I looked her up and down before finally asking my question. “Have you noticed anything strange around here or in the woods?”

“No” she said without even giving herself a second to think.

“What about-” I started to ask but she interrupted me.

“Another question, another loaf of bread. Pay up before ya ask.” she stated.

I couldn’t think of anything else to combat her greedy nature. I needed answers but I wanted to leave and find someone else to give me some clues. I was just glad she wasn’t speaking Cockney. “Fine, here you go.” I said reluctantly, handing her another shilling. She handed me another loaf of bread and stood there cross armed waiting for my question.

“Has anyone around her gone missing recently?”

“No, not at all. Rubin protects us from wolves and other such things around here.” she said as if I was daft. Who is this Rubin guy? A cult leader or something? I handed her a shilling once more and with a smile she handed me another loaf of bread.

“Who is Rubin?” I asked.

“Rubin is’n older gent who protects us from wolves and other such things, he also has his things help us in the fields. We tried to pay him but he refused so we give him groceries instead.” she said as if she was a school girl talking about her crush. It was weird and made me feel disturbed, like that time Iscarat flirted with Mama Louise. I handed her a shilling and again she handed me a loaf. I was running out of shillings.

“And where can I find-” whack. I heard from behind me. I turned around to see a very tall man in an equally long coat on the ground in front of the door. He had to have been at least two and a half meters tall. “Are you okay?” I asked the man.

He sat up and looked at me to show his face. For a second I could have sworn his face was a skull but when I blinked I saw he had the most bland face I have ever seen. If the most common lego face was made human his would be it. Maybe the skull was just my imagination. Then he stood up without a word and walked right into the headboard again. He fell back on his ass and I felt like I should be stifling a laugh but instead I was just bewildered.

Before I could really react the woman I had been speaking to ran out the door with a bag full of bread and pastries. “Don’t worry about comin inside, you’ll hurt yourself.” she said to the man in a much sweeter tone than when she was just speaking to me.

“My master, thanks you.” the tall man said to the baker woman; and without another word he stood up and walked off.

“Who was that?” I asked the lady as she walked back inside. She held out her hand and gestures that she was waiting. I reached into my pocket and gave her the last of my shillings. Greedy little shit. She went inside and got me another loaf to add to my stack.

“That was one of Rubin’s creatures. They look like us but they sure don’t act like it though.” she replied.

“Thank you for the info… and the bread.” I said taking the bread and heading out the door. Once I was outside I looked around for the tall man but saw no trace of him. You would think a guy as tall as him would be easier to find. Nonetheless I walked in the direction I saw him going.

I walked past a few buildings when I saw Elysif squatting behind a bush and looking down the next road. “What are you doing?” I asked coming up behind her. She jumped up and turned towards me with a yelp.

“Jesus Christ, don’t scare me like that.” she said.

“Okay, but what are you doing?” I asked again.

“I was watching this very sketchy tall man and why do you have several loaves of bread?” she asked, giving me a cockeyed stare.

“I’ll tell you later. You want one?”

“Sure.” she said, taking a loaf from me.

“This tall guy wouldn’t happen to be carrying a bag filled with bread, would he?” I asked.

“Well, he wasn’t carrying a bag of any kind but he did slam his head into the doorway of that building.” she said pointing at the building across from us.

“And that’s what made you suspicious of him?” I asked, cocking my eyebrow.

“Of course not. I thought it was strange yes, but when I looked at him I could have sworn his head was a skull. No face or anything.” she said in a matter of fact tone.

“The same thing happened to me a few minutes ago with a similar person, or it could be the same one. I was following him but I lost him before seeing you.” I said.

“So it wasn’t just my imagination? Thank goodness.” she said taking a bite out of the loaf of bread

“Ya, well it doesn’t matter now. I don’t see him anywhere.” I said looking around the area.

“Shit.” she said.

“I know, that was a good lead.”

“No, this bread is shit.”

“Oh!” I said taking a bite out of it. Dear God she’s right. I spit it out. Then I realized we still may have a lead. “Hey do you have a few shillings on you?” she gave me a strange look.

“Of course I do.”

“Good.”

I led her back to the bakery I just came from and had her buy a loaf of bread from the lady. She wasn’t very happy about it but didn’t argue about it.

“Do you know where we can find this Rubin fellow?” I asked.

She rubbed her chin for a moment before answering. “He lives in the forest. No one knows where but don’t go a causin trouble near his home. He may be a kind soul but his creatures are meant to protect and that means if ya mean him harm they will destroy you to protect em.” she warned.

“Fair enough.” Elysif said and started to walk out. I looked at her like she was insane while following behind her. That was a fair warning and I don’t want to die again. Last time I died I ended up here being harassed by a drunk and nearly dissected every now and then by a witch. Did I mention the changeling that stabbed me, that didn’t feel good and was very inconvenient.

“Do you want to head back to the inn?” Elysif asked.

“Yes, but what do we do with all this bread?”

“We could eat it, give it to someone on the street, or have Scott eat it.” she said jokingly.

“I think Scott could eat anything without an issue.”

“Well… there was a time when he wouldn’t eat at all because he would just hack it up.” she said solemnly.

“When was this?”

“Right after his wife was killed. She was a good friend of mine and even saved me once.” she said with a hurt expression.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I was the one who brought it up. Just don’t mention it to Scott, he is trying to stay sober in preparation for our fight against the Willowisps and so he might be more emotional.”