Jonathan

Jonathan awoke with disappointment as his first thought. Nobody had come all day. That was new. All his previous calls for craftsman, artists or wares had been answered within hours. Was the world out of heroes? Had everyone become too comfortable with their lives to risk it for the benefit of strangers? It seemed like it and a small part of him was relieved about that. It was his dream, but putting yourself out there, making promises to people, facing real, impactful consequences for your actions, that was terrifying. So even if he wasn’t happy with his current situation of sitting at home daydreaming, it was what he knew. It was comfortable. It was easy.

Jonathan was still sitting in his chair, wearing last days clothes, when one of his maids announced a visitor. He jumped up while trying to straighten his shirt. After getting most of the folds out, he smelled his breath. It was horrible. A look through the room led him to a bottle of whiskey. He took a big sip to kill everything that might make his breath bad but regretted it before the burning in his throat stopped. How was smelling of alcohol at nine in the morning any better? Shaking his head at how terrible this was going, he walked toward the entrance to welcome the visitor. As soon as he saw the man, Jonathan stopped worrying about his appearance. No matter how bad his breath might be and how slept-in his clothes looked, that man was worse. His eyes had dark rings beneath, his clothes were covered in dirt and it was more than his breath that smelled.

»Jonathan von Frech, my pleasure«, he said and led him into the guest room. He pointed at one of the older chairs. »Please have a seat, Mister...?«

»Lester, just Lester. Thank you.« The man let himself fall into the chair with a big sigh.

Jonathan sat down as well and signaled his maid to bring some refreshments.

»So, Lester, what brings you here then?«

»I was inspired by what I read this morning. By what you wrote.«

»Where you now?«, Jonathan asked raising his eyebrows.

»I know of course what I look like. And I won’t deny that the thought of shelter was the first hook into the idea of coming here. But your words made me think.« He paused to let out another deep sigh. »I mean let’s be honest. What am I doing with my life? Or maybe even more importantly, what am I doing to improve it? Nothing. Nothing for mine and certainly nothing for anyone else's. If anything, I’ve worsened some. And you setting out to help, to save, to give hope. That inspired me, and I want to be a part of it.« Jonathan saw him wringing down a smile, before looking at him.

»That is beautiful. How could I stand in the way of it?« He stood up and extended his hand. »It would be an honor to have you with me on this journey.«

This time Lester broke into a big smile, as he stood up to shake his hand.

»Wonderful. That’s settled then«, Jonathan said and ran out of the room, almost crashing into his maid, just now returning with the drinks and snacks. He hurried into his study, grabbed a stack of papers and was back with Lester just seconds later.

»Where should we start then?«, he asked holding up the first sheet. »A murder?« Jonathan tossed it aside. »A Mystery: A all-consuming silence in the east?« He tossed it away as well. »Oh. A missing girl. A life to be saved. A family’s grieve to be relieved.« He looked up at Lester. »What do you think?«

»A life to be saved.« his new partner said.

The poor family's house was in the central district of the town, where most of the merchants and craftsman lived. Jonathan, being who he was, had no trouble being invited into the simple but spacious brick house, with the wooden sign, outing them as carpenters, to the left of the door.

»What can we do for you, sir?«, the father asked.

»Oh no, nothing«, Jonathan said. »I am here to help. About your daughter.«

The man bowed slightly. »Thank you so very much. Any donation toward the efforts to find her are incredibly helpful.«

»I’m not here to give you money. I’m here to get involved. To actually find her. So, if there is anything you can tell me. Or maybe we should start with how she looks.«

The father stayed silent for a moment, before letting out a suppressed sigh. »Ok. Thank you. Of course. Emely is eight years old. She’s got dark, brown hair. She had a yellow dress on. She has her mother's friendly face and is as kind as she looks. I really don’t know why her. She’s such a sweet little girl.« He cleared his throat. »She’s around four or five feet tall. I don’t know, does any of this help?«

»Yes. You're doing great. Can you tell us when and where you last saw her?«

»She was just out to run some errands like she did most days. Emely is a tremendous help. Always reliable and able to manage on her own. She seems older than she is. It was stupid to let her go alone.« He ran his finger along the bottom of his eye. »There are many places she went to that day. I could give you a list if you want. But someone saw her right before it must have happened. At the corner woodshop. Around the old oak tree.«

»Thank you, sir. That is incredibly helpful.« Jonathan shook his hand, trying to make it feel comforting. And then they left.

He stopped just outside the door and sighed deeply. He had implied a promise. Now he had to prove that he wasn't just a fraud. That he really could do something worthwhile. He closed his eyes and focused on his rapidly beating heart. There was panic, but when he opened his eyes again, there was a smile as well.

They followed the street toward the old oak tree. With not even one person crossing their path, it was easy to imagine how it could have happened. But when they arrived, the gravel street was covered in footprints anyways, which made any kind of tracking impossible.

»So«, Lester said, »what’s the plan?«

Jonathan looked at the houses around him. Apart from the woodshop, it was all, for this part of town, typical wall-to-wall brick houses. Nothing special about any of them. He changed his focus to the mighty tree, that stood in the middle of the street, with a plaza forming around it. He took the beauty of the first leaves in. They almost looked wrong against the thick, wrinkly bark.

»I doubt she’s hiding in the tree«, Lester said.

Jonathan laughed. »We're a sad bunch of adventurers. Standing around town without a clue.« He looked at his new partner, but he didn’t share his smile. He had always imagined a more enthusiastic partner, but if he was honest with himself, there wasn’t really a reason for excitement yet.

Jonathan looked around once more, while Lester was just standing there seeming lost. Behind him a city guard, wearing one of the new stylish red uniforms, approached. Talk to as many people as you can, look at as many places as you can and follow as many leads as you can. That’s what his book had said. And since that was all he could go by, Jonathan went to greet the guard.

»Good morning, sir. We're trying to find the girl that’s gone missing around here«, he said.

»Terrible, terrible thing. That poor girl.« The man shook his head with his lips pressed together. »But why don’t we let the professionals help her?«

»Are they helping?«, Lester asked.

»Of course they are. I’m sure she will be safely returned in just a few…«

»So, there are suspects? There are clues?« Jonathan's voice sounded oddly high.

»Obviously my colleagues have done excellent work, but I’m not going to share sensitive information with some…«

Jonathan took a coin out of his pocket. »Will that change your mind?«

The guard raised his hand. »A-Are you trying to…« His voice was shaking slightly. »I’m not going to be bought. I’m proud of being part of this noble troop. I trained for years. The integrity…« He paused. His eyes were glued to the coin. »Is… Is that gold?«

»100% pure gold.«

»We have no idea really«, the guard said. »But in this part of town, it can only be one group of people. I would ask around the tavern two streets over there.« He pointed toward the road that went beside the woodshop, made two quick steps, grabbed the coin and rushed away.

»Having these would have saved me from so much running«, Lester said. Then he shrugged. »But I guess I wouldn’t have needed to run as much then.« He gave Jonathan a weird smile and walked toward the tavern almost as quickly as the guard, leaving Jonathan to be the one standing around seeming lost.