Seeing Britt’s brief search end with no result, Max pulled off his wet shirt to wring it out.
“What’s the plan?” Britt asked.
Max shrugged while he twisted the water from his clothes, “I honestly didn’t know if we were going to make it this far, but now that we have, well, we can’t stay here all day. That guy across the street watched us come in here and if he doesn’t come looking for us, someone else might.” Britt frowned at this seeming lack of a plan, so he added, “The soldiers are most active right now, right?”
Britt nodded.
“They’re not going to have all of their troops searching for us, that’s just a waste of their time. So, I say we dry out a bit, hide in town for a few hours, then slip past the soldiers this evening and move to Tony’s.”
“Why not back to Solomon’s?” Britt asked.
“I told Bo that if anything bad were to happen during this venture our backup plan would be to meet at our foster home.”
“What if they didn’t leave? Maybe they’re waiting for us to come back?”
“Those soldiers were marching down the trail that led right past Solomon’s house. When we didn’t show up, I bet they went out looking for us, learned of the soldiers’ presence and left. Bo’s smart enough to avoid bringing them into town. He’d use the game trails we know of to move through the forest. They’ll be there waiting for us, I’m sure of it.”
Britt nodded, “Okay, but if they’re not there?”
“Then we’ll use the cover of the forest to get back to Sol’s,” Max said.
“We’ll need a disguise if we’re going to stay in town part of the day. I don’t see any clothes in here,” Britt said looking around the millhouse once more.
Max stepped into the open room, double-checking to make sure it was empty. He’d been in this building many times and knew there was a maintenance room. Locating it in the far corner, he searched through the contents inside. He remembered that on his last visit to the mill, he’d seen members in the community who were sensitive to the grain’s dust wearing cloaks to cover their skin while operating the mill. Max found the milling coats hanging on the back wall.
Handing one of the long-tailed coats to Britt, he grabbed another for himself. Using the coats to cover up, Max and Britt wrung out their pants and shirts as best they could. Tying them around the detached mill shaft, they worked to dry their clothes. When Max put his clothes back on, they clung to his skin, still damp. He shrugged when Britt looked at him, then slipped the black mill coat on over his damp shirt, flopping the hood over his head as he moved toward the front door.
Cracking it open, Max looked out through the narrow gap. His eye instantly went to the older gentleman who’d been watching them before. The stranger was no longer stationed at the storefront. He instantly began to worry that the elderly man had gone to alert the soldiers. Before turning to inform Britt of this fear, a thought crossed his mind. Max pulled the door open and stepped onto the deck, walking with purpose as he led Britt out into the street. Keeping his head down and trying not to draw attention, Max angled toward the storefront where the older man had been standing. Stepping up onto the deck and opening the door, he glanced back to the street and saw that people continued to move without taking notice of them. Ushering Britt inside, he closed the door.
Max stood alongside Britt as he studied the shelves and racks lined with goods. Max hadn’t been in this building before but knew it to be one of three general stores in Brookside. They carried average everyday items townspeople might need. The two stood alone in the store, confirming Max’s suspicion that the owner was the man who’d been watching them and he’d likely gone to warn others of strangers lurking around the millhouse. Britt started searching and Max quickly caught on that she was looking for something to help with their disguise. They found a small selection of clothing near the back of the shop. Formal shirts and pants were neatly folded and displayed on shelving with racks of dresses hanging nearby. Rifling through the options, they decided that formal wear would only make them stand out more than their current outfits.
“Where do you suppose the shop owner is?” Britt asked.
Max’s thoughts returned to the possibility that the owner might return with a handful of armed soldiers at his side. He walked to the big bay windows at the storefront to take a look and instantly dropped, nearly falling to the ground. Two soldiers now stood on the front deck facing away from him. Max crouched and quickly slid between two stools at the shop’s bar top-style counter. He glanced back to be sure Britt had seen his reaction. She now crouched behind the rack of dresses, well hidden from the soldiers.
The soldiers stood side by side with the shop owner, obviously watching the millhouse. The older gentleman raised his hand, pointing at the brick building while bobbing his head. He appeared to be telling the soldiers what he’d seen. Max took the opportunity to move away from the stool while they were engaged in conversation and walked hunched over to Britt’s hiding place.
“He saw us coming up from the brook. He’s telling the soldiers that we’re still in there,” Max whispered.
“Let’s get out of here,” Britt said.
Max nodded and as the soldiers stepped into the street to advance on the millhouse, Britt and Max moved to the back door and slipped out just as the store owner entered. The last Max saw of the older man, he was standing inside but looking out the windows in anticipation of witnessing an arrest.
Max and Britt jogged down the alley and emerged into another street. Keeping their heads low and walking quickly, they crossed the intersection and scooted into the opposite alleyway. Max hadn’t noticed people staring at them as he had when the old man was watching, but that didn’t mean no one was suspicious. Nudging Britt, Max pointed to a ladder in the alley, then to the roof above. Before she could reply, he was placing the ladder against the side of the single-story building and starting to climb.
“Wait,” Britt said when she reached the flat roof. Max stopped abruptly. “Won’t they see this and wonder?” she asked pointing to the ladder.
Max nodded, “Yeah, I guess they would.”
“I’ll knock it over,” she said bending over to push the ladder down.
“No, don’t,” Max said walking back across the roof. “If it crashes, someone might notice that we came up here.”
“Then what should we do with it?” she asked.
“Let’s haul it up,” Max said.
Britt considered this for a moment, then nodded.
Together they pulled the ladder up the side of the building and onto the roof. Handling the long ladder was awkward and for a moment Max thought someone in the adjacent street might notice wooden rungs sticking up into the air above the storefront’s large rectangular sign. To his relief, he didn’t see anyone in the street below gawking at them when they’d finished.
“Well, so much for our plan to use a disguise,” Britt said as they crouched behind the building’s sign. The wooden structure stood a couple of feet taller than they did and provided good cover for them to watch those in the streets below.
“Oh well,” Max frowned. “At least this is working.”
“Hiding on top of a building?” Britt asked.
Max nodded, then turned his attention to the surrounding buildings. As he looked across the street and down the alley they’d just fled, he recognized the back of the general store and to the right, the millhouse. “Hey, look, you can see the top of the millhouse from here. I can just see the top of the door. It’s open.” With a chuckle Max said, “It looks like they didn’t find what they were looking for, and there, the soldiers are walking back out.”
“I’ve never had to hide so often in my life,” Britt said. “Usually we face our enemies head-on.”
“Me neither,” Max replied, moving around to take cover behind the store’s sign. “Usually when I climb trees, go swimming, or scale buildings it’s not to hide from deadly men.”
“You did this before for fun?” she asked.
“You didn’t?” he responded, eyeing Britt with a grin.
Britt shook her head, “No, on my island we wrestled and fought with sticks for fun.”
