The Stolen Amulet

07 | Negotiations

Sarah was slouching on her seat, nearly dozing off as she waited for the buses to come again. Her weary gaze shifted to the clock tower built right beside a local bar, where most of the controllers of the airships often slack off. As of now, she could see through the clear windows that they were there after an announcement was made by the town mayor that transportation by air would be suspended for a short while due to the storms becoming more violent, which would endanger both the airship and the citizens that would be there. Sarah yawned. A quick nap wouldn't hurt, right? She thought and had begun to close her eyes. From a distance, she could already hear the sound of beeping right outside the port. Sarah opened her eyes and turned in the direction of the sound. She sighed in relief, knowing that the buses had finally arrived. She stood up from her seat and was going to take the suitcase she had laid on her left. And that was when she panicked after seeing that it was no longer on the bench.

Sarah jumped from her seat and attempted to look under it without thinking much of it. She realized her dull-witted thinking, stood up again, then turned and turned everywhere, trying to spot the thief who had stolen her suitcase. Oh, God. Where is it? I could've sworn I laid it right beside me!

And then she saw it. Two young boys. Both dressed in a white polo and dark shorts took off running as they both struggled to carry Sarah's suitcase. For a slight moment, she hesitated upon looking at the carriages that were beginning to be filled by people. But then she growled in irritation and then took off, running at full speed. With the wind howling, her dress billowed to the flow of the air as she continued running. Legs tired, but not out of breath yet. She then saw the two boys taking a turn at what seemed to be an alleyway. Sarah was about to head in the same direction when she became confused once the boys were in sight again. They were still running, but neither of them had her suitcase anymore. Determined to find out, Sarah reaches out, and her hand is about to grasp the boy's shoulder when, all of a sudden, a delectable masculine voice calls out to her from behind.

Sarah stopped in her tracks, and her head snapped in the direction of the voice. Not far from where she stood was a tall man. And an undoubtedly handsome one. He smiled. But it was more of a smirk to her. Ingratiating. He rested his left hand on his hips, and the other raised her suitcase without any struggle at all.

"A swift lass you are," he said with a chuckle. "I, without a doubt, would assume that this is yours."

Sarah sighed in relief and quickly ran in the direction of the man. She politely and promptly took the suitcase from him and grasped it in her arms. When she looked up at the man to thank him, Sarah stopped halfway through her words. The color of his hair was like the iridescence of a raven's wing—a shade that she had mistaken for blue that fell on his shoulders and back. His bright hazel eyes had the slightest tint of yellow. This was the fellow from earlier! An impudent one at that.

He was still smirking at her. It was almost as if he'd been waiting for an immediate answer from Sarah. She seemed a little flustered by this and opened her mouth to speak when she stood on her toes to look over his shoulder. That was when she took notice of the buses preparing to leave for her town.

Sarah turned to the man again. "Uh, thank you!"

The sly expression on his face quickly shifted into mild confusion, and without a moment to spare, she took off, running in the buses' direction. It took some time to process what had just happened before he, too, started chasing after Sarah.

"Hey, missy! Wait!" He called out to her. "Hey, wait a second! Hey!"

But it looks like she didn't seem to hear him far from her. He began to catch up with the speedy Sarah, but only for her to outrun him a second later.

She's fast! He thought. Even for a woman to wear those shoes! Or boots, rather.

He didn't have the time to realize that boots are also considered shoes. Despite Sarah's fast running, she was unable to reach the bus. She stopped and sighed as she watched the buses drive away. She looked around and saw that there were other people who also missed the opportunity to get on.