Panic swelled sharp and aching as Cricket stared at the space where the town had been.
Gone.
Everything was gone.
He had supplies for the evening, he knew how to set up a tent, he could protect himself if need be. That didn't matter. None of it mattered. Because Ignacia was just... she was gone. Swallowed up with Totchli as the sun sank below the horizon.
"Time. What time is it?" he asked digging through the bag on his shoulder. Dropping the bangles, the spare scarf, his sketch pad. When he didn't find what he was looking for he dropped to his knees and upturned the whole bag, so the rest of his personal items fell out. There! The little silver pocket watch Uncle Sunil had insisted he bring along. Cricket had never found a good way to carry it—it just didn't fit his look. It opened with a soft tink. "6:35."
Cricket fell back onto his butt, looking at the space where the town had been again. What was he supposed to do now? Without Ignacia there to tell him, he wasn't sure. She was in charge; she'd always been in charge. Shaking himself, he collected his things, and stuffed them unceremoniously into the satchel. It took him another few minutes to gather his wits enough to climb the hill to the horses, set up his tent, and build a small fire.
He'd just have to wait until the town reappeared. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long. Possibly at first light. He hoped it'd be at first light. He needed Ignacia to help him figure this out. There had been nothing in all the books he'd ever read about magic like this. Whole towns didn't just disappear. The power that would take was astronomical. It had to be...it had to be something. A curse? Maybe? But what kind? And why would someone curse an entire town?
His musings were cut short by a gentle chiming sound coming from the vicinity of his satchel. After more rapid digging, he found the hand mirror Anstice had given him. The glass, instead of showing Cricket his own reflection of warm copper skin, a dusting of freckles, and starlight eyes, showed Anstice. Her lips pursed into a look of annoyance.
"You were meant to call when you reached Tochtli," she said without preamble. "Your father has been worried."
"Annie." Cricket breathed, relieved, pulling the mirror up to get a better look at her in the fading light. He wasn't sure what he looked like, but Anstice seemed to see something in his visage that bothered her for she dropped the haughty look, and replaced it with one of genuine concern.
"What is it? What's happened?"
"Iggy is..." He whined weakly, and turned the mirror to the field where the town had been. Now lit by moonbeams and starlight, the grass was a pale ocean of...nothing. Just nothing.
"Iggy is what? You have to talk to me Cricky. Use your words." Her tone was patient, but it didn't erase the worry in her eyes.
"Iggy was still inside, when it disappeared. As soon as the sun went down, it was just gone. And I was following this person in a cloak. And then there was this luna moth. And we split up to ask the townspeople. But no one knew anything. And there was the Sunday market. And suddenly I just turned around and poof, everything was just... It was all gone. Iggy was gone."
Anstice had leaned forwards at some point during his explanation, and now she was rubbing the bridge of her nose. That worried wrinkle at the corner of her right eye was there, the one she'd inherited from Marwa. Not quite twitching down into a frown, but almost.
"What time did it disappear?"
"I don't know exactly, but I looked at my watch after and it was 6:35. Why? Does it matter what time?"
"It doesn't. Not really. But that might be when it reappears?"
"Is that how this works?" Cricket looked back at the vacant plot of land where the town had stood. Squinting as if he could see it there, but there was just grass and the soft twinkling of fireflies as they drifted about where buildings used to be.
"I don't know. I don't know how any of this works." Anstice huffed, sitting back in her chair. She hated it when she didn't know something almost as much as Ignacia hated it when she was wrong. How did he surround himself with women who had to know everything? "But if that's the case..."
"Then I should be up with the sun." Cricket groaned scrubbing at his face. "So, I have a full day to poke around."
"Right." She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Then you need to be out again before 6. In plenty of time for the town to disappear again. Bring Iggy with you this time. Don't get separated. All right?"
"Right." Cricket nodded, some of the panic melting away at this. There was a plan. There was something to do. He didn't have to stress over the what of the thing, not tonight, because tomorrow he'd get to the bottom of it. Tomorrow he'd be able to ask more questions, and get answers.
"Did you say Sunday market?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Cricky, it's Wednesday."
"That's...that's weird isn't it?"
"It is. I'll do some digging through the books here, and see if I can find anything on curses that could make entire towns disappear. In the meantime, you get some sleep." She pointed at him through the mirror. She waited for him to nod, to agree, and then she waved her hand over the surface and her image disappeared replaced with his own harried reflection. Great Selene, he was a sight, wasn't he?
"Sleep." He reminded himself, and curled up in his tent to do just that.
Early mornings to be a loathsome thing that should not exist. But what Cricket finds far more loathsome is knowing that one of his dearest friends is trapped in a disappearing village. He rose with the sun, just as he'd told Anstice he would. He ate a quick breakfast from their stores of dried fruits, and then the village reappeared at precisely 6:30am. He recorded it in Ignacia's journal right alongside her annoyingly neat handwriting.
She'd likely skin him alive for writing in her journal, but he had to have somewhere to keep his observations, and he was not about to use his sketchbook for that. That'd be preposterous. Plus, she wasn't there to stop him. That thought ached more than it ought. He couldn't seem to find the joy in doing something he knew would irritate her like he usually did.
"Ouch," he grumbled rubbing at the clenching in his chest. There was nothing for it, the only solution was to go and get Ignacia back. So, he refreshed the magic keeping their horses there, and headed off.
As the sun rose slowly in the sky, the town of Tochtli was teeming with life. Children playing. Mothers hanging out laundry. The smithy was in her barn banging away at some horseshoes. It was much different than it was the evening before. But, just like the evening before, when Cricket made his way to the center of town, the market stalls were set up.
The vendors are much more lively in the morning. Shouting their wares to everyone that passed. And there was Ignacia... Talking to the apple salesman?
"Iggy! Iggy!" He ran towards her, waving, and she looked up to frown at him a little. As if she'd just parted ways with him. As if he were interrupting something important.
She said something more to the merchant and then turned to give Cricket an unimpressed look. "And where have you been? I look over and you're just gone."
"Iggy!" Cricket breathed, trapping her in a hug so tight he was sure he'd leave bruises. But he didn't care. Because she was here. She was here and she was safe. And he didn't have to do this alone. "I was so worried when the town disappeared. I turned back around, and you were just gone. Everything was just gone!"
"What? Gone?" She snorted, shaking her head. "I've been here the whole time. You were going to go and talk to the vendors over there, and I was chatting with the apple vendor and then..." Her auburn brows wrinkled, lips pursing. "And then..."
"And then what?"
"Well...I don't remember. I turned to look, and you were gone. I was going to finish up talking and go and look for you. It was late, I thought we should be getting out of town."
"You mean nothing happened after that? You didn't go and find a place to stay? Or wake up this morning? Or... What about this? What did you have for breakfast?" Cricket pulled the journal from his bag and scribbled down some notes in his mangled, disjointed handwriting.
"Well, we had what was left of the eggs and—"
"No, that was yesterday. What did you have this morning?"
"That's not funny Cricky. You were there. We had the eggs and—"
"No, Iggy, that was yesterday," he said softly, earnest. "What did you have this morning?"
"I don't know." The words left her on a breath, and she wobbled a little on her feet. She was going to cry; Cricket could see it. It'd been so long since he'd seen her cry.
"Hey..." He stuffed the journal back into his satchel, and scooped her up into a tight hug. "Hey... It's all right. We're going to figure this out. All right?"
"But I was just gone."
"And you won't be gone again. I promise. We'll investigate, and we'll get out before the town disappears. It was 6:30 yesterday, so if we leave at 6, we'll be okay. I promise." Cricket pulled back, meeting her eyes to show her that he was serious. He was so serious. He'd never been more serious about anything in his life. He wasn't going to let Ignacia disappear on him again. Never again. "So, what did you find out from the apple vendor?"
"Nothing. He didn't know anything. None of them did. They're just going about their day like it's normal." She shook her head, scrubbing at her eyes to dispel the last of what would have become tears. "You? What did you find out?"
"It was the same with everyone else. They don't seem to realize what's happening." He scrubbed at his nose, looking around them. "They're just..."
"Gone." Ignacia finished, choking on the word a little. Then she cleared her throat, and tilted her chin up. "All right then, we've done the market, let's check some of the other townspeople. Maybe the local inn?"
"There's a smithy near the boundary, maybe she's seen something. Let's go there first."
"We could split—"
"No! No splitting up. No more." Cricket took her hand, squeezing it tight. "We stick together this time, so neither of us gets stuck again."
Ignacia nodded, her fingers squeezing his back in gratitude. The walk to the smithy was a quiet one. Cricket's eyes flicked around, taking in the townspeople. Everyone was just going about their day as if nothing at all was different. He wondered if they were tired. If in that gone place, they'd gotten any sleep. None of them looked like they were exhausted from days without sleeping, so he supposed they did.
The smithy was sitting on a stool in the middle of her shop, banging away against a miniature anvil. She didn't look up when they came in, just kept working. Her hammer singing against the hot metal of the horseshoe she was forging.
"Excuse us but—" Cricket started, but stopped when she held up a finger. When the horseshoe was dunked in water to cool, filling the small open space with the soft sizzling of steaming metal, she finally turned to them.
"What do you need made? Horseshoes? Daggers? I can do swords, but it'll take me a bit longer so if you're in a hurry we should stick to something small." She wiped her sweaty hands on the leather apron over her chest then held out her hand to Cricket. "Ava."
"I'm Cricket, and this is Ignacia." He shook her hand, a delighted smile spreading his lips.
Ava shook Ignacia's hand then narrowed her eyes on him, looking thoughtful for a moment. "You're the prince."
"Yes...I...I am." He laughed nervously.
"What are you doing in Tochtli? Don't you usually stick to the capital?" She moved to her work bench digging through the bits of metal in various stages of progress there. "I don't think I've got anything that would really be fit for you here. Unless you need your horse shoed."
"No, actually, we have some questions." Ignacia stepped forward, all smiles. "And we'd be happy to pay you for your time of course. You seem like a busy woman."
"Never too busy for the prince." Ava smiled back. "Ask away."
"Ah, yes." Cricket cleared his throat, scrubbing at the back of his neck. "It seems Tochtli is experiencing some strange magical activity. You wouldn't happen to have noticed anything like that? You've got a pretty good view of the edge of town, and we thought maybe you'd seen something."
"Not really." Ava shrugged. "There was a traveling trader through here a few weeks ago, selling a bunch of junk, but nothing out of the ordinary. What're they saying has been going on here?"
"Well, it seems the—"
"Just some weird occurrences. Nothing at all to worry about. Thank you for your time." Ignacia grabbed his arm and dragged him away.
Cricket waited until they were a ways away, and he could hear the sound of Ava working again before he rounded on her. "What was that?! She's the first person I've gotten to answer any of my questions since we got here!"
Ignacia shook her head, looking around to be sure they were alone. "From what I got from the few vendors I spoke to, there seems to be some level of dissonance about this thing. If you say the town is disappearing, they get angry. The girl with the berry cart almost took my head off."
"And we don't want someone with a bunch of weapons trying to take our heads off." Cricket nodded. "So we need to be more careful."
"Yes. Now, let's head to the inn. Maybe there will be some travelers who have noticed something." Ignacia suggested, taking hold of his hand again and tugging him along. He pulled the pocket watch from his bag to check it. It wasn't even quite noon yet. They had plenty of time still.
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