2. Nelle First and Final Warning
Nelle: First and Final Warning
“You’re nothing but a monster.” Nelle couldn’t help but flinch as Saphira’s statement settled over her like a weight. As the only female lieutenant in the Sherwood Company, the older woman’s words had consequence. “How could you let a child go wandering off by herself?”
“She’s not a monster!” Gretyl clung to her hand like a little teddy bear, unwilling to let her go. “It wasn’t her fault I got losted.”
“No?” Saphira raised an eyebrow. “She was supposed to be looking after you. Who else could be to blame?”
Nelle raised her chin. “You’re right.” She offered an apologetic smile. “I should have been paying more attention, and Gretyl paid the price. But I learned from my mistake, and it won’t happen again, I promise.”
Saphira scowled. “See that it doesn’t. This is your only warning, ice princess. If it happens again, not even my husband will be able to convince the lieutenants to keep you at camp.”
Nelle’s stomach clenched at the mention of Kai, the children’s father, but she fought to maintain her smiling facade. “It won’t.” She tightened her grip on Gretyl’s hand. “I should go see to the other children.”
Saphira gave a jerky nod before turning on her heel and walking away.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Gretyl said, not even bothering to wait until Saphira was out of sight. “You tolded me to stay close to Hansel. And we didn’t go that far from camp.”
Nelle shook her head. “No, she’s right,” she mumbled. “I should have been paying more attention. But it’s okay.” She tried to inject a positive attitude into her words. “You’re home, and that’s what matters. Now, how about we go find those cookies?”
“Yay!” Gretyl squealed. “What kind of cookies?”
“Snickerdoodles, of course,” Nelle said. When Gretyl gave another squeal of enthusiasm, she couldn’t help but laugh a little. At least her amnesia hadn’t taken away her love of pastry.
It had been almost a year and a half since Nelle had wandered into the camp of the Sherwood Company.
She couldn’t remember anything about her past, not even her name.
One of the other lieutenants, Little John, had given it to her the moniker ‘Nelle’ after he’d interviewed her with no results.
She couldn’t remember her name, her age, or even where she was from.
But one thing she could recall was how to bake.
Cakes, pies, cookies…if it contained sugar, butter, and flour, she could make it.
Little John had sworn he and Robin, the camp’s leader, had given her description to every bakery in Moyar, Coleur, and Hopka, but none of the owners or patrons had recognized it. She wasn’t entirely sure she believed him, though. The man had a serious sweet tooth.
Regardless of whether he’d been truthful, neither he nor his lieutenants had felt comfortable sending her out as a thief.
There was always the chance that someone would recognize her and report her, bringing unwanted attention to the group.
So she remained in camp, watching over the many children that had flocked to the Company.
Most of the time, she didn’t mind. After all, she liked children, and it gave her the chance to practice her baking and cooking skills.
The keywords there were ‘most of the time.’ What if Hansel hadn’t realized that Gretyl hadn’t come back? What if she hadn’t found the little girl before dusk? Or what if?—
She shook her head, trying to dispel the fears. “Yeah, snickerdoodles,” she mumbled. “There should be enough for us two and for your stinker of a big brother.”
Gretyl giggled. “Stinker.”
“Yeah, stinker,” Nelle said, raising her voice just enough to be heard by the little boy peeking out from behind one of the nearby trees. “Do you have something you want to say to your sister, Hansel?”
A little boy with bright white-blond hair ducked out from behind the tree and approached them, digging one foot into the dirt. “Yeah,” he said, not looking up at her or at his sister. He mumbled something unintelligible into his shirt.
“What was that?” Nelle asked, pulling him a little closer.
“I’m sorry, Gretyl-girl,” Hansel said, still not looking at either of them. “I shouldn’t have run off without you or said no girls could play with us. It wasn’t nice.”
“It’s okay, Hansel!” Gretyl chirped. “I got to make a new friend! He was big, bigger than Papa, and he had cool gloves on that felt like scales. I hope we can find him again tomorrow.”
Nelle frowned. She wasn’t entirely happy about Gretyl’s supposed new friend.
She had seen no one in the woods where she’d found Gretyl, but that didn’t mean no one was there.
And the little girl wasn’t prone to flights of fancy, despite her young age.
If she said there had been someone with her, she wasn’t making it up.
So where was the mysterious friend? And why hadn’t he stayed with her?
Hansel didn’t have the same reservations. His bright blue eyes widened, and he grinned. “That’s so cool, Gretyl. We’ll definitely look and find him. Guess what? Jack and I caught a million fish today. He said we would have caught more, except it was getting dark and we had to come back.”
Nelle smiled as the two children chattered about their day as they moved to the little hut that they shared with their father, Kai, and Saphira.
Children were so resilient, she realized.
Not like her. She suspected that if they faced…
whatever she’d faced to make her lose her memories, they’d be fine.
They’d come through the storm with their memories intact. She was the broken one.
She tried to push the melancholy thoughts away as they entered the small hut.
Kai had been pacing the cramped interior, but he smiled when he saw his two children.
“Hansel! Gretyl! I was so worried about you!” he cried, getting on his knees and throwing his arms around the young children.
He frowned at both of them. “You know you’re both supposed to be back before sundown.
What if the Beast of Sherwood Forest had gotten you? ”
Hansel rolled his eyes while Gretyl giggled. “Daddy. You always said there was no such thing as monsters.”
“Well, there aren’t in here,” Kai amended. “But there are definitely monsters elsewhere in the world. You’ve got to let me and Nelle fight them for you, okay?”
Gretyl cocked her head. “What if I want to fight them?”
“You can’t fight them. You’re a girl!” Hansel protested.
“So? Nelle’s a girl, and Daddy said she could fight them,” Gretyl shot back.
“Yes, because I’m a little older than you are,” Nelle said, jumping in before a fight could break out between the siblings.
“And your dad and Little John and the rest of the Sherwood Company made sure that I could handle anything that came my way. But that doesn’t mean I make trouble.
” Kai caught her eye, and she amended the statement in her head. Well, most of the time.
Kai nodded. “That’s right. So you two need to remember to protect each other and follow the rules.
Like being home before dark.” He glared at the children.
Hansel lowered his head in penance. Gretyl’s expression remained mulish.
Kai’s glare deepened. “I need to hear that you two understand what I’m saying before I let this go.
What are you going to do next time?” he demanded.
“We’re going to follow the rules and be back before dark,” the children chorused grumpily.
“Good.” Kai nodded before focusing his attention on Hansel. “And you and I, young man, are going to have a talk about leaving your sister behind outside of the borders of the camp. You know better.”
Hansel ducked his head. “Yes, Papa,” he muttered.
Kai nodded, satisfied. “Now then, are we ready for dinner?”
Gretyl jumped up and down. “Yes! Nelle said she made cookies!”
Kai threw his head back and laughed. “Well, if Little Sister said she made cookies, then she made cookies.” He smirked at his kids. “But only kids who eat their vegetables without complaining get cookies. Go wash up for dinner.”
The children nodded and dashed from the hut to the nearby well, leaving Kai and Nelle alone. He offered her a weak smile. “Thank you for finding her. I would have gone myself, but Little John was asking for a report on food stores for the winter. And Saphira was meeting with Will again.”
Nelle nodded. “You know I’d do anything for you and the kids,” she said.
“Saphira too, if she’ll let me.” She didn’t necessarily like Kai’s wife, but she was the kids’ step-mother, and, for their sake, she’d try to overcome the walls that she put up.
Life was better in the camp if everyone tried to get along.
Kai nodded his thanks. “We got two more little ones wandering the outskirts today. Two little girls. They’re staying in the big house for now, so you’ll probably be caring for them for a few days.
But Little John’s going to find them a more permanent home in Moyar.
He’s already sent a message to Soldier.”
Nelle nodded. Soldier was the camp’s code name for a friend of Robin’s, one of the royal guards in Moyar.
According to rumors, he and his wife were one of the few outside of the camp who knew Robin.
More than once, their leader had asked Soldier to help him place refugees that couldn’t stay in the camp, whether there wasn’t enough space or they were too young or old.
Kai shifted uncomfortably. “There’s more.”
Nelle frowned. “What’s the matter?”
Kai wouldn’t meet her eyes. “There are rumors going around…Robin hasn’t been back to camp in nearly a month. People are saying he’s missing.”
Nelle shivered. Missing. There was weight in those words. Robin always came back to camp every two weeks, like clockwork. Even when he had to go back to…whatever he needed to go back to, he always checked in regularly. So if he was missing, something was seriously wrong.
“Do the lieutenants have any idea where he might have gone?” she asked.
Kai shook his head. “Not that they’re telling me.
But they’d be more likely to tell Saphira.
She’s been spending more and more time holed up with Guy and Will.
She can’t tell me anything.” He gave a sorrowful shake of his head.
“But I think it’s bad. She wouldn’t be spending so much time locked away with them if it weren’t. ”
Nelle looked at the ground. “I’d see what I can find out, but I think I’m already in treacherous waters as it stands.”
Kai’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
With a sigh, Nelle told him about Saphira’s warning. When she finished, Kai muttered a word he usually kept out of his vocabulary when his children were nearby. “You’ve got to stay out of trouble,” he told her, giving her a side hug. “We’ve already lost too many good men. We can’t lose you too.”
Nelle gave a smile she didn’t feel. “You won’t lose me,” she said, the lie tasting bitter. It wasn’t feasible for her to stay out of trouble for long, she knew. Even if she could keep track of all the kids in the camp on her own, there would always be things that Saphira could catch her out on.
At the thought, her mind went blank with fear, sending her shrinking to the ground.
Simultaneously, the temperature in the little hut dropped by thirty degrees and a soft voice sounded at the back of her head.
“Loli. Come to me, child. Come.” As the words echoed, a veil of shadows settled over her sight, and she felt the icy embrace of frost dancing across her fingertips.
Immediately, she scrambled away from Kai, who put up his hands and took a step back. “Whoa, easy there, Little Sister. Remember, it’s just me, right?”
Nelle took a deep breath and shut her eyes, trying to block out the voice and regain control of her emotions. Slowly, the frost melted, and the hut gradually grew warmer.
When she opened her eyes, she found Kai studying her. “You’ve got to keep it under control, Little Sister. You can’t give the lieutenants a reason to kick you out.”
Nelle nodded and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, the children dashed back into the hut. “We’re ready for dinner, Daddy!” Hansel said.
“Yeah, we washed our hands and everything,” Gretyl agreed.
As Kai’s attention slid to the two children, Nelle ducked out of the hut and headed for the Big House, cursing herself as she walked. She tried not to let the voice back into her mind. She couldn’t afford to lose control again. Not now.