A feeling like I'd just tried to swim through jello made me shudder with revulsion. I fell to my knees coughing. What in the world had just happened?"
"Archer?" I croaked out. I wiped the weird feeling from my eyes and glanced around. We were in the woods right outside the village.
"Cassidy," Archer breathed. "I'm so sorry. I could have sworn I saw Charlie."
Sympathy roared through me. "I would have found him for you. You didn't have to come here."
He speared me with a look. "I had to see for myself." He stood on wobbly legs and brushed the dirt from his knees. He wasn't dressed appropriately at all. Converse shoes, an old rock band t-shirt, jeans and a flannel shirt did not a villager make.
I sighed. "We have to get you some clothes before we get arrested." I wagged a finger at him. "Stay here. I'll find you something. As soon as I get back, you can change and we can try to find him."
Archer looked like he didn't want to do any of that, but he gave me a sharp nod. "Hurry."
I adjusted the quiver on my back and stepped into the village. At first I was nervous. I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, but no one paid me any heed. I was dressed like them and I looked like them so no one really thought twice about it. I stepped into a tailor's shop I found just a couple minutes later and within less than five, I had a complete outfit for Archer. I had to guess his size, but I didn't think it was too far off. I paid the man with the money in my pack and winced as I realized I'd probably just spent my lodging money.
With a wave to the grizzled old tailor, I left the shop and hurried back to where we'd come in at the woods. Archer was still sitting where I'd left him, his gaze sharp on the villagers going to and fro. We were a little too far to make out any real features, but Archer didn't seem to care.
I shoved the clothing at him. "Get dressed."
He took them and scrambled to his feet. I turned my back and listened as his clothing rustled around.
"You can turn around," he said a few minutes later.
My lips twitched as I beheld him. Gone was the messy-haired grunge boy. In his place was a villager with tired eyes and a young face. "Ready?" I asked.
"Let's go," he grumped. "I don't want to lose these clothes. Can I put them in your pack?"
I held my backpack out and let him dump the Earth clothes in.
When he was finished, we stepped out of the woods and back into the village. "Where did you see him at?" I asked.
He pointed to a place just ahead of us. "He was wearing black pants and a white sort of pirate shirt."
"How sure are you that it was him?"
His gaze darkened. "Enough that I risked the possibility of never seeing my parents again."
So. Very sure, I guessed.
With a nod, I gestured for him to go ahead. "Lead the way."
Archer's pace picked up and he scanned the crowd with the intensity of a hawk looking for its next meal. But a half hour later, the search had lost its zeal.
"I know it was him, Cassidy."
"I believe you," I said. "But why do you think he was here of all places?"
An annoyed expression curled his lips. "No idea. Why wouldn't he have said something instead of just disappearing on us? I've missed him." The plaintive tone in his voice broke my heart.
