The Notorious

Chapter Two - Part Two and Chapter Three

Here's an upload that's long overdue. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you.

Chapter Two - Part Two  

About seven minutes later, we had managed to drag both knights onto a chair and had bound them to the furniture with layers and layers of rope. Derek dropped to the floor in exhaustion while I leaned against the wall for support, my arms weakened by the weight they had just lifted.

“Those guys are freakishly heavy,” I complained.

“Tell me about it,” Derek replied.

Wiping sweat off of my forehead, I pushed myself off of the wall and proceeded to where Mrs. Raquel stood.

“We're leaving,” I told her. “It's not safe for Derek and me to be here.” I presented the small cream colored bag Derek had handed to me earlier. “I know you've already done so much, letting us hide here and covering up for us, but I'm going to need to ask for more. I'd like, or rather need, to take some food and knives with us, but only if you don't mind.” Mrs. Raquel stared at me for a moment, then nodded.

“You can take anything you want, Celeste, but that bag is much too small. I'll get you a larger one. Follow me.”

Confused, I followed her as she made her way into the kitchen. Derek got up when he noticed us exiting the room and caught up to as we entered. She walked over to the open storage closet and began shuffling objects on the shelves aside.

“What are you doing?” I asked. She didn't reply, too busy with whatever task she was dealing with.

“There we go,” she said, her voice muffled. The sound of a door opening caught my attention.

“What was – “

“Come on dearies!” Derek and I shared a perplexed glance, but we followed her command anyway. When I stepped into the pantry, I froze in bewilderment.

“No. Freaking. Way.”

I found myself looking into the most dangerous thing I had ever seen. Apparently, Mrs. Raquel kept a huge weapon arsenal in the back of the breakfast inn.

“How long has this been back here?” I asked wonderingly, walking to a set of shiny daggers situated on a table.

“Since I bought the restaurant,” She explained. “I assume the last owners of the place left it here when I bought it. I found the room when I had been arranging the pantry.”

“Wow, this is amazing,” I whispered, my fingers tracing the flat edge of a scimitar. Why would anybody leave so many beautiful weapons behind? “How come you never showed me this before?”

“There was never a need for that,” she replied. “Now there is.” Without warning, she tossed a large bag at me that was about half the size of a backpack, though I'm not sure when or where she had gotten it from. “Take whatever you need from this room.”

“Mrs. Raquel...”

“You're going to need it, sweetie. Take whatever you need.” I stared at her for a long moment.

“Thank you,” I finally said.

While I was assessing a couple of pocket knives, I heard Derek ask, “What about you?”

“Hm?” she asked.

“Are you going to leave?”

“Why in the world would I do that?” Mrs. Raquel asked.

“It doesn't really seem safe here,” he replied. His expression was one of worry. “With all the knights around, I think it'd be best if you were to leave.”