I pulled back sharply, but not before I smelled the drink lingering on his breath. A straggler, returning from a night’s revelry.
My abrupt backward movement made my cloak and skirt swish out, around the corner. The man’s eyes, which had looked dazed and confused, sharpened as he caught sight of the gold fabric.
“That’s a mighty fine dress for these parts.” His cackle matched the unpleasant gleam in his eye. “Gold as the sun!”
Fear shot through me. Not because of the man himself—he looked like he was barely staying upright, and I was confident I could easily fend him off and escape if he attempted to rob me. My fear came from the volume of his voice. Anyone within two blocks must have heard him.
I tried to retreat, but he lunged around the corner, grabbing my arm and pulling me around after him. I wrenched myself free, and the sudden motion upset his balance. He fell backward, landing on his rear and staring up at me in bewilderment.
I ignored him, staring down the street instead. The last of the thieves had paused, looking back at us. The corner they were rounding was close this time, and he wasn’t far away—easily close enough for me to see his eyes slowly narrow as he stared at me. For a moment, we all remained frozen, then the thief called something to the others, turning back to move toward me.
I fled.
A shout behind me accompanied running footsteps, hurrying in pursuit. The drunk was calling something—either protest or encouragement, I couldn’t tell—but he was drowned out by the sound of the thieves.
Wishing I’d taken the time to swap my dancing slippers for sturdier footwear, I retraced my steps, instinctively fleeing for home. But a glance over my shoulder made me rethink my plan.
There were eight of the thieves, and at least two of them were tall, their long legs eating up the distance between us. Even if I could stay ahead of them long enough to make it home, I couldn’t risk leading them there. As soon as they realized it was one of the houses with a mark, they would guess the truth.
The rush of the river water reached my ears, giving me another idea. Swerving, I dived down a side street, popping out in front of the water. I fled up the length of the riverbank, dodging crates and early risers. Several yelled after me, but I ignored them.
The miller shouldn’t be at work yet, so the mill would be deserted. If I could just get into it before the thieves drew close enough to see where I’d gone…
I ran dangerously near the edge of the river—thankful this stretch was paved. The mill loomed in front of me, the enormous wheel jutting out into the water of the river. It was cradled between the straight wall of the building which lay flush with the river and a small half wall of stone which extended out from the building and then ran down the other side of the wheel.
Without pausing to judge the distance of the leap, I launched off the riverbank and jumped for the half wall. I landed squarely, swaying slightly before I caught my balance. Thank goodness I had spent so many of my rest days here. Kali and I had made the leap many times, sent by the miller to remove some piece of debris jamming the wheel.
I scurried along the thin top of the wall, reaching the end of it and making the right angle turn toward the building. A single large step brought me to the wall itself, and I braced myself against it, trying to catch my breath even as I kept moving.
Crouching, I looked for the hole, well above the level of the river. The miller had been talking about patching it for years, but he never seemed to find the time. Kali said it was because he thought the crown should fix it—given they owned all the city mills and only rented them out to the local millers.
Whatever the reason, I had never been so glad to see a damaged wall. The gap was slim, too small for any but the most petite adult. I couldn’t hear footsteps over the sound of the river, but a quick glance back up the shore showed movement coming in my direction.
I pulled my cloak around me, hoping they were too far to have seen where I went. Diving for the hole, I committed myself to the maneuver—the only way to successfully make it as Kali had shown me. My top half disappeared in, my middle catching on the rough stone. I lay there—half in, half out—for a moment before I managed to wiggle the rest of the way through.
I collapsed on the floor, panting. Kali and I hadn’t entertained ourselves with the daring jump for at least a year, and it was starting to get tight. I wouldn’t fit through much longer. But I had made it this time, and that was what mattered.
Scraping myself up off the floor, I made my way around the heavy machinery to peer through the small, dirty window beside the locked front door. The thieves had stopped not far away. I had hoped they would continue chasing after me in the direction they thought I’d gone, but they’d clearly stopped after losing sight of me, too clever to fall for such a simple trick.
The captain was several strides away, conversing with a local man, and I desperately tried to remember if he’d been there when I ran past myself. Had he seen me?
The captain finished his conversation and rejoined his men. “That fisherman said he saw a girl going into the mill.”
I spun away from the window, standing with my back to the wall, my breath coming fast.
“The mill?” The speaker sounded confused, and from the sound of his voice, he’d turned to face the building.
They’d found me, after all. They must suspect I’d been following them—that I had some connection to the house and family they were searching for—but would they go as far as breaking into the mill?
CHAPTER18
Acreaking sound on the far side of the building made me start. It was followed by the sound of a door closing. Flinging myself across the mill floor, I sprinted for the small back door that opened into a side room.
The heavy footsteps of a tall man had already exited the room by the time I arrived, but one person still stood there, hanging two outer jackets on hooks by the door.
I leaped forward and clapped my hand across Kali’s mouth, stifling the inevitable squeal.
“Zaria!” she shrieked into my hand. “What are you doing here?”