Bendia Bones rubbed her nose. Dust in the air irritated her allergy. She looked around. The place could use a good dusting.

“Is something wrong, missus?,” asked the thin shopkeeper. He held his hands together over the counter he stood behind. Shelves of books and bric-a-brac lined the wall behind him.

“No, Yussiff,” said Bendia. “Are you sure this is all the manuscripts you have from Kozen?”

“Yes, missus,” said Yussiff. “As soon as you called, I scoured the shop for all the papers I had.”

Bendia looked at the papers. She had a fair idea some of what she was looking at was fake. It would take her time to sort those papers from the real thing. Her funds were limited. She couldn't buy them all.

She ran her fingers over the paper. She picked out three sheets that might help her search from the pile. She replaced the rest in their carriers. Yussiff might hold them until she could gather some more money to pay for them. The three sheets she picked out might be what she needed to crack her mystery.

“I would like to take these, Yussiff,” Bendia said. “What do you want for them?”

“I would like at least a thousand apiece, missus,” said the shopkeeper. “That would be enough to keep me in business for the next year.”

“I would like to pay one thousand for all of them,” said Bendia. She made a mental calculation. She could spend up to two thousand without breaking the bank.

“Two thousand,” said Yussiff. “I will throw one of the other papers in for free.”

“All right,” said Bendia. She didn't like spending all of that money over something so chancy. She might need that extra money down the road when she had struck the trail.

“Thank you, missus,” said Yussiff. His face lit up in a wide grin.

“You're welcome,” said Bendia. She smiled a smaller smile. Two thousand dollars for a chance to find something that might be priceless was still taking a chance. She might not gain anything for the money but a donation to a museum.

It wouldn't be the first time something that looked like gold had turned into pyrite.

Bendia grabbed one of the other sheets at random. She packed her papers in a carrier. She replaced the other papers in their folders. She handed Yussiff the folders so he could put them wherever he kept them.

She shrugged the strap of her carrier over her shoulder, across her blocky torso. Someone would have to cut the strap before they could pull it away from her. She pulled the agreed upon sum from a pocket of the carrier. The rest of her money was in a bank waiting for her to draw it out when she needed it.

“Here you go, Yussiff,” she said. She handed the money over for him to count. “If I find what I am looking for, I will let the world know you helped find it.”

“That's very generous, missus,” said the dealer. “That will help my business a lot.”

He counted the money in a few seconds. He put it in a drawer behind his counter. Two thousand was enough to keep his shop open for three years depending on what kinds of problems he might face in the future.

Militias still liked to shoot random buildings as a show of force.

“I'll see you when I have all of this sorted out,” said Bendia. “I'll bring some coffee for you.”

“That would be very nice.” He smiled and bowed at the treasure hunter.

Bendia wondered if he was going to put someone on her to try to rob her. It wouldn't be the first time something happened that she could almost trace back to the shopkeeper.

She had never been able to prove that he had set robbers on her. He always said that is so bad, you need to have a guard, my son will walk you anywhere in the city without a problem. She knew he had told someone to attack despite his protestations.

He couldn't lie well enough to get off the hook.

The only reason she kept dealing with him was his knowledge of the local scene and his collecting of rare finds.

Bendia smiled and left the shop. She had to decide what to do next. She needed a place to look at her papers and add them to the map she was compiling. She walked along the narrow streets, eyes moving around her as she looked for a place for some privacy.

She planned to leave the country when she knew where her next destination was. She felt danger breathing on her neck and she didn't like it.

Bendia paused when she reached a square full of stalls and people. She decided to go around. She didn't want to be accosted in a crowd.

She turned and went down a side street. A pale man in an old army uniform held up a lamp. He pointed to the left. She frowned at him, but walked into the narrower street. She heard steps on the cobbles behind her. She leaned her back against the nearest wall and pulled a Mauser from her waistband.

The pistol was twice as old as she was, but she kept it clean and ready to use. Anyone trying to rob her now would get some lead for their troubles.

Three men stopped at the corner. They looked around wildly. Cloth masks covered their faces. It looked like she might be right about Yussiff after all. Three masked men chasing after her after she had acquired information to keep on with her search was a large coincidence in her opinion.

She didn't like a coincidence that large.

She slowly backed away from the confrontation. She didn't need to get into a gunfight when she could just walk away. If they saw her, she would wait to see what they would do before she took action.

Then she would run.

The local authorities would throw her in jail as a foreigner attacking innocent citizens while they were simply walking around.

And she didn't have time for prison. She had stumbled on a big rumor, and she wanted to verify it. If she could actually find the artifact in question, that would be the icing on the cake.

Bendia glanced over her shoulder. She had a clear path to another intersection. She could head to another hotel to hole up until she made travel arrangements.

She could be out of the country in a few hours if she planned everything right. She had to make some calls when she didn't have to worry about someone trying to take her prizes from her.

The masked men meandered at the intersection until she reached the cross street. One of them saw her against the opened path. He pointed at her, urging his friends to chase her down.

Bendia pointed the Mauser in their direction and fired a few shots to make them head for cover.

She didn't want to kill anyone, and she didn't want to explain why she killed three men that might not have been acting against her at all. She felt it was better to make them hunt cover so she could head into the street and try to lose them in the crowd.

Unfortunately the snap of the Mauser made her mobile cover start fleeing from her. She tucked the pistol away as she ran into the dispersing crowd.

She found a crowd of women fleeing with baskets on their shoulders. She grabbed an empty basket, wrapped a cloth grabbed from a laundry line around her head, and joined them.

She tried to blend in long enough to reach a street heading toward the new hotel she had rented. Once she was there, she could take stock and figure out what the new plan was.

She might should have a talk with Yussiff the next time she saw him. He knew better to try to send her into harm's way. She would have to remind him about that.

Bendia saw her hotel. She looked around before she placed the basket down. She headed into the lobby to check in.

She decided to take one night to try to figure out what she had. Then she would head to the airport and fly out of the country.

Would the three thugs be able to find her and take the three pages she bought?

She didn't want to give them a chance to catch up to her so they could try to take the map again.

If they found her rooms, she would have to get away from the scene as fast as possible and try to get out of the country.

She hoped she didn't have to kill them. She had done enough of that in the last few days. She went to the hotel doors and stepped inside. She looked back out on the street. Nothing was moving as far as she could see.

She talked to the desk clerk. He gave her a room number and a key to go with it. She headed upstairs to take a breather.

She stepped inside her room and placed a chair under the door knob before she sat down on the bed. She closed her eyes and lay back.

It was safer than randomly wandering around and hoping she wouldn't get robbed.