Thankfully the rest of the night passed uneventfully. We stayed off the roads but loosely followed what had once been the A6, snaking through the british countryside. I set a steady pace but Keri kept up, if she struggled at all she kept it to herself. Finally, as the sky was beginning to lighten in the east we saw a sign for a town called Bakewell.
I stopped walking as it came into view and Keri came to a stop beside me. Her face was flushed with pink but her breathing was steady.
'I think we should find somewhere to rest while the sun is up.' I'd never been here before, but about what I knew of the area made me uneasy. While this part of the country had technically been claimed by the third of the largest militia groups, New Wales, there weren't many actual settlements this far east, and the whole area was often used for members of all different groups travelling around. It was also an established guild route up to Easterly.
Keri glanced over at me, then started to speak. 'I stopped here on my way to the guild. I know of a place we can rest, if we're careful.' she shifted the weight of her rucksack from one shoulder to the other. 'I didn't see any savages then, but I suppose that doesn't mean they aren't there.'
For some reason, the savages were less active during the daylight hours, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try to catch you if you disturbed them.
We set off towards the town at a slower pace, side by side. A thought suddenly occurred to me.
'Keri, how did you…' I considered my phrasing. '...leave Easterly anyway?'
She glanced over to me again, the corner of her mouth twisted into a small smile.
'I walked out.'
'What?'
She sighed and then continued.
'Life with Benjen had been awful for a long time. After his army had 'conquered' White Harbour - his term for it - I had travelled down to Leeds with him. It was his idea to go himself and check out the handiwork of his minions. It was terrible, what they did to the people living there. Benjen has a soft spot for medieval torture, a few years ago he set some of his men to work building monstrous devices he found in books. He told me at the time they were just for show but…' She swallowed. 'I saw when we arrived there what they had really been made for. I wanted to do something, anything to help the people I saw, but I felt so powerless, so useless. So instead I hid. I barely left the mansion Benjen had commandeered for us.
A few weeks into our visit, we were having dinner with some of Ben's most trusted men. They were discussing a group of prisoners that were being transported through the city, to be taken and sold to the Russians. A man who had recently been promoted commented that one of them looked familiar.' She looked up at me again.
'You should have seen the look Ben gave him. I thought he was going to combust on the spot. Obviously that made me incredibly curious. The next morning when Ben had left for the day, I went out to try and find the train of prisoners they had mentioned. I only caught sight of them as they were leaving, but then I thought I saw my brother. I chased for a while until I could be sure, third from the back was Andrew. I ran back to the house, my mind whirring. I had to leave, as soon as possible. I changed into the sturdiest clothes I had, took as much food as I could hide in my pockets, and later that day, I walked out of the front gate. Nobody even asked me a single question, the guards just let me leave.' She smiled wryly. 'At the time I thought they'd assumed I wouldn't go anywhere without Benjen's permission. A reasonable assumption too, if I'm honest. I didn't really go anywhere without him. But now I wonder if he told them to let me leave, if his plan all along was for me to find out and try to rescue Andrew.'
She reached out for my arm, pulling me to a gentle stop.
'I don't know what he is up to, Ali, but you need to understand Benjen is not right in the head. He's sick and twisted and I'm sure there's something deeper to all of this, I just don't know what.' I patted her shoulder awkwardly.
'Well then I guess it's up to us to work out what he is doing, if we can avoid being caught in the process.' I'd meant it as an offhand joke, but concern furrowed Keri's brow.
'That could be easier said than done, with Jonathan working with him.'
I shot her my best reassuring smile. 'Ben isn't the only one with friends. Once we can move around faster, we will find some answers. One way or another.'
I wasn't sure that my response had helped much, but it was enough for Keri to resume walking and we soon reached the outer edge of Bakewell.
Keri led me confidently through a meandering estate, finally coming to a stop outside a large detached new build. It looked totally abandoned, but all the windows were boarded up, covered in a variety of aging graffiti tags. Whoever had owned the house had tried to defend it, in the beginning. I absently wondered if they had survived. If they had, it was unlikely they would come back here. Almost all of us avoided reminders about life before.
To my surprise, Keri led me to a small window set just off the floor, and lifted the board away easily. I could now see that the house came with a basement, and it was into this room we slowly lowered ourselves, one by one.
Taller than Keri by several inches, I stretched up to pull the board back into place in front of the window. Then I turned to appreciate Keri's hideout with a low whistle.
It was her turn to busy herself arranging the space, and I watched, impressed that she had a small store of food and a few useful items in a sideboard near the stairs that led into the rest of the house. Against one wall was a sofa, it looked well loved but comfortable and I went over to it and sat down, ditching my bag to the side. I let my head fall back against the top of the cushion behind me, suddenly feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.
'Caches not such a stupid idea after all huh?' My eyes fell closed but I was smiling.
'I'll give you that one… it seemed… prudent to have somewhere nearby to come if I couldn't find you at the guild, or if you wouldn't see me. You did always tell me to plan for anything.'
'Good advice, if I do say so myself.' I could feel myself drifting off and tried to fight the fog settling over my brain.
'Still modest, I see.' This time Keri's voice came from just above me and I struggled to prise one eye open. She was smiling down at me, a blanket in her hands.
'Shhhhh' her voice was soft. 'Get some sleep, you look exhausted.'
I wanted to argue with her, but she was right. I was exhausted. 'You too.' I mumbled. She settled the blanket over me, then I heard the sofa creak next to me and she settled herself into a comfy position.
'Don't worry about that, I'm right...behind...' her voice trailed off, and within moments, we were both asleep.