5. Warning
– We should get out of here– Lily sighed, looking around as if behind one of the ancient statues minions of "the Spider" were going to pounce on them. Arthur would no longer be surprised. The girl turned to him with a hand in the bag where she had kept the book and the mysterious key. follow me.
She started walking toward the exit among the centuries-old works of art without bothering to look at them or check to see if he was following her. Arthur fell in beside him and continued there as they left the British Museum behind and returned to the streets of London.
They walked and walked, exactly the same as that morning with Peter, turning around and with no apparent fixed direction, turning at the last moment and trying to blend in with whatever crowds they could find. Arthur didn't even know where they were going. He had asked the young woman on one occasion and her answer had been: "To a safe place." After an hour and a half of walking, his legs and feet began to suffer. It gave free rein to his mind without Arthur being able to prevent it. The image of Peter in the fire was something she wanted to forget and burned into her every time she closed her eyes. They had been very careful. How could they have found it? What could have gone wrong? How long had it taken him to return after meeting Taylor…?
Taylor.
He reached out for Lily and made her stop. She turned slowly, looking first at where he was holding her arm, then up to her eyes. His attitude made her understand that it was a better idea to let her go, so that's what she did.
– Do you have a way to communicate with Taylor?– he asked. You have to tell him to hide. It will be who they go after.
The old news from the newspaper that had been found in the police station from his time came to mind. He did not want to think that it was already too late.
– Nobody knows anything about Taylor. No one has linked her to us yet… do you know something that I don't know? – she inquired, frowning suspiciously.
– Can you just let her know? Tell him to leave his house, to get away for a while, whatever.
Lily did not erase her suspicious expression, but in the next booth they found, she called her partner.
The conversation was short. Arthur couldn't hear her from the street. She could only hope that Lily's warning would save Taylor.
When the girl hung up the phone and left the cabin, she only said "let's go" before continuing with the dizzying and tiring itinerary.
By the time they reached Lily's secure flat, Arthur felt like he'd been beaten and couldn't even fully place himself in this old London.
– We're safe here– Lily told him, leaving her coat and bag on a coat rack. She had Taylor's book clutched tightly in her right hand. I have some food and an extra guest room. It's not much, but it's safe and I don't think Peter would want him to stay on the streets. Do anything weird, give me the slightest bit of proof that you're not who you say you are, and I'll kill you.
Arthur nodded and thanked him with a tired smile that might have been little more than a grimace.
