(-a/n- Another chapter that I wrote whilst on holiday in Wales :D It just took me a while yesterday to spell check and write review answers. As usual thanks to all the brilliant, kind people who review! I know I've said it before, but without you there would be no story :D )

Devouring Sarcasm Phantasm, ObSeSsEd WiTh ROXAS, Tsumetai Taiyoukai, queenofthehostlers, NotAfraidToLive, I love Fallen!, Right or Ryn, Me, truffletruffle01, lady knight keladry, Dark Emo Shadow, Forget Me Not Blue, Krae Z. Rokke, Grace of Masbolle, Pie of Doomeh, LadyKnightSusanrootless californian, killing u with umbrellas, Mint Tea Rose Erytha, deathequalsoul, bookworm-4-ever2012, Arsera345, ThJaFl, Aly, Sushiandmanga, manicpony24, Brokenflamesrebel, Hiedra, Penny & Night-Player.

Lady MuckNo, the only reason I changed the name was because I thought that if Kel kept the same name throughout her Scanran travels, then it would be no better than using the name 'Kel'. So she's going to use a variety of names, so she's harder to trace, but only a few. Not new names for everywhere she goes otherwise it would be confusing :P

oirishgoddess It was about 5500 I think! It took soooo long! Yes the mapstone is the same! I remembered it but I couldn't remember which book it was in! So thanks for that:P

Erynfaer Can you speak chinese? I've always thought that it's such a cool language! Lol, you must be being so patient with Harry Potter 7!

hahasxybitch There will be some romance, but you'll have to wait a bit :P (Until Kel is a bit older :P )

On top of cloud 9 We were staying in our Aunt's caravan on the Gower Penisula in Wales. There were some nice beaches there and we had a really good day surfing but apart from that we just lazed about :P

13.shimer.13As I said above; there will be some romance, when Kel's a little bit older :P

x17SkmBdrchiczxx Yep I'll definitely look out for it!

Lady SapphireaYes he's Scanran :P

Transfiguration Lol! If you skipped loads of chapters no wonder you were confused! I'm not laughing at you big time :P…just a little bit :D Thanks for the suggestion. Something similar is going to happen and I promise that Alex and Kel will come clean with each other in the end, you've just got to wait a little bit longer! Thanks for reviewing as always :P

Confusedknight xxx

Neal collected the final dish of the evening and began to serve it to the Midwinter guests who sat on the table to which he had been assigned to wait. There was a quiet, serious looking mage from the University, Sir Gareth of Naxen and his pretty wife Cythera and several ambassadors, one of whom had Tyran looks and a thick moustache. But the couple who Neal couldn't help but stare at was a stocky man with such familiar dreamy, long-lashed hazel eyes and thin, white-haired woman.Piers and Ilane of Mindelan. Kel's parents.

It had been a year and a half since he had last seen his best friend, the girl who had been a quiet determined presence in his otherwise hectic page life. He still hadn't accepted that she was dead. This was Kel, who had fought bullies two years older than herself single-handedly just to prove a point. She was someone who had made her way through life with steady determination; someone like that just couldn't be killed by a winter's storm.

However time had begun to dull the pain of losing her. It was only little things that kept reminding him; things like seeing sparrows hopping outside of his window every morning, as though in Kel's continued absence they had decided to adopt him instead. Neal didn't mind, he felt as though somehow in feeding them, he was paying tribute to a girl who always had time for everyone, no matter how busy she was.

Kel didn't resemble her parents physically, except for her father's eyes, but there was something about their dignified manner and diplomatic conversation that was achingly familiar. He wondered if they had given up all hope of ever seeing their youngest daughter again.

Having presented the diners with their final course, Neal returned to the Kitchens where Master Oakbridge paced up and down muttering to himself. He caught Seaver's eye and they both smothered grins.

Later on when the Pages had been released from their service they ate a sumptuous meal, and loading napkins with treats and pastries they returned to Neal's room. Their numbers were down since Roald and Cleon had moved on to become Squires, but Owen's two cousins Iden and Warric had quickly stepped in to fill the gaps in their studying sessions.

Now as the first day of the Midwinter festival was drawing to a close the boys sprawled across the floor of Neal's rooms and lazily munched on the sugary snacks. Gifts had been exchanged earlier and they lapsed into a companionable silence.

Neal poured them all a glass of apple juice which was mouth-wateringly fresh with just the faintest flavour of cinnamon. When everyone had been handed a glass, Merric raised his in a toast,

'To the new year and all that it will bring!'

'To passing the exams in the summer!' said Owen to the amusement of his companions.

'To no new weights in our practice harness next week,' muttered Iden.

'To less punishment work next term,' joked Seaver. This continued all around their group until finally all had made a toast except Neal.

'Come on Neal, what's it to be?' prompted Esmond.

Neal thought for a moment, his face serious.

'To Kel, who should be here with us,' he said quietly lifting his glass and taking a sip.

'To Kel,' the others murmured.

Kel dodged and ducked her way through the crowd, following Alex's barely visible form. She stopped at the edge of the Cave, having momentarily lost sight of Alex when she was hauled into a side passageway by the back of her shirt. Kel pivoted, preparing to move in self-defence when she realised that it was Alex.

'Wha-'

'Shh! I'll explain later,' hissed Alex, cutting across her.

Within two minutes they had entered a cave in which a short woman already stood. As the curtain flapped closed behind Kel, the woman moved forward and she and Alex grasped hands briefly. Then, regarding Kel she said,

'Who is this?'

'Kel, who has proved a great help to me these last six months.'

'She knows?'

Alex's gaze flitted from the woman to Kel so fast that Kel wondered whether she had imagined it, before saying;

'Enough, about our immediate aims,' Alex seemed to be trying to communicate with the woman without speaking and it made Kel feel awkward. She remembered that she had felt exactly the same way when Alex was communicating with Cook. Deciding to take matters into her own hands for once Kel stuck out her small callused hand and said;

'Like he said, I'm Kel, or Elinah as I'm known around here. And you are?'

An imperceptibly small smile flitted across the stranger's face,

'Rhonda.'

'I had no idea that you were up this way Rho,' said Alex, seating himself gracefully on the sandy floor.

'Nor I you,' replied Rhonda, who remained standing. She then reached out her hand and black glittering magic spread around the three of them, forming a complete circle, flashing once and then vanishing. 'Now we can speak undisturbed,' she said flopping to the ground in a much less grateful manner. After a few moments Kel joined the two of them.

'I was late leaving Moshaus,' said Rhonda, 'and I arrived at Rokang just as the heavier snows began to fall, but I managed to join a group of merchants on their way home and ended up here for Midwinter.'

'And how are things up North?'

'Better than we could've possibly hoped,' said Rhonda seriously and Kel got the sense that she was not a person who indulged in humour often.

'I visited Rokang not so long ago and things were all going well there despite Maggur's attempts to ruin the alliance.'

'Well a tentative alliance has been formed between Moshaus and Rokang,' she said slowly, 'at least they've come to an agreement. Their Clan chiefs aren't idiots, they know where this is all leading. It's going to end up at Rokang sooner or later and when Rokang falls Moshaus is defenceless. So they've got agreements to evacuate some of the women and children to Moshaus when the fighting starts. It's not ideal…'

'As you said it's more than we could've possibly hoped for and it at least provides a temporary safe place for the rebellion.'

'Yes,' countered Rhonda, 'but neither of these three Clans are known for their fighting prowess. Not like Hastann or -' she fell silent.

'Rathhausak?' finished Alex bitterly.

'If Maggur wants to take Rokang then his armies will breach the fortress,' pointed out Rhonda, her grey eyes glittering in her pale face.

'Then we had best hope that he decides there are more important campaigns elsewhere,' sighed Alex. 'I'm doing the best I can…'

Rhonda's expression softened fractionally,

'As are we all Alexei. Three yearsof slow, hard work is finally beginning to come together, but Maggur will, will succeed in the end and I hope that bloody Tortallan army is ready when he does,' she finished grimly.

'What has the Tortallan army have to do with anything?' Kel blurted out, feeling a stab of annoyance at the woman's insult.

'Because as soon as Maggur has all the Clans under his command his army will be massive. Scanra is a big county and contains far more people than most realise. He'll turn the might of his army upon the Tortallan border and if he crushes their defences, if he invades Tortall then that makes our plans a whole lot more difficult.'

'What plans?' asked Kel interestedly, she had only thought about working against Maggur in regard to delaying the inevitable war, but now she thought about it Kel realised that Alex must have a plan that ran beyond the war. Some plan to return Scanra to a shred of glory.

'Plans that you needn't worry about,' said Alex firmly, ignoring Kel's beseeching eyes, 'not for now anyway.'

'Well,' said Kel, 'the army will never break through the border.'

Rhonda turned the full weight of her grey-eyed gaze upon Kel, taking in every aspect of Kel's appearance and resolute expression.

'As I said, Maggur will have a lot of men at his command,' said Rhonda shrugging, her eyes never leaving Kel's.

'And the Tortallan army has been trained as a unit for more years than Hamrkeng has been standing,' retorted Kel, 'warriors such as the Lioness and the Giantkiller won't let Maggur waltz into their country and even the King with the Dominion Jewel…' she trailed off; she still held a deep-seated resentment for the monarch whose "justice" had seen Kel kicked out of page training after a probationary year.

'There's no good getting all at odds over this,' said Alex calmingly. 'Rhonda she's entitled to her own opinion even if it isn't as pessimistic as yours.'

Rhonda openly glowered and Kel fought to stop her Yamani mask from slipping over her face to hide her emotions.

'Bloody Tortallan,' muttered Rhonda, 'I can see it in you. You speak Scanran well but every so often your accent slips.'

'Well I'm sorry, why don't we hold this charming conversation in Tortallan and see how good your accent is?' said Kel irritably in Tortallan. It was strange after months of speaking Scanran, how different the Tortallan syllables felt and sounded.

Rhonda obviously didn't understand and scowled, her brows knitting together in her pale face.

'So how did you find this-' Rhonda sneered slightly 'assistant?'

'In Tortall,' replied Alex ignoring the tension between the two women. 'We came to an agreement. She would help me in return for lessons on swordplay.'

'Yes I saw her little display, drawing far too much attention to herself-'

'As did I,' interrupted Alex. 'It's Midwinter Rhonda, we're allowed a little relief from the grim outside world.'

'Then you are careless and carelessness will get you killed.'

'Or others,' said Alex quietly and Rhonda recoiled as though she'd been slapped. 'I'm sorry,' he said, 'that was wrong of me.' Continuing, he said, 'Kel has been spying on a family who I suspected was funding Maggur. However the merchant got cold feet and tried to pull out…' Rhonda winced. 'But Kel here saved the entire family and abseiled a small boy out of a three storey window to safety.'

'I wish you'd stop harping on about that,' grumbled Kel, embarrassed.

'Once I'd collected her from the slave pens we received a tip off from Marthea that a meeting would be held in a town near Sekholm, two weeks after Midwinter…' continued Alex.

'How is Marthea?' asked Rhonda, now examining her fingernails.

'Absolutely fine. She's well connected and sees and hears far more than anyone realises.'

'Do you mean Cook?' asked Kel, remembering the name by which Alex had addressed the plump woman.

Alex nodded.

'You could say that she's another one of my "agents",' he said slowly, 'just as Rhonda here is.'

'How many people have you got reporting to you?' asked Kel, wondering if she was finally going to be let into the secrecy that surrounded Alex's work.

'Enough,' said Alex simply. 'We're not an average spy network. Not like the one George runs; all agents reporting to him in coded letters and arranged meetings. He has hundreds at his command. He can have an agent that tails a suspicious person for months, reporting on his slightest movement, but we don't. We're thin on the ground and trying to keep tabs on the movements of all the Clans, armies, private armies and merchant groups in a massive country. I have no idea exactly where all of my "agents" are -save Rhonda here-. But I know roughly where they are and I trust them to make decisions by themselves…'

Rhonda sniffed,

'And what do you want me to do now?'

'I think you can stay with us for a bit,' said Alex. 'We've got to go and find out what we can at this meeting between some of Maggur's associates and we can pose as a family travelling to Miltrak; that will give us an excuse to be travelling.'

'Then what?' asked Rhonda.

'Then we interpret the information we find and take it from there.'

'So I'll meet you again two weeks after the festival finishes,' said Rhonda. 'I'll collect the supplies. You have a sled?'

Alex nodded and stood up.

'The sooner we can find out what Maggur is planning next the sooner we can stop it from happening,' his face was dark with hatred.

Kel and Rhonda stood up too, Rhonda removing the protective enchantment that she had set around the cave. She then bowed deeply to Alex and touched a clenched fist to first her heart and then her forehead, in some kind of salute.

Alex acknowledged the gesture with a small nod and then lifted the curtain that covered the door and ushered Kel out of the cave. Just as he turned to leave Rhonda said,

'It was my home too Alex.'

Alex paused for a fraction of a second before dropping the heavy curtain down behind him and continuing up the passageway as though he had not heard her.

When they returned to the Great Cave, all of the fighting displays had stopped for the evening and instead all of the people were sat around their fires, singing. It was an incredible sound. Every person in the room seemed to be singing softly in unison, the sweet drone of voices rose into the cavernous ceiling.

As she sat down next to Alex she discovered to her surprise that he had joined in, adding his pure tenorto the multitude of others, all singing the same song. Realising that it would look strange that she was not singing, Kel drew her knees up to her chin and sat so that her mouth was half hidden as it mouthed random words. As she did so, Kel listened to the lyrics of the song and stared unseeing into the flickering flames of their fire.

All too soon for Kel's liking that song ended. Another one started up, this one had a solo singer whom Kel couldn't see and everyone else joining in at the chorus. This song was a much livelier one and people were clapping and stomping rhythms, all evidently enjoying themselves greatly.

The lyrics to the songs were simple and often very repetitive and Kel found herself joining in on some chorus's, remembering with a half-smile her singing lessons at the convent. As more alcohol was consumed by the adults, the songs became more and more rowdy. People began to dance and to Kel's utter astonishment Alex joined in. She had never imagined Alex, serious, quiet Alex with his gentle humour and brilliant smile, dancing!

He pulled Kel to her feet as well. It wasn't the specified dancing that Kel had learnt before, where you learned the steps and danced in couples. It was free; people bobbing, swaying and clapping in time to the singing.

The celebrations continued until very late in the evening, or early in the morning -Kel couldn't tell. Eventually people began to leave, still beaming around, and bidding each other goodnight, their voices hoarse from singing.

Alex and Kel made their way back to their cave before Maia, clutching their Midwinter gifts and yawning uncontrollably. As they were getting ready for bed Alex bought up the topic of Rhonda.

'You did well earlier with Rhonda, she's not the…easiest person to get on with

Kel snorted softly.

'Don't take it personally,' Alex advised Kel, as he climbed into his bedroll. 'Just give her time to get to know you. She's one of my best agents, probably the best.'

'She's very…' Kel tried to search for the right word, 'serious,' she finished lamely.

'Something happened to her a while back and I don't think that she's ever quite accepted it,' sighed Alex.

'That's fair foolish of her,' said Kel quietly, 'some things you just have to let go.' Ooh, thought Kel personal territory indeed.

'Maybe…' said Alex, 'but we're all fools over some things. I think for her it's what keeps her fighting.'

'You're not exactly a fool,' Kel pointed out, as she snuggled down into her soft bed roll.

'Oh I've done more than my fair share of foolish things,' replied Alex.

'Like what?' asked Kel interestedly.

'What's the most foolish thing you've done?' Alex challenged her in return. Kel thought for a moment.

'I once attacked a spidren with only a handful of rocks as a weapon,' admitted Kel. 'I was trying to save a bag of kittens, and I think I would've died if some local guardsmen hadn't heard my shouts.'

Kel waited for Alex to say something,

'Come on,' she prompted, 'What's the most foolish thing you've ever done?'

'Fallen in love,' said Alex quietly and although Kel itched to ask for more details, she respected Alex's privacy and rolled over, trying to digest this new titbit of information.

The following four days would remain in Kel's memory as one of the best Midwinter's that she'd ever had. Despite all of the circumstances that had led up to Kel being in Sekholm, the five day festival passed in a haze of celebration and laughter.

There was none of the dignified temple services, speeches and poetry recitals that made up the Yamani Midwinter. Nor sit-down feasts, balls and orchestral concerts that constituted the Tortallan equivalent. Instead people just took the time to sit down and socialise with each other. Like in Tortall, the people feasted in the evening, but afterwards, just like the first night, people took part in displays of swordsmanship, or told stories and sung until the early hours of the morning. By the end of the festival Kel knew the words to all of the songs and danced and sang just as enthusiastically as the next person.

All too soon however it was over and two weeks later they packed their belonging up and prepared to move on. Two days before they left, Kel succeeded in making herself a small dagger in the forge, not quite having had enough time to make a sword. Nevertheless, she had been incredibly pleased with her achievement and had paid a man one copper piece to make it a small sheath.

She was just attaching it to her belt when Rhonda arrived looking as cheerful as ever. Her face was stony and she lugged behind her several large packs.

'All set?' asked Alex.

Kel and Rhonda both nodded and together the three of them headed up the cave into the outside world. Kel blinked furiously, blinded by the dazzling sunlight that reflected off of the snow. They made their way down through the village to where their sled would be waiting. According to Alex, it would take them only one day to get to the town where Maggur's men would be meeting.

It took very little time to attach their packs onto the sled. What was more difficult was making room for Rhonda. Eventually they all managed to squeeze on and soon they were off, speeding across the glistening white landscape. As they travelled Alex went over the plans.

'Kel you're going to be posing as Lia again. Rho you're Mara and I'm Freid. Our surname is Dyer and like the name suggests we die cloth for a living. We live in Miltrak, but have been visiting relatives in Sekholm for Midwinter.'

When they arrived in the small town of Yhist, they found a welcoming warm inn. Kel was surprised, thinking that all of Sekholm's inhabitants would still be underground, but as Rhonda sarcastically pointed out, an Innkeeper can't make any money without his Inn and had probably travelled back straight after midwinter.

The Innkeeper's wife showed them up to a family-sized bedroom with one double bed and two singles and left them to change out of their travelling clothes. Whilst Alex got changed in the privy Kel and Rhonda changed in the bedroom. Kel put on the dress which she had received for midwinter and laced up the green shift. Brown leather slippers completed the ensemble and she loosed her soft brown hair letting it tumble across her shoulders and upper back.

Rhonda was dressed in a similarly styled dress but in grey and blue instead of brown and green. The top of the dress emphasized a large bust and other curves that had previously been hidden. Alex dressed as simply as ever, managing to retain an elegant, assertive manner in a red shirt and black breeches.

They went downstairs and ordered drinks from the ruddy-cheeked innkeeper's wife. Kel sipped at her apple juice and glanced about. Apart from two men that sat huddled in a corner, the common room of the inn was completely deserted. One of the men looked over in their direction and Kel hastily struck up a conversation with Alex about "Aunty Tiera", babbling on in a way that was quite unlike her normal self.

Just as Rhonda had joined in discussing Aunty Tiera's new puppy, a huge blonde man entered the room. He was at least six and a half feet tall with grey-blonde hair.

Alex drained his glass, only his white-knuckled grasp betraying how tense he was. Kel, strangely, wasn't scared. She felt adrenalin kick in, her Yamani-calm taking over, despite her still babbling mouth. It's almost like acting, she thought, like you do when you're young, except this time the consequences of mucking up are so much higher. A lot higher.

Kel was dragged out of her thoughts when Alex took Rhonda's hand and they stood up. For a moment Kel was stunned, before realising that they must play the part of husband and wife for their cover to hold.

Kel followed her "parents" upstairs and into their room. Instantly Alex dropped Rhonda's hand and her glittering black gift sprung up at the doors and windows.

'Stenmun,' breathed Alex, 'Stenmun Kinslayer.'

'Well at least we know this meeting is important if Maggur's right-hand man is attending.'

'If all of these important officials are attending…' said Kel slowly, 'can't we just I don't know…kill them?' she winced at how stupid and blood-thirsty her suggestion sounded.

'Oh certainly if we believed it would make much difference,' Alex replied before Rhonda could answer scathingly. But Maggur has hundreds more just waiting to step up into important positions. Besides if we make our rebellion public then it makes our job harder. Secrecy is very important at this stage. Let him think that any Clans who oppose him are just doing so upon their own intuition. If he finds out about us…' Alex trailed off.

'The occasional death will go unnoticed,' said Rhonda, 'but to kill the whole group of them would attract far too much attention.'

'So how are we going to eavesdrop?' asked Kel, changing the subject.

'Well I've been thinking about that,' said Alex, 'and it really depends upon where exactly they are going to hold the meeting -whether it is going to be in a private room at this inn or down the road in a house. Either poses problems to us.'

'Do you want me to see if I can go and find out?' asked Kel.

'And how are you going to do that?' asked Rhonda sarcastically, 'are you going to waltz over there and ask them?'

'I can go and offer to help the innkeeper's wife,' Kel suggested, 'see if she lets something slip about having all of those men arriving.'

Alex nodded appreciatively and Kel got up and left the door, feeling a slight tingle as she passed through Rhonda's magic. She slipped quietly into the kitchen and greeted the portly woman.

'Do you need any help?' Kel asked, 'Ma and Pa are being boring; there really isn't very much for me to do…'

'That would be lovely dear,' said the woman her eyes filling with gratitude, 'we've got quite a big crowd eating tonight, which is surprising considering the weather.'

Kel began to chop and peel vegetables, something which she was highly proficient at, having had so much practice. After five minutes or so, a tinkling bell rang.

'Oh that'll be someone at the bar, you couldn't go and see what they want could you dear?' she asked Kel.

Blessing her good fortune, Kel put down the potato that she was peeling and wiping her hands upon a rag nearby, Kel went out of the door that the woman had indicated and found herself upon the other side of the bar, face to face with Stenmun Kinslayer.

'Can I help you?' asked Kel politely, in her very best impression of a meek country-born girl.

'Three ales,' said Stenmun in a deep baritone voice.

Kel reached up for three tankards and filled them from a barrel under the bar. She thanked her luck again that Stenmun hadn't associated her with the family he'd seen at the bar.

'Are you lot staying for dinner?' asked Kel, throwing caution to the winds, 'only Cook wants to know how many potatoes she should cook.'

'Yes, we're using the back room like arranged,' said Stenmun, collecting the tankards.

'Very good sir,' said Kel curtsying and scurrying backwards into the Kitchen.

She returned to her vegetable peeling her heart still thumping madly. Once all of the potatoes were on the stove in bright copper pans, Kel excused herself and almost tripped over in her haste to tell Alex the news. She burst through the door, ignoring the tingle of Rhonda's magic and shut it behind her.

'They're staying here for the meeting,' said Kel urgently.

'How did you find out?' asked Rhonda, not bothering to look up.

'Asked him,' said Kel smugly.

'Asked who?' said Alex.

'Stenmun,' replied Kel with a grin. 'He came over to order drinks and I said Cook wanted to know if they were all staying, because if they were she was going to have to boil another batch of potatoes.

Alex returned her grin.

'Excellent, now we just need to devise a way of listening in.'

'Well I can't use my magic,' said Rhonda moodily, 'there's definitely going to be at least one mage at the meeting tonight and he'd detect it for sure.'

'Maybe I could climb down the chimney again?' suggested Kel, thinking of the time she and Aly had listened in on George.

'No, you could so easily become…' Alex trailed off. 'If we can find out where precisely the room is, we could probably work out the position of the chimney…'

'And…' prompted Kel, not understanding.

'If we removed a couple of bricks, we'd easily be able to hear, and no one would be any the wiser.'

'Like I did in the hatch at Vishnaucht's,' Kel asked.

'Precisely,' said Alex, 'except that we don't actually have to get in the chimney.'

'So you want me to find the chimney's location,' Kel said with a grin.

Alex nodded and Kel left the room with a mock salute. Returning to the kitchen, Kel asked whether she could lay the table for the guests.

'Well we've got a big group dining in the private room and you and your family can eat in either the common room or in here,' said the Cook. 'You can lay out the cutlery in the private dining room, if you don't mind.'

'Not at all,' said Kel, inwardly grinning. Things were going exactly as she'd hoped tonight. Who knows, thought Kel, a new year, new luck.

Her arms full with cutlery from a draw, Kel staggered through the common room and into the private dining room. As she laid the table, Kel took in the layout of the room. The fireplace was to the left of the window, about five paces in and by her reckoning the private dining room was in the front left-hand corner of the building.

Returning to the kitchen for place mats, Kel noted out of the corner of her eye that even more men had arrived, entering one by one, and most of them conferring in low whispers as they drank ale or smoked.

Twenty minutes later Kel had finished all of the jobs that she had been set and returned back upstairs.

'Finally,' muttered Rhonda, 'well, where is it?'

Kel told them, and together they made their way up the corridor. Sure that the innkeeper and his wife were safely downstairs, Alex used his lock picks to break into the room that was furthest up the corridor on his left. It was a small, single-bedded room with a bed, chair and not much else.

Immediately Rhonda crossed to the window and peered out.

'It's here,' she whispered, 'just to the right of this window.'

Alex crouched down and used his knife to scrap away paint and plaster, revealing the bricks underneath. He scraped at the mortar and gradually worked the brick loose. He swept the dusty remains of the plaster into the hole where they fluttered down the chimney.

'Perfect,' he breathed.

'Rhonda you take first watch, I'll go and get us something to eat. Kel finish helping cook and then I want you to go to bed. If you can, make bolsters so it looks like we're sleeping.' Kel began to protest, but Alex cut her down. 'You've done brilliantly tonight but we'll probably understand far more of their conversation and who's talking than you will.'

Grudgingly Kel agreed and returned to help the cook. Together they carried in steaming dishes of delicious smelling food. Just as they returned to the kitchen Alex popped his head around the door.

'I thought I'd find you in here Lia,' he said smiling casually, and then to the lady he said, 'she's always in the kitchen, you just can't keep her out of it.'

'Well she's been a great help,' replied the woman smiling. 'Where would you and your wife like to eat?'

'Well my wife isn't feeling to well, so if I could just take something plain up to her that would be fine.'

Alex and Kel ate very well that evening, as the innkeeper's wife insisted upon feeding them up, saying that two "skinny mites" needed feeding up. She seemed to be surprised at how young Alex looked close up.

'You look a bit young to be Lia's dad,' commented the cook as she sat down to join them.

'Well he's not my real pa,' said Kel quickly. 'He's really my uncle but my birth parents died six years ago, I can't really remember them.'

'So we took her in,' said Alex beaming, 'best thing we've ever done.'

They finished their meal in companionable silence and Alex and Kel retired upstairs.

'Quick thinking there,' praised Alex.

He helped Kel make bolsters in the double bed, so if anyone did decide to check upon them, it would look as though Rhonda and Alex were in bed.

'Have fun,' said Kel, yawning as she bid Alex goodnight.

She removed her dress and staggered into bed, wearing the forest green shift as a night shirt.

All too soon Kel was being shaken awake and Alex's face swam into view. It was wearing a troubled expression and his eyes were crinkled with worry.

'Get up quickly,' he whispered, 'we're leaving straight away.'

'What happened?' asked Kel. 'What did you hear?'

'Just get up,' said Alex, uncharacteristically serious.

(-a/n- So what did you think? Please, please review. This chapter was written courtesy of a rainy day in Wales. (There's not much to do in a caravan when it rains :P

Confusedknight xxx