You duck back hurriedly and gesture for Silas to stay still. You hear the enforcer talking to the watchman, and Silas seems peeved.

You exhale, calming yourself, then peek at the door. You can see the silhouette of the watchman, but the enforcer is obscured. The enforcer, sounding between annoyed and amused, asks the watchman what he’s doing. The watchman explains who he is. He says that he thinks there’s an intruder inside the store but his keys are no longer working.

“Right…” says the enforcer, sounding like he doesn’t believe the watchman for a second, and when the watchman gets to the part about his keys not working, the enforcer barely contains a chuckle.

“Ah, a real shame, that.”

This frustrates the watchman, who begins to insist. While the two fail to get along, you remember the other sack. It’s in the open and you still need to grab it.

“Listen, why don’t we step over here and have a little chat…” says the enforcer.

“No! There’s someone in there, look!” the watchman says. There’s silence for a moment. You slip back into position with the sack in tow just as a face appears at the window, peering into the gloom.

Curse it all! There’s no way he didn’t see the sack sliding across the floor.

You lean with your back against the table again, both sacks at your side, and wait for the enforcer to yell or bang against the window, and for all hell to break loose. But nothing happens.

You realise you’re breathing quickly again, so you take a deep breath to calm yourself. You consider taking another peek when the room lights up again. The beam sweeps around a few times, then leaves, plunging you into darkness again. You hear the enforcer speaking to the watchman, but you pay no attention to that; you’ve got to get out of here!

You look around for Silas, who has moved away from the door and crept along the shelving parallel to your table; he now crouches in a similar position to you at the end of the shelves and in front of the counter. All that’s left is to move along the length of the counter and slip around it to get through the staff door; you have to step into the open again, but once you’re in the hallway, you can no longer be spotted.

You check Silas, then the window; the coast is clear and the two men are now arguing in front of the door again. Now’s your chance. You stand but stay low, grabbing the two sacks and making your way across the gap and towards the door, giving the tables and counter a wide berth to avoid any more snagging.

“What’s going on here then?” A third voice enters the fray. Who is that now? Don’t tell me…

You don’t have time to look; you make it to the doorway and dash through, breathing a sigh of relief as you step into the shadows of the hallway. You hear Silas quietly approaching, followed by a scrape, a stumble, and a quiet exclamation, cut short.

You pause, staring at the doorway. What happened!? Should you go look..? You can hear the watchman making a fuss now; you can’t make out what he’s saying, but it was along the lines of “Didn’t you hear that!?” Several moments pass before Silas appears, panting slightly. He huffs and shakes his head, moving past you to get to the back door.

“Come on; we have to get out of here!” he says, clearly annoyed. You couldn’t agree more; your questions can wait.

Silas goes to the back door and, after listening at It for a few seconds, starts working on the lock, while you remain by the staff door, listening to the watchman and the newcomer; they’re still at the front, so your window of escape is still open. From what you can tell, it is a second enforcer, and he is also convinced the watchman is up to something. You hear him asking the watchman, in a very accusatory tone, if one of his mates is inside the shop, which the watchman adamantly denies. Their argument continues.

“Psst!” Silas is standing at the back door, which is now unlocked and ready to be opened. He beckons you over and goes back to listening, but the two of you jump when there’s a sudden knocking on the door.

Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap.

Ameronis!

Silas pulls open the door and steps out, and you quickly follow; you see Ameronis up ahead, standing next to the corner where the alleys converge, looking anxious.

“Hurry!” she whispers, “There’s no time!”. You can’t help but glance in the opposite direction before you make a break for it, but the coast is clear. You dive past Ameronis and the side alley, hearing the voices of the watchman and enforcer wafting down it, and go further along the adjacent alley, ducking behind a wall there. You’re in the clear, but what of the others?

You peer out and see Ameronis looking down the side alley, keeping watch while Silas locks the back door again. Within seconds of you looking at him, his work is done and he scoops up his sack and hurries towards you, moving as quickly and as quietly as he can. You let him run past you, then fall in behind him, running about a block away from the shop before you slow, regain your composure, and move at a slower, less suspicious pace. You step out of the alleyways and onto another street after Silas is sure that it’s clear.

At this point, Ameronis catches up with you, and the three of you walk along the street in silence, moving with purpose; just a trio of workers, on their way home after finishing a late shift. You move away from the high street, past the fancy houses, and to the edge of Windston. It’s only when you reach the fence surrounding the Jamboree, and pass another watchman guarding the gate there, without incident, that you finally internally breathe a sigh of relief. You made it out! You have to check both hands to make sure you’re still carrying the sacks, but it suddenly doesn’t seem real anymore. All you have to do now is make it back to the camp.

The tent city is surprisingly peaceful at night. The nearby factories have long since shut down for the day, allowing the beggars to enjoy the silence and the cleaner air for a few hours at least. There are several lanterns and burning barrels dotted around along the way, with a few individuals nearby, who pay you no mind as you pass through. Eventually, you make it back to where Silas and his friends had made camp. Rufle raises his head and wags his tail when your approach wakes him, but Leif remains asleep in his tent nearby. Finnegan and Melora are also asleep in their respective tents.

It’s too late to start rifling through the bags of loot now, so you hand them over to Silas, who hides them amongst the piles of rags and rubbish. Then he turns to you and gives a tired smile, half shrugging. He speaks quietly, so as not to wake any of the dozens of people sleeping nearby.

“It’s done. You should go now; get off the streets. But come back later; we’ll finish this properly.”

You glance at Ameronis and nod, and before long, the two of you are back on the main road, heading towards Slaryn House. It’s much quieter now, with all of the entertainment buildings closed, though there are a few idle, mostly drunken revellers hanging about.

As you near Slaryn House, you notice a figure up ahead; he rapidly approaches you both.

Immediately, you wonder if he’s an enforcer, or if you were followed; did someone see you after all? But when the man points a small pocket knife at you and demands that you give him your coin purses, you’re pleasantly relieved. It’s just this old nonsense again.

Ignoring his pitiful blade, you bring forward your battle axe, and at the same time, Ameronis produces a knife; a long, dangerous thing, three times the length of his. Seeing you both heavily armed, he flinches, stammers, then turns tail and runs. The two of you watch him go, look at each other, then burst out laughing. A wise decision on his part.

It’s just after 3:30 when the two of you make it back to the hotel. The door is locked, but you’re let in by the nonplussed receptionist, who immediately ignores you and goes back to reading, and drinking a cup of tea behind the counter. Upstairs, you and Ameronis part ways, and you quickly collapse into bed, for some much-needed rest.