Free A Company of Heroes Book One: The Stonecutter by Ron Miller

millions! And now look at how he has shown his gratitude...
    Meanwhile, Bronwyn is all too aware of how the ramparts of Palace Island are glowering at her; she is certain it would be only minutes before a Guard would see them. At the top of the bank is a road; across the road are buildings and beyond the buildings is the city and the sooner they are lost in it, the better she’ll feel. Nevertheless, while things aren’t going according to plan at all, they could be a lot worse. They are at least on the right side of the river. All they need to do is get across the city undiscovered and she could be on her way north. Unfortunately, there is still one more river to cross and they are nearly two miles from the bridge they had originally planned to use. The nearest one would now surely be heavily guarded. The Guards would be stopping everyone, suspicious or not. And there is no way in the world she would consider crossing the Moltus by boat; there had been quite enough of that . Well , she thought, then laughed silently; she has been about to say to herself, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. She starts up the bank, then looks back when she realizes that Thud hasn’t followed her. He is still sitting on the grass, watching her with his usual lack of expression.
    “Come on!” she hisses. “We’ve got to hurry, we can rest once we’re in the city.”
    He seems to be surprised, but gets to his feet and follows her; they quickly cross the road and are soon in the shadows of an alley between a pair of dark storefronts. Bronwyn mentally orients herself. They are now on the north bank of the Slideen, on the south side of the city, at the point where the peninsula is broadest ‘worse luck). There will be at least a mile and a quarter to travel before they can reach the Moltus bridge. In a straight line, that is: a direction not possible to travel in Blavek. The West Side is the oldest part of the city and its narrow streets are a labyrinthine maze, meandering in all directions, like an ant nest, and each alley is seldom more than a few hundred yards long before it branches willy-nilly into two, three or even four new alleyways. The buildings are for the most part still made of wood, and their overhanging upper stories make gloomy tunnels of the passages even during the day. In all her life, Bronwyn has never been on foot within the labyrinths of Old Blavek. She looks into the gloomy maze with bewilderment.
    “Thud,” she asks, “do you know your way around the city?”
    “No.”
    “Well, that’s no help. I suppose we ought to keep going north as best we can. Try to keep track of our turns.”
    She starts up the alley, but it ends after a few score yards when it runs into a cross street. This doesn’t appear to cross exactly at a right angle. She chooses the turn that seems to go most directly into the City. Thud follows silently. Once again the street she is on ends in an intersection. The right branch, she thinks, looks as though it would take her back in the direction of the river, so she turns to the left. The narrow lane curves in a quarter circle before crossing another street. This time a right turn seems correct and she takes it without hesitation. Street after street they traverse, their footsteps clop-clopping in the quiet, in what Bronwyn thinks is a methodical, but is in fact a completely haphazard way. So far they have seen no one else: the district they are passing through is mercantile, but all of the businesses have been long since closed for the night and are dark. Gas street lighting had not yet been introduced into the shop districts, and only an occasional oil lamp on a corner relieves the gloom. This worries Bronwyn. Should the police see them they would surely be stopped. Bronwyn finds the lifeless, soundless dark frightening. Thud, who has lived his entire life within the confines of the Transmoltus, thinks it fascinating. He has never before feel so safe while virtually alone on a street