconds, the torn grass and plants quickly knitted themselves together. Okay. That was strange. I had seen nothing like that before.
‘Safe.’ Was all she said before lifting the flagstone up again and this time dropping into the hole.
I held out my hand to Nolicia and after she took it, lowered her into the hole.
Before I lowered her too far, she told me, Daddy, I down.
With Nolicia in, I moved the chest to a two handed hold above my head and jumped into the hole. It was narrow and I barely fit. My chest and head were still outside the hole. So I carefully knelt down. My arms scraped on the edge of the hole and I had to carefully and awkwardly shift my position so I could bring the strong box down into the hole.
From down here, I could see that the flagstone was indeed on a hinge. I went to close it but a faint mind pressure from Nolicia stopped me.
Lucia then went past me with a small satchel, seemingly not noticing me. She stood on the strong box before jumping up on the wall upon which the dilapidated single story building was built against.
Daddy, I heard Nolicia say clearly, calmly, and coherently in my head, I don ’t trust her. She good at secret keeping. Make her forget about you being Treeman. Forget you being in hangout. Forget you taking chest. Forget all about me. Forget about this place. Forget leading you here. She sleep as memory reform.
It was disconcerting that this pretty little girl with the lovely green hair and sparkling green eyes could do something like that.
You good man, Daddy. Maybe too good. She came up and did the best at giving me a hug across my broad chest. I lucky you found me.
I gave her a kiss on the top of my head, similar to how I remember, in my dreams, how my mother did for me.
Be wary, Daddy. Another been in her mind.
‘Will I be safe?’
You, Daddy, yes. Others, not. Other is sneaky and subtle. Best if I be ghost for others.
There was little I could do but nod in return.
Don ’t forget me Daddy, she pleaded in my head, please come back soon.
‘I will, my darling daughter. As soon as it is safe for me to do so and that I am able.’
I climbed out of the hole. Nolicia closed it from within. The grass and plants knitted themselves together. From down within the hole, I felt a sensation of gratitude and love.
With that buoying me, I left my daughter behind, safe, I hoped, and headed towards Brook Gate Tavern, the inn which Sara owned.
Stopping half way through the bushes, I stopped. Damn. The token.
Don ’t worry Daddy, go be with Mama, I heard Nolicia say in my head, she will get the token.
Now there was nothing stopping me from seeing Sara, and seeing just how the night we spent together last night, our first, would impact our relationship.