Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Two - Fetching Help III: The Helpening

My breathing sped up as I took in the bookshop. The broken glass, the piles of books rudely tossed aside, the distinct lack of Booksie.

This wasn't good.

We had to save Booksie!

I had to find a friend to help me save her!

Who did I go to first? There were my friends, but they were spread out. The Guild? Cholondee? We had a meeting with her later, for tea. Abraham? No, Rhawrexdee! Booksie was his fiancee... only I didn't know where to find him.

I blinked and realized that there were a few tears clinging to the edges of my eyes. I wiped them away quickly, then took a deep breath in, then out. I was on the verge of hyperventilating. That was no good. There'd be no helping Booksie if I just stood here and panicked.

I looked around the room again for clues or something but nothing obvious jumped out to me. Maybe it would be different for someone with the right skills, a Detective or something, which would mean actually finding someone to help.

Nodding to myself, I darted back out of the shop through the back, then went around and returned to the street. Who did I get first? The obvious answer was the city guard, but I was worried they might pin me down with questions and stuff.

Which left... I worried at my lower lip while I thought. Finally, I decided that my best bet might still be the guard, even if they asked a lot of questions.

I looked both ways, searching for a convenient patrol of Port Royal's Finest. There wasn't any. What there was, however, was a duo of grenoils in ill-fitting suits smoking by the corner. They had the look of ne'er-do-wells that weren't in their own sort of neighbourhood.

Which might be exactly what I needed.

I bounced over to the pair, making them jump as I landed right next to them. "Do you work for Cholondee," I said. Then I blinked, a little sheepish. "Sorry, I mean, hi, my name is Broccoli, how are you doing? Do you work for Cholondee?"

The two looked between each other before one of them spoke up. "Who's askin'?" he asked.

"My name's Broccoli. Broccoli Bunch. Captain of the Beaver Cleaver. I'm a friend of Cholondee's. I'm having tea with her later. Do you work for her?"

"Might be zat we do," the other grenoil said.

"Perfect!" I cheered. "Are you here to keep an eye on Booksie?"

"Just ze shop," the first said. He shrugged as his pal smacked him in the arm. "Ain't nothing illegal about keeping an eye out for trouble," he defended.

I nodded along. "Right, okay. So... someone broke into the shop from behind. I think Booksie was kidnapped."

The two stared. "You serious?" the second asked.

"I wouldn't lie about that!" I said, maybe a little louder than was polite. "I think we should tell the guard. I'm... I'm going to run to tell my friends and Cholondee, maybe Rhawrexdee. We need to find her. The faster we move the better, I think."

"Right... don't zink calling in the guard's ze right move," the first grenoil said.

"The boss is gonna kill us, ain't she?" the second asked.

I shook my head. "Maybe it happened before you arrived? I had to go in through the back. Whoever did this was sneaky about it. It would have been nice to notice, but it's too late now. Please, can you help?"

Both grenoil nodded. "I'll go get some of ze boys," the first said. "We can block off the area, start looking about."

"I'll go tell the higher ups. Can't blame us if we weren't here yet, and zere might be a good word for ze both of us if we're quick about it."

"Great! I'll... go find my friends, I guess. They might have an idea of what to do."

The two grenoil didn't stick around for long, both of them hopped off, darting away in two different directions, though one of them did go check in on Booksie's shop. I guess he was worried I might have been trying to trick him or something.

I didn't have time to linger, I had to go.

My heart pumped with adrenaline and more as I raced through Port Royal. I had a vague idea of where Amaryllis and Caprica were, so when I came to the turn at the end of the street I took a hard left and kept bouncing down the road.

Someone shouted a loud 'whoa!' as I bounced past, and I called out a quick 'sorry!' over my shoulder, but I didn't have time to move at anything like a polite speed. Soon enough, I was in the part of Port Royal where I knew my friends would be.

The market was bustling with people, a chaotic mass of merchants, sailours, and cityfolk all conducting their business. My eyes scanned the crowd, searching for familiar faces. They were supposed to be buying stuff for our tea party with Cholondee that afternoon.

I pushed through, muttering hurried apologies as I bumped shoulders and stepped on toes, my eyes continuously roving. The first two butcher shops I found were a bust, as was the first pastry shop.

Then I spotted the two, both leaving a bakery with big, heavy bags by their sides.

"Amaryllis! Caprica!" I shouted, trying to elevate my voice above the market's lively clamour. They turned, their faces marked with surprise as they saw me racing towards them. I probably looked as breathless and frazzled as I felt.

"Broccoli?" Amaryllis asked. "What happened?"

"There's no time to explain everything," I panted, "Booksie's shop...it's been ransacked, and Booksie... I think she's been kidnapped!"

Amaryllis blinked, taking that in for a few seconds while Caprica gasped. "This is going to be a problem," she said.

"I know! We have to save her."

"Who have you told?" she asked.

"Some people from Cholondee's gang. That's all. They went to tell her and some others in the gang."

"That's a start," Amaryllis said. "Caprica, do we consolidate or reach out?"

I blinked. What did she mean?

"Consolidate, especially if we expect this to be hard. Broccoli, was the hit professional?" Caprica asked.

"I don't know? What would a professional kidnapping look like?"

"I'd think the difference would be obvious. Were there any packages left behind with a message? You mentioned the shop being ransacked, was it done in a fight or was it just down when breaking in? Was there any magic lingering in the air?"

"Uh, I don't know," I said. I felt a little small. "I don't know. I just went around the back when Booksie didn't come to the front door. It was broken in, and I went in, and she was gone."

Amaryllis stepped up in front of me, brows together. "Broccoli?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to hug you now."

"Okay," I agreed.

She opened her arms, and I fell into the embrace. Her wings wrapped tight-tight around me, and I let my head fall into the nook of her neck. It was like a warm cocoon, even in the middle of the busy city.

"You smell nice," I said. She smelled like bakery, which was objectively one of the best smells.

"Don't ruin the moment, Broccoli," Amaryllis said.

I laughed a bit, and Amaryllis let go of me. I instantly missed the warmth, but we did have things to do. I could only imagine how many hugs Booksie probably wished she had right now. "Okay. Okay, so... what do we do now?"

"Caprica, does the embassy have anyone with very high level inspection skills?" Amaryllis asked.

"We should, yes," Caprica said.

"We might need them. Cholondee's going to need to be convinced not to explode. And we need to warn the Exploration Guild."

"The Guild?" I asked.

Amaryllis nodded. "They'll have all of the best trackers in the city," Amaryllis explained.

"That's three places to go to," I said.

"I can head to the embassy right now," Caprica said, her fairy-like wings snapping out. "Then to the Exploration Guild? I can start convincing them, or just hire them, if needs must. I believe Mister Bristlecone, at least, would take me at my word."

I didn't like splitting up again, not after what had happened to Booksie. But it was probably the right thing to do. "Then Amaryllis and I will go see Cholondee?"

"I'll send anyone from the embassy to Booksie's shop. They'll be told to look out for either of you for more instructions."

"It's a plan," Amaryllis said. "Alright. Let's move. These eggs won't hatch themselves."

"That's a new one," I muttered, but then Amaryllis gave me her bags, took Caprica's and started through the market. I said quick goodbyes--with an awkward hug--to Caprica, then ran off after Amaryllis.

"You do the talking," Amaryllis said. "I feel like that'll give us the best odds of not ending up as dragon-chow."

***