Thank you so much for anyone who's reviewed the last few chapters, I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I'm going to see West End's Les Mis in the summer (Woo!) but I own neither that nor Layton
Chapter 12: On My Own
Hershel sat waiting in the hotel room, the housekeeper, Becky, had been to check on him a few times but besides that there had been no interruptions. Flora had locked herself in the extra bedroom and he could understand why. They'd moved so many times in the past year that she'd never been able to settle down or meet anyone, and he'd done it to her once again.
The knock on his door came in the afternoon as he was completing a crossword to pass the time, at first he just expected Becky with a pot of tea but instead there was a tall girl with an oversized jacket. She seemed pretty annoyed and was waving a letter in her hand.
"Is there a Flora here?" Hershel raised an eyebrow, how did this girl know Flora? Though he had a feeling he knew this girl from somewhere… Perhaps they had met her on their travels.
"Yes. That's my daughter. What do you need?" He kept a hand on the door in readiness, just in case this woman was just some kind of pickpocket.
"I've got a letter for her; from a boy at the Barricade."
"The Barricade?" The girl sighed.
"They're revolting out by the clock shop." He kept a straight face, resolving to look into this revolution later.
"Ah… You can just hand that letter to me-" She pulled the letter towards her chest, concealing it.
"He said to give it to Flora."
"I assure you, she will know what this letter contains." The girl turned to leave "Ma'am, if there truly is a revolution, please be careful out there."
"Sure. You stay safe yourself." Hershel closed the door slowly as he watched her head down the steps. Making sure she was fully gone, he turned looked at the letter. He wondered how on earth a boy there knew Flora, and especially how he knew she was here. Reassuring him it was the best thing to do for both his and her safety, he carefully tore open the envelope.
"Dear Flora,
I can hardly believe we've been torn apart so soon after meeting, I miss you terribly. If this letter manages to find a way to you, I want you to know that I'm fighting in the revolution, trying to get a better future for this town. And if I happen to make it out alive, I will come and find you there at the hotel.
Yours, Clive."
Clive…. No, he didn't know that name. He didn't even realise Flora knew anyone from the Barricade. He wondered how on earth she could have met him, but the letter didn't specify. All he knew was that this boy cared for Flora enough to send a letter, and that he was likely to die if the revolution was as bad as the rumours implied.
He questioned if maybe this would blow over. But was stopped by the thought of Flora realising this Clive been killed. There'd been so much grief is her life already, with her mother Claire, the innkeepers, the constant moving….. Could he really just add another awful memory to the pile? He scribbled down a note on the desk and grabbed his top hat.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back at the Barricade, Randall sat watching over the top of the pile. There had been no sign of anybody yet, and most of the group were beginning to feel slightly bored. Arianna had lain down to take a nap.
"Perhaps Sycamore is trying to hold them off?" Henry asked as he climbed up to sit with him.
"Maybe… It sounds weird to ask for someone to try and fight us, but the fact that nobody's shown up makes it seem like we aren't a threat. Like this barricade wasn't worth it…" he kicked a bit of the bed frame.
"You need to have faith Randall." They ended up waiting for several hours, until Sycamore made his way back. He called up to the Barricade and was welcomed back eagerly.
"I have done as you instructed me to and asked the officers…. They don't plan to attack us any time tonight." There was an audible groan from Randall "They want to starve us out, hit us when we can't fight back. Lay down your guard for tonight." Crow reluctantly put his gun away, everyone else followed afterwards.
"Wait a second…. You're lying." Luke walked over to where Sycamore was.
"What are you talking about boy?"
"I recognise your voice, you were in the square the other day." The man laughed in response.
"Yes, I was in town. Most people were." No, Luke stood up on one of the crates.
"You were the one busting up Paulo's gang. You whacked into me and picked me up by my jacket!" Clive moved forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Emmy said that it was Descole that did that…" Luke pointed to the man's face.
"How would a simple professor have ties to the police? And look at him!" he once again gestured to him "He looks exactly like him. Anyone who wouldn't be able to tell that Sycamore is Descole is being stupid!" Randall examined the man's face.
"Actually…. Add a mask, and Luke's right." Luke waved his hands in the air in both celebration and exasperation. "Take this inspector to the Clock shop, I'll interrogate him later." Sycamore, Descole, laughed at them. A much more sinister laugh than there was before.
"You won't be here long enough to interrogate me; You'll be dead by morning." Several of the members stopped to stare at him.
"I'll interrogate you now then." Randall grabbed Descole by the jacket and lifted him towards his face aggressively, causing a fright amongst the crowd. "What have you told the officers?"
"All that matters is that they're all on their way. On their way to arrest the traitors."
"Yeah, you can really condemn traitors. Dalston, you take him to the shop." Dalston grabbed Descole under the arms,
"I say to just shoot him now; he's no good to us." He remarked. Descole challenged Randall to it, with breathless and slightly manic taunting and a couple of members raised their guns and yelled at him. Randall moved his hands to hush them.
"Not right now, we have to prepare ourselves. We'll deal with Descole afterwards. Our main fight is just beginning."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The rain started to fall as Emmy made her way back to the inn, she lifted the jacket above her head to shield herself but soon grew TIRED of walking half blind through the streets and let the rain soak her instead.
It was official then, Flora knew Clive was at the Barricade. She would probably try to follow and get herself killed as well. . Or perhaps the man would then read the letter and try to save them both. Emmy sighed; if he'd just listened to her then they'd be fine. But nobody listened to her, she wasn't even allowed in the meetings.
As she reached the inn's entrance she could hear faint gunshots in the distance, and hoped that they were just practising.
Oh who was she kidding, of course they weren't practising. The guards would definitely be there by now. They were fighting over there and she wasn't a part of it. She took one last look at her home before tying her hair back and running towards the Barricade. Regardless of what they saw her as, she wasn't going to let her friends fall, not while she could still help it.
I'm not as happy with this chapter, but that might just be because it's in the middle of two really big chapters. You're probably able to see what the next one will involve.
If not, I'll give you a hint: There's a little bit of rain involved...