Even though it wasn't as large or flashy as the Crown Hotel, the inn, which provided for many travellers passing by, was well received by all the people, leading to massive crowds lingering inside, eating, drinking, and singing merry tunes. When they entered, a blast of noise shot out at them like a cannonball. Hearty laughter erupted from several tables, sweet scents oozed out from the kitchen, and, most unsurprisingly, mugs of foaming beer floated around to each table. It was as if the inn had blocked out suffering, gloominess, and despair from within its walls.
Sigerson glanced around, making sure they weren't being followed or overheard, and told Evelyn in an undertone, "Stay here for now; I'll go up to our room, where we'll be staying, and discuss some things with my fiancée. Although she already knows who you are, it's best if she doesn't see your face; after all, she's in constant contact with Blight, so…"
"You really don't trust people easily, do you?"
"Not at all," he replied unsmilingly.
Sigerson ascended up the stairs, and soon vanished among the corridors on the upper floor.
Evelyn sighed and sat down in a chair, feeling rather dejected. While it was true Sigerson had written everything she needed to know on the slip of paper back at the hotel, she always felt like something was intentionally missing, a small detail or clue that was withheld from her. Blight's words constantly came back to haunt her.
Can you understand him? Never reveals everything…
"Hey there, young missy!" called one of the men playing cards at a table. "Care to join us for a game?"
"Maybe if you're lucky, you'll win a few coins too!" jeered another.
The men exploded with laughter, slapping the table loudly. Finally, ignoring their ridicule and deciding that a bit of extra money would help them greatly on their journey, she made her way around the maze of tables and marched up to their table, which surprised all four of them for a brief moment.
"If I play and win, then I'll take twenty sovereigns; but if I lose, I'll give you twenty. Deal?"
They had stopped laughing; her curt manner of speech caught them off guard, causing them to stay silent. The man that seemed to be the most experienced player stood up and said to Eveln, "We'll play but if you win—" He slammed a box of coins onto the table. "—I'll pay you double the amount you named."
Being a head taller, he bent down until his eyes, brimming with confidence, were level with Evelyn's.
"Let's start, then."
She sat down. The men turned to each other, unsure of what to do, then one of them shuffled the deck and dealt the cards to each player. As the cards were coming around, the man asked with mock politeness, his round spectacles shining in the light, "I'm assuming you know how to play whist?"
"Yes, if we're playing by standard rules."
Every card was dealt; all that was left was to decide on the teams.
"Josiah, you're with the newcomer. Amberton, you're with me. Let's begin. Win two games out of three, and I'll pay you both accordingly."
The game had begun. During the first few minutes, the man had made for himself a strong lead. Having already won the first few tricks rather easily, he grinned widely at Evelyn and taunted, "You might as well give up now, if all you're going to do is sit there."
Ignoring this, Evelyn continued to play calmly, and, for the first time in the game, noticed something strange. Whenever she played a card, it felt like the man knew what she was going to play. She glanced casually at the man, waiting to see his actions. There was a slight pause, then his eyes darted sideways subtly and returned to his cards.
That level of confidence and those glances… He could be cheating, but how? A reflection or a signal? That watch could work…
Tilting her cards by a small degree, Evelyn watched Amberton, who was next to her, intentionally but secretly. As she had expected, the man tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his partner shifted his watch, which nobody paid attention to except Evelyn, and the man played a perfect counter to their cards.
That was neither luck nor skill; this man and Amberton are both cheating, but what can I do to stop them? I think the only thing I can do now is to quickly win and leave; otherwise, it may cause us to lose money…
The game continued on, all four players concentrating intensely on their cards. The first game had gone to Amberton and his partner fairly easily, the second game to Evelyn and Josiah, outscoring the opposition by a fairly small margin. Now, the final game had started, and dominated by Amberton and the spectacled man once again. Remaining calm, Evelyn evaluated the cards played and the remaining tricks to be played.
Let's see… Thirty two cards have been played… three have been aces, so I'm the only one with an ace… The trump suit is spades, which makes my ace less valuable, since there are still eight cards of spades… Two are in my hand… That means the chances of the man having the same number or more trumps than me is about seventy percent… There are thousands of possible combinations and even more possible outcomes of this game; at least thirty two with us winning…
She looked down at her cards, still unsure of what to do.
I know my opponents are cheating and overconfident; if I can force them to play differently to their plans, it might be able to unsettle them and force them to make a mistake…
She placed her ace down. Amberton sneaked a peek at his partner, who looked even more confused than he was. He places his king of spades, which was exactly what Evelyn was waiting for.
Excellent. Now the chances of him having an equal or higher number of trumps than me is reduced to fifty seven percent. I have the highest card now, the queen of spades. The last four games are ours if Josiah plays his hand properly…
During the last few minutes of the game, Amberton, now anguished, turned to his partner and after receiving no answer, played the last few tricks terribly, resulting in Evelyn and Josiah's win. Absolutely stumped, the man got up sulkily, snatched up his box, and took out twenty golden coins, handing them out to Josiah. To Evelyn, he also gave twenty.
"I thought you wagered forty," she reminded him.
"But you asked for twenty," said the man pragmatically. "Take it or leave it."
Evelyn smiled and walked around the table to the man. She whispered into his ear, "You were cheating, weren't you?"
The man's face turned a pallid white, his glasses quivering.
"You and Amberton were working together; you could see my cards through his watch's reflection. It wouldn't be a pretty sight if I told the people you cheated against the truth, would it?"
"What do you want?" he whispered back hoarsely.
"Just give me the forty sovereigns, and I'll leave you alone."
"Take it."
He pulled out twenty more coins and left them on the table, then left the inn hastily, causing Amberton to get up and follow him. Evelyn scooped up the coins eagerly, brought them to another table, and started to count the money, when a voice behind her said, "Nicely played."
She whirled around, seeing the face of her cousin grinning at her.
"Those men that just left, they were cheating, weren't they? The one with the glasses was using his partner's watch to cheat and see your cards, correct?"
"That's right. You saw him stare at the watch, didn't you?"
"No," replied Sigerson, his hands behind his back. He straightened up and turned to the table where they had been playing cards.
"See that lamp? It shined right above Amberton, his partner. Whenever the flame flickered and dimmed, Mr Patrick Hartland's precision fell significantly. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that he was seeing something that would greatly help him, most likely a reflection or signal. When I looked closer, I saw Amberton's watch reflect a glimpse of your cards and knew he was cheating."
"Hold on—did you say Patrick Hartland? Isn't he working with Blight?"
"Yes, he is, but I highly doubt he knew who you were, judging from his lack of reaction. He's a heavy gambler who's famous here for hardly losing a game, so it's not a surprise that we bumped into him here. Besides, Elena told me he had just visited Blight this afternoon, so I could predict he would be here."
While they walked up to their room upstairs, Evelyn suddenly remembered Sigerson's predicament.
"What about your fiancée, Will? Is it safe to leave her here?"
"She's fine. I've given her instructions on what to do in my absence."
Still feeling uncertain, Evelyn entered the room after Sigerson had already drawn the curtains, blocking the moon's light from shining in.
"Sleep as much as you can, because tomorrow, we'll be taking the sleeper train straight to Alms."
With that said, Sigerson crawled into his bed and instantly fell asleep. Evelyn, however, decided to take a bath to relax her mind. She still had no idea what Sigerson was planning to do. Was it right to trust him with something as important as her life?
"There's no point in worrying," she told herself countless times.
After getting out and drying her hair, she too lay under the soft covers, the warm glow of the oil lamp easing her to sleep.
—
Sigerson woke with a jolt. Hurriedly snatching up his watch from his coat, he checked the time and breathed a sigh of relief; it was only three o'clock. He climbed out of bed, fully refreshed after a few hours of sleep, and took a shower quickly before his cousin woke up. By the time Evelyn did wake, Sigerson was comfortably sitting on his bed, fully dressed and enjoying a mug of coffee quietly.
When he realised that Evelyn was awake, he told her to take a shower first, then eat a light breakfast, before they were to leave for the train, while he fixed some things around their room. Bacon and muffins were laid out onto the table for them, which were taken gladly, then after they had eaten their fill, Sigerson lifted the trunk up, and they left. While they were strolling to the train station, Sigerson explained as much as time would permit.
"I booked a spot in that inn weeks before we arrived, so we had somewhere to stay. I was aware of the fact that we might be forced out of our home, so I prepared everything we needed to travel beforehand and waited for it to happen; if we weren't attacked two nights ago, I would still come here anyways, away from Sodor where Blight would expect us to escape.
Since he played the first move and sent those ruffians to our home, he'll think that we have little to no preparations beforehand and still believe he has the upperhand. We can then travel to Alms via the sleeper train before he realises our plans, understand?"
"Yes, yes," Evelyn replied huffily, as she tried to keep up with Sigerson's long strides in her dress. "But he mentioned to me, if I remember correctly, the option of escaping by the trains you've just mentioned. Doesn't that mean he could easily still track us down if we take the train?"
"No—I've thought about that as well. I've set everything up so that it looks as if we were still staying at the inn. I've put an identical suitcase inside, filled with both of our belongings inside as well as a large amount of money, which no one would expect us travellers to leave behind. Along with that, there are two other pieces of evidence that will lead the hunters astray. I've left a piece of cloth thickly folded that has a moderate amount of ice in it that is left on a rack in the bathroom; if anyone goes to investigate, they'll assume that one of us recently applied water to the cloth due to the dampness of the ice melting.
A delayed fuse was also attached to the candle I was handling earlier today; by the time the maid comes in to clean the room during the evening, it would just have started to burn, making the maid believe that we had only lit it a few minutes ago. When they open the door, any ashes left behind by the fuse should blow away, leaving the illusion completely intact. Since everything is set to make it look like we had stayed in the room all this time, everyone would expect us to leave by tonight, but instead–"
He checked his watch.
"—we'll be gone before the sun rises. This way, Evie."
Leading the way, Sigerson chose the most deserted and unnoticed alleys he could recall from emory, preventing people from seeing them. At last, the sound of trains emerged through the brick buildings and the station, already buzzing with activity, even with the sun unrisen.
A speeding train came rushing to the platform, creating a gust of wind which swept over the passengers standing there. The doors were opened. Everyone entered. The door shut again, and soon, the train left the station to continue on its journey.