Jyri had missed the taste of food from his homeland. It was much better. As they ate, Corvin had ended up in a casual conversation with a waiter about the Wanted poster in the window.
Apparently their original crime was looking and acting strange. But the crime that earned them a poster, was running away from the police. That changed a lot of things.
First, the group worried about seeming too interested in the men, reluctant to even ask about where anyone would have seen them, in case people thought they were associated with them. Who knew what would happen if that happened.
But where could Shawn and Oliver have run off to? Jyri had a feeling the two men probably panicked at the sight of the officers, ran in the safest direction, then got lost navigating the city. They wouldn’t have cared about how to get home. They would have only cared about escaping. And once they made their escape, they would have gotten lost. And if they were running away, they couldn’t have stopped to ask anyone here for help.
“They’re probably looking for people in another town to help them,” Jyri said. “Who knows what direction they went.”
“We need to go back and tell the others what happened,” Corvin said.
“But that’s a far walk. And then we’d have to walk back here anyway,” Faye said.
“And what of Jessica?” Jyri asked. “Is she still in town? Or did she go off looking for Shawn and Oliver? Did she get caught and is in jail?” The waiter mentioned nothing about a woman in his story.
“Maybe one of us should stay here, in case Jessica is still wandering around.” Jyri looked towards Corvin. As much as Jyri would rather look for Jessica than the two men, it wasn't fair to drag Corvin all across the country. But if Jyri and Faye were to wander around alone, they would need money eventually. And Corvin was the only one with money that worked in this world.
“I’ll find the Lavina and the others, and tell them what’s going on. Then we’ll come back here and keep an eye out for this Jessica.” Corvin pulled a wallet out from his pocket, and counted out a bunch of bills. “Take this. Pay me back when you can.”
“We don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” Jyri said. “Or if we’ll even make it back.”
“You’ll make it back. Maybe not with anyone, but you will.” Corvin clasped Jyri’s shoulder. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”
Jyri and Faye watched Corvin walk away. Once he was out of sight, Jyri and Faye sat at a bench to figure out what to do next.
“If only we knew what direction they went in,” Faye muttered. “Where they were last seen running.”
“The poster said they were last seen around Magnolia and Marigold,” Jyri said. “Maybe there’s clues there.”
“Where are those streets though?”
Jyri looked at a road sign a few feet away. “Apparently we’re on Magnolia right now.” He saw an elf walk by, and called towards him. “Excuse me.”
The elf looked at him. “Yes?”
“Do you know what direction Marigold is?”
The elf pointed to the left.
Jyri thanked him, and he and Faye made their way to Marigold. They were only a couple blocks away from it.
The two studied the area. To their right, there was a wide, open area with a fountain children were playing in. Marigold itself started at Magnolia. It appeared to be a side street with small shops. They walked down it, and spotted an alleyway. Could they have ran through there, out of sight? Jyri spotted a back door. He walked over and tried it. Locked.
“This is hopeless.” Faye had her attention on the street ahead. It looked as though it went on forever. Not to mention, it contained more cross streets. They could have gone down any one of them.
The police lost them in this one spot. They would have seen them if they continued going straight. “I have a feeling they ran down here.”
He and Faye walked down the alleyway. It opened into another side street. Could they have gone inside any of the shops? The closest one sold bags. Jyri spotted another wanted sign in the window.
“We’re near the edge of town,” Faye said, staring straight ahead. The cobblestone streets ended, as did the cluster of buildings. “Wouldn’t they have wanted to get out of town as fast as they could? And it would have been dark at the time they ran away. They would have used it to hide.”
If they were smart enough to think that way. Despite Jyri's doubt in their intelligence levels, it was a good possibility. “They would have been able to catch their breath, and find a place to sleep for the night. They wouldn’t have wanted to try finding another town in the dark.”
“They would have wanted a fresh start in the morning,” Faye said. “I bet that’s what happened.”
Jyri looked at the sun, low in the sky. “And that’s what we’re probably gonna end up doing ourselves. Let’s get to it then.”
After what felt like an hour, Jyri and Faye arrived at a lake. Off in the lake’s horizon, the sun had begun to set.
“This looks like a good place to stop. Maybe they were here,” Faye said.
A wallet on the ground caught Jyri’s eye. He picked it up, and opened it to see a tiny picture of Shawn’s face staring back at him. Above it was the word “California” with an address to the side of it. Jyri guessed it was some sort of I.D. card that belonged to Shawn. “You’re right.”
“What’s that?” Faye frowned at the wallet.
“It’s Shawn’s.” Jyri held it down to show her. “It’s his picture. And these cards in here. They have his name on them.” He pulled out a card with a line of embossed numbers across it. “Shawn D. Carnegie” was printed below it.
“What’s Shawn’s wallet doing on the ground?” Faye asked. “Do you think something happened to him?”
Jyri’s first guess was, it fell out of his pocket. But other possibilities came to mind. Shawn looking for something in his wallet. Something spooked him, he dropped it and ran away. Someone pick-pocketed him, and dropped the wallet after seeing there wasn’t any money that worked in this universe. Worse yet, someone caused Shawn physical harm, possibly murder, and stole his wallet. Then, dropped it when they found nothing good in it.
What was even in it? Jyri thumbed through the contents but only found green bills that were worthless here, and several other cards with numbers on them. Nothing else.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Jyri said. “It's likely someone pick-pocketed him and dropped the wallet once they realized there was nothing worth taking from it. That's it.”
“This is a strange place for pick-pocketing,” Faye said. “Nobody’s out here. A pick-pocket would be where there’s people.”
Jyri remembered Faye’s past experiences as a pick-pocket. She’d be one to know. “So you think there’s a different reason his wallet is here?”
“Probably. Shawn and Oliver would be easy targets for thieves. But I can’t see why thieves would be hanging around here, unless they’re already traveling and came upon them. It’s more likely Shawn dropped it.”
“Why would Shawn drop it?” Jyri asked. “Why would he even have it out to begin with?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Jyri slipped the wallet into his pocket. “We should look around and see if they’re still here.”
The lake and its surrounding area was large. It took them nearly a half hour to search the perimeter of it. They found nothing else of interest. Either the men were buried somewhere by some murderer, or they had moved on.
“I’m about ready to give up on ever finding them,” Faye said, flopping down under a tree. “It’s not our fault they’re stupid enough to go through a portal they don’t know anything about.”
“We kind of did that ourselves,” Jyri said.
“We knew what we were getting ourselves into. Oliver and Shawn are just a couple of snoops who can’t mind their own business. They deserve what they get.”
There was no arguing against that. And Jyri was tired of searching. His feet ached, and sweat covered his body. All he wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and lay in bed. But he couldn’t leave Jessica behind. A lot of his concern and worry was for her. And why had she gone through the portal?
“You’re worried about Jessica, aren’t you?”
Jyri nodded. “I can give up on Shawn easily. I feel obligated to Oliver, but I also wouldn’t have a hard time giving up on finding him. Jessica has been a good friend though. I can’t give up on her. What if she’s in trouble?”
“I don’t know,” Faye said. “But maybe tomorrow we should go back to tell the others what’s going on. For all we know, maybe one of them found something out. Maybe Jessica is with them.”79Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuploAssINn
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