Louis’ heart pounded in his chest as he watched the never ending stream of people walk past the door. The sun was getting low in the sky now, and the crowd showed no signs of thinning. The boy considered stepping out onto the street for the hundredth time since they’d arrived.

“Come on, just to the end of the road,” he muttered to himself.

He hesitated at the threshold before his courage gave way. Dejected and furious with himself, he slunk back into the crowded main room of their inn and walked up to the bar.

“You’ll get there eventually,” the bartender said compassionately. “I remember my first day in the city. I hardly dared come out of my room, so you’re doing better than me.”

Louis looked up at the bald man with the most magnificent handlebar moustache he had ever seen and sighed. “Can I have an ale, please?”

“I kept your last one,” the bartender smiled as he slid the half full mug over. “Did your father say what time he would be back?”

Louis sipped the flat ale and scowled. “He just said he’d be back before it got dark.”

“Any time now, then,” the bartender mused as he looked out a window.

Louis lowered his head and stared into his drink. For some reason the pity made him feel worse. Winston had left the inn almost as soon as he’d paid for their room.

“Sorry, I’d like to have a private word with my friends,” was what he had said to Louis before setting out. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them.”

Winston had given him directions to the nearby sights, and Louis had spent the entire day trying to summon the courage to leave the inn. However, the fear of the crowds, and the fear that he would get lost in this massive, crowded city paralyzed him. If he lost sight of the inn, he feared he’d be trapped in this city forever. There was no way Winston would be able to find him amongst all those people out there. Then there was the nagging fear in the back of his mind that Winston had abandoned him and was half way back to Chalybe by now. Louis didn’t know how to begin making the trip back.

“Did you enjoy the city?”

Louis jumped and turned to see Winston sitting next to him and felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.

“Mister Weaver!” he gasped.

“The boy never left the premises,” the bartender laughed nearby.

Winston’s eyes widened. “Is that true?”

Louis nodded sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, Louis, I forgot how intimidating a big city can be,” Winston began in a rush. “I suppose we could extend our stay by another day so that I can take you around properly tomorrow.”

“No, that won’t be necessary, Mister Weaver,” Louis said, waving his arms in the air. He felt as though he’d be separated from Winston in no time flat if the two of them went out together, and he wasn’t about to suggest that they hold hands. “We have the inn to think about.”

“Are you sure?” Winston asked softly. “It would be a shame if all you saw was the inside of this inn after you’d made the trip down.”

“I’m positive,” Louis insisted.

“How about this?” Winston offered. “I need to book a wagon to take us back up the mountain tomorrow. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll be able to show you one or two of the sights on the way back.”

“Oh I don’t know…” Louis said hesitantly.

“We’ll take the back roads where there will be less people,” Winston offered.

Louis looked out the door and bit his lip. The people back home would never let him down if they found out he was too afraid to even leave the inn on his trip to the big city. “Fine,” he conceded at length.

“Well then, let’s set out, shall we?” Winston beamed.

Louis followed his boss out the door, and his heart began to race as they stepped out onto the busy street. The streets here were paved, which he had never seen before, and Louis took a moment to admire the stonework. He then looked up frantically, realizing that he had taken his eyes off Winston, only to find his boss waiting patiently for him.

“Don’t get left behind,” Winston warned. “If we do get separated, just ask for directions to the Prince’s Inn.”

Louis nodded and vowed to keep his eyes glued to his boss. Together, they walked a short way down the busy street before turning onto a quieter alley that was barely wide enough for four people to walk shoulder to shoulder. They continued on a maze like trip through the city in this manner, walking down narrow alleyways, then emerging briefly onto the busier main streets before going back down alleys, and Louis wondered how Winston had any idea where he was going.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

As they were walking down yet another alleyway with Louis wondering just how far their destination was, he noticed someone blocking the path ahead of them. The person was wearing a hooded cloak, but from the height and build, Louis deduced that she was a woman.

“Hand over your coin purse and no one gets hurt,” she demanded. His stomach turned when he noticed she was holding a long dagger in her hand.

Without hesitating, Winston produced the pouch and held it up. “Alright, let’s be calm about this.”

“Toss it over,” the mugger demanded.

Winston did as he was told, and the pouch landed neatly at the woman’s feet. She picked it up without taking her eyes off the pair and hefted it in her hand. “You must be rich men.”

“We get by,” Winston allowed.

“No,” the girl said, shaking her head. “If you can carry this much around, you must be swimming in gold.”

“You’ve made quite the windfall today,” Winston pointed out. “Why don’t you walk away while you’re ahead?”

The girl voice hardened. “You’re in no position to threaten me. You’re coming with me. I’m sure your family will pay a pretty penny for your release.”

“I will do no such thing,” Winston said, planting his feet on the ground.

The girl stepped forward and held her knife up threateningly. “You have no say in the matter.”

In the blink of an eye, Winston had closed the ten paces between them, and his hand was now clamped around her wrist.

“Let go of me!” she gasped.

Winston plucked the knife out of her hand as though she were a child and with a flick of his wrist, tossed the knife up twenty feet onto the roof of a nearby building.

“There,” he sighed, and released her. “Come along, Louis, let’s get going.”

Louis hurried past the woman and caught up with his boss. “Are you just going to let her keep your money?” he hissed.

“Yes,” Winston replied as they rounded a corner. “I think I owe her that much.”

Louis’ jaw dropped. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I noticed her staring at you in the inn this morning,” Winston replied. “She must have been waiting for an opportunity to mug or kidnap you.”

Louis’ eyes bulged. “Me?”

“Yes,” Winston nodded. “The inn we’re staying in isn’t cheap, as you might have guessed, and you looked like a fish out of water. You were an easy mark. Fortunately for us, you never left the inn, or who knows what might have happened.”

“She was there for the whole day?” Louis blurted.

“So it seems,” Winston replied. “She was waiting for her chance to pounce. I was careless and gave her the money as a lesson to myself.”

A chill ran down Louis’ spine. Cities were dangerous. He vowed never to set foot in one again. “How are we going to get back to Chalybe without any money?” Louis asked at length.

“We’ll have to visit Carson in the morning to make another withdrawal,” Winston sighed. “Chartering a wagon last minute is going to be difficult, but it can’t be helped.”

“Say, Mister Weaver, haven’t we been down this street before?” Louis asked as he looked around.

“Quiet now, please,” Winston said, pressing his finger to his lips as they approached an intersection.

As they drew nearer the intersection, they could hear an argument coming from the next alley followed by a dull thud.

“You couldn’t even take a pair of yokels hostage!” someone growled angrily. “I could have made enough to retire off those two if you hadn’t screwed up!”

Winston and Louis peered carefully around the corner and saw a tall, muscular man standing over their mugger’s prone figure. The man picked Winston’s coin pouch off the ground and opened it. “Just think about how much he must be worth if he’s willing to hand over this much so easily.”

“I’m sorry,” the girl muttered. Her hood was pulled back now, and Louis could see that she was around his age. “He was as quick as a snake.”

“That’s because you were careless, girlie,” the man growled before kicking her savagely in the ribs. “I’m keeping this and fining you the same again for your screw up.”

The girl bit her lip and tears welled in her eyes.

“Serves her right,” Louis grunted. His stomach turned when he realized Winston was no longer standing next to him.

“That money is hers,” Winston said as he approached the pair. “I gave it to her.”

The man looked up and broke into a toothy smile. “Ah good,” he sneered, “I can show her how it’s done.”

“Give her back her money and no one needs to get hurt,” Winston warned.

The man smiled and ambled up to Winston. The man’s fists looked like they were bigger than Winston’s head as they hung loose by his side. Once he was in range, he unleashed a powerful haymaker aimed at Winston’s head. The wiry bartender’s hands moved in a blur, and before either his opponent or Louis knew what was going on, Winston had flipped the man and sent him crashing to the ground.

Moving quickly, Winston planted his knee on the man’s sternum. The man threw his fists wildly at Winston, who swatted his blows away like he was dealing with an unruly child. Then, with pinpoint precision, Winston delivered a sharp punch to the man’s chin, knocking him out cold. The wiry bartender then retrieved his coin pouch from the man’s belt and walked over to the still prone girl and handed it to her.

She attempted to snatch the pouch out of Winston’s hand, but he held fast. “I suppose you think you’ve done me a favour?” the girl asked bitterly.

“I’m sorry if I poked my nose in where it didn’t belong,” Winston offered. By now, Louis had come out from his hiding place and was standing close to his boss.

The girl looked over at the man’s limp body with tears in her eyes. “Don’t you know who he is?”

When Winston shook his head, she laughed bitterly. “He’s the head of the biggest gang in the city and he’s going to think I set him up. I won’t be able to show my face here again.”

“Then come work for me,” Winston offered.

“Excuse me?” the girl and Louis asked in unison.

“I run a small inn up in the mountains and could use another hand,” Winston said, still holding onto the coin pouch.

“We aren’t even close to that busy,” Louis protested. “Besides, how can you trust her?”

“The way I see it, I took this coin pouch back, so it’s mine again,” Winston continued. “I am willing to let you have it in exchange for… let’s say a year of work.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “She’ll be the best paid innkeeper’s assistant from here to the Holy City!”

“And in that year, you will not steal from me, my inn, or my customers,” Winston added. “Do we have a deal?”

The girl’s eyes widened. “For that much money? Of course you do.”

Winston smiled. “What’s your name?”

The girl hesitated before replying. “Stephanie.”