Last Clues

The town was busy with many stalls that were strewn around the streets calling for the best deals. Gwen did her best to dodge them, but she was curious since she didn't get to have the time to come down and fully explore. Maybe one day when it was a good day too. She was about to get off track when Riley pointed out that they were going down another alleyway.

They split up into two groups where Gwen, Riley, and Cassian were in one group while Amos, Bronx, and Silas along with Cosette were in the other. Gwen ducked under the large bedsheets that were drying up on the clothesline that spread out from the building to the next in the cramped alleyway that existed underneath.

Gwen squeezed her thighs tighter together to try and get a grip since she could feel the odd atmosphere that was unsettling. The officers patrolling the town would turn a blind eye to the alleyways that were hidden away which she didn't blame them for, but it also lead to an unlivable environment for those who were stowed away.

Cassian slowed down his horse next to Gwen's, and Gwen glanced over at Dawn, who was reluctantly holding onto Cassian.

"Where did you see Zinnia last?" Cassian asked.

"She was in the basement shed of the last building to the right," Gwen answered.

Gwen hoped that they got to her before the other people did but were unfortunately too late when she arrived at the building and frowned when she saw the wooden cover gate, flapping open widely, exposing the damp underground tunnel that normally held various crates of food left to ferment.

She gasped when she smelt the area waft up to her nose, and she cringed and waved her hand away when Riley approached her. Riley got down from his horse first, giving her hand that was lifted as a warning a high five, and surveyed the area closely with a lantern, going in head first.

Gwen laughed at his out-of-the-box action and watched as Riley went in deeper while she kept her guard up in case there were any other surprises. Cassian helped Dawn down, and she went around the corner to point at the tiny hole in the fence.

"I escaped through here," Dawn said. "There's a possibility that Zinnia was able to as well."

Riley hopped up from the basement level and clipped the lantern back onto his horse. "I'll go check it out."

He jumped and got a secure hold of the white fence before throwing one leg over and hopping over the fence. Gwen jumped up as well, but Cassian brought Gwen back to her horse.

"Let's go from the street over," Cassian said calmly.

Gwen sighed. "I guess that would work too."

She grabbed the reins of Riley's horse after getting on hers and immediately went over to the next street, weaving in between the crowd, trying her best to not run anyone over or expose her identity. She was able to leave with a shawl on, but the wind was proving to be her best enemy since it kept on moving the fabric out of place.

Gwen steered her horse sharply to the right and sighed when she once again came at another tall fence. Turning over her shoulder, she saw Cassian get stuck behind a large carriage and knew that it would take some time before they were able to get to her.

Tying the reins of the horses to a nearby metal pipe in a prim knot, Gwen sighed and was able to balance her weight on top of her stallion to try and get over the fence. Her foot was shaking back on the horse was shaking, but she only needed to take the first step to truly get over.

She carefully drew her legs up, bringing the fabric of her dress over, making sure that it would not get caught in the spikes of the fence before jumping over. She glanced down to see how far she was going to fall, but it wasn't bad since there were flowerbeds right at her feet.

Landing on soft grass, the impact was not as bad as she thought, but her hands caught herself just as she was about to face plant into the hard cobblestone streets. Her legs did take most of the impact, and she slowly pulled herself up.

Blowing out a breath, Gwen straightened her skirts to cover her feet and tied the shawl around her head tighter before surveying the area. She shook out her foot from the sting that was running up her legs and hopped down from the flowerbeds onto the street.

There was nothing interesting about the street at all or anything out of place with the lanterns hanging overhead and the cracked stone of the buildings, and Gwen brought her hands under her arms as she walked down further. "Riley!"

An overlay of crickets sounding should have gone off since Gwen got no reply, and she sighed before running down to the end of the street to see what was there. Her heel met the hard stone underneath, propelling her body forward, and she rounded the corner she slowed to a stop when she was about to launch right into the small river that ran through the town.

"Riley!" she called again.

"Your Grace!"

Her head swiveled to the side to see Riley down on the banks, and she ran toward Riley who was pulling Zinnia out of the small river banks but was blocked by the stone walls and no way to get down from the ledge where she was at. Frantically searching for a way in, Gwen found a small gate that fishermen used on the bridge and hopped down to the white sand.

Gwen covered her mouth in shock when the woman who was pale and running blue was brought out from the water. Riley placed the woman to the ground before trying to breathe life back into her, and Gwen spun back around and looked up when she heard Dawn scream in horror.