The Golden Perch Inn

[Envinyatar]

‘There's cheese and biscuits in the locker at the foot of my bed. The table's a bit cluttered. I was counting out my pay last night. Just sweep the pennies into my leather pouch along with all the others and stuff the bag under my bed.’

Tollers directions caught Jack by surprise. ‘The fellow is very trusting,’ he thought to himself. ‘Telling a stranger he’s just met about his coin. And his room . . . left unlocked!’ Jack shook his head, his eyes narrowing a bit in a considering look. ‘Or maybe he’s shrewder than I thought him . . . Testing me, perhaps.’ Jack tapped his fingers on the table, thinking on how he might like this new opportunity to play out. There could be the quick grab-and-run . . . but he was tired, he admitted to himself. And this was a place where word of him had not preceded his arrival. He wrapped his hands around his mug of ale and considered the problem.

With a last gulp, he drained the mug and made his way to the fireplace and through the entrance to the corridor…