《The Adventures of Hood: Part 1 - The Book of Portals》Chapter 14: A rude awakening
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Hood sits bolt upright, his crow-concentration obliterated by Hy-Jinx as she bursts tinkling into his room, splintering the lock, the muffled sound of commotion echoing behind her. It seems that the inn is in uproar.
“Hood, wake up we need to go…Now!…NOW! HOOD! NOW!”
Hood is dazed, the colours of his perception overwhelm him, but Hy-Jinx is clearly not in a wait-about mood. She scans the room, grabs Hood’s satchel and thrusts it at him, before grabbing him by the shoulder, hauling him to his feet and pushing him out the door.
Tinkle tinkle tinkle
Hood has no time to adjust. He feels almost lost, both in location but also in identity.
Hood’s room is midway along a brightly candle-lit corridor with stairs at both ends. Hy-Jinx momentarily pauses, determining which direction to take. The appearance to the left of an irate Millicent limping into view, behind whom are several members of staff, confirms Hy-Jinx’s decision.
“Oh no you don’t, you little weasel!” shouts Millicent seeing Hy-Jinx attempting to escape. Hy-Jinx pushes Hood to the right and hurries him onwards glancing back over her shoulder. Hood, with little to no option stumbles forward. Several staff push past Millicent, rushing down the corridor towards them. Hood and Hy-Jinx make it to the top of the stairs but the panic of being caught causes Hy-Jinx to misplace her footing and the two topple from the top, bouncing and tumbling painfully down the steps…Thump, tinkle, thump… to land in a tangled twisted heap at the bottom. Miraculously, the two are unharmed and Hy-Jinx’s mandolin too, strapped to her back, seems to have escaped unscathed.
Afore them, the inn is in total chaos. Chairs are being smashed, tables upended, full tankards launched across the bar room, leaving ale trails in the air which seem to freeze momentarily before splashing to the ground. Men, scrunching faces with fists, women scratching and pulling hair, are screaming at each other, shouting, cursing and swearing. To top it all off, a dog stands its ground in the opposite corner by the fire, its head raised, howling - hawoooo! - over and over again - hawoooo! - as the commotion unfolds around it.
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Hy-Jinx hauls Hood to his feet and drags him, skirting around the edge of the smoky room towards the main entrance as the staff, in pursuit, start descending the stairs. Seeing the doors blocked by a group of brawling patrons, Hy-Jinx picks up a chair brays it against the nearest window then sets it against the wall. “Quick Hood! Quick!” motioning for Hood to climb up and out.
Hood is somewhat more present than before and begins to perceive the potential threat that he may be in - though clearly he has questions! Scrambling onto the chair he dives through the window, followed quickly by Hy-Jinx who stands within the frame and drops lithely to the ground, brushing down her smock and offering a hand to Hood who is lying in the mud. Hauling him once again to his feet, she begins to run north along the road, veering off into a clump of trees. Hood follows, crouching down with her behind the dark protective shadows of branches, both breathing heavily, waiting to see if their pursuers are to make an appearance but none seem to appear.
Hy-Jinx sits on the ground with a thump and a tinkle, and begins to chuckle to herself, shaking her head back and forth - tinkle tinkle - before the chuckles turn into side splitting laughter. It appears she can’t control herself, for although the laughter gets quieter, it seems to get more intense and it’s not long before, doubled over, tears are streaming down her face. She rolls onto her side, shaking her head in disbelief at whatever she's considering: “Barry bleeding beer pots!” she says, repeating herself amidst the tinkles: “Barry bleeding beer pots! Ahhhhh!” She wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her sleeve.
Hood looks on in silence - Hood always looks on in silence - the howling dog a distant echo. But suddenly his body changes as if he’s just realised something.
In the lightening darkness - for we are now well past midnight and into early morn - Hy-Jinx notices the change and calms slightly, turning serious - “What? What is it?”
Hood grips Hy-Jinx’s arm. His voice rasping, urgent: “Madeleine. Danger!”
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