Wanderer's Refuge

Chapter 3: Lawrence knows people

The Wanderer's Refuge was heading for the beach, Agatha and Ursa still wanted to stick to their plan of visiting it, and what better time than the present right? Lawrence didn't mind, he didn't have anywhere to be.

But they were going to have to make a few stops along the way for supplies, such as water for the boiler, coal(Lawrence couldn't keep his flames going for long and without steam, making the train move was very tiresome for Agatha), and just some better clothes.

Lawrence suggested the little town of Sunhill, known for being one of the few places where you can still buy items to make sorcery more potent and useful, though you've got to know where to look, plus it was on the way anyway, although it's location in the middle of a meadow not connected to the railway system meant the coal would have to wait.

After they landed in the woods close by, the trio headed into the town of Sunhill, observing it to be a lot quainter than their last stop, the streets had lots of trees around and the wind seemed just a little bit lighter. Lawrence guided them to what seemed to be a regular clothing store, but after Agatha and Ursa picked up a few sets of clothes, including a cute white sweater for the former and some sturdy leather gloves for the latter, he took them to changing room 3, telling them all to get in.

After they entered a bit confused, he pulled on handle on the wall and said "What our souls make is forever ours". The wall opened like a door, revealing a secret, hidden store where a man with a dirty black beard welcomed them.

"Well, go on in, my mom said these guys hold the highest quality when it comes to magic apparel, this is where she got me these fire-proof gloves that don't inhibit my sorcery." He gestured to the secret store, "have fun in there, I'm gonna go get myself some new suits and we can meet outside."

After Lawrence left with a little smirk, Ursa wheeled Agatha in and they had a look around, "what can I offer you today?" said the bearded clerk, "tell me about your natural sorceries and I can give you a few recommendations." He had a slightly dangerous smile of a man who'd been through quite a few tribulations and should not be taken lightly, but there was no hostility in his demeanor.

"Oh!" Agatha chirped with anticipation, "I create iron and Ursa creates steel, I'd like something that could help me make precise images to transform into my creations, please." She wheeled herself forward faster than Ursa pushed her.

"Very well then, I think I have just the right thing, draw something in this notepad, please, reeeally concentrate on it," the shopkeep suggested.

Agatha picked up the white chalk and started scraping it over the flat black pad, after she drew a small pocket watch, it seemed to spontaneously manifest in the table next to her, prompting a rigorous observation and a gasp of excitement from Agatha, once she'd confirmed it was identical to her drawing, she rubbed her hand over the pad erasing the drawing, the watch disappeared.

"Oh this will definitely help, thank you sir, I'd love to take this!" Agatha exclaimed.

Ursa, who'd been looking around at the artifacts since she'd gotten in, took this chance to say what she was looking for, "You got anything that can help me use my sorcery on my whole body? So far I can only really get it to go on my arms and legs."

The man scratched his beard as he went over his store's inventory, "hmm. I think I know what you need, something to center yourself! Here you go, wear this over your heart." He handed her a plain white circular brooch.

"It's... Unusually warm," commented Ursa.

"When you want to use sorcery on your whole body, focus on that warm feeling as the center of your being," explained the vendor.

"Huh." Ursa rubbed the brooch between her index finger and thumb. "I'll take it."

Meanwhile, Lawrence was indulging himself with a new dark blue suit and taking a look at a few hats, when he saw a young man that caught his eye, with short black hair, light brown skin, a button-up vest and a bandana around his neck. Though the trait that interested Lawrence most the sharpness of his brown-orange eyes, "there's a man who knows what he's looking for!" thought Lawrence.

"Hey, handsome." He greeted, leaning his elbow against a rack to his left, "what brings you here?"

The man tilted his head and stared at him curiously for a moment, as if not expecting any kind of interaction, then answered in a serious tone "Oh, hello sir. I'm actually here on the job, if you're well acquainted with this store's patrons, could you tell me a bit about the clientele?"

"Oh, well, we get a bit of everything here, men, women, children, you name it, it's got items for all tastes, as long as you've got some dough." Lawrence showed a tightly closed fist as he gave the least informative answer he could think of, he would have to keep an eye on this guy, "what are you, anyway, an investor or something of the sort? The name is Lauren, by the way, enchanted to meet you."

The man furrowed his brow as he shook Lawrence's hand, "I'm Tobias Walker, and I'm tasked with investigating the strangely high criminal presence in the region surrounding this store, have you seen anything... unnatural lately sir?"

Lawrence hid his worry under a well-practiced clueless smile, "well, you'd have to tell me what you're looking for, because I haven't witnessed anything I'd describe in such a way these days, mister."

"Hmm, I can't tell a civilian too much more about it, just leave it alone, I'll find my way around, thank you. One more thing, do you know anyone who's seen two girls, one white-haired with glasses and the other one black-haired with a horizontal scar over her nose?" As the man spoke, Agatha and Ursa were coming out of the dressing room, before they could come to greet Lawrence and give themselves away, he grimaced and pointed outside at his hip height, doing his best to alert them without being too suspicious.

"Hey! I haven't seen anyone like that, but maybe I can talk to the people I know around here and tell you what I find out over coffee somewhere nearby?" Lawrence did his best to keep the investigator's attention on himself as the girls snuck away from the building.

"I see, I don't think that will be necessary, we're leaving in a few days but thank you for the offer," he said, and Lawrence took note of the use of "we", "just one more thing, what's your real name?"

That caught Lawrence off guard, but Tobias' expression was closer to amusement than accusation. "It's Lawrence," he answered with a grin not letting his surprise show.

"Well, I haven't heard of any misbehaviors on your part, but color me curious, what reason would a man like you have to lie about their name?"

Lawrence winked and leaned closer, saying "maybe I can tell you about it if we meet again." before dashing out into the street.

Tobias was left quizzical, thinking "I think that man may have just stolen a few suits..."

"We gotta go we gotta go we gotta go!" Lawrence shout-whispered at the girls as he gently pushed them along away from the clothes store.

"What's happening? Who was that guy? Are we in trouble?" said Ursa, wheeling Agatha forward quickly to avoid the pushing.

"Not if we move quickly, that was an investigator trying to find the centers of sorcerous activity around here, also you two specifically, I didn't know you were such a hot topic," answered Lawrence, moving quickly back towards the woods, "we'll have to spend a while laying low around here, if we take off while they're looking for you they'll know exactly where we're going".

The trio came back to the Wanderer's and hid inside, but there was something strange, dirt on the floor of the train, and not in the shape of their shoes, but in the shape of paws, five toed, long-clawed paws. Perhaps more surprising, in a few more moments, they saw that one of the sacks of less perishable food was missing, not torn up, but seemingly, inexplicably carried away.