Daphne began wandering around the town, leaving footprints in the thick snow that fell the night before. For all her words about wanting to find Maisie, she didn’t have a clue where to begin! Even in the light of day, she found it hard to differentiate most of the buildings. They were incredibly similar in size and build, and they all sported identical snow-white rooftops.
If she wanted to find a missing girl, where would she go to get information?
Her eyes scoured around before finally landing on a building further away. The innkeeper had pointed it out to her the night before, but she was tired and cold and didn’t pay much attention.
Now, she knew it was her best bet. She jogged quickly towards the tavern, her breath coming out in white clouds of smoke.
Only to be greeted with a ’Closed’ sign. Daphne frowned in disappointnt, but she still peered through the glass panels of the door to look for soone to ask.
"We’re closed for now, lassie. We only open in the evening." A gruff voice ca from behind her causing Daphne to jump in surprise.
"Sorry!" She turned around to see an old man in a long tattered coat and a gray scarf wrapped around his neck. It complented his fearso beard that was graying at the edges, giving Daphne the impression she was eting a winter bear.
"Don’t see fancy folk like ya around here before," the man said as he looked over Daphne suspiciously. "Must be nice to be warm."
Daphne had packed for a royal visit, hence even her most casual dress made her stick out like a sore thumb. In her defense, she didn’t expect to be stranded in a random town. She could only give an awkward laugh in response.
"Hi Sir, yes, I’m just passing through." Daphne asked, making sure to look as non-threatening as possible, "Do you own this tavern?"
"I ain’t selling!" The man imdiately snarled.
Daphne quickly shook her head. "No no, I’m not interested in your tavern. I’m looking for soone. A young girl. Do you think you can help ?"
The man narrowed his eyes and opened the door. "Co in then. Quickly. Yer attracting too much attention."
Daphne quickly followed him inside as the man made his way behind the tavern counter, wiping it clean with a dirty rag. The tavern was deserted, but there was still the stench of alcohol and a faint sll of vomit in the air. Broken furniture lay around the room. Daphne wrinkled her nose in distaste.
"Out with it. Yer looking for a girl? Join the club."
"Yes. She is my friend. She is around this tall and has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen ..." Daphne began to describe Maisie in as much detail as possible, hoping for so hint of recognition in the tavern owner’s eyes.
Halfway through Daphne’s retelling, the man had already lit a cigar. He was steadily puffing at it, and for the most part, looking anywhere but at Daphne. He did cast her a few glances here and there whenever she ntioned sothing too ridiculous but otherwise kept silent.
"The girl you described," he said, breathing out heavily. A puff of smoke left his lips, wafting over to Daphne’s face, who fanned it away imdiately. "Every girl ’ere be looking like that. How yer so sure she’s the one yer be looking for?"
Daphne pursed her lips. That was what Atticus and Jonah had said too. Brown hair was common, and so was the haircut that Maisie had. She couldn’t be sure that it was Maisie that she saw that night other than the fact that her gut feeling told her so.
But surely a random man on the streets wouldn’t believe that.
"Are you able to help or not?" Daphne pressed. She didn’t have ti to waste if this man wasn’t going to give her any valuable information. She only had until sundown and every second was precious.
"Yer have to give sothing more than that," the man said with a disgruntled shake of his head. "Like this, nearly every family has a daughter or so cousin that looks like ’er."
Daphne took a deep breath. "She would have arrived within the week. Don’t tell you wouldn’t notice soone new appearing in town all of a sudden?"
She caught the barest glint of recognition in his eyes, but he quickly shook his head. "Nope. There’s no one like that, lassie. Ya should just give up and stop looking!"
"I would never!" Daphne exclaid, her eyes flashing in anger. "And you are lying to . I know you have soone in mind, I saw it in your eyes!"
The man quickly looked around shiftily. "I have no idea who yer talking about. Now go. I need to prepare for tonight."
Daphne nearly scread in frustration, but then she rembered she had sothing he could want. She dug through her pockets and revealed several gold coins. They glittered brilliantly even under the dim light of the tavern, and their shine was made even more obvious in contrast to the grimy bar counter.
"Is this enough to jog your mory?" Daphne asked icily.
The man licked his lips, but he was still hesitant. Daphne decided to go on the offensive.
"You can choose to take the coins and tell what you know, or I can go to the knights and they can question you in a warm cozy cell. Which is it going to be?"
The man swallowed.
"I’ll take the coins, ma’am." Now that he saw proof of her wealth and connections, his tune had changed considerably. However, he still looked around shiftily and gestured to Daphne to co closer so he could whisper in her ear.
"Walls have ears, ma’am. Don’t talk so loudly." He murmured, "And that girl yer talking about? There is soone like that. But if yer ask , yer shouldn’t be looking for her. There’s a scary man that keeps tailing her like he wants sothing bad. A rich ma’am like you shouldn’t be involved with such crooks." He shuddered as if recalling sothing unpleasant.
"Scary man? Tell more!" Daphne demanded, gripping the counter so tightly her knuckles turned white. Could Maisie have been kidnapped?
"That guy ca to the tavern for a drink. Hood over his head, even with the ad in him, like he’s so criminal. Broke five of my chairs ’cos soone called him ugly. Ain’t no decent person for sure. Caught him looking around, like he was looking for soone specifically."
"What did he look like?" Daphne asked curiously.
The man frowned as he tried to recall. "Couldn’t see his hair ’cos of the hood but I rember, ma’am, his upper lip here? Was split in two. Huge scar."
Daphne’s blood chilled as the mory of a man floated in her mind, her eyes widening with realization.
There was no doubt anymore. Maisie was in deep trouble and she had no ti to waste. She imdiately handed him the coins and dug her purse out for more.
"Do you know where she is?" Daphne asked, another pocket of gold in her hand. "I’ll give you all this if you take to her. This will definitely cover all your repairs, and allow you to live a peaceful life for the rest of your days if you so wish."
"Yer sure? Ma’am. That’s a dangerous man."
This ti, the man looked at her with a more conflicted gaze. Daphne held his eyes, and eventually, he nodded in reluctant agreent.
"Don’t say I didn’t warn ya. Follow ."
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