Tina Chan - imperfect

Jaiden crossed his arms but didn’t try to convince Chelsa otherwise. Ghost stood up and nudged open the door connecting the TV room to the main room. The two girls silently crept outside. The cobblestone roads were slick with water, as it was drizzling.

“It’s about a twenty minute walk to the tavern,” Chelsa said out of the corner of her mouth.

“Do you think the weather’s going to worsen?”

“I don’t think so.”

Chelsa trudged on ahead with Kristi following her like a lost puppy. They met almost no other people out on the streets; the citizens either opted to stay indoors or travel by car. In a short span of time, Kristi’s sweatshirt was downright waterlogged. The heavy fabric hung awkwardly on her and the hood started to slip off her face.

“Hold on a second,” Kristi said and readjusted her covering.

“Hang in there,” said Chelsa. “We’re almost there.”

“How far is ‘almost there’?”

“Close.”

It turned out “almost there” meant ten minutes later. They finally arrived at the Troll’s Tavern. The tavern itself was located underground and only its sign and stairway leading down to its entrance was located at street level.

“Don’t forget, your name is Kelly and mine is Taylor,” Chelsa reminded Kristi of their cover names before entering the tavern.

“Got it. Let’s go inside.”

People were crammed into the Troll’s Tavern. Some customers were travelers; others were workers having a drink to celebrate a day off from work. Many were merchants, thieves and sailors. The sole bar girl was kept busy mixing drinks behind the counter. Kristi wondered if Wilson’s gang was around

The moose head mounted above the pub’s entrance swung its head from left to right. Several fireplaces roared merrily, casting strange shadows on the walls covered with knife marks. Rickety wooden chairs, tables and stools were scattered throughout the room without any apparent organization. Card games were being played everywhere and gambling for spending points seemed to be the main activity happening. The government had banned gambling three years ago; they deemed it to be “uncivilized.”

Chelsa nudged Kristi out of her daze. “Keep your eyes and ears open for any useful information. Tongues tend to start wagging after a few drinks.”

They stationed themselves in the corner and listened to the conversations around them.

“North Lane was blocked,” said a traveler to another. “Bandit activity was going on, I heard.”

“Wonder when the government’s going to stop the bandits for once and for all. I lost my droid-dog to an ambush,” the other traveler replied.

Both travelers looked weather-beaten and tired. A merchant wandered over to the two travelers. He had an odd-looking scar on his left cheek that resembled a fish. His eyes were coal-black, so dark Kristi couldn’t distinguish his pupil from his iris.

The merchant joined the talk. “I heard the number of bandits is growing. A lot of people want easy work and end up joining the bandits. I lost five hundred points worth of goods passing through Bald Head Rock trail.”

“Traveling isn’t safe anymore,” said the first traveler.

“Rumor is that the bandits are targeting the South Lanes as winter approaches. The South Lanes are always jam-packed with travelers heading to South Region to spend the winter. It’s going to be chaos along the roads if the bandits are indeed ambushing people along the South Lanes,” said the second traveler.

“All this worrying is making my head hurt,” muttered the first traveler.

“I know how to fix that problem,” the merchant said. Then he yelled, “Three beers!”

A harried looking girl brought over three bottles and turned to Kristi and Chelsa. “Would you like anything?”

“We’ll take two mugs of cider,” said Chelsa.

The merchant overheard Chelsa ordering the drinks. “What’s a fine girl like you doing in an underground tavern?” he asked.

“That is none of your business,” said Chelsa.

“Are you looking for something?”

“You wouldn’t have what I need.”

“At the right price, I can give you what you want.”

Kristi tugged on Chelsa’s sleeve and said into her ear, “I don’t trust him.”

“Me neither,” Chelsa replied in a low voice.

The merchant’s eyes lit upon Kristi for the first time. “What is this? Two underage girls in a pub?”

Ghost appeared besides Chelsa’s feet and bared his fangs. The merchant tried to kick the cat away, but Ghost evaded his foot and scratched his leg. Glaring at the protective droid, the merchant mumbled some curses under his breath and turned his attention back to the two travelers.

“Here are your drinks.” The serving girl reappeared. She frowned at Ghost, then looked at Chelsa and said, “I’m sorry, but we don’t allow droid-pets in here.”

“What droid-pet?” asked Chelsa. Ghost had vanished without a trace.

The girl blinked then shook her head. “Never mind. It’s been a long night and I think I’m starting to imagine things; I could’ve sworn there was a cat by your side just a second ago.”

Chelsa made a show of looking around. “Nope, I’m pretty sure you imagined it. I don’t see any droid-pets. How much for the ciders?”

“Four points.”

“Want to move to a different place?” Chelsa asked after paying. “There’s a free spot by the bar counter and another by the table beneath the moose head.”

Kristi nodded and got up. “I’ll take the spot by the counter.”

“Alright. Don’t get in trouble or else Jaiden might end up killing me.” Chelsa slipped through the crowded room; soon Kristi lost sight of her among the mass of people.

She left her empty mug on the chipped table then slowly shuffled to the unoccupied bar stool. After establishing some personal space from a leering sailor, she tuned into a soft discussion being held by two men dressed in dark clothing. Both had their faces covered and nobody seemed to be paying them any attention aside from her. She strained her ears to make out their words.

“They were caught. I still can’t believe it, that our best two members got caught.”

“I know. We need to find new recruits. Our numbers are dropping. Kelvin was badly injured three days ago. He barely escaped the bandits that attacked him. He’s still in the hospital recovering from three broken ribs, a concussion and a bad knife wound.”

The other man replied, “How many active members do we have left in the East Regions?”

“Fifty members, more or less. We need to ask the headquarters for replacements. Either that or we need to start recruiting more members, like I said before. The loss of Kyle and Shelly really hit us hard. They were so close on making a breakthrough on their case.”

Kristi perked up at the mention of Don and Maria’s real names. She debated whether she should make herself known to the two men, but decided against it. It was too risky to do so. She listened to their conversation with renewed interest.

“Who’s going to be taking up Shelly and Kyle’s case now?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I assume Tiffany will. She worked closely with Kyle and Shelly.”

Someone stumbled into Kristi, almost knocking her off the stool. She leapt off the chair as the person struck it with enough force to break bones. Kristi calmed her heartbeat and resituated herself, then refocused her attention back to the conversation. But her slight movements were noticed by one of the men.

“Hush up. We’re being observed.”

“Let’s go,” said his partner. They both stood up and exited the tavern.

Kristi silently cursed for not being more discreet. Nevertheless, she had gathered enough information to make the trek through the rain worth the trip to Troll’s Tavern.