THIEF: THE MIDNIGHT VEIL

06: "THE MAN IN RED"

CHAPTER 6
"THE MAN IN RED"

Gilmore stood on one side of the stone archway leading to the ascending staircase. His mouth was full with a concerning amount of coffee beans, and he gnashed them with his teeth noisily. The guard closed his eyes for a moment of respite from the night's boredom. Benny stood on the other side of the archway, paces away.
Both guards had been at their post for nearly three hours. Gilmore especially disliked stationary posts. He much preferred being on patrol; at least then he was moving, able to stretch his legs, perhaps chat with some of the house staff here and there.
It did not help that Benny was more drunk than usual. It was going to be a long night.
"I w-work... and hic - better when I drunk. When - hic - when I drrr... drink, I mean."
"Benny," Gilmore said, "are you ever not drunk? You need to slow it down."
"I... I'm fine! Why - hic - why err you... alllllways giving mmmee grief?"
"You're having trouble standing."
Benny hiccuped again, a bit harder this time. He clasped a hand to his mouth and let out a mighty belch that echoed through the Servants' Quarters hallway. "I think... I think I threw u-up - hic - in my mouth a li'll."
Gilmore cringed and cast a sideways glance at his companion. "Maybe go to the washroom, mate."
"It's... but what if I can't make it there in time?"
"It's right there." Gilmore pointed at a door across the hall twenty paces away.
"Oh. I - hic - but wuttiff I can't m-make it?" Benny leaned back against the wall. "What if e'ryone laughs at me?"
"There's no one else here."
"But what if... what if... what if you laugh at me?"
Gilmore rolled his eyes. "Just go, Benny, before I knock your arse out just so I can have some peace an' quiet."
"I'd... like to s-see you tr-tr... try. Ha. Ha! Ah, haha!" The guard drunkenly stumbled to the washroom, lowly humming some nonsensical tune amidst a steady torrent of hiccups. He stopped at the door and and jiggled the handle with great difficulty, tugging with all of his might. "It... it's lo- hic - locked!" Benny announced in dismay.
"No it's not, Benny."
"Summun's - hic - someone's been taffin' around down here!" Benny used both hands to pull the washroom door open, grunting mightily through gritted teeth. When it still did not open, he let out an exasperated sigh.
"Benny."
Benny looked back at Gilmore with wide eyes. "Who would do th-that? Why would summun l-lock the washroom?!"
Gilmore couldn't help but grin. "You have to push the door open, mate."
"I am."
"No you're not. Push it open. Don't pull it."
"N-no - hic - why would I do that when the door does... does... doooesn't swing outward?"
"Benny," Gilmore snapped impatiently, "push the damned door open. Stop pulling!"
The drunken guard flashed Gilmore what was probably supposed to be an obscene gesture, and he turned the handle of the washroom door again and gave it a shove with his shoulder. The door swung open with a loud creak of the hinges, and Benny stood in the open doorway for a long moment with an incredulous look on his face. "It w- hic - worked!" he proclaimed gleefully. "Now it's n-not locked!"
Gilmore just stared at him, unimpressed.
"I didn't even need a k-key, Gil. Didja see that?"
"I... yes, Benny. Yes I did. Good work."
Benny crowed triumphantly and shut the door behind him. He started humming a tune obnoxiously, his resumed humming his tone, his voice muffled by the door.
Gilmore sighed and allowed himself a few precious moments of shut-eye. Only a few seconds passed before he heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. He forced his eyes open with a grumble and recognized the new young kitchen maid as she approached.
"'Ello," Sara offered quietly.
Gilmore gave a nod. "Good evening, Miss." The girl couldn't have been more than fourteen years of age - and maybe it was the dim torchlight, but she reminded the man of his daughter around the same age.
She smiled good-naturedly before looking over at the washroom door. Upon hearing a man inside belting out a slurred, garbled torrent of words that she suspected was supposed to have been a song, Sara turned back to Gilmore with wide eyes. "Is he okay?" she asked in a hushed voice.
"Aye, Miss. He's just, um... having a rough night."
She nodded shyly and stood a few paces from the door, casting uncomfortable glances about the basement landing.
Gilmore folded his arms across his chest, resting them on the crossbow that hung idly from a sturdy leather harness over his shoulder. "Need the washroom?"
Sara nodded again.
The guard chuckled. "Sorry. Dumb question."
"That's all right, sir."
"Oh - no need to 'Sir' me, lass. I'm sure my partner will be out of there, um... soon."
The young woman forced an awkward laugh, and the odd pair stood together for a minute, silent except for Benny's muffled performance beyond the door.
Gilmore sighed and flashed a rueful smile to Sara as he trudged up to the washroom door and rapped on it with a gloved hand. "Benny. You all right in there?"
"I-I... what is the meaning - hic - why are y-you rushing old Benny?"
"There's a lass out here waiting for you to finish up, you taffer." Gilmore looked over his shoulder at the kitchen maid and flashed her a wink. "There's a line forming out here, Benny. Four people are waiting for you to finish your business."
Sara clasped a hand over her mouth, stifling laughter.
"Wh-what?" thundered Benny. "I n-need my piracy!"
Gilmore slapped a palm playfully against the door. "What's this? You're a pirate now, mate?"
"No, you t-taffer! I... I...."
Benny fell silent, causing Gilmore and Sara to look at each other with wide eyes, eyebrows raised.
"I said I need - hic - my piracy!"
Sara nearly doubled over with laughter, her guffaws bouncing down the corridor.
"Oi! Youuu - you lessen tuh me, out there!" Benny shouted. "Laugh at m-me and you'll be surrey, who'er you are out there!"
"I can't be 'Surrey,' Benny. I'm Gilmore, remember?"
"Quit... quit taffin' around! I just - hic - need privatsy."
This only made Sara crack up harder, and Gilmore snorted with laughter as he returned to his post near the entryway. "He's harmless," Gilmore said quietly. "He won't remember this tomorrow. Or an hour from now, really."
Sara still had her hand clamped over her mouth. "I see," she said between giggles.
Gilmore recomposed himself. "How are you faring so far? Here at the manor, I mean. I know you're new, yes?"
"Yes. I think I'm getting better with my duties. There's so much to learn in the kitchen, though. Thankfully Ms. Beaumont has been very kind." She has me helping with food prep."
"Is that so? Kitchen maids don't usually help with the food."
"Yes, that's what she told me. But she said I was catching on quickly, so why not help her with some of the easier tasks? Like dicing, paring, peeling, stirring."
Gilmore smiled encouragingly. "Well done."
Sara beamed. "My thanks. I think maybe I'll be a cook like Ms. Beaumont one day. Have my own kitchen and whatnot."
"I'm sure you will."
Benny had resumed singing, his words laced with dizzying stupor.
The girl rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall a few paces away from Gilmore. "My name is Sara, by the way."
"Well met. I'm Gilmore. You can call me Gil. If you ever need help finding your way around, let me know."
"Thank you." The girl cleared her throat and lowered her voice. "Can I ask you something?"
The guard looked at her curiously. "Mm?"
Sara stepped closer and spoke quietly, even though Benny's singing was echoing obnoxiously all around them. "Are there other guards here? Different guards, I mean."
"Other guards? There's lots of us."
"I mean... different guards." Sara looked down at the floor. "Like, wearing red?"
Gilmore tilted his head in question and peered closely at the girl. "Not sure what you mean, lass."
"I saw a man in red the other night."
"A man in red?"
"Aye. He wore a red hood over his head.
"Sorry? A man with a red hood? Where, down here?"
"Mm. And a red cloak, or... surcoat, maybe? And armor underneath."
Gilmore frowned. "Like a Hammerite?"
Before Sara could answer, loud footsteps from the stairwell jolted them both, and the glow of a bright lantern washed through the entryway revealing Jasper Galway. "What's this about a Hammerite?" the security chief demanded.
"Hoy, sir." Gilmore looked at the kitchen maid for a moment. "Sara here says she... well. Tell the captain here what you saw."
Sara paled and her eyes went wide. "Captain?" she echoed weakly.
Jasper reached the bottom of the stairwell and stood before them. "Yes, lass. Tell me."
The girl swallowed hard, and she looked nervously to Gilmore, then back to Jasper. "I-I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to, um..."
"What are you sorry about, miss?"
"Da-dum, da-da-ta, da-di-ta, da-dah," Benny sang. "I'll... I'll find you! J-just you wait til I'm alllll done here, you... you cowards!"
Gilmore and Sara both snorted while attempting to stifle laughter.
"Focus," Jasper snapped at them both. He looked at Sara. "You've nothing to be sorry about. Just tell me what you saw."
"I-I... well, I saw a man the other night - I think I did, I mean - wearing a cloak and hood over armor," she replied timidly. "A red cloak. And he looked like he was carrying something like a hammer, or a large club? But it was quite dark."
Jasper exchanged glances with Gilmor before turning back to Sara. "Where did you see this man?"
"Down here." The girl turned and pointed further down the dark hall, in the direction leading from the Servants' Quarters. "Ms. Beaumont had asked me to fetch her something from the still room, near the kitchen. I did, but when I came back out into the hall the man in red was standing in the shadows near the dumbwaiter lift."
"He was just standing there?" Jasper asked. "Did he say anything?"
"No, sir."
"Did he approach you?"
"No, sir."
Jasper's jaw was clenched. "Then what happened?"
Sara gulped. "I got scared and I dropped the tray that Ms. Beaumont had me fetch. And I thought I was going to be in trouble because they were rolls that she and Tomas had prepared in the morning, and I ruined them because they all spilled onto the floor. Thankfully Ms. Beaumont was kind. She even helped me clean up the mess, and—"
"Did Ms. Beaumont or anyone else see this man dressed in red?" Jasper cut in impatiently.
Sara shook her head. "The noise of the platter I dropped was so loud that Ms. Beaumont and Tomas came running to see if I was okay. They started helping me pick up the mess. I was going to show them the man in red, but when I looked back, he wasn't there anymore."
"So this man in red saw you as well?"
"I... well, yes. He was looking at me."
Jasper sniffed loudly to clear his nose. "He said nothing? Didn't approach you? Nothing at all?"
"No, sir."
"And did you tell anyone else about what you saw?"
"No, sir."
"You're quite certain?"
"Aye." The kitchen maid looked down at the floor guiltily. "I'm new to the staff, and... well, I didn't want to ruin things by sounding crazy. I didn't want Ms. Beaumont to think she hired some girl who sees things that aren't there."
Gilmore had remained dutifully silent during Jasper's questioning, but he was having a hard time discerning whether his captain was taking Sara seriously or not. Jasper almost sounded worried, like seeing a man in red - or a Hammerite - in the basement of Arden Manor was a possibility, which of course it wasn't... but the crossbowman could not put a finger on it.
Jasper nodded. "I see. Well, miss...."
"Sara, sir."
"Sara. Thank you for reporting this to us." Jasper smiled warmly at her. "I can assure you that there are no "Red Men" here, but we will look into it."
"P-please don't tell Ms. Beaumont," the maid pleaded. "I can't lose my job."
"Your secret's safe with us. Right, Gilmore?"
"Quite right, sir."
Benny wretched loudly, the closed washroom door unable to contain the sounds of his sputtering. "Ah!" he was yelling between coughs. "Ah, ha! I m-made it - hic - made it into the bowl."
Jasper cursed under his breath. "Gilmore, take young Sara here to the other washroom, since clearly this imbecile can't be expected to finish up any time soon." He slammed a closed fist against the washroom door. "Benny, hurry the hell up and return to your post - if you can walk straight."
As Benny chortled a slurred response, Gilmore voiced his affirmative to Jasper and lifted one of the lit torches from its sconce, leaving the other burning at the entryway to the stairwell upward. He beckoned for Sara to follow. "We'll go past the kitchen, past the lift, take a left, then your first right, past the still room. On through the long hall, which will eventually end at an intersection...."
Jasper watched them head off through the winding basement corridors, and the man drew a deep breath before letting it out with a huff.
Lady Arden was upstairs in her bedchambers and would be expecting him soon, but Jasper had a stop to make first.