"Will? William!"
Sigerson forcefully shook himself back to reality again. Evelyn was standing over him, pouting at him petulantly as though she were a school teacher scolding a student for daydreaming. Her attire had changed while he had been swimming around in his thoughts; she wore a beige lacy night gown, her long rosy hair flowing behind her back, and a pair of clean socks wrapped warmly around her feet. She tossed a similar set of clothing to him, telling him to hurry and change.
"Percy has kindly offered his room to us," she said, "so hurry up and stop dreaming."
When Sigerson finished changing into a fresh set of night clothes identical in colour to Evelyn's, he trudged into Percy's room, where his cousin was already sleeping soundly. Sighing but unable to keep back a feeling of melancholy, he crouched down and laid on the spare mattress brought out for him. Tomorrow, he decided, would be the optimal time to get his plan started and score his first victory over Blight.
—
Light lazily trickled into the dark room, providing an unclear view of the cluttered mess within it. No birds were chirping outside yet; all was calm. Silently passing Evelyn, Sigerson opened the door wide enough to squeeze through, then slipped out to the living room. It turned out that he was not the only early riser. Percy, with another cigar lit up between his lips, was staring out of the window nonchalantly, admiring the tranquil peacefulness of the forest. The couch he had been sleeping in was tidied to perfection, as expected from a former soldier.
"Morning," said Sigerson as a greeting, then he added, "I observe you have been out today. I presume you've already handed in your report to headquarters this morning?"
"Yep," replied Percy, nodding. "I left on the earliest train I could board."
"By the way…"
Sigerson moved closer to communicate his plan to Percy, dearly hoping that his mother and brother were still fast asleep. Taking out the cigar and placing it gingerly on a glass ashtray to focus his attention on Sigerson, who was half whispering instructions, Percy leaned in with his hands grasped together, his eyes deadly serious.
"We'll leave before noon; Evelyn will take the train to District 1 in Alms and I'll travel back to Sodor, acting as a distraction for Evelyn. I'll expose my location temporarily for the Enforcers to focus their attention on me, then when they're after me, I'll lay low for a while before travelling to Alms myself. Is that alright with you?"
Percy nearly dropped off his seat in surprise.
"Absolutely not. You'll be in too much danger and this plan seems to rely on them taking the bait, which I believe is far too risky."
Sigerson felt no annoyance at his flat refusal; on the contrary, he beamed at Percy and said, "I appreciate your concern, but I really must insist. I have some other business in Sodor to attend to, so this really is the only option we have."
Percy sat silently, contemplating whether or not he should comply with Sigerson's dangerous plan. He looked up desperately at him and found him smiling serenely as if the threat of capture and possible execution was little more than a trivial matter. The smouldering end of the cigar was glowing dimly, telling both of them how much time they had spent talking. Finally, with a deep sigh, Percy gave in.
"When do we start?" he asked.
Sigerson checked his watch. It was a little past six.
"Maybe get some breakfast first, then when you're ready, give us a call and we'll begin. I think Evelyn should be awake by now. I'll go and tell her."
He got up, patted Percy on the back, who was somewhat struggling with himself, and returned to the bedroom.
Evelyn, it turned out, had already been awake for some time and, by listening to broken fragments of their conversation, could easily comprehend what they had in mind. Returning back into the bedroom as stealthily as he could, he found Evelyn standing in front of a mirror, fully dressed in a strange fashion.
A frayed dull overcoat, which was slightly too big for her, wrapped around her slim figure loosely. Providing much needed warmth, a gloomy grey turtleneck sweater, similarly large and roomy, lay comfortably hidden behind the coat. Overall, her attire gave the impression of a messy, blundering man, who, if it were not for her head, would never be detected as an imposter among the crowds in the streets. Tugging at her slightly baggy trousers, Evelyn twirled around to face Sigerson entering the bedroom as silent as the night.
"This doesn't really suit me, does it?" asked Evelyn, frowning at the oversized clothes. "Still, it was the best fit I could find."
"Are you going to put on a disguise? I hate to break it to you, but if you don't find something to cover that bright head of yours—"
"I've got this," interjected Evelyn briskly, pulling out what seemed to be a large ball of drab brown hair. "Mrs Hale gave this wig to me; she said she was going to throw it away but decided I could keep it if I wanted it."
She ran her fingers through the wig, feeling each individual smooth strand.
"Just wait," she said, pushing her cousin out of the room. "Give me two minutes and I'll be ready."
By this time, Percy wandered towards his bedroom, curious to see what was taking them so long. When he did reach the door, he staggered back in surprise; what he saw was nothing close to what he had anticipated. Before his eyes stood a man with pale skin, clumsy movements, and weak eyes. He was dressed shabbily and appeared inept but not unkind. Sigerson, finding Percy standing in the doorway with his mouth gaped wide open, walked over to him and declared that they were ready to go. The dumbstruck Enforcer, still staring at the unkempt brown hair, turned to Sigerson and asked breathlessly, "Is that really your cousin beneath the disguise?"
"I'm right here," she replied, making the scene even more bizarre than it originally was.
"Impressive…" murmured Percy, nodding his head and scratching his clean shaven chin. "Even the Enforcers would have a hard time seeing through this… Although… Your eyes might give you away."
"Don't worry," said Evelyn, altering her voice to a hesitant weak male voice. "I have a pair of tinted glasses. If I'm stuck in a noticeable position, I'll just put them on and nobody would notice. Besides, I'm planning to travel around in enormous crowds and blend in with them, so I doubt anyone would notice me in the first place."
Percy continued to nod, then lowered his head.
"How about we have some food first before we head off?"
After Percy served a platter of assorted biscuits along with bacon and cold porridge, they left the cottage silently, only stopping to bid Mrs Hale farewell. The sun had only begun to rise, so the cobblestoned streets were fairly quiet, with the exception of the occasional cluck from a chicken. While they were strolling to the train station, which would be the destination that split them up in their separate directions, Sigerson couldn't help but notice how restless Percy was getting. He was constantly shifting his gaze away whenever Evelyn or Sigerson's eyes met his own. Sensing something was wrong, Evelyn sped up and caught up with him, asking him quietly if anything was wrong.
"I'm fine," he answered meekly. "I'm only wondering if you two will be alright by yourselves with the Enforcers chasing you and all that…"
Evelyn looked back at Sigerson, who was still strolling at his own leisurely pace.
"I think… We'll try our best to stay safe. Who knows? Everybody lives happy one day then suddenly dies the next. Life is certainly unpredictable most of the time. You watch out for yourself; I'm sure we'll be able to meet up at least one more time in this lifetime."
Percy seemed uncomfortable that he was sending two friends into immediate danger and possible death. Sigerson had now caught up with the two of them. Placing his hand gently on Percy's shoulder, he said consolingly, "Don't worry about us; you have a family to take care of first. Anyways, I hope— and I expect Evelyn does as well —we'll be able to see you again if future events allow us to."
They had reached a peaceful narrow lane with thin, green rushes growing on the sides, softly tickling their legs as they walked by. Up ahead in front of them was their final destination, the Huntersberg train station. Evelyn looked back wistfully at the town behind them and took in the scenery one final time.
Every pine tree, the bubbling river, the smooth pebbles that were scattered around on the bank, and the swirling smoke curling up above the chimneys flooded into their eyes, and even Sigerson, who was by no means man easily swayed by emotions, felt a sense of regretful guilt for leaving this small town behind. But it had to be done. If their plan was delayed or failed, all of the lush landscape in their view would fall, along with the rest of the country. So when the three of them spent what seemed like an eternity walking up to the brick building to pay for their tickets, they suddenly stopped in their tracks, frozen in place.
"So listen," began Sigerson before any of them could speak. "What you two need to do is focus on your separate goals. Evelyn, you make sure that you reach Alms safely and undetected; remember the plan we discussed earlier and follow it as tightly as you can. Percy, look after your family and if you sense danger, don't hesitate to flee with them. Here, take this."
The detective tore a piece of paper out from a pocket-sized notebook and gave it to him, listing names of trusted strongholds they could escape to. No further words were said and after a brief hug from Evelyn, which he brushed off awkwardly, they split up, each to their own path.
Sigerson smiled to himself as he sat down on the seat and since he had the compartment to himself, spread out a wad of newspapers, scanning through them with renewed keenness.