B1 Chapter 11 - Worry

“Alexis!” Samantha shouted when she saw me.

I tried to steel my poker face. I cleaned the blood off of myself, and I needed to give off a sense that I didn’t know what happened.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking at her clear face of distress.

“Tabitha got attacked, we can’t find her,” she said.

“What?” I shouted. “What about Jackie?”

“She’s back at the shelter. I was waiting out here in case you came back,” she said.

“We should go look for-”

Samantha grabbed my hand. “No. The guard and the guild are already looking. They think an oni may be in the forest.”

“An oni?” I asked. I didn’t know anything about them.

“Yeah, they found a common wolf, but its skull was crushed in. Not something a digger rat or a horned rabbit would manage.”

“Aren’t horned rabbits good at spiking things?” I asked.

“No puncture though, and it was from an upward angle, not a downward one,” she added.

“I see,” I said. Crap. Well, I guess I hit it too hard. “Where do oni live normally?”

“Caves. The guild and guards are searching the guilds. They found a blood trail last I heard.”

Oh crap. No, I couldn’t do anything. Trying to warn her would be the worst thing I could do. If they saw me, that would invite tons of suspicion on me with basically no gain. I would have to believe in my mother.

Some men came out of the forest. I didn’t recognize any of them.

“Anything?” Samantha asked.

“No, not yet,” one said. He sat beside us and grabbed a rag from a bucket to wipe his forehead.

“Should we get Nancy?” I asked.

Samantha shook her head. “She is already out there. Nancy said she is equal to a rank-seven adventurer. So she felt the need to look too.”

“What can we do?” I asked.

She gestured for me to follow her. She poured some fresh water into a bucket. “We have to do the busy work for those who are in the forest. The guild is cooking for the adventurers. You wanna go get the food?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” I said.

The guild was nearby, so it wasn’t that long of a walk. Cecilia and Allura were at the front. I thought Cecilia was off today.

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“Anything about Tabitha?” Cecila ran to ask.

I shook my head. “Nothing yet, but have faith. Everything will be okay. Is the food ready?”

“Yeah,” Allura said. “At least the first batch.”

She carried a full backpack over to me. “Thanks.”

“You wanna go to?” Allura asked Cecilia.

She shook her head. “I can’t do anything there. I can at least make more food here.”

Back by the south gate, I pulled off the bag and handed sandwiches to the men resting. Some men also came from the town and asked for a sandwich and water before preparing to get into the forest.

“How much longer do you think they can manage?” I asked.

One of the resting men sipped some water and then spoke up. “Until dark. We’d try and search beyond that, but if we can’t find her in good light, it isn’t going to be likely at dark.”

“About two hours to dark?” I asked.

“Two to twilight, they will probably keep going for another three.”

Come on Mom. Stay hidden. You can manage. I believe in you.

Hours passed, and everyone returned slowly. I saw Jackson and Nancy together. They both ran up and hugged me. “Thank goodness.”

“Alexis! You're a guild receptionist! Why were you gathering in the forest?” Jackson shouted.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to worry you,” I said.

“Let us get back to the shelter,” Nancy said.

“What about Tabitha?” I asked.

Nancy shook her head. “A few adventurers will look tomorrow, but given how much blood we found, she is probably gone. The day after tomorrow, if we don’t hear anything, we will hold a memorial for her.”

I didn’t say anything. I just followed. I was relieved to realize they didn’t find her. “What about the oni?”

“That’s the adventure's job now,” Nancy said.

I ran up to her and returned her knife. She returned it to whatever pocket she usually kept it hidden.

Back at the shelter, a few women and a child were out front. The child ran up at us screaming. “Where is Momma!”

Nancy squatted down and held the girl. “Tilly, I’m sorry. We tried to find her.”

“Why did you stop?” Tilly screamed.

I came by and picked Tilly up. “It isn’t over yet. Tonight isn’t the time to cry. Your mom is strong. Believe in her.”

“Alexis,” Nancy said.

I get it. She didn’t want me to give her false hope. But the thing is. I knew it wasn’t false hope. Tabitha was alive when my mother started treating her. And she wasn’t found. Everything was good.

I took Tilly to her bed and began telling her bedtime stories from when I was a child. In particular was the story of an elf and a dwarf. The elf was worried that the town of humans wouldn’t accept him for his long ears. The dwarf overhead this and laughed. But to try to convince the elf to go to the human town, he agreed to make a fuss for the humans. That way, the elf could come down and chase the dwarf away.

The humans were happy to have the elf’s help and celebrated him. I always thought it was beautiful how nice the dwarf was to help the elf. It took five more stories, but eventually Tilly got some sleep. Nancy came and noticed what I managed. We walked over to my own bed.

“I didn’t realize you were good with kids,” Nancy said.

“I didn’t know I was either, I just thought of when people I love died and what I wanted, and I tried to do that,” I said.

Nancy yawned. “We should get some sleep too.”

“Yeah,” I lied. I had no intention of sleeping anytime soon. What I needed, though, was for her to think I was asleep. I needed to get to Tilly in the middle of the night. She deserved to be with her mom.