The instant William left the general store, he released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. At last, he was free to investigate the Piper without fear of how poorly Father would react.
But where would he even start? He'd never set foot in Aerzen, let alone heard anything about the Piper before Burdock had told him about the powerful musician. Burdock had told him the Piper was a tall man with a powerful presence, but that description meant little to him. What humans weren't tall and powerful in the eyes of a rat? Despite Burdock's best efforts to describe the Piper, all William truly knew about him was he wielded the Hymn of the Whole with his flute and commanded an army of rats that could make short work of him.
He may have been going into Aerzen blind, but he was not entering the town deaf. If there was one group who could help him find the Piper, or at least tell him what they knew about him and his music, it was other musicians. Like his mother patching one garment with the remains of another, musicians often wove bits and pieces of other people's songs into their own. The tempo from one piece, the chorus from another.
By following the fragments of the Hymn of the Whole others incorporated into their own music, he could trace their origin to the Piper himself.
But each time he caught a snatch of the song in the pitter-patter of children's feet prancing over the cobblestones or in the rhythm of shoppers shifting around each other as they navigated through the crowded market, any trace of a pattern dissipated as soon as he tried to focus on it. Everyone moved in time with some secret rhythm that completely eluded him.
William paused beside Father's cart. "I'm going to see if anyone in the market knows anything about him," he whispered.
Burlap sacks rustled as Burdock peeked out from his hiding place amidst the supplies William had loaded into the cart. "Be mindful of who you ask, for many of this town's residents are wary of strangers," he said, keeping his voice low so only William could hear him. "I will go among the Many and see how my kind has fared since the Piper corrupted the Whole."
"Father said he will leave without me if I am not here at noon. If I do not return..." William swallowed, the muscles in his throat tightening against the words. "Please watch over Emma for me."
"It shall not come to that." Burdock peeked out from inside the cart, his beady black eyes shining with determination. "If you have not yet returned when the time draws close, I will bring you back myself."
With Burdock's reassurance steeling his nerves, William ventured into the market alone.
Hamelin's market was constantly full of chatter as customers haggled for better prices, farmers bartered crops with each other, and children played all manner of games with each other. Aerzen wasn't like that in the slightest. Here, barely anyone acknowledged each other, much less spoke. They went about their errands without so much as wishing each other a good morning. Whenever something caught their eye, customers merely pointed before wordlessly exchanging a handful of coppers for the object of their desire. Only when William drew near did he hear snippets of conversations, and at times even his approach did not rouse them from their silence.
When he and Father had passed through on their cart with its endlessly creaking wheels, chatter had swelled to meet them at every turn. With his footsteps as quiet as always, most of the town's residents failed to notice when William drew near, going about their business without uttering a single word. Those who noticed him wore too-wide smiles that strained at the edges as words tumbled from their mouths like overripe fruits falling from trees.
Unsettling though the townsfolk were, he had no choice but to ask them about the Piper. Emma was counting on him.
"Excuse me," he said as he approached an older woman hunched over a loom. "May I ask you something? My family and I are new to town, and I could really use some help."
"Of course, dear." The woman didn't take her eyes off the fabric in front of her as her loom clacked away, but her voice held all the softness of a lullaby. "Everyone helps each other around here. Tell me what's troubling you, and I'll do everything I can to make it right."
William breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps finding someone who would tell him what he needed to know wouldn't be as hard as he expected. "We've been trying to find the person who played a beautiful song we heard the other day. Do you know anything about the Piper?"
The woman blinked, narrowing her eyes as she looked up at him for the first time. Her grip on the shuttle tightened as the loom's clacking quieted to a stop. "When you said you were new to town, I thought you meant you and your folks lived here."
"We're just visiting." William shuffled his feet as the other weavers slowed their work to regard him with unblinking eyes. "I came all this way to see if he's the one we heard, and it took us hours to journey to Aerzen."
"This lad bothering you, Rosemary?" One of the other weavers ground her pestle into a bowlful of flowers and a dark brown powder. Stone grated against stone as she pressed the petals into a dye. "Shall I alert the guardsmen?"
"That won't be necessary." Rosemary lowered her voice, its former softness giving way to a needle-sharp edge. "After all, he's only visiting. If he's wise, he'll return to wherever he came from and never trouble our town again."
"Sorry for troubling you," William stammered. He bowed his head and backed away the same way he did whenever Father was in an especially irritable mood. "I'd best be on my way."
Away from her, at least. Causing a fuss wouldn't do him a lick of good, but he couldn't give up yet. Not until he had a better idea of what he and Burdock were up against.
Despite his determination, no one in the market spoke with him for more than a moment. The chandler dismissed him the instant it became clear he wasn't interested in his candles, and the pastor told him that if he was looking for charity, he'd best head to another town.
It wasn't hard to see why none of the townsfolk had time to spare to answer his questions. All around him, sunken eyes darted to the smallest crumb of food. Although the people of Aerzen lacked the leanness that had plagued Hamelin after the rats had devoured their crops, William knew that quiet desperation all too well. Of course they had little time to spare for a well-fed stranger. They were far too busy looking after their own.
Just when William was beginning to think he might as well head back to the general store with nothing gained but aching feet, he spied a boy not much younger than himself splitting logs. Rather than chopping them for a particular business or carting them home for his own family, he allowed the other townsfolk to take what they needed with no more than a nod. Though he may not be the most talkative sort, this youth seemed worth approaching. If nothing else, speaking to someone his own age wouldn't be as likely to draw unwanted attention as approaching yet another vendor without buying anything.
"Mind if I trouble you for a moment?" William asked as he came to the boy's side, careful to steer clear of his ax.
"You already are, so no sense stopping now." The boy spoke without slowing his rhythm, each chop as clean and firm as the last.
"Do you know where the Piper is?" William asked. "I've been trying to find him all day, but I haven't had any luck."
He'd heard traces of the Hymn of the Whole in every part of Aerzen from the pitter-patter of customers' footsteps on the cobblestones to the steady rhythm of the axe, yet he hadn't seen a single sign of any musicians in town. Once William confirmed the Piper was still in Aerzen, he and Burdock could begin planning how to defeat him in earnest.
The boy rolled his eyes, pausing for a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow. "He's not hard to find. The sooner you stop pestering me, the sooner you'll track him down."
"My sister needs help," William blurted out. People were turning to look at him now, but that didn't matter. They could stare as much as they liked as long as he got the information he needed. "She's been acting strangely for weeks, and I don't know how to fix it."
"The same way we always fix that kind of problem," the boy snapped. He cleaved a log in two before hefting his ax over his shoulder. "Don't tell me you can't hold her down yourself. You chose someone with strong arms, too. It shouldn't take more than one of us to make her behave again."
"What are you—?" The realization of what the boy meant washed over William like freezing rain. This boy wasn't himself, not anymore. Nobody in Aerzen was. The memory of little Peter Farnsworth's screams echoed in his ears as he took a step back. "You're right. I should take care of it myself."
But now he had the boy's full attention. His lips curled into a smile as he reached out and took hold of William's shoulder, his other hand still firmly on the axe's handle. "Nonsense. Looks like you could use a hand. Where did you say your sister was?"
William yanked his arm away, his heart thundering in his ears. "I should get back to my father. Thanks for offering, though!"
A shrill squeak pierced the air as the boy lunged at him. William darted away, diving into the throngs of customers filling the market.
Maroon flashed through the crowd as a pair of uniformed guardsmen ran after him. Not a single word passed their lips, with only the steady thumping of their boots against the cobblestones breaking through the market's hustle and bustle.
The crowd tightened around William, forcing him to elbow his way through a sea of people as he searched for the general store. He sprinted past countless market stalls, each one identical to the last. Only the different craftsmen told him he wasn't simply running in circles, though they all fixed him with the same looks of irritation. There was no telling whether he'd come any closer to the general store or if he was losing himself deeper and deeper in the crowd.
He risked a glance over his shoulder, swearing under his breath as he glimpsed maroon uniforms coming through the crowd. Although the bulky guardsmen weren't as light-footed as he was, they navigated the market with ease.
They were catching up.
William fled down a row of artisans before turning into the next corridor. Run. Turn. Run. Turn. He no longer cared about finding the general store where Father was waiting for him. He could find the road they'd rode in on and walk along it until he found someone willing to let him hitch a ride on their cart if he had to. All that mattered was putting distance between him and the guardsmen's heavy footsteps.
As he passed the familiar smoke of the town's local forge, strong arms yanked him into an alleyway. A hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his scream.