‘So that must be it,’ I insisted. ‘Let’s go … I really need to … you know.’ I crossed my legs and squirmed on the spot.
‘All right, all right,’ he said with a laugh. ‘Hawthorne, stay here, okay?’
Hawthorne gave an audible sigh and began pawing the ground, looking for worms. I walked Jack to the edge of the forest and showed him the village.
‘See?’ I said. ‘There’s an Inn. I bet they have a lavatory.’
We crossed the field, making our way towards the little village. Children played in the long grass, mothers hung their washing on the line and fathers walked about the town, greeting each other merrily. Jack and I had a chance to take in the this peaceful sight before they spotted us. The mothers called for their children and ushered them inside at the sight of us crossing the field. Father’s faces became stern and they ran inside after their wives.
As we passed the houses, curtains closed, doors slammed and silence fell. Soon, Jack and I found ourselves standing in a ghost town.
‘What just happened?’ I asked in an undertone. The silence was so eerie that I feared my voice would carry on the wind.
Jack looked around, craning his neck. ‘Did they all go inside because of us?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Maybe we should go back,’ said Jack, tugging at my sleeve.
‘No. The Inn is just there.’ I pointed ahead.
‘I’m not sure this is a good idea,’ he said, but he followed me anyway.
As we approached the Inn I heard talking and the chink of glasses. When I opened the door and stood in the threshold, all of the noise died. Jack and I stood nervously in the doorway, dry mouthed and wondering what to do.
Shakily, I took the first step into the Inn. The barman, an older gentleman with a bushy ginger beard, eyed me beadily. As I approached the bar, he straightened his back and raised his chin defensively.
‘Um, hello,’ I managed to say, before I was interrupted.
‘You aren’t from around here,’ the barman said instantly.
I felt myself turning pink. Every pair of eyes in the room was upon me. I felt Jack sidle up beside me, sensing how nervous I was.
‘I was wondering … if I might use your lavatory?’ I asked hopefully.
The barman frowned. ‘You aren’t from the city?’ he asked.
‘No.’ I shook my head.
‘Humph.’ He raised a hand and pointed to the back of the Inn, ‘Ladies’ over there.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, my heart thumping frantically.
Rushing to the restroom, I quickly locked the door behind me. I took a deep breath and went about my business, hoping Jack would not be too nervous without me.
When I emerged I found that Jack was deep in conversation with the barman. I approached them, but they did not stop their discussion.
‘-We’ve been getting a lot of city folk in town lately. Men in red cloaks, asking funny questions.’
‘What kind of questions?’ Jack asked.
‘Things to do with blood,’ the barman scowled. ‘Researching families and their history to see how far back their Mage blood goes.’
‘But … why?’ asked Jack, narrowing his eyes.
‘When you see them, you can ask them for me. ‘Official business for The Realm of Mages’ they kept telling us.’ He gave a derisive snort. ‘Pile of dung if you ask me. Every person in this village was forced to give their Power level and family history to the City officials.’
‘Forced?’ Jack repeated.
‘Under threat of imprisonment’ the barman grunted.
‘It sounds like they’re documenting Mage families’ said Jack.
‘Documenting,’ the barman repeated with raised eyebrows. ‘The Realm of Mages is forming a register.’
Jack and I shared a nervous glance.
‘Thank you for letting me use your restroom,’ I said quickly to fill the awkward silence.
The barman nodded and Jack led me to the door with his hand on the small of my back. Once we were out in the open again, he let out a long whistle.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, looking up at him.
‘Weird, isn’t it?’ said Jack as we made our way through the long grass.
‘It is.’ I agreed. ‘Do you remember what the notice said? The notice pinned to my family’s mailbox?’ I asked.
‘Something about punishing all Mages who harbour illegal Humans?’ said Jack.
‘Yes and it was signed by the ‘Human Registration Office’ remember?’ I told him.
Jack looked at me with raised eyebrows, ‘You think they’re scouring villages for Humans?’
I shrugged. ‘I bet they’re fishing out Humans who have been living as Mages … like my sister.’
‘Do you think there would be many though?’ Jack asked as we entered the trees once more. ‘I’d never heard of a Human being born to Mage parents before I met you.’
I raised my eyes to the canopy of leaves above. ‘I’m not sure.’
Jack remained silent until we met up with Hawthorne once more. He was immensely dirty and seemed to have rolled around in a muddy puddle while we were gone.