Forest of Dreams

Chapter ten

I stirred in the morning to the sound of boots on the hard wooden floor. I opened my eyes just in time to see Ayol slipping out of the door. I turned over to face the wall and dozed off again. It was another three hours until I woke fully, annoyed at myself for sleeping away the morning. Ayol hadn't returned. I'd secretly hoped that he'd bring breakfast for me again.

I decided to try the traders market, where Ayol had told me most of the produce sellers would be. It was raining when I left the inn, a light warm rain that didn't dampen my spirits. The market was as busy, loud and chaotic as I had come to expect for Qren. It was covered by a thick fabric canopy constructed of deep purple and maroon squares, woven together in a haphazard pattern, a mirror to the hectic atmosphere underneath it. The wide wooden pillars that were holding it up interrupted the walkways at inconvenient intervals, forcing me to keep snapping my attention back to the path, before my eyes peeled themselves away again to look at the stalls. The section as I entered was fruits - apples, peaches and apricots as well as bizarre produce I'd never seen before. I bought some to try later in the day – one that was oblong shaped in a hard purple casing about the size of my fist, and one that I can only describe as a bumpy orange blob. The seller seemed perplexed that I was only buying one of each, I gathered most people coming to the wholesale market bought in bulk.

I wound my way further inside, following the route of the stalls as they coiled inwards. The air was humid under the cover, the moisture of the light rain outside seemingly intensified by the hum of activity underneath. The stalls were grouped together by type but there seemed to be no logic to the way they were laid out. After fruits were leathers, cloths and wool, then metals, then fish, before I finally came upon the spices and herbs.

A thin middle aged man was tending the first herb stall. He stood with his arms folded, surveying the stand with small, beady eyes that flicked quickly to me as I approached.

'I'm looking for someone. I think she used to come here. I wondered if you might have any information,' I said clearly, having practised the line in my head all the way here.

He looked me up and down, shuffling his weight on his feet slightly before tilting his head back and looking down his narrow, pointy nose as me.

'Might have. But it'll cost you. What you willing to pay?' he said gruffly.

'Nothing,' I stuttered, taken aback. I moved on to the next stall, but when I saw the stallholder making eyes with the one I'd just spoken to I moved on swiftly. There was no-one at the third stall so I turned the corner and ploughed on. There was a young man at the next one, with a plump face and rosy cheeks. He beamed at me welcomingly as I approached, so I asked my carefully rehearsed question again.

'I don't know. I haven't had the stall here for very long,' he said apologetically.

'Thanks, anyway,' I said, grateful that he'd at least he'd told me for free. 'How long have you had the stall?' I asked as an afterthought.

'About a month.'

'Where's the person who had it before you?'

'I don't know. She just stopped turning up. After two of months of it being empty they let me have it. I've been wanting a stall for ages. They don't become available very often, and they have to be in the right section for your produce...'

I felt my heart beat faster. That would mean she'd stopped turning up about three months ago. I zoned back into what he was saying, he was still jabbering away about the rules and regulations of the market. I nodded politely while I waited for him to take a breath so I could interrupt. 'Do you know anything else about the person who had the stall before you? Or where I could find out?' I asked eventually, snatching a chance when he paused.