"We're getting closer, don't lose her!" Henry had to shout to be heard over the rapid beating if hooves on concrete, as a dozen or so horses bounded after the silhouette in the distance.
Tai had never ridden on a horse before and he couldn't say he was particularly enjoying the experience. He was thankful he hadn't been given a horse for himself, instead gratefully clinging to Henry's back, keeping his head down as not to get whipped by the unrelenting wind. His backside was sore and his eyes watered. They had been in pursuit of the thief for at least half an hour now, winding through the cobbled streets of what he now knew was London. His head had been spinning ever since he'd laid eyes on the picture of his best friend; a wanted criminal.
Tai was literally speechless. His heart was thumping against his chest. He'd developed a cold sweat. Of all the people in the world that could have been on that photograph, Sora Takenouchi was the last he would have expected. Unlike this world's version of Izzy, the woman in the picture did not share similar features to someone he knew, but in fact she was an exact copy right down to the way she did her hair. Samuel, the Mayor, saw the horrified look on the young man's face and decided to speak up.
"So do you know anything about this woman?"
"I- I do" Tai stammered, struggling to maintain his composure. "I know her." He paused for a second, taking in a deep breath. "I can lead you to her."
Of course he'd been lying, in truth he knew nothing about this woman. It was an impossible claim that he could tell the Mayor where she would be at a given time, in such a huge city that he had never been to. And that's what made Tai's plan so perfect. He didn't want them to find her.
He may have been delirious from the impossibility of the whole situation. It might have been the sight of Sora's face in such a foreign place that had messed with his brain, preventing him from thinking rationally. Maybe he'd just gone insane. Either way, Tai made the decision that he would not allow these men to capture the woman that looked like Sora, no matter what they did as a consequence of him lying. In his eyes he was being the hero. But all too quickly he became the villain.
He should have expected it really as he took the group of policeman, along with himself and Henry down winding roads and back ally's, randomly pointing to buildings in the distance. "Take the next left" he would say "just a little further now." Eventually he spotted an inconspicuous little hut a little way down the road, located next to a stable. Outside an old woman hung some clothes out to dry. "She's in there" Tai said nervously as he pointed at the hut. The place looked much too harmless to be harbouring a criminal. Despite some skeptical looks from Henry and a few of the policemen, they moved cautiously towards the residence.
Then out of nowhere, a bell rang. There was movement inside the stable and in a flash one of the horses darted out, accompanied by a rider, running straight past the group. One of the police horses shrieked as sharp spurs dug into its flesh. The chase began.
Was it sheer luck, or something more that had taken Tai to the only place in the city he didn't want to find? This wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened to him in the last few hours, not by a distance, but more and more he questioned whether this was even reality. Nevertheless he had to endure it and so tried to focus on another problem, like the dull pain in his backside.
The chase had brought the group through what Tai assumed must have been the city centre. Large factories now surrounded them, seemingly competing over which could pollute the air the most. The thick black clouds were even more foul here. Despite this the centre was much more densely populated than the areas he had previously seen, its people undeterred by the ugly effects of industrialisation. However soon enough the towns people disappeared from sight as the thief led the group down another back ally.
Tai heard yet another shriek as Henry dramatically pulled on the horse's reigns, turning sharply as they hit a bend in the alleyway. The force of the turn hit Tai like a wet sponge, throwing him off the horse and mercilessly into the cold, brick wall of the ally. He lay in a heap on the floor as he felt a warm liquid trickle from his forehead and down his face. "Henry..." He weakly called out the name of the detectives assistant, but he knew it was hopeless. He could still hear the faint beating of hooves in the distance, but they weren't coming back for him. He'd already served his purpose. He was about to succumb to unconsciousness when he felt the ground disappear beneath him, replaced by a hard wooden platform. His vision was too blurred to make out what was happening. Then everything went black.
She watched over the young man with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Sipping on a cup of tea she observed the slight rise and fall of his chest as he slept peacefully, a white bandage wrapped tightly around his head. It was a good job she'd found him when she did. He'd lost a lot of blood. Finishing her tea the woman leant over the young man, pulling the quilt up closer to his face, keeping him warm.
Groggily Tai's eyelids blinked open. The first thing he noticed was the bandage wrapped around his head, immediately reminding him of the accident he'd earlier suffered. Next he noticed the warm bed he was laying in, the sheets pulled tight. The final thing he noticed was the young woman sitting next to him, a beaming smile on her face.
"Hey there buddy how're you feeling?" The woman asked. That woke Tai up.
"Who are you?" He wasn't sure why he asked that, he knew exactly who it was. It was Sora.
"Hey calm down, thats no way to talk to the person who's just saved your life" the woman chuckled however, reaching for a teapot on the table beside her. "Want something to drink?" She offered sincerely.
Though he'd rather have declined her offer, it occurred to Tai just how thirsty he was. Reluctantly he put the mug to his lips, then swiftly recoiled at the flavour of the drink. It wasn't anything like the tea he was used to.
The woman's face was full of amusement. "Now considering our positions," she paused to take a sip of her own tea "I think its best if you tell me who you are". She was right, Tai was at the complete mercy of this woman who'd clearly nursed him back to health. He owed her at least a truthful version of this story, whether she believed it or not. It took him 20 minutes, starting from his frustrating Christmas shopping right up to the moment he was thrown off a horse. He decided to leave out the fact that this woman was a carbon copy of the girl he was shopping for. At the end of it, she looked at him incredulously.
"So you think I'm some sort of criminal?" She seemed to have ignored the part where he magically travelled from Japan to England in the space of a few seconds. Maybe she didn't think it was important.
She shook her head and sighed "Let me tell you what's really going on here"
Wow, a lot just happened. Tomorrow (Christmas!) should be the finale to this story, if not it'll definitely be boxing day. Thanks for reading and for sticking around this long!