The Last Inn

  “Is everything ready?” Madame Elzwig asked.

  “Er, I think something’s come up,” Erin said, a little guiltily. “The lock on the luggage compartment, it’s, uh, a little faulty.”

  Madame Elzwig frowned and stood up in a massive movement that startled Erin. “If you will excuse me for a moment.”

  She swept out of the room, causing a moment of silence as the hikers looked up and then went back to their maps.

  Erin winced and thought that it might be a good idea to go to town now. She looked around and walked over to Miles, who was pouting.

  “Kota still upstairs?” she asked.

  “He’s probably asleep,” Miles said. “When is she leaving?”

  “Who, the Judge?” Erin paused and realized that was a stupid question. “Well, I think they were about to, but there’s something wrong with the lock on their carriage.”

  “Why, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s not there anymore.” Erin shook her head. “Look, I’ll tell you about it later. I just need to get Kota to watch the inn so I can run into town. Promise you won’t bite Elzwig while I’m gone?”

  Miles grimaced. “Like I would want to.”

  Erin went up the stairs and knocked on Kota’s door. When there was no reply, she knocked again and called, “Kota?”

  “I told you, he’s probably asleep,” Miles said behind her, causing Erin to jump. “You know, I could watch the place for you.”

  “Really?”

  The vampire shrugged. “If you’ll do something for me.”

  He saw the expression on Erin’s face and quickly said, “No, I mean, no, I just want to‒” Miles had to stop and start again. “Look, the stores in town, they stay open after dark, right?”

  “Yeah, since it started getting darker earlier,” Erin said. “They don’t really change their hours for the season.”

  “Then let me take Kota to town tonight, as soon as the sun sets,” Miles said.

  “Why?”

  “People are more likely to let me in if I’m not alone,” Miles said. He tapped one of his fangs and said, “I guess they feel safer when there are others around. Besides, Kota needs to get out more.”

  “Well, I guess as long as you can talk him into it,” Erin said. Secretly, she thought there was no way Kota would go anywhere alone with the vampire, but she didn’t want to say that if he was willing to keep an eye on the inn for her. “I shouldn’t be gone long, okay?”

  They walked down the stairs together, Erin giving Miles a string of instructions while he nodded along without any sign that he was even listening. She looked and saw Madame Elzwig outside, examining the carriage while her servant and driver stood by looking like boys caught at doing something wrong, and decided to leave through the kitchen instead, which now had a definite smell of pig. Erin looked at Miles.

  “Yeah, I’ll move her somewhere else,” he said without being asked.

  Erin stopped at the back door with her hand on the doorknob. “Hey, Miles? Do you really think there’s some kind of cure for Kota here?”

  The vampire stiffened, and took a moment to answer. “He seems to think there is one.”

  Erin turned around. “But what do you think?”

  They both turned their head at the sound of raised voices coming from the common room. It sounded like the hikers were having another argument, and with visible relief Miles said, “I’ll go and take care of that then? We can talk about this later.”

  He left before Erin could say anything and she gave up, for the moment. Outside she looked around for her bike, but there was no sign of it. She groaned as the memory of Kota riding up on it in the middle of town resurfaced, fuzzy like most of her memories of her time with the wayfarers. She’d completely forgotten about it with everything else, and she knew Kota had other things on his mind at the time.

  She would have had plenty of time to grumble on the walk into town if Madame Elzwig’s carriage had not pulled up alongside her a few minutes later. The servant, Neil, opened the door and looked out.

  “Ah, Miss Erin. Going into town?” he asked.

  “Y-yeah, I’m going to see my dad,” she said.

  “The blacksmith?” he smiled and said, “How fortuitous. We have some business for him, it seems.”

  “Oh. Right, sorry about that,” Erin said. She glanced at the dark interior of the carriage. “Is Madame Elzwig with you?”

  “No, she decided to remain at the inn while we made the commision,” he said, and Erin bit her lip. She wondered how Miles felt about that, and just had to hope there wouldn’t be any bloodshed. Maybe leaving him in charge hadn’t been the greatest idea after all. “She wishes to send her gratitude, for pointing out the lock’s flaw. We’ll have to have a word with our man when we return to the city.”

  Erin just nodded.

  Neil gestured to the other seat in the carriage and said, “Since we’re going the same way, you can ride with us.”

  Erin hesitated, but when she couldn’t think of a good excuse not to she climbed into the Judge’s carriage.

  Entry 37: Keys

  Erin slid back in the cushioned seat of the carriage as it started again with a barely noticeable jump. It was surprisingly roomy, although now that she thought about it she couldn’t see Madame Elzwig settling for some cramped box that jolted around at every bump and hole in the road. The wheels sounded as if they glided over the ground more than anything. The windows on either side were strangely shaped so that Erin could look out but the people the carriage passed on the town streets could not look in, no matter how much they stared.

  “Is this your first time in a carriage?” Neil asked.

  “In one like this? Yes,” Erin said, looking around. “Is that a light on the ceiling?”

  “Yes, for Madame to read by.” Neil sat painfully straight in his seat, his hands carefully folded over each other. “May I ask, how is it to be the keeper of the Last Inn? Do you enjoy it?”

  “It’s…interesting.” Erin thought that word summed it up best. It was hard to concentrate, when she kept wanting to look out the window at the streets and people they passed. She could hear the people talking, if not what they said, but from the grumbling she thought they probably recognized the carriage from yesterday.

  “Busy?” Neil asked.

  “Sometimes,” Erin admitted. “We’ve been making repairs, and Miles said business will probably be picking up soon so we’ve been getting ready for that.”

  “Ah, yes, the traveling season is starting, isn’t it?” The servant smiled, but it looked as stiff as the way he sat. “I suppose you’re glad to have Kota to assist you. And Miles too, it seems?”

  “Um, Miles is just helping out today, that’s all,” Erin said. She did not want to make that a regular thing. “But yes, I couldn’t keep the place open without Kota.”

  True enough, but she blushed at how she sounded as she said it. This guy worked for the Judge, and she was not about to let him think they could just hire Kota out from underneath her.

  “I see.”

  That was all he said, but the silence did not have a chance to become uncomfortable by the time the carriage pulled to a stop in front of the smithy. Neil popped up like a cork and opened the door for Erin before she was even half out of the seat.

  “Thank you,” she said as she stepped down.

  A noise made her look around and she spotted her older brother, Marcus, standing at the door to the forge and staring at her in obvious horror. Erin quickly walked over to him and pulled him off to the side where Neil and the driver could not hear.

  Just in time it seemed, as he gasped out, “That’s the Judge’s coach! What were you doing in there?”

  “They just gave me a ride,” Erin said. “Go tell Dad they’re here, okay? They’re looking for a new lock, tell him that. And stop staring, would you?”

  Marcus nodded and ran in as Neil approached. Erin did not know what he said to get Eli to the door so fast, but the smith had that look in his eye
that promised trouble.

  “The Judge in there?” he asked without any greeting or introduction.

  “No, sir, she is still at the inn. We have a commission for you, if you’re interested,” Neil said, seemingly unfazed by Eli’s thunderous expression. He explained about the lock as they walked around to take a look at the back of the carriage, but Erin did not feel up to listening to that.

  She walked into the forge and Marcus looked up from stoking the fire.

  “I wouldn’t stick around if I were you,” Marcus said. “Dad’s not happy.”

  “When is he ever?” Erin asked, turning over some of the tools on the workbench. She looked at Marcus and realized that here was the solution to her problem. “Hey, could you make some new keys for the inn? Some of the last guests walked off with theirs.”

  “Me?” Marcus frowned. “Even if I did it, we’d need to change out the locks, probably all of them so that you would just have the one master key. You realize how much that would cost?”

  Erin sighed. “I know. I suppose it’s too much to hope for a family discount?”

  They both jumped as a bunch of keys crashed onto the bench next to Erin and a far from happy laugh came from the door.

  “Or you could save a lot of money and just get the original keys back,” Eli said. He walked over to the far wall and dug around in the box of scraps there while Erin and Marcus stared at the keys. They were all obviously from the inn, and a quick count proved that all ten of the wayfarers’ keys were there.

  “How did you get these?” Erin asked.

  “Search crews looking for that monster wolf found them outside of town, along with that,” Eli said. He pointed to the corner and Erin thought she might be sick at the sight of her yellow bike waiting there for her.

  Erin started to explain, or at least to give a believable lie, but her father gave her a look and a signal to stay quiet just as Neil walked in.

  “This is the material I was talking about,” Eli said, showing the metal to the servant. “We can have it ready by tomorrow.”

  “We were planning on leaving today,” Neil said. He thought about it and said, “I suppose Madame might be willing to have Miles bring it in when he returns to the city tomorrow night. Would that be acceptable?”

  Eli and Neil discussed the details while Marcus and Erin stood by, trying not to look at each other or the keys on the bench. It seemed an eternity before Eli showed the servant to the door with receipt of purchase in hand.

  As soon as the carriage pulled away, Eli turned and said, “Explain. Now.”

  “Some guests at the inn ran out on the bill without returning their keys. They must have tossed them when they thought they were far enough away,” Erin said, the explanation ready thanks to the time to think.

  “And the bike?” Eli asked.

  “I must have left it somewhere by accident,” Erin said, adding truthfully, “I haven’t ridden it in days, not since the last time I came to town for groceries.”

  “Funny, because it was left in the middle of the street. Alandale found it, and he said it hadn’t been there the night before when he walked home.” Eli crossed his thick arms. “Care to explain how you left your bike in town yesterday morning without leaving the inn?”

  “I didn’t leave it there,” Erin said. She crossed her arms and frowned in imitation of him. “Look, thank you for finding the keys and the bike, but don’t treat me like I’ve done something wrong. Why can’t you just believe me for once?”

  “Tell me then, did you let those wayfarers stay in the inn?”

  Erin bit her lip and said, “Yes, but I didn’t know what they were.”

  Eli threw his hands up and stomped away while Marcus looked from one to the other in confusion. “Wayfarers! Really Erin?”

  “How was I supposed to know?” Erin asked. “How do you even know about them?”

  “The Judge mentioned them, remember?” Eli said. Before Erin could protest that this wasn’t what she meant, he said, “Are they still here?”

  “No, Miles said they left the area last night,” Erin said.

  “Miles. The vampire?” Marcus asked, latching on to the conversation even though Erin wished he wouldn’t.

  “Yes, him. Dad, I need to get some things and get back to the inn before dark. Is there anything else you want?”

  Eli shook his head and she took that as a sign to grab the keys and wheel her bike out of the forge before he could change his mind.

  Entry 38: Tension

  The hikers left the inn at speed. Miles suspected their sudden departure had more to do with getting away from the tension that had descended on the common room than with the time. He couldn’t blame them, but now it was just him and the Judge. Sitting in the same room as Madame Elzwig was enough to set his teeth on edge, but then she turned her stare on him and actually spoke.

  “Why are you here?”

  Miles kept his eyes on the fireplace and said, “I could ask you the same thing. Shouldn’t you be in the city?”

  “I am traveling, on business,” Elzwig declared, catching the slight shift in the vampire’s gaze before he could stop it. “We just returned from Wichel.”

  Wichel. That meant she could have made it back to the capital last night, if she had made the effort. Miles never knew Elzwig to leave the city for longer than she had to, everyone knew how much she hated traveling.

  “You still have not said why you are here,” Elzwig prodded.

  “Well, the sun dictates how far I can travel, doesn’t it?” Miles retorted. The muscles in his hands and face were starting to ache from the effort of not moving or showing any expression. “Some of us don’t have a private carriage to ride around in.”

  Madame Elzwig stood up and began to slowly pace around the room. “I thought your kind had your own methods of travel. Flying and all that?”

  “Who has the energy for that?” Miles asked. She was blocking his view of the fireplace now, so he turned his stare on the front desk sitting in front of him instead. It occurred to him that Erin really shouldn’t leave inn records sitting in the open like this, but it gave him something to look at as he spoke. “A broken lock. Aren’t there locksmiths in the city?”

  “Not one that can teach his daughter how to get around one of the best locks our people can make,” Elzwig said. “If he knows the fault, then shouldn’t he know how to avoid it?”

  Miles had been trying so hard to ignore the sound of her pacing around the room that he did not realize she had stopped until the Judge spoke again, so close behind him that it took all of his effort not to react.

  “And of course, a little delay gives Kota more time to reconsider my offer.”

  “What offer would that be?” Miles asked, and the Judge laughed. He ground his teeth at the sound of that blaring laugh.

  “Please, don’t play coy,” Elzwig said. She placed her hands on the back of his chair and leaned closer. “We both know what he is, don’t we?”

  Miles practically leapt out of the chair, but he tried to play it off by grabbing the inn’s budget and walking to the fire as if to read it better. He peered at the several lines of red intermixed with black and said, “Oh, do tell.”

  “When I heard about a man who could turn into a wolf, I must admit my first thought was werewolf,” Madame Elzwig admitted. Miles did not turn around, but he thought he heard the shifting of paper coming from the desk. “Of course, the moon wasn’t right, so that left either shapeshifter or some form of curse. Going by the events of yesterday, it’s quite obvious now that it is a curse, although I must say I haven’t discovered the parameters yet.”

  Miles’s hand went to his mouth and then he let it drop. Amid his spinning thoughts, he wondered what happened yesterday. How did she know? His first thought was of the wayfarers from last night, but they wouldn’t go to a Judge, even if the timing was right.

  “Really? And here I thought you had it all figured out,” Miles said. He breathed out slowly and asked, “What are you going to d
o when he doesn’t go? He won’t, you know.”

  “Do?” Miles turned around in time to see the Judge shrug her expansive shoulders and give a little smile. “What can I do? Until he crosses the law, I can’t officially ‘do’ anything, same as you.”

  Miles crossed his arms. “Officially, yes. But a lot of things happen off the record, don’t they?”

  Madame Elzwig laughed again and Miles gripped the mantel over the fireplace to keep himself from doing something he would regret.

  “Oh, where do you get these ideas, Miles?” She walked up and patted him on the face, which turned a shade paler. “You’ll keep an eye on them then?”

  “Them?”

  Madame Elzwig turned her head at the sound of her servant knocking on the door before entering and sighed. “How did it go?”

  “Master Smith said that it would take a day to create the new lock, and had one of his sons attach a temporary one that should suffice until then.” The servant adjusted his jacket and said, “Since it would be another day, I made so bold as to request that they give the lock to Miles to deliver when he returns to the city. I hope that is alright?”

  “Of course it is,” Elzwig said before Miles could answer. “It looks like we have no reason to delay any longer. The emperor does tend to worry if I stay away too long. Please, do let Kota know that my door is always open for him.”

  She smiled at Miles and walked out with her servant tailing her like a second shadow. The second the door shut behind them Miles swore, and then swore again for good measure. The third time was because he dropped the inn’s budget in the fire and burnt his hand pulling it out.

  He slammed the smoking piece of paper down on the table and went upstairs.

  “Kota!” He knocked on the door and, when he didn’t answer, opened it and stared at the empty room. The bed was made with neat precision, the curtain over the window pulled to block even the slightest bit of light. The young man’s bag was under the table, but Miles knew that didn’t mean anything.

  He sniffed the air and opened the closet door. There were no clothes there, nothing except for a neatly folded blanket lying on the floor. Miles stared at this and then shook his head. Now wasn’t the time.