This tattered forgotten sign was proof that she was heading in the right direction, but instead of affirming her belief in herself and in her task, she found herself growing even more unnerved. Each hour brought her closer to being reunited with Alice, which could only be a good thing. But each hour also brought her closer to facing an unknown foe that made her skin crawl and her hands tremble. Somehow, she, an apothecary far better suited to treating wounds than causing them, had to figure out a way to rescue Alice.

Someone loudly cleared their throat, which brought Lily out of her thoughts with a start, and she looked around, realising that everyone else in the room had left. A woman who Lily assumed was the apothecary had been the one to clear her throat, no doubt impatient to serve Lily and send her on her way – preferably back to from whence she came.

‘Can I help you, madam?’ she asked, with stiff politeness. She was ageless, tall and slender, with dark circles beneath her eyes as if she hadn’t slept properly in weeks. They looked as haunted as each other.

Lily suddenly realised she didn’t actually have a plan if anyone asked her what, exactly, she was doing. How would she know who to trust? Or, she thought, perhaps I can’t trust anyone at all. She cleared her throat and tried to look self-assured. ‘I-if you don’t mind,’ Lily stuttered, ‘I’d like to know how long it would take me to walk to Kelseth from here please, and how I might go about getting there…’ Lily trailed off when she saw the expression that flickered over the apothecary’s face.

‘K-Kelseth?’ she stuttered. ‘Why on earth do you want to go there, child?’

‘I just really need to get there as quickly as possible.’ Lily stood tall and firm, hoping the apothecary wouldn’t question her any further.

‘That place,’ she snarled, as if unable to utter Kelseth again, ‘is still another three, maybe four days’ travel on foot. It’s hard going and there’s only one coaching inn between here and there and even then, a lot of coachmen refuse to go further than here. Tell me this: is your reason for going there honourable? That is, you’re not going to…’ she paused to whisper, ‘join anyone, are you?’ This final question sounded more like an accusation, as she exaggerated every syllable in an attempt to convey some secret meaning of which Lily felt completely ignorant.

‘I promise you that my intentions are good and honest. I wouldn’t be going if it wasn’t entirely necessary.’ Lily’s heart was battering her ribcage, but the apothecary’s face softened. Could she actually be getting somewhere?

The woman sighed. ‘We’ve all been worried, see. You’ve probably seen the poster?’ She pointed at the tattered sign Lily had seen earlier. ‘We’ve been worried that whatever has taken those kids down Kelseth way will come up here, and then you turn up looking suspicious and, obviously, we had to assume the worst. But, I don’t know … you don’t look the type. Just, give me a second.’ Lily nodded and the woman disappeared. Lily could hear tense muttering between two people and then a door slammed.