“Is this the guy?” a rather large, muscular woman asks. “Kinda plain-looking for an actor. I thought you guys were all about selling pretty faces.”
“He looks better on stage. A good make-up artist can do wonders,” Minnie replies. “But that’s not the point. You said you could take care of him?”
“Oh, indeed,” a short, skinny fellow replies. “We have a lot of experience with people who need to stay somewhere for a while to avoid drawing unwanted attention. And quite a few of them are nervous wrecks. Just keeping him calm and safe for one night until a counsellor’s opens? Child’s play.”
“Who are these people?” Anthony asks. “What’s going on, Minnie? What have you done?”
Suddenly, recognition strikes. You know these people. You’re just not used to seeing them outside.
“Cathy and George?” you ask. “I’m surprised Minnie found you. Actually, I’m more surprised you two came and not Sunflower and Black. Don’t they usually handle the, ah, public side of things?”
“We’ve had trouble finding them,” Cathy replies. “It’s worrying, but we’re not going to let it get in the way of our duty. Mina, what in the hells are you thinking, wearing a Redbelly uniform in this town?”
“Am I getting any answers here?” Anthony asks. You suppose you should tell him, just to calm him down.
“Think of them as a… charity of sorts,” you reply. “Maybe not in any official capacity…” – you give him a hand signal indicating “legal concerns” – “but they do good work. You remember that time you asked Bert where he came from?”
Anthony’s face suggests that yes, he does. You’d never seen Bert get that angry before.
“Well, this, ah, group helped him, ah, get settled in his new home,” you continue. “That’s when I found him. Took some real work to convince Leon to let him in, I gotta say. Anyhow, I keep in touch. These two were junior members back then, what was it, five years ago? Eight?”
“Seven, by my count,” George replies. “The organization’s grown a bit since then, but it’s still, well, disorganized.”
Mostly to keep any authorities from taking notice, of course. Really, from what you learned of it a lot of “members” are just “whoever Sunflower or Black have a good drinking night with”, and they help with one or two things and then head off to some other town. Usually with a Kandrian escapee in tow. Pretty much the same story as yours.
Anthony still seems confused, but he’s not panicking, at least.
“Well, why don’t you have a talk with Anthony just so you can get used to each other,” Minnie interjects. “I’ve got a conversation from earlier I need to continue with Mina. Let’s just say I owe her a favor and it’s proving trickier than I thought.”
Ah, she wants your help getting your earring back.
“As long as I don’t have to do too much,” you reply. “Otherwise I’ll make you do me another favor.”
She leads you away – towards a building with a grebling standing guard. It takes you a moment to realize it’s Redlake’s office – you haven’t been here for a few hours.
And Minnie’s giving you a hand signal while making small talk.