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That breath does not do you much good. As soon as the proprietor passes out of sight, you start to panic again. And by the time that you and the cart have cleared the door, you have gotten this terrifying mental image of him standing in the doorway - blocking you in - with his face twisted and distorted by wearing those half-ruined false teeth. You cannot stop yourself from spinning around - and as you do, you realize that without even intending to, you have started to reach for your wand.
But once you have turned around, you can see that the proprietor is not leering at you in the doorway. He is not in the doorway at all - in fact, he is on the other side of the hall, examining one of the copper lamps. Tapping on it, no doubt trying to ascertain how much fuel is left in the reservoir. When he sees that you are out of the room, he traipses back over, closes the door to the room and locks it. He then looks at you, smiling.
"Well then, I suppose I will be seeing you in ... three hours?"
You nod, still too shook up to speak.
"Well then, if there is nothing else I can do for you, I hope your Mistress manages to get her hands around her unexpected obligations."
You look at him blankly, then remembering what he was talking about, you nod again, this time more vigorously.
"Do you remember the way out?"
"I - yes, certainly, sir."
He didn't even really wait for your answer to that, he just ... ambled on off, leaving you behind in the hallway. You follow his lead, and make haste out of The Hooded Heads. Unencumbered by your cart, your long legs now make short work of the distance, and soon you are back out on the streets, with the disquieting totems and idiosyncrasies of the establishment shrinking behind you, now out of sight, but far from being out of mind. After all you have been through, especially at public houses, it is no wonder to you that you are on a hair-trigger ... though you are well aware that a break in your composure at the wrong time, in the wrong place, in front of the wrong people could easily be fatal.
For now though, you need to focus on the errands that you must finish today. First among them is picking up your repaired boots from the Cobbler. You should also make a decision on if you are going to ask him about the maker's mark that you saw on the boots you found in the Poonist's Perch, the one depicting a masked badger. As the pair responsible for the Strange footfalls were staying in public houses, you'd assume that they weren't local. If the Cobbler knew where the mark was from, then that could be huge.
> Please choose ONE of the following:
> What few clues you have are precious. More than that, they might be time sensitive. Ask the Cobbler about the maker's mark you saw on the boots.
> At this point, what you need to be cautious of is leaving behind a trail of your own. There will be other Cobblers in other places. Perhaps you would be better off asking them, instead.
