The Magic Hair
Image courtesy of Boosinka via Shutterstock
CHAPTER 16 / A Second Look
Selma threw some wood on the fire to build it up and possibly scare off the charging beast. Gino held the knife at the ready and positioned himself between his wife and the fire. Whatever was coming toward the couple would have to hurdle the flames before it reached them. This would also give them time to get a look at what they were fighting.
The crashing sound suddenly stopped and the horses calmed down. The Gencarellis strained to listen to what was taking place in the dark. Heavy panting and snuffling filled the silence. The two looked at each other. There was something vaguely familiar about the sound.
A few seconds later, a big yellow beast came bounding toward the fire. Gino’s muscles tensed as he readied for a fight.
“Yipe, yipe, yipe.” Sideburn let out a few yelps of joy.
Selma pushed away her husband’s hand that held the knife. She jumped toward the dog, barely avoiding the campfire, and gave him a hug around the neck. “Sideburn,” she cried out. “You no are being dead! You no are being dead!”
The dog wagged its tail wildly, brushing the flames with a few swipes.
“Careful now,” Gino laughed. “We don’t want to have to change your name to Tailburn.”
The three rejoiced in their reunion for several minutes. When the dog finally stopped wriggling and waggling with joy, Selma checked him over carefully.
“I no am finding the burn places,” she declared. “You no are being hurt in the fire, yes?”
The dog licked her face and thumped his tail on the ground. He flopped on his back, inviting her to rub his belly. Selma laid down beside him, hugging and petting him. She felt greatly comforted to have her dear friend beside her again.
That evening, Sideburn settled down at their feet as the adults slept on the pine needle mattress. The night passed without further incident and the day dawned crisp and clear. After a light breakfast for themselves and the animals, they headed back out onto Castle Road. Gino and Selma sat atop the horses while Sideburn ambled along beside them.
Late that afternoon, they came to the spot where the rope of Nici’s hair hung over the bluff.
“Chino, please to be doing the looking for a sign of Nici,” Selma requested. “We no are seeing somethings before, maybe.”
Gino looked down at the thirty-foot drop, reluctant to journey down and back up the sheer wall again. He had been hoping to just grab the length of hair wrapped around the top tree for his wife to take as a keepsake. Now he would have to make the perilous descent, then climb back up.
Selma stood at the edge and looked down. “Can Sideburn be being down?”
Gino shook his head. “Too dangerous to lower him down, I think.”
His wife nodded. “I chust am thinking he does the smelling where Nici is being, maybe.”
“I don’t want to chance it,” Gino countered. “It’s hard enough just getting myself down there.”
“Is being okay. He can be doing the smelling up here. His nose can be saying she goes that way or this, maybe.”
Gino drew in a deep breath and tried to calm himself before going down the bluff. He reached for the top rope and gently swung his body over the side of the cliff. He braced his feet against the granite to better control his drop toward the ground.
Once his feet were solidly on the beach, he let out a sigh of relief. He waved to his wife to let her know he was okay. Then he pointed down the shore indicating where he was heading next.
Selma nodded her head in an exaggerated “yes” motion. Then she turned her attention to the dog. “Sideburn, please to be finding Nici. Where Nici is being, boy? Be finding her.”
The yellow animal immediately went on alert. He looked around in all directions, then put his nose to the ground. He started sniffing in a small area, then gradually increased his search. He circled around in an ever-growing spiral, hunting for Nici.
Selma led the dog over to the spot where she thought her daughter had made it to the top of the cliff. “Be finding her, boy,” she encouraged. “Be finding Nici!”
The dog started his methodical sniffing all over again in this area. He kept looking up at his mistress, as if to indicate that he wasn’t able to pick up any scent.
While his wife and dog were investigating above, Gino sought clues below. He got to the place where the braid of rope that Nici had left still hung from the tree. This time, he decided to scale it and have a look around up there.
Climbing up these tresses proved harder because there were no knots along the way to improve his grasp. Gino was out of breath by the time he made it to the tree trunk and sat down for a much-needed rest.
The river swirled and burbled ten feet below him. It would be a nasty fall if he lost his footing here. Cautiously, he shifted his position so that he could see up toward the top of the bluff. A single golden strand blew in the wind, caught on something high above. Gino leaned back slightly to get a better view.
At the same moment his wife and dog stuck their heads over the cliff. “Sideburn no is being finding the Nici smells,” Selma called down to him. Her words echoed over and over throughout the canyon.
Gino saw why. The lone filament of hair he had detected was clinging to an exposed root with fresh dirt around it. A tree had obviously broken free from that spot just recently. Nici had probably used it as the next rung in her ladder up the granite wall. Unfortunately, it must not have been able to support her weight and pulled free from the bluff wall.
The distraught father looked back down at the beach. Now that he was looking for them, he could see pebbles and small clumps of dirt just below him. But no trunk or branches were there. That must mean that the entire tree—and Nici—landed in the water.
Unable to tell his wife what he had discovered, Gino simply waved to her. He dropped back down to the beach and cut the braid free from the tree. Then he walked to the water’s edge and looked down river. Anything that fell into the torrent here would have been quickly carried off by the current.
He dragged the hair rope up the shore to where another length of his daughter’s curls drifted in the water, still attached to the fallen tree trunk. Gino walked out into the river to retrieve these strands as well. He was careful to walk on the upstream side of the log and hold onto it the whole way so that he wouldn’t be swept away.
From this vantage point farther out into the river, he could see quite a way downstream. The rapids that Nici had fallen into eventually gave way to calmer water.
To his horror, Gino saw what came after the calm. Nothing. The fast-moving waterway simply disappeared. That could only mean one thing. There was a waterfall at the end. He didn’t even want to think about his daughter hurtling over that.
Gino forgot about his mission to cut away the strands caught on the log. Instead, he trudged back to the shore. Picking up the long braid Nici had used as a rope, he wrapped it around his neck several times. Then he began the painful climb up to his wife. The thought of having to tell Selma that Nici had fallen back into the river and been carried over a waterfall made it even more difficult to reach the top.
Tears were mixing with his sweat as he pulled himself over the edge. He rested on the flat land at the top, trying to gather his composure.
Selma took one look at her husband and knew he was suffering from something other than exhaustion. “You are finding somethings, yes?” she half asked, half stated.
He nodded.
“Somethings bad?” she continued.
Gino bobbed his head again. Slowly, he sat up and brushed the dirt from his front. He unwrapped the scarf of curls and handed them to his wife.
“It looks like she got partway up the cliff, but…” An uncontrollable sob overtook him.
It took a moment before he was able to continue. “I think she fell back into the river and…” He paused again. “And there’s a waterfall farther down that I think she went over.”
Selma plopped down hard to the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes and leaked out in huge drops. Gino dropped down beside her and the two of them had a long cry.
When their weeping quieted down, Sideburn came over and licked the tears from their cheeks. He felt their sadness even if he didn’t fully understand what it was about.
The parents were unable to move in their grief. They sat on the bluff’s edge, looking out over the river until the sun began to set.
Selma finally stood up and began gathering small branches.
“What are you doing, Sel?”
“We are needing fire for the cooking,” she replied. “We are staying to this place tonight. Then we are doing the leaving next morning.”
“And go where?”
“To the falling water’s end.”
CHAPTER 17 / A Narrow Escape
The morning after their arrival at the knights’ hideaway, Lars and Marietta were treated to a delicious breakfast. They dined on ham, eggs, fresh juice, coffee and homemade pastries. Serving the guests and their hosts were Pia, Alton the chef, and the twin girls, Donatella and Mirabella.
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“Are these your children?” Marietta asked the knights.
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Elliot snorted. “Of course not. They’re deformed cast-offs whose parents didn’t even want them. We use them to do all the work around here. The stupid little things can’t speak or hear. But they are good workers.”
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“Oh my,” the woman gasped. “They can’t talk or hear?”
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“Not a word,” the knight replied. “Except for that little crippled one there. You have to be careful about what you say around her.”
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Pia didn’t react to the insult. After five years, she was used to hearing the knights call her and her friends all kinds of names. She didn’t bother translating the slurs to the other children and she didn’t have to. They could sense the contempt the brothers felt toward them.
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After eating, the brothers showed their guests around the property. The newcomers were astounded by the vision in front of them. It was clear now that they were inside of a hollow mountain with a huge hole open to the sky. Snow whitened the very top portion of the peak. Several small waterfalls trickled down the steep sides of the interior walls. The lower third of the mountain was terraced in such a way that it looked like giant steps. On these terraces grew acres and acres of crops, mostly grapes. The vines were lined up in perfectly straight rows with about three feet of open space in between them. The bottom of the crater was almost perfectly flat with the knights’ huge stone mansion in the very middle.
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“So how did you ever find this place?” Lars wanted to know.
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“Remember Barrett Coxx?” Carlton replied.
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Lars nodded. Barrett had been a land surveyor for the kingdom. He was a surly fellow known to cheat at cards and not well liked by his colleagues. Like Lars, he was a member of the Order of Rightful Succession. Coxx was one of the first people the brothers recruited for their overthrow campaign.
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Carlton went on with his story. “Well Barrett was out surveying this part of the country when he noticed a fox going through…”
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The sound of glass breaking stopped him in mid-sentence. He and his brother looked over the row of grape vines to the left and spotted Lindor and two of the children bent over a mess on the ground. They were all wearing leather gloves.
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“Lindor!” Elliot snapped. “What the devil are you doing out here?”
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The scientist looked up and squinted through his thick spectacles. “Why hello,” he greeted them. “I didn’t realize you all were out here. The boys and I were just putting out some poison to kill the rats. We don’t want them ruining the grapes, now do we?”
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“Lindor, the grapes have already been harvested,” Carlton pointed out.
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The short, wiry man looked around him. “So they have,” he agreed. “But the rats could still chew on the vines or burrow under them. Better to be safe than sorry.”
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Lindor had an extreme fear of rodents and worked diligently to eradicate them from the house and surrounding property. The knights encouraged his efforts. They didn’t actually care much about eliminating the rats. But they did want the scientist to continue producing great quantities of poison.
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“We had a little problem here with some spillage,” Lindor continued, kicking dirt over where the liquid saturated the ground. “Guess we won’t have to worry about any of the nasty little varmints in this area!” He bent back over and helped the two boys pick up broken shards of glass.
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Just a few years older than the brothers, Lindor looked much older than his late-forties. His rumpled black hair was tinted with grey and his jaw was covered in perpetual stubble. His clothing was always stained from his experiments and added to his generally disheveled appearance. He seemed to exist in his own little world, concentrating on his work and not much else.
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When he and his helpers had retrieved all of the glass, they started heading back to the house. Feeney, the blond child with the underdeveloped ears, was behind the others.
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While no one was looking, Carlton slipped under the vines to get to the open area between the rows. He tripped the boy, sending the shards he was holding flying off in different directions. Then the knight kicked a large piece of glass over toward Marietta.
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“See here, boy,” Carlton said, slapping the child on the back of his head. “Watch where you’re going.”
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As Carlton had hoped, Marietta stooped down to pick up the piece of glass that came to rest by her feet. “There’s one over here,” she said and reached through the vines trying to hand it to Feeney.
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Lindor’s eyes widened. “Careful!” he exclaimed. “This stuff is toxic. You didn’t get any on your hands, did you?”
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Marietta immediately dropped the glass and looked at her fingers. “I, I don’t think so,” she stammered.
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“Well you best go wash up right away just in case,” Lindor told her. “You don’t want any of that poison getting in to you.”
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The heavy woman jogged toward the house, her eyes dialated with alarm. Lars followed a short distance behind her.
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Feeney looked up at Carlton, who flicked his hand toward the house. “You get going, too,” he told him.
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“GO ON,” he shouted when the boy didn’t move.
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Once everyone else had left, Carlton walked over to his brother. “Sometimes I’m so brilliant I amaze myself.”
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“How’s that?” Elliot asked.
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“Just wait. You’ll see.”
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*
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Lars and Marietta were coming down the stairs when the brothers returned from the fields.
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“All cleaned up?” Carlton asked, his voice full of concern.
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“Yes, thank you,” the woman replied. “Why I had no idea that picking up that piece of glass would cause such a commotion.”
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“Oh yes, my dear,” the younger knight told her. “Just a little bit can be fatal. I hope you didn’t touch your mouth or rub your eyes before you were able to wash it off.”
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Marietta looked slightly panicked. “Well, um, no I don’t think so. Gosh, I mean, I hope not.”
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“My dear, don’t fret about it,” Carlton said. “Let’s all have a little wine before lunch to calm our nerves.”
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He went into the kitchen and opened one of the bottles sitting on the wine rack. He got out a silver tray and placed four pewter goblets on it, then poured each one about half full.
Alton was in the room with the twin girls, preparing the midday meal. The knight tapped each child on the shoulder to get their attention. He then stuck out his thumb and flicked it in the direction of the door. “Out,” he mouthed.
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Alton pointed to the roasted chickens he had just pulled off the spit in the kitchen fireplace.
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“Out,” Carlton mimed again and repeated the gesture with his thumb.
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Alton shrugged in the direction of the girls, then followed them through the door.
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Carlton looked around to make sure no one could see him. He took a small, brown bottle out from its hiding place in a cupboard. Glued to the bottle was a patch of white linen with a large X marked on it.
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The knight pulled out the stopper and dripped three drops of the liquid into one of the goblets. He swirled it around in the red wine to mix it in.
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“Here we go!” he said cheerily pushing through the kitchen door with the tray full of goblets. He extended the silver serving platter to Marietta in such a way that the tainted wine was closest to her. “Ladies first,” he smiled.
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She picked up the right vessel and waited for the men to take theirs.
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“Here’s to recovering the throne for Elliot, our rightful king!” Carlton said by way of a toast.
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“Here, here,” everyone agreed. After clinking goblets, they each took a sip.
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Carlton waited to see the woman’s reaction. She gave no hint that anything was wrong with her wine. After three sips, he could stand it no longer. “So how’s the wine taste?” he prompted her.
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“Oh it’s delicious,” she laughed. “Just like last night.”
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He nodded and watched her carefully for any change. When her goblet was empty, he suggested another.
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“This feels so naughty,” she giggled. “Drinking before lunch. But I better not have any more. I’ll get giddy without something to eat.”
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The knight hid his disappointment behind a forced smile. “Well we best have some lunch then.” He stamped his foot three times on the floor.
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“What are you doing?” Lars asked.
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“Calling for the children.”
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“But I thought they were deaf.”
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“They are. But they can feel vibrations.” He banged his boots on the floorboards again.
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Still no reply.
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“I’ll go see what the problem is.” Before he left the room, he collected the empty wine goblets.
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As soon as he returned to the kitchen, Carlton remembered that he had banished the help. He also spied the open brown bottle on the counter where he had left it. “Sloppy, sloppy,” he admonished himself and hid it behind the open wine bottle.
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He stuck his head through the door to the outside. “Pia,” he yelled. “Pia, tell Alton we’re ready for lunch.”
A few minutes later, the boy chef and his helpers returned to the kitchen. Alton carved the chickens and put the meat on a platter. The girls sliced some tomatoes and fluffed up a bowl of herb-seasoned rice.
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When they left to take the food to the table, Carlton opened more wine, poured four more goblets and added four drops from the brown bottle to Marietta’s.
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At lunch, he again inquired as to how she liked her drink.
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“Why do you keep asking her about the wine?” Elliot inquired.
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“I’m just being polite,” his brother answered. “This is a new bottle and I wanted to make sure that it hadn’t turned bad.”
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“Tastes fine to me,” Marietta laughed.
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Carlton eyed his guest throughout the meal, searching for any ill effects. When they were finished eating, he suggested a third goblet with dessert.
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“Oh, I really couldn’t,” the woman declined.
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“But we haven’t even toasted your marriage to Lars yet,” Carlton protested.
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“Okay,” she giggled. “I guess one more won’t hurt.”
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Carlton disappeared into the kitchen again. He waited until the children left for the dining room to serve the spice cake before putting five drops of liquid into the woman’s wine.
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This time after taking her first sip, Marietta rolled her tongue around in her mouth a few times. “You know,” she said, “this wine does taste a bit different. I can’t quite tell what it is.”
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Carlton took a sip from his own vessel. “Mine tastes the same. How about everyone else?”
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Lars and Elliot sampled their wine.
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“Tastes the same to me,” Lars answered.
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“Me too.”
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“Have another sip, my dear,” Carlton encouraged. “Perhaps drinking it after eating the cake made it taste a bit different.”
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She took another swallow and smiled. “Oh yes, it’s fine,” she told them. “You’re probably right about the cake.”
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Two sips later, her eyes rolled back in her head. Then her tongue lolled out of her mouth. A minute later, she fell over backwards in her chair.
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The men all hopped up to assist her. With some effort, Lars dragged her great weight into the living room. He pushed and prodded her limp body onto the sofa.
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“Perhaps that was a bit too much wine,” Carlton suggested.
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“She seems to be having trouble breathing,” Elliot observed. “And she’s breaking out into a terrible sweat.”
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“Oh dear,” Carlton clucked his tongue, trying to sound concerned.
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Lars patted his wife’s cheek, trying to revive her. “Marietta. Marietta, my sweet. Wake up.”
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Her breathing grew more shallow. Her color turned from a ruddy red to a ghostly white.
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“Something’s wrong,” her husband cried. “Something’s terribly wrong.”
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“Oh my,” Carlton said as if the thought had just occurred to him. “You don’t think…no it couldn’t be.”
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“Couldn’t be what?” Lars prompted.
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“It’s just that…” Carlton pretended to fumble for the right words. “You don’t think some of that rat poison could have gotten into her system?”
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Lars’ hand shot to his mouth. A terrible expression crossed his face. “Do you think?”
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The younger knight shrugged. “It’s all I can come up with.”
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“Where’s that scientist fellow? Could he help her?”
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“Great idea,” Carlton said. “I’ll go get him.”
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His gave his brother a sly wink, then left the room in an exaggerated hurry. Twenty minutes later, he returned by himself. “I couldn’t find Lindor anywhere,” he reported, seemingly out of breath.
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Lars was seated in a chair across from his wife. His head was in his hands. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “She’s gone.”
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Carlton dropped his jaw in mock horror. “No. She died? So quickly?”
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Lars shook his head affirmatively. “While you were gone, she took her last breath.”
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“Oh that’s awful. Just awful.”
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Elliot watched his brother’s antics. He should have been happy that Carlton had figured out the right amount of poison needed to kill a person. But instead, he felt terrible. “Let’s leave Lars to say goodbye to his wife alone,” he suggested.
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When they were outside, the older brother smacked the younger across his face.
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“What?” Carlton cried. “I told you what I was going to do.”
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“Well it was still lousy,” Elliot said and stormed off.
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*
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That night, Lars cried himself to sleep. He had just drifted off when someone starting shaking him.
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“Wake up,” a whispered voice said. “Wake up.”
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The grieving husband opened his eyes slowly. It took a minute for him to recognize Lindor.
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“What is it?” he asked.
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Lindor put a finger to his lips. “Quiet,” he said. “We don’t want to wake up the knights.”
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“What’s going on?”
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“We have to get you out of here?”
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“Why?”
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“Before they poison you too,” came the answer.
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Lars sat bolt upright in bed. “What are you talking about?”
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“The knights killed your wife on purpose,” Lindor told him.
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“How do you know?”
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“Alton found a bottle of rat poison behind the empty wine bottles in the kitchen.”
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It took a minute for the sleepy man to understand what was being said. “Why would they do that?”
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“I don’t know,” the scientist told him. “I know they’re planning something big. Something evil, I’m sure. But I don’t know what it is.”
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Lars blinked in confusion. “Planning to overthrow the King. Could that be it?”
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“Of course,” Lindor stated. “They’re going to poison the King’s wine. Like they poisoned your wife. They were probably testing it out on her.”
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“I’ll kill them,” Lars screamed.
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Lindor immediately clapped his hand over the man’s mouth. “Quiet down. They’re too smart for that. We have to get you out of here and you have to go warn the King.”
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The man nodded in agreement. Minutes later, he was dressed and tip-toeing down the steps. A young boy he hadn’t seen before was standing beside the scientist at the front door. The child held an unlit, oil-lamp torch.
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“Reese here will take you to the cave’s entrance,” Lindor explained. “Do you know where to go from there?”
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Lars nodded. “But I thought the children didn’t know where the exit was.”
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“They know a lot more than the knights think they do. Reese has seen the brothers come and go from a cave in the mountain.”
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“Just get me there and I can find my way out,” Lars assured him.
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“Good luck. And go straight to the King, okay?”
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“Yes. Thank you.”
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The two men shook hands.
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Once outside, Lars headed for the stables where his horse was tied up. Reese pulled at his jacket trying to turn him away from it.
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“I have to get my horse,” he explained.
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Reese shook his head emphatically. He pointed to the upstairs of the mansion where the bedrooms were, then to his ear.
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Lars shrugged, indicating that he didn’t understand.
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Reese made a motion like he was riding a horse, then touched his ear again. He pointed to a bedroom window, then ran in place with a furious look on his face. To finish his pantomime, he grabbed the man’s arm and yanked it like he was pulling him back to the house.
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Lars thought about that for a minute. “I get it,” he finally said. “The knights will hear my horse and come out to get me.”
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Reese nodded his head.
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“All right then. Lead the way.”
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They moved as swiftly as the overweight man could go. Just inside the cave’s entrance, Reese lit the torch, handed it to the man and gave him a thumbs-up sign.
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“Thank you,” Lars said.
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The child was gone seconds later, running back toward the house.
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Now that Lars was alone in the dark, drippy cave, he tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. He had risked his own life to bring news of the King’s wedding to the knights. Instead of being grateful, they had killed his wife. Now they probably wanted to kill him, too.
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If he headed back to the castle, could he trust that the King would believe his story? And if he did believe it, how would Lars explain why he had been to the knights’ house in the first place? Wouldn’t he be treated like a traitor, too?
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Lars decided that the best thing to do now was to take care of himself. He would leave Pahdu and start a new life in another country. The King was on his own to discover what the evil knights were up to.
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CHAPTER 18 / A Startling Discovery
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Nici woke in the morning feeling well rested and refreshed. The mattress, pillow and blanket made from her curls had proved exceptionally comfortable. The night of peaceful sleep helped her cope better with the knowledge that she couldn’t prevent her hair from regrowing.
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Parmalee was coming in from the outside when Nici arose. “Would you like some eggs?” she asked the child, showing her the contents of her basket.
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“Yes, thank you,” Nici replied.
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Parmalee broke four eggs in a pan that she placed on a grate over the fire. When the eggs started to sizzle, she wrapped a heavy cloth around the handle and gave the pan a quick shake. The eggs flipped over and continued to cook. The woman pulled the pan from the fire and divided the food between two tin plates.
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Nici quickly devoured her portion of the eggs along with a slice of bread and apple jam.
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“Thank you,” the child said when she had finished. “That was delicious. Especially the jam. The best I’ve ever tasted.”
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“I make it myself,” Parmalee told her. “I get so many apples around here that I have to come up with new things to make. I hate for them to go to waste.”
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“I bet you could make a lot of money by selling your jam.”
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Parmalee snorted. “No one would buy anything from me.”
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Nici looked confused.
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“I’m not exactly welcome in town,” the woman explained. “In fact, they’d probably stone me if I showed my face there.”
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“Why?”
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Parmalee sighed. “They think I poisoned their children,” she answered.
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Nici held her stomach, thinking about breakfast. “But you didn’t, did you?” she asked quietly.
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“Of course not. Something terrible happened and the townspeople blamed me for it.” Parmalee leanded on her cane and stood up slowly. She walked across the room and opened the door. “It’s a beautiful morning. We should go enjoy it.” It was clear that she wanted to change the subject.
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“Sure.” Nici rose from the table and walked out into the bright sunshine.
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The clearing she had glanced over the previous day was divided into four small, neatly planted plots. Two goats grazed in one of these squares. The fields were surrounded by apple trees. To the side of the cabin was a little hen house where the chickens had provided the breakfast eggs. Pretty much all the food the woman could want was right here surrounding her home.
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Nici hadn’t noticed most of this the previous day when they arrived. “This is great,” she remarked.
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“It’s home,” Parmalee shrugged.
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“Back home our crops are already in for the season,” Nici told her.
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“My summer crops are in too,” the woman replied. “These are my winter crops. Beets, potatoes, onions. I’ll also plant some winter wheat over there.” She pointed to an area with her cane.
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“I didn’t know you could grow crops all year long.”
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“You can if you know what works well together.”
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“And how do you figure that out?”
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Parmalee smiled. “The same way we figured out how your hair works. Just keep trying things until something works the way you want.”
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“I should tell my Dad that. He could use some help with his farming.” Nici grew quiet for a moment. “If I ever see him again.”
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“You will,” Parmalee told her. “We’ll think of some way to get you home.”
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They walked around the gardens not talking for a while. Nici helped her new friend gather some apples that had fallen from the trees. But the whole time, she was wondering why the woman wouldn’t return to town.
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“Parmalee, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But why do people think you poisoned their children?”
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The woman paused a moment, unsure of whether to answer the child’s question. It was painful thinking about that time of her life. But the child was more curious than afraid. “Remember I was telling you about Ashanna and how she was a great healer?”
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Nici nodded.
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“Well she shared a lot of her knowledge with me. When I was traveling with the Romani, a lot of the women in the troupe gave birth. Ashanna was their midwife.”
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“What’s a midwife?”
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“It’s someone who assists with the birth of babies.”
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“That sounds like a fun job.”
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“It used to be,” Parmalee replied. “When I left the Romani, I needed a way to support myself. I had helped Ashanna with all of those births so I decided to become a midwife.
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“I heard that Cronald was in need of help, so I went there and settled down. I bought a nice home in town and had plenty of work. For six years I helped deliver every baby born in Cronald. I helped bring scores of children into the world.”
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“So what happened?”
​
Parmalee shuffled her feet. “Out of the blue, something bad befell almost every child I delivered. All were born early. And they were undersized. It quickly became clear that they weren’t normal babies. They didn’t learn things the way they were supposed to. Their eyes didn’t focus right. They couldn’t grasp things with their hands. Their arm and leg movements were stiff. They didn’t roll over or crawl or do anything at the right time. A few even died.
​
“I had helped bring children into the world before who had deformities or who died a few months later. But I had never seen anything like this. Never had every child born within a few months of each other had the exact same afflictions.”
​
“What do you think it was?” Nici wanted to know.
​
“I’ve had many years to think about that. A set of triplets and two other children were born at that same time and they were normal. The only difference that I can figure between them and the others was that their families lived far outside of town.”
​
“Why would that matter?” Nici wanted to know.
​
“Because their drinking water came from wells on their property, not the main well in town. My guess is that there was something wrong with the water.”
​
“But if the water was bad, why didn’t the whole town get sick?”
​
“Actually, a lot of the townspeople were ill for a while. But almost all of them got better. See adults and older children have stronger systems. So they could possibly handle whatever it was making them sick. But the babies were so small inside their mothers. If they were exposed to something harmful through the water their mothers drank, maybe it prevented their bodies from growing properly.”
​
“That’s terrible,” Nici said. “What happened to the babies?”
​
“I don’t know. I left Cronald before the little ones were very old. That was a bad time. No one wanted to try to figure out what had happened. They just wanted someone to blame. Since I had been there for all the births, they decided the problem was me. It didn’t matter that I had been successfully delivering children for years. They were angry, wanted a scapegoat and I was it.” Parmalee let out her breath and shook her head.
​
“So they chased you out of town?”
​
“Exactly. I left town in the dead of night with just a wagon-load of possessions. And I ended up here. It’s a good spot. Well hidden, close to water and good soil so I can grow my own food. I’ve made a nice life for myself here.”
​
“But don’t you ever get lonely?” Nici wanted to know.
​
Parmalee gave the child a little smile. “Yesterday, I would have said no. The people of Cronald became so hateful that I never wanted to see another human again. But now you’re here. And I’m remembering how pleasant company can be. Just having a conversation with someone other than myself is nice.”
​
“After I find my parents, maybe I can come back and visit.”
​
Parmalee nodded. “I’d like that. But we have to get you back home first. I’m sure your parents are worried sick about you. After you’ve rested here for a few days and have your strength back, I’ll take you into town.”
​
“But I thought you never wanted to return to Cronald.”
​
“I don’t,” she replied. “But I want to help you more than I want to avoid town.”
​
For the next two days, they worked in Parmalee’s fields gathering the remains of the apple harvest and sowing the seeds for the winter wheat. Nici was amazed at how well the woman could maneuver with her crippled hip. She certainly didn’t let her deformity slow her down.
​
Nici enjoyed the work because it reminded her of home. It was funny how something she had once found to be so boring, now felt comforting.
​
Since she had another set of hands available, Parmalee asked Nici to help her move the goats. They had to stay tethered to a tree or they would eat all of the crops. But the area had to keep changing so there was always grass for them to eat.
​
Parmalee got the first goat tied up in the new spot without incident. The second goat, however, was not so cooperative. She slipped from the rope around her neck twice. Worst still, she butted the humans several times each in the backside.
​
They finally corralled her and got the free end of the rope tied around a tree. No sooner did they think they were done when the stubborn goat yanked hard and snapped the tether. She jogged over to where the beets were planted and began nibbling on the tender greens.
​
“Oh no,” Parmalee lamented. “That’s my last bit of rope.”
​
“No problem,” Nici told her. “I have plenty of rope right here.” She held up her long tresses. “Hair, please braid yourself into a nice rope to tie up that goat,” she requested while twisting a few of her curls.
​
The locks immediately complied, forming a rope that was almost a foot wide.
​
“That’s a bit thick,” Parmalee laughed.
​
Nici laughed, too. “Let’s try this again. Hair, please form several ropes about an inch thick,” she requested with another twirl. The original cord quickly unraveled, then wove ten separate braids to the desired width, each one about fifteen feet long.
​
Parmalee handed Nici the knife, which she used to slice off the individual ropes. Her hair grew back to its extraordinary length the second the last braid was sheared.
​
“Now you have some extra ropes in case the goats bite through them again,” Nici said.
​
The sun was low on the horizon when they walked down to the river to wash up from the day’s labors. The cold water was refreshing. Nici was careful not to go too far out for fear of being swept away again. Parmalee suggested that she tie her hair around a tree to act as a safety line.
​
After dinner, they sat around the fire talking for a few hours. At last they went to sleep, Parmalee in her bed and Nici on the mattress of hair she had made the night before.
​
In the middle of the night, thunder rattled the small cabin and lightning lit it up like the daytime. It was difficult to sleep with the racket outside. Parmalee limped out of bed and stoked the fire, trying to warm the house against the chill of the storm.
​
When morning arrived, the rain came down in sheets. The wind blew fiercely, creating a downpour that seemed to fall horizontally at times.
​
“Doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere today,” Parmalee commented. “Not unless this lets up shortly.”
​
It continued to pour throughout the daylight hours, trapping the two inside the tiny cabin. Parmalee suggested that they make the most of their time by baking apple pies with the fruit they had gathered the day before. She was hoping to sell the pies when they went into Cronald and get some money for much-needed supplies.
​
When the first batch of pies was ready to bake, Parmalee shuffled over to her bed and pulled a large clay box out from under it.
​
“What’s that?” Nici inquired.
​
“An oven for cooking the pies.” There was a handle on one of the box’s long sides that slid up and out of grooves cut into the sides. It revealed three shelves on the inside of the oven. The bottom of the box served as another place to put a pie so they could bake four at a time.
​
Nici carried the pies one by one over to Parmalee who carefully slid them onto the shelves. Then she slipped the door back in place and put the entire oven on a grate over the fire.
​
“These should be done in about an hour,” Parmalee said. “Then we can cook four more.”
​
A while later, surveying the baked pies cooling on the table, Parmalee had a troubling thought.
​
“This is all well and good,” she told Nici, “but we need a way to carry them into town.”
​
“Don’t you have a wagon?”
​
The woman shook her head. “I used the wood from it years ago to make the table and bench. One of the wheels is still left, though.”
​
Nici thought a moment, then smiled. “One wheel is all we need,” she said. Her father had a one-wheeled cart with two handles that he used to move heavy loads from place to place. “We can use my hair to make a pushcart and place the pies in it.”
​
Nici volunteered to retrieve the wheel from the hen house so the woman wouldn’t have to go outside in the rain. The cold and damp seemed to bother her hip more than usual. While she was outside, the child also found two poles about four feet long. These would make perfect handles she reasoned.
​
Back inside the house, the two of them worked on the design of the push cart. They had to get Nici’s tresses to create several different versions before one rolled smoothly and kept the pies from spilling out.
​
“That hair of yours certainly comes in handy,” Parmalee remarked.
​
Nici nodded. “Too bad it’s so annoying to carry around.”
​
Parmalee gave the problem some thought. A while later, she came up with an idea. “I’ve seen that you usually wrap your hair around your arm to keep from tripping over it. But that’s pretty inconvenient, isn’t it?”
​
“Very. That’s why I let it flow out behind me whenever I can.”
​
Parmalee nodded. “I was just thinking about my travels with the Romani. You know, one of the good things about it was that I got to see how different people live. It seems like everybody had a different way of carrying heavy or bulky things. In some places, they balanced baskets on their heads. I remember another country where they placed two baskets on either end of a long pole that rested on their shoulders.”
​
“Would either of those work for me?” Nici questioned.
​
“Maybe not,” Parmalee conceded. “But there was another way I remember that might be perfect. The people in…what country was it? Wellsop, I believe. Anyhow the people there carried a pack on their backs. It had two straps that went around their shoulders to help balance the weight.”
​
“Let’s try it,” Nici said. “Hair, please make a pack with two shoulder straps that I can carry on my back.” She twisted a few locks and her mane reacted to her request. She cut off the hair pack and waited a few seconds for new growth to spring from her scalp.
​
Parmalee helped her put on the pack and stuff her hair into it. It was extremely heavy and ten feet of curls didn’t even fit inside.
​
“Hmm,” Parmalee puzzled. “The extra weight of the pack is a problem.”
​
“Maybe I don’t need a separate pack,” Nici offered. “Let me try this. Hair, please pile up on my back.” After twirling a few strands, the tresses complied, but the weight nearly knocked the child flat on her face. When she stood up straight, the pile fell to the floor.
​
“I think the straps are key,” Parmalee observed. “And maybe some of the strands need to wrap around the whole pile to keep it in place.”
​
Nici modified her request to her hair. This time, the curls divided into several sections. Some of the strands quickly braided themselves and tied up the majority of her tresses in a perfect bundle. Two other sections created straps that wrapped around her shoulders for better weight distribution. The pack extended from the middle of her head to the base of her spine. The whole thing took less than half a minute to create.
​
Nici walked all around the small cabin testing her new situation. “This is wonderful!” she exclaimed. “I’m free again. And I can use both of my arms.”
​
She strutted around quite pleased with this turn of events. Now she’d be able to walk without having to stop often and switch her hair from arm to arm.
​
A sobering thought suddenly dawned on the child. “But people can still see that my hair is different,” she told her friend. “They’ll still treat me badly because of my hair.”
​
“Possibly,” Parmalee agreed. “Wait a minute.” She walked over to her bed and removed the blanket. Then she draped it over Nici’s head, making sure to cover every bit of the hair pack. She stepped all around the child examining her work. “You look perfectly normal now,” she said. “It just looks like you’re carrying a pack on your back. And you have a blanket over you for warmth or to keep the rain off you.”
​
Nici looked over at the woman’s bed. “But this is your only blanket,” she protested. “You’ll get too cold this winter.”
​
Parmalee would have none of it. “I’ll wrap myself in that hair blanket you made. That will keep me warm enough.”
​
“When I come back to visit you,” Nici promised, “I’ll bring you two blankets.”
​
The torrential downpour that had kept them inside all day began to taper off as darkness fell. After dinner, the women walked outside to gaze at the sky. The clouds had thinned out in patches, exposing a few of the brilliant constellations that adorned the night sky.
​
“We might be able to leave tomorrow,” Parmalee reported. “The sky is clearing.”
​
Nici’s rest that night was fitful and fragmented. Her mind was a whirl with conflicting thoughts. She was eager to head into Cronald and see if someone could help her get back to her parents. But she was also anxious about whether she would really be able to disguise her hair. She didn’t want people making fun of her. Or even doing something worse.
​
And she was more than a little sad to be leaving Parmalee’s company. She had learned so much from her already in their few days together. It felt like she needed more time to absorb the important knowledge this wise woman offered.
​
The next day dawned bright and clear. After a breakfast of eggs, goat’s milk and bread, they packed up the pies and a few other supplies in the hand cart. Parmalee made sure she had the knife to cut off Nici’s tresses.
​
When it was time to leave, Nici requested that her hair get into its backpack formation. It responded to her touch and created the pack even faster than the day before. She then donned the blanket over her head and hair.
​
Nici was willing to push the one-wheeled cart of pies the whole way, but the older woman insisted that they share the work. When it was Parmalee’s turn, she handed her cane to Nici. She steadied herself with the cart’s handles instead of her walking stick.
​
Six hours into their trek and about an hour after lunch, Parmalee started talking about a crossing that she knew they were nearing. “I hope the water won’t be too high,” she mentioned. “With all of the rain we’ve had recently, the bridge may be underwater. That might make it too treacherous to cross.”
​
“We’ll figure out something,” Nici told her. “We always have this on our side.” She patted her backpack of curls.
​
Nici started paying more attention to the route, listening and looking for signs of the moving water. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something shining in the sunlight. She stopped in her tracks and turned to face it.
​
“Is that what I think it is?” the child questioned. She shook her head. “It just can’t be.”
​
​
​
CHAPTER 19 / A Needed Clue
Having fallen asleep, Renetta and Tem had no control over their moving wagon. Nor did they see the abyss before them. But the horses did and came to a sudden, abrupt stop.
​
The cart, however didn’t stop. The momentum jerked it forward, wakening the napping riders with a jolt.
​
“What the…” Tem exclaimed. He instinctively wrapped his arms around Renetta, trying to protect her.
​
When they came to a stop, a back wheel dangled perilously over the edge of a steep embankment. A barrel of oats flew out of the back and disappeared into the night.
​
The agricultural workers were now wide awake. They quickly jumped from the wagon. Far below, they heard the runaway barrel smash into pieces.
​
Renetta gingerly stepped to the edge of where the land dropped off steeply. When her eyes adjusted to the faint light of the moon, she looked over the edge.
​
They were perched above a deep gorge with a stream at the bottom. Had the horses continued going forward, they all would have plummeted twenty feet straight down. Renetta let out a low breath, thinking of how close they had come to death.
​
Tem joined his friend at the top of the drop-off. “Bless my toes,” he exclaimed. “What happened to the road?”
​
“Either it washed away,” Renetta answered, “or we missed it. You didn’t see any turn off back there?”
​
Tem didn’t want to admit that he had been asleep. “Um, um, no,” he stammered. “Did you?”
​
“Of course not,” Renetta snorted. “Otherwise I would have told you to take it.” She too, didn’t want to confess that she had nodded off.
​
“Well,” Tem tried to cover up, “it was pretty dark. I think a cloud must have slipped over the moon because I couldn’t see very well.”
​
“Me neither,” Renetta lied.
​
“Too bad about that barrel.” Tem pointed to the oats scattered along the bank of the stream. “Some town won’t be getting any I guess.”
​
“Who cares about that?” Renetta questioned. “Right now, we have to get this wagon back on solid ground.” She paused a moment before using her feminine charms on Tem. “I’m not sure I’m strong enough to push the cart forward. What do you think we should do?”
​
“I’m strong enough to push it,” the man volunteered, unaware that he was being used.
​
Renetta positioned the horses in front of the cart again, then gave Tem the signal to push. He squatted down and placed his back against the wagon. It was hard to get solid footing since he was so close to the cliff’s edge. Mud oozed around the tops of his boots.
​
It took several attempts before the dangling wheel bounced back up onto solid ground. When the wagon surged forward, Tem splatted onto the slippery ground.
​
Renetta led the horses and wagon farther away from the edge. She leaned around and called back to her co-worker. “Are you coming?”
​
Tem glared at her, then stood up and wiped off his backside. She never seemed to notice all of the good things he did for her. He walked back to the front of the cart and jumped up onto the bench.
​
“I suppose you’ll want a rest now,” Renetta said.
​
“No,” Tem told her. “I’m wide awake. Let’s just continue.”
​
“Well try to watch the road a little more closely this time.”
​
Tem sulked as he picked up the reins and got the cart moving again. They backtracked for a few minutes, covering the ground that neither of them had seen in their sleep. Not far from the gorge was a split in the road. It appeared that the main road had been washed out by the stream some time ago. A temporary road now led around the impassable area. Neither remarked about how this cut-off should have been obvious the first time they passed it.
​
The detour took them miles out of their way. By morning they had made it to where the stream narrowed considerably and the banks on either side were nearly flat. Previous travelers had placed large planks of wood across the stream to form a makeshift bridge. Tem guided the horses over this gangway, keeping them in the middle so that the wagon wheels did not drop off and lodge in the streambed.
​
Once they were on the other side, they had to follow another temporary road for miles before hooking back up with the main road. Renetta was aggravated about the lost time, but there was nothing that could be done about it. She urged Tem to push the horses to go faster.
​
It took them another day to reach the town of Cronald. As they had done in their previous stops, Tem waited with the wagonload while Renetta went to see the mayor.
A crowd had gathered on the street by the time Renetta and Mayor Glump emerged from the official’s office. Tem used the horse whip to keep the frenzied mob away from the cart. They were desperate for food and wanted the provisions that had just arrived to be distributed right away.
​
The Mayor held up his hands waiting for the townspeople to quiet down. “Now, now,” he told them. “Everyone will get a fair share. We just need to do this in an orderly fashion. You see, only two of these barrels here are for our town.”
​
There was some grumbling among the people.
​
“Quiet please,” Mayor Glump requested. “These fine folks have assured us that more crops are on the way."
​
“My family can’t live on promises,” one man called out. “We need this food and we need it now.” Others in the crowd expressed similar thoughts.
​
“Let’s make a grab for the barrels,” another person suggested. A few people surged forward and pulled off the canvas that was covering the crops. The Mayor quickly motioned to his officials. Twelve guards stepped in front of the wagon and held up their long, steel pikes. One jabbed the end of the weapon at a bystander, knocking the defenseless man backward. The crowd quieted down.
​
The Mayor put his hand over his heart. “Ladies and gentlemen, I understand your concerns. My family has been rationing our food, too. But we just need to work together and we’ll all be fine. Now I want you to return to your homes and give us time to properly divide the rations we’re receiving now. Come to the town hall tonight an hour after sundown and we’ll have your portion ready.”
​
At first no one moved. Then the Mayor’s henchmen began pushing the crowd away from the cart. “Go back to your homes,” the officials shouted.
​
“There better be some food left when we get back, you greedy pigs,” someone called as they were leaving.
​
Mayor Glump turned to his visitors and smiled. “I’m so sorry about that. People in this town are a little jumpy. Hunger does that to one. Now if you’ll just drive your cart over to the town hall, my people will make sure you’re perfectly safe.”
​
Renetta frowned. “We have a lot of other deliveries to make,” she said. “We can’t wait here all day. We’ll just drop off your two barrels and be on our way.”
​
The Mayor smiled again. “I totally understand that you need to move on. It’s just that…well, I can’t guarantee your safety as you leave town. You saw how upset that mob was. I would feel terrible if some of my constituents were to rob you of your remaining supplies because you had to leave town unescorted.”
​
“So give us some of your guards for protection,” Renetta retorted.
​
“Why I’ll be more than happy to do that once the food is distributed tonight. You see I just can’t spare any of my people until that time.”
​
Renetta knew she was beaten. She looked over at Tem and shrugged. They were at the mercy of the Mayor now.
​
In short order, the wagon was moved behind the town hall and the horses were fed and watered. The henchmen took up positions all around the supplies to watch over them.
​
“Take care of this and I’ll take care of you,” Renetta overheard the Mayor tell his guards.
​
It was clear to her that the headman in town was corrupt. No wonder the crowd was so suspicious of Mayor Glump. Renetta would have to be careful in her dealings with him.
​
Inside the hall was a roomy back office with cushioned sofas, several chairs and a desk. Tem and Renetta were invited to relax there while they waited for the evening. Tem curled up on a couch and immediately fell asleep.
​
Mayor Glump sat in a chair behind the desk. “Now, ma’am,” he began, “I know there are a lot of other places in the kingdom that need food supplies. It’s just that I have an awfully large town here as you might have noticed from the crowd.”
​
Renetta didn’t think the town was particularly big, but she knew what the Mayor was hinting at. She sat silent, letting the other man take the lead.
​
“I was just thinking that an extra barrel might do the people of Cronald some good, don’t you agree?”
​
Renetta looked him in the eye. “Sir, I have my orders. Two barrels per town, no exceptions. If my paperwork doesn’t show that that’s what I delivered, I could lose my job.”
​
The Mayor waved his hand. “I totally understand,” he said. “And I know that your job is important to you. It’s just that…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a fat wallet. He extracted some bills and laid them out on the desk. “It’s just that if you could see your way clear to giving us a bit more food right now, why we’d be mighty grateful.”
​
Renetta didn’t even look at the amount of money she was being offered. She knew how this game was played. “Sir, I have my orders,” was all she said.
​
Mayor Glump added more bills to those on the desk, doubling his bribe. “Are you sure there’s nothing that would change your mind?”
​
Renetta shook her head. “I have no idea how I’d support my family if I didn’t have this job.”
​
“Absolutely,” the Mayor agreed. “Your family is important. Would this help any?” He waved another handful of bills at his visitor.
​
Renetta pretended that she was thinking it over. “I suppose I could tell my superiors that a barrel dropped off the cart along the way.” She was thinking of the one they had already lost. For all anyone knew, it could have been two barrels.
​
“I like the way you think, young lady,” the Mayor grinned. “You could have a future in politics.”
​
Renetta pocketed almost all of the money, saving a few bills for Tem. She would have to explain the missing barrel, but her partner didn’t have to know how much they were paid for it.
​
“Mayor Glump,” Renetta stopped the man as he was about to leave. “I was wondering if you happened to know two knights who are brothers.”
​
“What about them?” the Mayor inquired.
​
“I was just wondering if you knew of them or knew where they lived,” Renetta answered.
​
The Mayor lowered his voice. “Do you belong to the Order of the Rightful Succession?” Only one of the knights’ allies would know of this group.
​
Renetta shook her head. “No sir. I’m not familiar with that group. Does it have something to do with these knights?”
​
“No, no,” the Mayor made a big show of dismissing that idea. “It was just a thought I had. Now these brothers you’re looking for. What have they done?”
​
“Oh nothing,” Renetta assured him. “We just have a message to deliver to them.”
​
The Mayor thought a moment before answering. He didn’t want this woman who clearly wasn’t a friend of the knights asking anyone else in town about their whereabouts. He chose his words carefully. “Now that I think back, I may have met them before,” he stated. “But I have no idea where they live.”
​
“That’s a pity because we have a reward to offer anyone who knows their whereabouts.”
​
“It must be an awfully important message,” Mayor Glump said.
​
“Quite,” Renetta agreed. “Would any of your men possibly know where they live?”
​
The Mayor was about to say no, but thought better of it. “Why, I’ll ask around,” he said. “If anyone knows, I’ll have them come see you. Now you best get some rest. I’m sure you’re tired after your long journey.” He didn’t leave until Renetta had stretched out on one of the sofas.
​
Because she was a devious person herself, Renetta could tell that the Mayor wasn’t telling the truth. The man knew something else about the knights, but she didn’t know what it was. She decided to check with some of the henchmen milling around outside.
​
Once she was sure that the Mayor had left the town hall, Renetta stepped outside. She walked over to a guard who was standing by himself carving a hawk from a piece of wood.
​
“That’s an excellent carving,” Renetta flirted with him.
​
“Really?” the man asked, smiling at her attention.
​
“Oh yes. It’s very realistic. And that knife. It’s very interesting. Is it imported?”
​
The guard nodded. “It is. Look, the blade folds into the handle.” He demonstrated it for her. “Mayor Glump likes to give us little gifts from time to time.”
​
“He seems like a good man,” Renetta commented.
​
“He takes good care of me and the other guards.”
​
“That’s all you can ask. My name’s Renetta Picksley,” she said, extending her hand.
​
“Bintu Bantu,” the man replied while they were shaking hands.
​
“Mr. Bantu, any chance that you know some brothers who are knights who live around here?”
​
“Sure,” the guard answered. “Everybody in town knows them. Well, knows of them. We don’t really know them since they don’t live around here.”
​
Renetta grinned. “Any idea where they do live?”
​
“Not really. They just show up in town here periodically to get some supplies. It’s all very mysterious. They go straight to Mayor Glump, he gives us guards a list of things to get for the knights and then we deliver them to the Mayor’s office.”
​
“How often do they come into town?” she asked him.
​
“Not too often. Maybe once a season.”
​
“And are they due to arrive anytime soon?”
​
“I’m not sure,” Bintu told her. “I don’t keep much track of their whereabouts.”
​
“Pity,” Renetta said. “I have a message I need to deliver to them. And there’s a really big reward for anyone who can help me find them.”
​
The word ‘reward’ caught Bintu’s attention. “Well, ma’am, I might be able to help after all. You see, a few of us guards always ride with the knights whenever they leave town so no one follows them.”
​
The man looked around, making sure that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I followed their tracks one day.”
​
Renetta raised her eyebrows. “You did?”
​
The man nodded. “A few years ago I was one of their escorts as they left town. We always part ways when we’re several miles outside of Cronald. Well it rained the evening when we were leaving, so I knew their tracks would be easy to follow. While the other guards headed back to town, I broke away and followed the hoof prints in the mud. A short time later, I was able to catch up with the knights. Well actually, I didn’t ride up to them all the way, I just tracked them.”
​
“And you found out where they live?” Renetta asked hopefully.
​
“Close enough,” the guard answered.
​
“Interesting.” Renetta mulled over the information she had just been given. “Do you think you could find this place again?”
​
“Boy, I don’t know,” the guard told her.
​
Renetta pulled two of the bills the Mayor had just given her out of her pocket. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she told the man.
​
Bintu looked around, then quickly snatched the money and stuffed it in his jacket. “Okay,” he agreed.
​
CHAPTER 20 / A Perilous Crossing
Parmalee turned to see what it was that had attracted Nici’s attention. She was surprised to see a chisel sticking straight out of a tree.
​
Nici grabbed the tool by its handle and yanked it free from the trunk. She inspected it closely, turning it over and over.
​
“This belongs to my father.”
​
“How can you tell?” Parmalee asked.
​
“I used to look at his woodworking tools when he wasn’t around. I’d take them down from where they hung on the wall and inspect them. This design burned into the handle is on all of his tools. And the little nick in the blade over here, I remember that, too.”
​
“So how did the chisel get out here?”
​
Nici thought for a moment. “Maybe my dad came by here. Maybe he’s leaving me clues telling me where to find him.”
​
“That could be,” Parmalee agreed. “We might find him in Cronald.”
​
“I hope so,” Nici replied. “Are we almost there?”
​
“We might be able to make it by dark.”
​
“Wonderful.” Nici started to put her father’s chisel in her jacket pocket. “I better tie this down first,” she remarked. “I’ve lost enough cutting tools already.” Using several strands of hair, she created a string and tied one end around her waist and the other end around the chisel’s handle. Only then did she place the tool in her pocket.
​
“I’ll push the cart,” she told her friend when she was done. The thought that she might soon be reunited with her father gave her a new burst of energy.
​
A while later they started hearing flowing water.
​
“We must be getting close to the bridge,” Parmalee stated. “It won’t be that much longer now.”
​
The road they were traveling veered off to the left. A smaller path went to the right.
​
“That’s odd,” Parmalee said. “I don’t remember there ever being that other road before. Of course, it’s probably been years since I came this way.”
​
They stayed on the main road since that was the route she knew. A few minutes later, they both stopped short.
​
“Where’s the bridge?” Parmalee wondered aloud.
​
“This is where it should be?” Nici asked.
​
The woman shook her head affirmatively. “Used to be.” She walked to the edge and looked down. “My stars,” she exclaimed. “It never used to be this deep.”
​
Nici joined her and peered down into the twenty-foot channel where the water flowed below. “What’s that down there?” She pointed to an odd pile of something on the narrow shore.
Parmalee squinted, trying to get a better look at what Nici was pointing to. “Looks like a broken barrel. See the staves?” she asked, pointing to the curved pieces of wood.
​
“Hmm,” Nici mused. “When my dad was taken away by the King’s caravan, they had barrels of crops on their wagons. They must have been here.”
​
Parmalee nodded. “I bet they rode to this spot thinking the bridge was still here. It must have washed out recently. All that rain may have carried away the bridge and deepened the river bed.”
​
“Is this part of the Roon River?”
​
“No, it’s a small stream that branches off it. Or it used to be a small stream. It’s grown quite a bit since I last saw it.”
​
“I guess the other road back there is the new path.”
​
“I guess.” Parmalee twisted her mouth to one side. “It’s just that it will be so far out of our way. If we could cross here, we could get into town much faster.” As she looked at her little companion, an idea began to form. “I wonder if we could use your hair to get across.”
​
“I’m willing to try,” Nici offered.
​
They surveyed their surroundings to take in all of the resources available to them. Where the bridge had once spanned the stream, the banks on either side were bare. But trees lined the bluff tops everywhere else. Nici suggested that they rope a tree on the opposite bank and swing over the chasm.
​
“I think we might slam into the wall over there instead of landing on top of the bank,” Parmalee said. “Unless, of course…” her voice trailed off as she was thinking. She looked up at the trees. “If we could get a hair rope high enough in one of these trees and attach it to one on the other side, it might just work.”
​
“I’m good at climbing trees,” the child volunteered. There were no electrical storms in sight, so she didn’t worry about a repeat of her accident.
​
The two of them checked out the possibilities on their side of the bluff. And there had to be an equally good tree directly opposite on the other bank to attach the rope to.
​
The tree they chose was about three feet away from the edge of the bluff. Nici began her climb, selecting the branches carefully. She make sure each one could support her weight before she fully rested on it. When she was about ten feet off the ground, she stopped.
​
“Hair, please release yourself from the backpack,” Nici started. A twist of a few strands and her tresses went into action. She kept up the twirling as she requested, “Now please form a strong rope and attach the end to a tree on the other side of this gorge.”
​
Her hair braided itself in a rope formation and shot out over the chasm. It made it about halfway over before drooping down and slapping against the wall closest to them.
​
“My hair isn’t long enough,” Nici observed.
​
Parmalee laughed. “I bet you never thought you’d say that.”
​
Nici smiled, too.
​
“Hmm,” Parmalee thought for a moment. “Let’s try something.”
​
She hobbled over to the edge and used the handle of her cane to pull the dangling braid up to the top. When the full weight of it was safely on the ground, she told Nici to cut it from her head. The girl pulled her father’s chisel out of her pocket and did as instructed. New golden locks instantly regrew.
​
“Now see if the hair on your head will attach to this rope,” the older woman suggested.
​
Nici made the request and her hair complied. Since there still wasn’t quite enough length to span the opening, they repeated the process until sixty feet of hair rope hung from the child’s scalp.
​
“This is really heavy,” she complained.
​
“Get it to tie up over on the far side and it shouldn’t be so bad,” Parmalee told her.
​
At the little girl’s command, the giant braid went into action. It flew across the distance, wrapped around a sturdy limb and tied the end into a secure knot. Nici gave it a few sharp tugs to make sure it would hold. Then she cut the rope from her head and tied it to the branch she was standing on.
​
She got down from her high perch and joined Parmalee on the ground.
​
“So how do we get across this?” Nici asked as they surveyed the line.
​
Parmalee frowned. “We’ll have to grab it and do a hand-over-hand motion all the way across.”
​
They both looked down at the steep drop, then at each other.
​
“I don’t think I’m strong enough to hold on that long,” the child said.
​
“Me neither,” Parmalee agreed. “Okay, let’s give this some more thought.”
​
They sat on the ground and discussed some alternatives. First, they realized that instead of going straight across, the rope should be higher on the starting end than the finish. That way, gravity could help carry them across. Next, they figured that a harness attached to the rope would be a safer way to travel. The issue now was how could they get the safety belt to slide on the rope when both would be made of hair.
​
Nici glanced over at the wheelbarrow full of pies. “There’s our answer,” she said. She hopped up and began cutting the wheel free from the cart.
​
“How will that help?” Parmalee asked.
​
“The wood should slide easily on the hair rope,” Nici explained. “We just have to thread the rope through it. And we can attach our harnesses to the wheel.”
​
“Brilliant,” Parmalee declared. After a moment’s thought, though, she brought up a concern. “I’m not sure I can climb up this tree for take-off.”
​
“I’ll build a ladder of hair,” the little girl told her. “Could you get up that?”
​
“I’ll try.”
​
Nici quickly set about creating a rope ladder. She also formed a new basket to hold the pies. Then she built a harness for herself with one loop for each leg and a band that wrapped around her waist. When that was complete, she made another harness for her friend.
​
The little girl climbed back up the tree and tied the rope ladder to a sturdy branch. She carefully untied the sixty-foot braid, making sure it didn’t slip from her grip and drop to the chasm below. She slipped the end between two of the spokes on the wheel and then retied the rope. She kept the wheel from sliding away by hanging it on a nearby branch.
​
When that was ready, she pulled up the basket of pies and tied these to the wheel. She also attached the two wooden poles that served as handles to the wheel. Then she called for Parmalee to join her.
​
The woman shuffled around for a few minutes, then yelled up to Nici. “Maybe you should just go by yourself. You could make it much faster If you stay on the main road, it will take you right in to Cronald.”
​
Nici hung her head. She didn’t want to do this by herself. If Parmalee wasn’t going to join her up here, they would have to go back to the road and take the long way around. But that would be days longer and her father might have moved on by then. Who knows where he would go from there or when she would be able to catch up with him. Tears began to fall from her eyes.
​
Parmalee could hardly look at Nici. She felt sick in the pit of her stomach. The truth was, she was deathly afraid of heights. But she just couldn’t let the innocent child down after everything she had been through. “Get up there,” she mumbled to herself. Her heart pounded and her palms became wet with sweat. “You owe it to the child to see that she gets into Cronald safely.”
​
The woman picked up her cane and reached for the hair ladder. One by one, she climbed up the rungs, careful not to look down. Nici grabbed her arms as she made it to the take-off branch.
Before Parmalee could chicken out, Nici tied both of their harnesses to the wheel. She wrapped her arms around the frightened woman’s waist.
​
“We’re going to go now,” the young one stated.
​
“I can’t.”
​
“You can. We’re going to go on the count of three. One. Two.” Nici took a deep breath. “Three.”
​
She jumped off the branch. Because they were entwined, Parmalee had to follow.
​
The wheel slid out on the rope and sent them flying across the open space. Their harnesses twirled them around a few times in mid-air. The farther they went, the more speed they picked up. The rush of air whizzing past them blew the skin back on their faces.
​
Parmalee had her eyes closed. “Tell me when it’s over,” she said through her grimace of fear.
​
Just as they neared the other side, Nici realized her error. The only way to stop was to hit the trees. And at the speed they were traveling, that would be disastrous.
​
​
​
​
​
​
CHAPTER 21 / A Nasty Turn of Events
​
Nici and Parmalee hurtled across the alarmingly wide expanse at an incredible speed. They were doomed to crash into the anchor tree unless something halted their progress immediately.
​
Could her hair save them one more time?
​
She let go of her friend with one hand and reached up to twirl a few golden strands around her forefinger. “Please hair,” she cried out, “make a safety net for us.”
​
Instantly the tresses fanned out in all different directions. They began to weave a design that resembled a spider’s web. The ends attached to several trees along the riverbank. The hair web spanned the open space between these trees.
​
Just as the netting was complete, Nici and Parmalee slammed into it. They bounced backward and dangled ten feet out over the chasm.
​
For a brief second they hung there over the gorge. But then gravity sent them flying back toward the web on the downward-sloping rope.
​
“Parmalee,” Nici shrieked, “grab the net when we get close.”
​
The older woman opened her eyes and quickly took in the situation. She reached out with her cane’s handle and hooked one of the sturdy threads of the web.
​
The duo stopped with a fierce jerk.
​
They looked down and realized that the ground was a harmless two feet below them.
“We made it.” Nici let out a long exhale.
​
With her father’s razor-sharp chisel, she cut their harnesses. The travelers dropped to the ground.
​
“I’ve never been so happy to be sitting in dirt,” Parmalee remarked. She put her hand to her heart, hoping to slow its rapid beat. She looked back over her shoulder and down at the deep channel they had just crossed. “Amazing.”
​
When Parmalee was up on her feet, Nici cut free the basket of pies. The woman was stationed underneath to make sure they didn’t smash to the ground. Nici also sliced the rope tethering the two pushcart poles.
​
Only then did she request that her hair release out of the web configuration. The wooden wheel slid the rest of the way down the rope and came to rest against the anchor tree.
​
Nici finally sawed through the braid that spanned the chasm. “Oh no,” she cried as the wheel bounced on the ground and rolled toward the edge.
Parmalee hooked it with her cane before it could escape them.
​
While they were saving the wheel, the sixty-foot braid snapped back to the opposite bank. It made a slap-slap-slap sound as it danced across the surface of the water below.
​
“That is some incredible hair you have,” Parmalee mused.
​
That sat on the bluff for a short period while the adrenaline subsided.
​
“Ready to move on?” Nici finally asked her friend. Parmalee nodded.
​
Once they had reassembled the pushcart of pies, they took off for Cronald.
​
*
It was nearing sundown when they reached the outskirts of the town. Parmalee paused and took in the sights she hadn’t seen in nearly ten years. Little had changed since she left. A few homes had fallen into disrepair. And the trees along the street had grown bigger. But all in all, it looked much the same.
​
“I used to love this place,” she remarked. There was a deep sadness in her eyes as she remembered the way things used to be.
​
Parmalee looked at Nici. “Maybe I should leave you here,” she told the child. “If I’m recognized, we could both be in trouble.”
​
“My hair is just as much of a danger,” Nici answered. “So I say we should stick together.”
​
Parmalee gave a half-hearted smile. “All right, let’s go find your father.”
​
They walked along until encountering a man who was leaving his home.
​
“Excuse me sir,” Nici called to him. “Could you help us please?”
​
The man hesitated, then walked over to her. Parmalee hid her cane inside her coat. She turned her face to the side and put up her hand to hide it. The man didn’t seem to notice as he was staring at the cart full of pies.
​
“What you got there?” he asked.
​
“Delicious apple pies,” Nici answered. “Would you like one?”
​
“Sure, how much?”
​
Nici turned to Parmalee who refused to look up.
​
The man pulled a few coins out of his pocket. “This should be enough,” he said.
​
Nici frowned. “Sir, these pies are a lot of work. Why it took us all day just to…”
​
“All right, all right,” he interrupted. “Here.” He held out several bills.
​
“Thank you, sir,” Nici said. She handed him a pie. “I was wondering, has an agricultural caravan been through town?”
​
“Haven’t seen ‘em,” he answered. “There are two workers here delivering food, but I wouldn’t call that a caravan.”
​
“Where would we find them?” the child inquired.
​
“At the town hall. That’s where everyone will be shortly. Well, I’ve gotta go. Thanks for the pie.”
​
When he left, Parmalee lowered her cane and hand. “Sorry,” she apologized. “That was Tucker Cert. I was afraid he’d recognize me.”
​
“I understand,” Nici told her. “Look, we made our first sale.” She handed the money to her friend. “I’d like to head to the town hall and see if those workers know anything about my father.”
​
“Fine,” Parmalee agreed. “But if we meet anyone else along the way, you do the talking, okay?”
​
The older woman led her down the street toward the main square. In the middle of this open plaza was a huge stone cistern that held the town’s water supply. Oddly, the ground on the far side of the structure was much higher than where the two friends were walking. It was an abrupt and jagged drop-off. Nici didn’t think that it looked like something the townspeople would have created on purpose.
​
But the child didn’t have time to give this much thought as she and Parmalee hurried over to the large meeting hall.
A crowd had already gathered outside. They were waiting to be let in to receive their portion of the crops brought to town by the agricultural workers.
Word started spreading quickly about the homemade pies being offered by these two strangers. Since there were so few pies and so many buyers, a bidding war broke out. One person would offer one price and another would make a counter offer of twice as much. By the time everything was sold, Parmalee’s pockets were stuffed with money.
​
The crowd was so busy bidding for the pies that they hadn’t noticed the odd pair selling them. The woman who wouldn’t show her face and the child who was covered with a blanket except for her face caused no comment or even a second look from the townspeople. Even the cart made of hair seemed to go unnoticed.
​
Nici and Parmalee couldn’t believe their good luck. Once their wares were sold, they quickly headed to the back of the hall, hoping to find the agricultural workers. Instead, they encountered a group of officials standing around the wagon guarding the supplies.
​
“What do you two think you’re doing?” one of the henchman asked. “You can’t be back here. Go back out front and wait for your portion just like everyone else.”
​
“We’re not here for the food,” Nici explained. “We want to talk to the people who delivered these supplies.”
​
The guard walked over and put the steel point of his pike near her face. “I said to go back around front and that’s that.” He gave her a little shove.
​
“Don’t you touch that child,” Parmalee intervened. “You have no right to push her around like that.”
​
“Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?” the man demanded.
​
Another of the guards walked over and lifted Parmalee’s head so that he could see her face. “I don’t believe it,” he exclaimed. “Everybody, get over here. It’s the queen of poison. She’s come back to cause more trouble.”
​
The other guards came over to see what was going on. Parmalee took Nici’s arm and tried to pull her away. But it was too late. They were already surrounded by the menacing henchmen.
​
“It sure is her,” one called out.
​
“You wicked woman,” another snarled and spit at her feet.
​
“Come to ruin some more people’s lives?” a third one taunted.
​
“And who’s this you’ve brought with you?” a fourth guard wanted to know. “Is this your little apprentice? Someone you can teach your evil ways?” He pulled the blanket from Nici’s grasp and exposed her backpack of hair.
​
“What’s in here, little missy? Is this where you hide the poison?” Two of the sentries grabbed at the pack, which began to unravel.
​
Nici’s hair spread out to its full twenty-foot length. The guards stepped back in horror.
​
“What kind of crime of nature is this?” someone exclaimed.
​
The captain of the guard stepped forward and barked out his orders. “Brady, Dinkins bring the two of them inside.” He turned and walked in through the back entrance of the hall. The two men grabbed the child and the woman. They pinned the prisoners’ arms behind their backs and marched them forward.
​
Dinkins, who was holding Nici, kept tripping over her long hair. After several stumbles, he got in front of her and pulled her along.
​
Townspeople were entering the building from the front as Parmalee and Nici were brought in from the back. Someone in the crowd recognized the crippled woman and shouted out her name.
​
“I just bought a pie from that wicked witch,” someone called out. He hurled the baked fruit toward her.
​
Cries of “don’t eat the pies” and “the pies are poisoned” quickly spread through the hall. A few other buyers also threw their recently purchased pastries at Parmalee and Nici. The scene deteriorated into complete chaos.
​
Nici was shivering with fear. Parmalee was humiliated and upset with herself. She should have known better than to lead the child into such a terrible nightmare.
​
Mayor Glump entered from the back office, followed by Renetta and Tem.
​
“What’s going on here?” the Mayor demanded.
​
“Parmalee’s back,” his captain reported. “She tried to poison the people with pie. And she brought this little devil with her.”
​
The Mayor gasped as he saw Nici’s hair.
​
Renetta, on the other hand, smiled. She walked over to the child and leaned down so that her voice could be heard over all of the commotion. “Is your name Gencarelli?” she asked.
​
Nici was surprised to hear the woman speak her name. “Yes ma’am,” she answered.
​
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Renetta winked at her. “I’ll get you out of here safely. There’s someone I know who will be very pleased to see you.”
​
Nici was relieved that someone was going to save her from the angry mob pelting her and Parmalee with the pies. She looked back at her friend as Renetta started to lead her away. Parmalee managed a half smile and indicated that she should go with the woman.
​
“What are you doing?” Mayor Glump asked the agricultural worker.
​
“Moving this child out of harm’s way,” Renetta answered.
​
The Mayor spread his arms and turned his palms skyward. “Why? She’s the accomplice of a known criminal.”
​
“She’s a lost child,” Renetta stated. “We’ve had reports from all over of people looking for her. Isn’t that right, Tem?”
​
Her caravan mate looked confused.
​
“This is the Gencarelli child,” Renetta told her accomplice. “Remember? The Gencarellis?”
​
Tem at last realized what was going on. “Yeah, yeah. Gencarelli. We need her.”
​
“We need to get her home,” Renetta corrected.
​
Nici was thrilled to hear that. Her parents must have put out the word that she was missing. These two were promising to take her back to them. This trip into Cronald that seemed so terrible just a few minutes ago would maybe turn out well after all.
​
Nici, the agricultural workers and the Mayor moved into the hall’s back office. It was much quieter away from the irate townspeople.
​
“What’s with your hair?” Mayor Glump asked Nici. “You in coven that never cuts its hair?”
​
“No sir,” the girl answered. “I was struck by lightning and my hair grew like this.”
​
“Why don’t you cut it?” the man questioned. “You look like a wild animal, not a little girl.”
​
Nici kept quiet, afraid to reveal her hair’s power.
​
“So,” the Mayor continued. “Are you Parmalee’s accomplice or not?”
​
“What’s an accomplice?”
​
“Someone who helps someone else commit a crime.”
​
“We didn’t commit any crime.”
​
“What about those pies?” he wanted to know.
​
Nici sighed. “Sir, we baked the pies because we had extra apples. We thought we could sell them for some money that Parmalee could use to buy things that she can’t grow on her own.”
​
“So why did you put poison in them?”
​
“There was no poison!” Nici insisted.
​
“So you say.” Mayor Glump turned to Renetta. “I don’t know. We might need to keep her here for more questioning.”
​
Renetta grit her teeth and dug her fingernails into her palms. She was aggravated that the Mayor wouldn’t release the child, but she couldn’t appear too eager to take her. She didn’t want the corrupt official to become suspicious.
​
“Mayor Glump,” she began politely, “I appreciate that you can’t let a dangerous criminal go loose. But from everything I heard while we were traveling here, it appears that the girl is telling the truth. She simply got lost and ended up at that woman’s house. If those pies were poisoned, I’m sure she had nothing to do with it.”
​
The Mayor frowned and furrowed his brow as he thought about this.
​
Renetta decided that she needed to go a bit further. “I’m sure the King would be very displeased to hear that we didn’t do everything possible to save a lost and innocent child.”
​
Mayor Glump balked at the mention of the King. “Well, yes. I can see how that would look very bad. Yes, yes. Perhaps you should get her out of here. Let me get some of my men to escort you out of town.”
​
“That crowd in there sounds pretty unruly,” Renetta observed. “You’ll probably need most of your men to control them. I think just one escort should be enough. Tem and I can handle ourselves if trouble arises.”
​
“Very well.” The Mayor stepped out of the room and returned with one of his guards. “Lubakov here will guide you out of town. He’s the best with a battle flail, so he’s a good man in a fight.”
​
Lubakov patted the weapon that hung by his side. It consisted of a three-foot stick with a weighted, spiked ball attached by a metal chain.
​
Renetta grimaced at the sight of the flail. “Actually, I was talking to a man named Bantu a bit ago,” she told the Mayor. “He offered to ride with us.”
​
“Suit yourself,” the Mayor shrugged. “Lubakov, go tell Bantu to get ready.”
​
A few minutes later, they assembled outside the building. Renetta was dismayed to see that Bantu also had battle flails sticking out of special holsters on each side of his horse’s saddle. She was hoping to not have anything to do with the vicious weapons.
​
“Let’s get going while the mob is still focused on that Parmalee woman,” Bantu suggested.
​
Nici winced at the thought of what her friend must be going through. She felt guilty about leaving her in the midst of the dangerous mob. But there really wasn’t anything she could do at the moment. Maybe once she found her parents they could all come back to help.
​
Bantu lit two oil lamp torches to illuminate the night. He handed one to the workers, and kept the other for himself. He mounted his horse and led them out of town. Renetta and Tem took their places on the wagon’s seat. Nici sat in the back between the barrels of crops.
​
On the outskirts of town, the child tapped Renetta on the shoulder. “Are you taking me to my father?”
​
Renetta pretended not to hear.
​
“My mother?” Nici asked.
​
“Sorry, child, but it’s really difficult to hear you over the horses’ hooves,” Renetta answered. “We can talk once we’ve stopped.”
​
Nici accepted this explanation and turned back around to watch the road receding behind them.
​
Half an hour later, Bantu turned off the Castle Road and onto a trail that was somewhat overgrown. It was obvious that this was not a well-traveled path.
​
“Where are we going now?” Nici shouted so she could be heard.
​
“Wherever that guy goes,” Tem answered.
​
“Are we heading for another town?” she persisted.
​
“How should I know? I told you, we’re just following that guy. I don’t know where he’s taking us anymore than you do.”
​
The trail they were on now was severely uneven and pitted. The wagon, which was more than twice as wide as a horse, bumped over small shrubs, rocks and other obstacles to the side of the overgrown path. Nici was afraid she would be bounced out if they hit a deep rut or hole.
​
For a good portion of the trip, the terrain had been gently rolling hills. Now the ups and downs grew more dramatic. In the distance was one mountain that stood high above all of the others. The top third of it was white with snow. Nici wondered if this was one of the peaks she could see from the olive tree at home.
​
She thought back to her days of lolling in the tree. How she had longed for adventure and to see these mountains. This wasn’t quite the way she had intended to do it. She never believed she would think this, but all she wanted right now was to get back to the farm.
​
In time they reached the base of the tallest peak. A waterfall generated by melting snow splashed down the side. The sight of it caused Nici to shudder. This cascade, however, ended in a shallow pool and trickled off in a small stream.
​
Bantu halted his horse and turned to face the rest of the group. “Well, this is it,” he told them.
​
“Where?” Renetta asked. “I don’t see any house.”
​
“Yeah, see that’s the thing,” Bantu tried to explain. “I followed the knights to this place. I got off my horse to hide behind a tree and by the time I looked back, they had disappeared.”
​
Renetta was furious. “Well where did they go?” she demanded.
​
Bantu hunched his shoulders. “I couldn’t tell you. I rode all around the mountain, but couldn’t find an opening. No cave or underground hideaway or anything. But I’m telling you, it was just a minute or two between when I saw them and when they were gone. So it must be somewhere close to here.”
​
Renetta stepped down from the wagon seat. She held the torch in front and started looking around the ground. “I can’t believe we came this far for nothing.” She picked up a stick with her free hand and beat the shrubbery around her. “How can two grown men on horseback just disappear into thin air?”
​
Bantu cleared his throat. When he didn’t get Renetta’s attention, he did it again louder.
​
The angry worker turned around. “What is it?”
​
“I should be heading back,” Bantu said. “If you could just pay me…”
​
“For this?” Renetta exclaimed. “For leading us to nowhere? You were supposed to take us to the knights.”
​
Bantu looked at the ground, but stroked one of the battle flails he had brought along. He lowered his torch so it was obvious what he was doing. “I told you I’d bring you to where I tracked them, and this is it. I think I deserve my payment.” He raised his head and looked the woman in the eye.
​
Renetta glanced from the cheat’s glaring stare to the spiked ball weapon. She shook her head disgustedly and handed her torch to Tem. Then she pulled some money from her pocket. “Here,” she said, holding out the bills. “Not that you earned it.”
​
Bantu smiled and took the money. “I promise you, those knights are somewhere around here. If you keep looking, I’m sure you’ll find them.”
​
Bantu gave a little wave and rode off. They could hear a faint chuckle as he left.
​
Renetta walked back to where Tem and Nici waited. “Can you believe that swindler?” she asked.
​
Nici broke into the woman’s train of thought. “What knights are we looking for?” she asked. “Are they going to help me get home?”
​
Renetta’s angry expression immediately melted. She smiled at the child. “Why yes,” she lied. “We were bringing you to these men because we thought they would know where your parents are.”
​
“But you don’t think they’re here?”
​
Renetta gestured to the scenery all around them. “It doesn’t appear that way, does it?”
​
“Should we head back to the main road and go ask the King’s help?” Nici inquired.
​
“You sure ask a lot of questions,” Tem piped up. “Why don’t you just be quiet and let us think.”
​
“Forgive my friend,” Renetta said, patting the girl’s leg. “He doesn’t understand how hard it is for you to be so far from home.”
​
Tem rolled his eyes at his partner’s false sweetness.
​
Nici bit her lip, trying not to cry. If they didn’t find the knights, would she ever get home?
​
Renetta saw the child fighting to control her emotions. She put her hand on Nici’s shoulder. “It’s been a long journey,” she told her. “Let’s just rest here quietly for a minute. Maybe a solution will come to one of us once we’ve rested. Why don’t you stretch out in the back of the wagon and take a little nap? Here, just close your eyes.”
​
Nici did as instructed.
​
Renetta hopped up on the cart beside the girl. “Let me just get something here.” She rummaged around in one of the barrels and pulled out the crowbar she had stolen from Nici’s father.
​
Tem saw the look in his partner’s eyes and was horrified. He hopped to the back of the wagon and yanked the tool out of her hand.
​
Renetta glared at him. He handed her a small leather sack of coins that was tied to his belt.
​
Nici suddenly felt a horrible pain at the back of her head. There was a crackling sound in her ears right before everything went black. She flopped back on the wagon bed, knocked out cold.
CHAPTER 22 / A Shock Along the Road
​
Selma woke up from her primitive bed on the ground feeling cold and sore. At first she was disoriented, unable to remember where she was. Slowly as she stirred from her dream-state, she remembered the situation. They were camping out on a bluff overlooking the river where Nici had fallen in and been swept over a waterfall.
​
Her eyes were swollen and irritated from crying herself to sleep. She rubbed them with clenched fists, then stretched and stood up.
​
Sideburn was instantly at her side, licking her hand and wagging his tail wildly. Selma smiled despite her sadness. He could always provide a bit a comfort, no matter what the situation. Thank goodness he had escaped the fire.
​
Gino started to stir from where he was curled up on the ground. He yawned loudly without opening his eyes. Sideburn bounded over and licked his face. Gino sat straight up, wiping the moist kiss from his cheek.
​
“Morning,” Selma said to him.
​
“Good morning.” He stretched and yawned again. “How’d you sleep?”
​
“No good,” his wife answered. “My dreaming no was being good all night.”
​
Gino nodded. “Me too.” He got up from the ground and folded the blankets they had slept on. “You still think we should head for the waterfall?”
​
“How we no go?” Selma replied. “Nici is being there maybe.”
​
“I can go look on my own if you’re not feeling up to it,” Gino offered.
​
Selma shook her head. “Is being okay. This path, she is being the same as going for the castle, yes?”
​
“Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s the same way we get to the castle.”
​
“Then the going is being for me and you.”
​
They ate breakfast, packed their meager belongings on the backs of Mahogany and Vanya and took off down the road. Sideburn trotted along beside them, careful to avoid getting too close to the horses.
​
The road traveled along the same route as the river, though they were high above it. The twists and turns slowed their progress. There was no direct way to get from where they were to where they wanted to go.
​
Two hours away, the road turned abruptly to the right.
​
“This seems to be going away from the river,” Gino observed.
​
Selma tapped her forefinger on her teeth while she thought. “Is being where the water falls down maybe,” she remarked.
​
“Of course,” her husband agreed. He dismounted Mahogany and walked through the thick forest toward the river. The roar of the waterfall rushed toward him after a few minutes.
​
Gino turned back to see his wife just a few steps behind. Following her was the faithful Sideburn. The adults slipped and slid down the steep, muddy hill. Tree branches, trunks and roots provided handholds and kept them from dropping dangerously fast. Sideburn’s four paws helped him negotiate the path much more easily.
​
The trees and dense undergrowth at last gave way to a clear patch. They emerged into the light and were greeted by a fine mist. Looking through the delicate spray, they were stunned by the sight. The water raced over the side and dropped an alarming distance. It was at least eighty feet before it splashed into a pool below. It was doubtful that their daughter could have survived this incredible plunge.
​
Gino and Selma held hands as they surveyed the scene. Neither of them spoke out loud the dismal thoughts running through their minds. Yet they both knew that the other was experiencing the same deep pain and sense of loss.
​
Selma squeezed her husband’s hand. “There no is being more seeing up here,” she told him after a few minutes. “My need is being for the walking there now.” She pointed to the pool below the falls.
​
“It doesn’t look like we can get down there from here,” Gino told her from his overlook point.
​
“Then we are needings to be finding the other way down.”
​
Her husband just nodded and kissed her hand. “I’m sorry,” he said, tears suddenly welling up in his eyes. “I’m a miserable failure.”
​
“Why? Because we no can be finding Nici?”
​
“No,” he said. “Because I haven’t been a good provider all these years. Because I got myself arrested. Because I wasn’t there to save Nici from all of this.”
​
“Chino, stop this talking.” Selma’s voice was filled with anger. “This no is being chust your hurt. I am having hurt, too.”
​
“I know you’re hurting, honey. I’m just saying that if I had been there…”
​
“What? You could be stopping the horse jumping? You could be catching Nici out of the river? You could be saving her?”
​
“Maybe.”
​
“No be fooling yourself. Was no things could be done. I know. I was being there. If the saving could be happening, you no think I would?”
​
“Of course. I’m not saying that you did anything wrong.”
​
“No, your saying is being no bads are happening if you are being there. You are making the big saving somehow.” She snorted out a breath. “This no is being the real, Chino.”
​
Gino stayed silent.
​
Selma picked up a handful of rocks and mud and threw them into the water far below. “All the things no are being in your hands, Chino. Some you no can make more better.”
​
She was right, of course. But admitting that Nici’s accident was beyond his control made Gino feel weak and useless.
​
Overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, he started to sit down on the steep hillside. He was just too weary to move on.
​
“Oh no,” Selma said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet. “You no are making the stoppings here. Our leaving is being right away now.”
​
She turned around to begin the treacherous ascent up the bank. The mud and wet layer of leaves made coming down to this point dangerous enough; but at least gravity kept them moving in the right direction. Now they still had to contend with the slippery footing and unstable ground while trying to make their way uphill. Had it not been for the trees to grab hold of, they would have been stuck.
​
Even Sideburn found it tough to climb straight up and instead traveled at an angle. The humans followed the path he set, going slowly but finally inching their way back to the horses.
​
Darkness had already fallen when they reached the town of Eichler. The worn-out parents decided to look for a place to stay the night, rather than sleep on the ground again. They found a widow who rented out an extra room in her home to make money. She told them how fortunate their timing was since a shipment of food from the fields had arrived just a few days ago. That meant she could provide meals, in addition to a soft bed.
​
That night, before they extinguished the oil lamp’s flame that illuminated their room, Gino took his wife’s hands in his own. “I want you to know that I love you. And I appreciate everything you did trying to save Nici. I know I couldn’t have done anything any better than you did. It was just fate.”
​
“Thank you, Chino.” She embraced him. “I am loving you, too.”
​
The next morning at breakfast, Selma asked the inn owner if she knew how to get to the pool at the end of the waterfall. The woman told them to return to the Castle Road and ride for about two hours. They were then to turn west at the granite boulders covered in lichens.
​
The owner didn’t ask and the Gencarellis didn’t volunteer why they were looking for this particular spot. Since the agricultural caravan had already been here, the gossip about Nici’s hair may have already reached the townspeople. The parents didn’t want to take a chance that they would be run out of town or given wrong information.
​
They thanked and paid the innkeeper, bought a few extra supplies in town, then headed out. It had been an extravagant expense to pay for a night’s lodging, but they both felt better with a good night’s sleep.
​
After a few hours on the road, they began looking for the boulders the woman had mentioned. The roadside had been mostly grassy plains up to that point. As the ground became less level and more rolling, the openness changed to forest. Perhaps the granite was in among the trees. A bit farther on, the trees thinned out again. Patches of large rock dappled the ground.
​
“It must be around here somewhere,” Gino noted.
​
It quickly became clear that the widow’s directions were too vague. There were lichen-covered boulders everywhere the couple looked. And it appeared to be that way for quite distance.
​
There was no established path that they could find leading off to the west. Dense forest surrounded the rocks, hiding any glimpse of the waterfall.
​
The couple rode up and down this stretch of road a few times, looking for a clue that would lead them toward the pool.
​
“This no is being right, maybe?” Selma questioned. “We are needing more riding, maybe?”
​
“It’s been well over two hours,” Gino responded. “I think where the innkeeper meant is probably somewhere around here. It’s just impossible to tell which lichen-covered boulders she was referring to.”
​
While they were stopped in the road, Sideburn scampered up a large rock and sniffed the air. His nostrils flared in and out as he picked up the scent of something. His tail twitched back and forth.
​
Selma looked over at her dog, clearly enjoying himself. “The smelling is being good, yes boy?” she called to him.
​
He looked at her and wagged his tail even harder. Then he turned back toward the west and stuck his nose high in the air again.
​
Gino and Selma looked from the dog to each other. “Water!” they exclaimed at the same time. Quickly they dismounted their horses, tied them to a tree and ran over to the dog.
​
“Where you are smelling water, Sideburn?” Selma asked her faithful companion. “Be finding the water.”
​
At her command he was off like a shot, racing through the woods. They struggled to keep up with him as he zigzagged through the rocks and trees. They had to travel quite a distance before they began hearing the telltale sounds of falling water. Now that they knew this was the right path, their steps quickened.
​
The sight of the waterfall and the pool it spilled into was awesome. The water dropped from such a tremendous height that it splashed up ten feet or more once it reached bottom. The pool was nearly as large as a lake.
​
Anxious for any sign of their daughter, Gino and Selma scanned the water. They also checked the sandy beach and the outlet river far down the shore. A stray strand of hair, a footprint, anything at all of hers would have given them hope. But nothing appeared.
​
They had no way of knowing that the fierce wind from the previous night had obliterated all clues that Nici once camped on the very spot where they stood.
​
The distressed parents sat down on a fallen tree trunk and gazed out at the water. Selma could not sit still for long and started wandering about.
​
“What are you doing?” Gino asked.
​
“My need is being for stones.” Like Nici had found, though, there were no rocks on this beach.
​
“Why do you need stones?” her husband inquired.
​
“To be making the, how you say, place to no be forgetting Nici.”
​
“A memorial,” Gino told her. “But Sel honey, we don’t know that she died here.”
​
“Chino, be the truth. Can you be living from falling so manys tall?”
​
He looked to the top of the eighty-foot water chute. “I don’t know. Somehow, maybe.”
​
His wife looked at him and shook her head. “No, Chino. You no could.” She went and sat back down beside him. “And Nici no did. She no is being living, Chino. We are needing to see this truth.”
​
Selma had witnessed enough death in her life to know that accepting a loved one’s passing was the only way to begin healing.
​
She pulled at a branch that was sticking up from the fallen trunk. It snapped free in her hand. Selma took the stick and walked over to the short bluff wall at the back of the beach. In the clay, she carved Nici’s name and a quick likeness of her. When she was done, she kissed the carving. “Goodbye, NiNi,” she said softly. “Be sleeping in the peace.”
​
She walked back to Gino, who hadn’t moved in over an hour.
​
“It’s so beautiful,” he said to her.
​
She followed his gaze to the falls.
​
“The rainbow of colors,” he pointed out. Where the sun shone on the spray from the waterfall, a cascade of red, blue, green, purple and orange appeared.
​
Selma nodded. “Is being nice,” she agreed.
​
“We’ll bring Nici back some day to see it,” Gino said.
​
Selma started to correct him, then thought better of it. If he needed to believe that their daughter was still alive right now, she would let him be. In time he would have to come to accept reality. But maybe he just couldn’t for right now.
​
She helped him to his feet and whistled for Sideburn. The three of them walked back up to the road where the horses waited patiently for them. Gino was like a zombie as he threw his leg over Mahogany and started off down the road. Selma kept Vanya a few steps behind so she could keep an eye on her grief-stricken husband.
​
They rode on wordlessly for hours. Both were lost in their own thoughts. The horses kept up a steady pace. Sideburn sometimes led the way, trailed behind or took a side route to follow something his nose led him to. He always returned the instant Selma whistled for him.
​
Around a turn in the road they caught sight of a stream. It had to be the outlet from the waterfall pool. As they neared, they saw the water was raging downstream. They would need to find a bridge to be able to cross safely.
​
Selma rode slightly ahead of Gino to check out the situation. There was a secondary path that veered off from the main road. She looked in the direction of the original roadway.
​
Selma’s mouth dropped open. She slapped her hand across her heart to keep it from leaping out of her chest.
​
Gino pulled up beside her. He still had a distant look in his eyes, not focused on anything in particular.
​
Selma could hardly speak. She pointed emphatically out over the deep streambed. “There!” was all she could get out.
​
“It’s a rope,” Gino answered in a flat tone.
​
“Chino, be seeing,” Selma insisted.
​
This time, he paid greater attention. His eyes widened at the sight. He quickly dismounted and ran over to it.
​
“I knew it! I knew it!” he cried, pulling the enormous golden braid toward himself and kissing it. “I knew she was alive.”
​
Selma was also off her horse and inspecting the line. Sure enough, it was constructed of Nici’s hair. One end was tethered to a tree and the opposite end dangled in the water below. They weren’t sure how the line was used, but it didn’t really matter. If Nici’s hair had formed these braids, then she must be alive.
​
Selma and Gino embraced each other and danced around on the shore. This new revelation gave them an incredible burst of energy.
​
“Let’s go find her!” Gino laughed.
​
Since they couldn’t cross here, they rode back to the secondary path and crossed the stream there. Eventually, they met back up with the main road on the opposite side of the gorge.
​
The anxious parents galloped down the path, eager to go find their daughter. But an odd heap of something along the road caused them to slow down.
​
“What this is being?” Selma asked while they were still too far away to identify the bundle.
​
Gino charged on and pulled up closer. “Something wrapped in canvas,” he told his wife. He hopped off the horse and reached for the pile.
​
“Oh my word,” he exclaimed. “Is it? It is her.”
CHAPTER 23 / The Knights Emerge
​
Tem looked at Renetta, who was kneeling over Nici’s limp body. “You could have killed her with that crowbar,” he said.
​
“I wouldn’t have hit her that hard,” his co-worker retorted.
​
“You can’t hit someone lightly with a crowbar,” he told her. He couldn’t begin to count the number of times he had saved his partner from something impulsive that could have been disastrous.
​
Renetta was always coming up with schemes to make money. And she could be ruthless in the pursuit of it. As smart as she was, she didn’t always think before she acted when a financial plan was involved. Tem often found himself going along with her antics, but mostly to rescue her from herself.
​
“Why did you hit the girl anyway?” he asked.
​
“Well you’re the one who wanted her to be quiet,” Renetta snorted.
​
“But what if you had killed her?”
​
“It wouldn’t have mattered. We could still get our money out of her. Just have to cut off some of that hair and pretend she was still alive.”
​
“And you wouldn’t have felt guilty about killing a defenseless child?”
​
“A little. Maybe,” she shrugged. “But we can’t have her seeing what we’re up to. We don’t need some strange kid getting suspicious. Or running away.”
​
“Well what are we up to?” Tem wanted to know. “We’re out here in the middle of nowhere. We don’t know where the knights are. And we don’t know how to find them. It doesn’t seem to me like we’re up to much of anything.”
​
“Have you no faith?” Renetta asked him. “We’ll find those knights. We just have to use our heads.” She jumped down from the back of the wagon and started inspecting the area to the left of the waterfall.
​
Tem moved back to his seat atop the wagon and watched the crazy co-worker who bewitched him so. Why did he put up with her? His head had never given his heart a good enough answer. Because he had seen how vulnerable she really was. On the few occasions where she had let down her tough exterior, he had melted. That was the Renetta he stayed around for.
​
She had walked quite a distance around the base of the mountain, pulling on shrubbery and trees along the way. She pushed on areas that were bare rock. Half an hour later, she returned to the wagon.
​
“Find anything?” Tem inquired.
​
“Not yet.” Renetta starting unhitching one of the horses.
​
“Now what are you doing?”
​
“I'm going to ride around the mountain and keep looking for an entrance,” she explained.
​
“Well what should I do?” Tem asked.
​
“Stay here and guard the girl. And keep an eye out for the knights.”
​
Tem crossed his arms over his chest. “I always get the boring jobs,” he mumbled.
​
“Would you rather ride around the mountain?” Renetta asked.
​
Tem shrugged.
​
“Because I’d be happy to sit here and wait while you did all the work,” she goaded.
​
Tem let out a disgusted sigh. “I’ll wait here,” he said quietly.
​
With the horse now detached from the reins of the cart, Renetta started to climb upon his back. It had been ages since she rode bareback, but she figured it was worth a try.
​
“What should I do if the girl wakes up?” Tem asked.
​
Renetta paused, then walked over to the discarded crowbar. She handed the tool up to her partner. “Give her a whack with this.”
​
“I’m not gonna do that,” he protested. Disgustedly, he threw the iron bar in the back of the cart.
​
“Suit yourself,” Renetta said. “Just don’t let her escape.”
​
With some difficulty, she got on the loose horse, shifting her weight to keep from sliding off. “It will probably be tomorrow before I return, so either tie up the girl or stay awake all night. Remember, our fortune depends on it.” She rode off toward the west, staying close to the mountain.
​
Tem curled his lip in a snarl. “Stay awake all night,” he mimicked his partner. “Our fortune depends on it.”
​
He looked around for something to keep the child in the back of the cart so that he could sleep. There was no rope or anything convenient that would do the job. Then he had the bright idea to use her hair.
​
Tem lifted Nici’s head so he could pull her hair out from underneath. He separated the long tresses into five sections. He took one segment from the left side and crossed it over her body to tie onto the right cart wheel. A right side section was tied to the left wheel. With two of the remaining parts, he bound her hands and feet. And the final section he wrapped around her neck and tied to the wagon seat.
​
“That should do the job,” he said to himself as he surveyed his work.
​
After he was satisfied that the girl wasn’t going anywhere, he unhitched the other horse from the cart and secured him to a nearby tree. Finally the weary worker was able to spread his bedroll on the ground and settle down for the night.
​
*
​
Renetta had no intention of stopping just because it was dark. She had the oil lamp provided by the Bantu cheat to illuminate her way. Darkness might actually be an advantage because light coming through from the other side of the mountain would be easier to see. A crack in the stone face might signal an entrance.
​
Renetta guided the horse this way and that, slowly moving forward. She checked every inch of the mountain itself for an entrance site. She also searched the ground in case the knights had tunneled a hideout underneath the mountain.
​
It didn’t matter how long the search took. She was determined to cash in on the gold mine riding in the back of her cart. And the brothers in armor were key to fulfilling that dream.
​
*
​
Nici awoke slowly in the starlit night. Her head throbbed. Her vision was blurry. And she had no memory of what had happened to her. Nor did she have a clue as to where she was.
​
She tried to sit up, but couldn’t move an inch. Something had her bound in place. She couldn’t move her legs, arms or body. Trying to lift her head caused a rope to cinch around her neck. She lay back down, scared and confused.
The effort of raising her head caused even more pain. Nici closed her eyes and slipped back into a semi-conscious state.
​
The second time she awoke, the sun was rising on the eastern horizon. Her head still ached, but her vision and thinking were a bit clearer. Forgetting about the loop around her neck, Nici lifted her head. The rope nearly strangled her. She immediately lowered herself to the cart bed to take the strain off her neck.
​
But she had been able to spy why she couldn’t move any farther. She was bound head to foot to the cart with her own hair.
​
Nici tried to remember how she had gotten into this situation. Had her hair wrapped around the wagon as the wheels were rolling? Had the agricultural workers tied her in place so she wouldn’t fall out? If so, why had they wrapped a section around her neck?
​
As she tried to sort out everything, it dawned on her to simply ask her hair to release its hold. Unfortunately, her hands were bound together. She wouldn’t be able to coil a few strands at her scalp and have her hair obey.
​
She thought back to Pamalee telling her to just keep trying different things until something worked. It was worth a try to see if her hair would still obey if she touched any part of the curls. Maybe the twirling part didn’t have to happen at the scalp.
​
Nici was just about to try this new method when a commotion and voices off to the side stopped her. She decided to be still for a moment and eavesdrop on the conversation.
​
*
​
Tem snored loudly as he was deep asleep. He dreamed that he was diving into a pool and as soon as his skin touched the water, it turned into silver. Gold rocks lined the bottom of the silver pool. Red rubies and green emeralds sparkled from below. He smiled as he reached for one of the beautiful gems. Then he heard horses’ hooves galloping toward him. He slipped under the liquid silver so no one could find him.
​
“Give Sleeping Beauty a kick and see if he’s awake.”
​
Tem wondered who was entering his dream.
​
The punt in his ribs was not his imagination at work. The all-too-real pain shot through his side. Tem scrambled to get upright, now fully awake. His feet tangled in the bedroll, dropping him back to the ground.
​
A hand in silver armor pulled him up to standing. It held a long, sharp knife to his throat.
​
Another figure dressed head to toe in silver metal stood before him. “What have we here?” the man asked, raising the shield that covered his eyes. “An intruder. Or more likely, a thief.”
​
“You must be the knights,” Tem managed to squeak out.
​
“And you are?”
​
“Tem Waffa. I work for the King.”
​
“Carlton, let me slit his throat now,” the man holding Tem said from behind.
​
“Patience, Elliot,” Carlton said. “Let’s first hear why the King’s man Mr. Waffa is paying us a visit. And how he reached our humble home.”
​
“I don’t know where your house is,” Tem told them. “We couldn’t find it last night when we…”
​
“We?” Carlton interrupted. “There’s more than one of you here?”
​
Tem tried to nod, but the knife blade dug into his throat.
​
“How many of the King’s men are here?” Carlton questioned.
​
“Just me and Renetta.”
​
“And where is this Renetta?”
​
“She rode off that way last night looking for you.”
​
“Which brings me to my next question,” Carlton continued. “Why has our beloved King sent you here?”
​
“The King didn’t send us,” Tem piped up. “We came on our own.”
​
Carlton frowned. “I’m not sure that makes it any better. And you still haven’t answered my question of why you’re here.”
​
Sweat and a small trickle of blood dripped down Tem’s neck. He was afraid to move an inch for fear of being cut further. “If you could just ask your brother to take this knife away from my throat…”
​
“Elliot, the King’s man seems a bit uncomfortable with your knife at his neck. Perhaps you should lower it.”
​
“Okay,” Elliot answered. He dropped his hand to his side.
​
Before Tem had time to reach up and feel the extent of his wound, the knight wrapped his other arm around the hapless victim’s neck. The metal of his armor dug into Tem’s tender skin.
​
“Better?” Carlton inquired.
​
“I guess,” Tem replied.
​
“Now, you were just about to enlighten us as to why you’re intruding on our beautiful morning.”
​
“I can answer that,” said a voice from behind.
​
The knights had been so busy with Tem that they hadn’t realized someone else had arrived.
​
From her hiding place in the wagon bed, Nici was relieved to hear Renetta’s voice. She still didn’t realize that Renetta wasn’t on her side.
​
“I take it you are the King’s other man,” Carlton said. “Or woman, as it were.”
​
“I am. Renetta Picksley, at your service sir.” She extended her hand to the knight, who ignored it.
​
“I don’t exactly see how an employee of the King can be at my service,” Carlton sneered.
​
“If you’ll allow me to explain,” Renetta told him. “My friend here and I have some information that I think you’ll be most interested in hearing.”
​
“Go on.”
​
“Well, it’s just that I couldn’t possibly divulge that information unless I knew that we would be properly compensated.”
​
“I’ll compensate you right now by killing the both of you,” Elliot raged.
​
“Calm down, brother,” Carlton cautioned. “Let Ms. Picksley and I talk business and if I don’t like what I hear, then you can kill them.” He turned back to Renetta. “I couldn’t possibly pay you until I knew what you were offering, could I?”
​
“Of course not,” Renetta smiled. She didn’t want to show the least bit of intimidation to these men. “I understand that several years ago, you had a run in with a man named Gino Gencarelli.”
​
Nici’s ears perked up at the sound of her father’s name. She wanted to release her hair bonds and look at what was going on, but she was too afraid.
​
“Gencarelli!” Elliot shouted. “Where is he? I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
​
“I thought you might want to,” Renetta laughed. “Which is why I’d be happy to tell you where he lives. For the right amount of money, of course.”
​
“Of course,” Carlton agreed in mock politeness. “But how do I know that you know where Gencarelli lives?”
​
“I can take you to his farm,” Renetta told him. “We’ll escort you there, you pay us and we’ll part ways. You win, we win and no one’s the wiser for it.”
​
“It’s a trap,” Elliot spit out. “Any idiot can see that. You’ll take us away from here and the King will have us arrested.”
​
He was so agitated that he tightened his arm’s metallic clench around Tem’s neck. Tem flailed his arms and gasped for air.
​
“Perhaps you should loosen your hold on Mr. Waffa just a bit,” Carlton suggested.
​
Elliot took his arm away, then placed his fingers around Tem’s throat.
​
Carlton turned back to Renetta. “My brother may have a point about that trap,” he said.
​
“I can see how you might think that,” Renetta told him. “That’s why we brought you Gencarelli’s daughter.”
​
Now Nici was really afraid. Not only was Renetta giving up her father, but she was betraying her, too. The child decided that she couldn’t wait any longer.
​
“Hair, please release me from the knots tied around my feet and hands,” she whispered. With her little finger, she twirled a few strands that were wrapped around her wrists. She held her breath, wondering if this method would work. Sure enough, her locks began untying themselves and freeing her limbs.
​
She sat bolt upright, eager to escape. But she had forgotten to untie the last section. The hair rope around her neck yanked her backwards. Her head thwacked against the wagon seat, knocking her out again.
​
Carlton and Renetta walked over to the wagon where the girl lay motionless.
​
“How do I know this is Gencarelli’s daughter?” the smaller knight asked.
​
For once, Renetta was caught without an answer. If she couldn’t prove that this was Nici, the whole deal would fall through.
​
Carlton leaned down to get a closer look at the child. “She might look like him. I can’t really remember after all these years.” He stroked the rope tied around her neck. “What’s with the hair?”
​
Renetta shrugged. “She’s some sort of monster, I guess. They call her the devil child down in the towns.”
​
Carlton laughed. “Then she must be Gencarelli’s daughter.”
​
He backed away from the wagon and walked closer to the woman. “I tell you what we’ll do. We’ll take you all to our home for right now. When the girl wakes up, we’ll ask her name. If she is indeed the demon spawn of that evil man, we have a deal. If she turns out to be some child you picked up off the street, I’ll have my dear brother kill all of you. Does that sound fair?”
​
Renetta swallowed hard. “Sure,” she agreed. “That sounds perfect.”
​
CHAPTER 24 / Distressing News
Selma hopped off Vanya and ran over to her husband and the bundle he was inspecting. “Chino, this no is being Nici, yes?”
​
“No, honey. It’s Thena, the King’s sister.” Gino gently rolled the woman over on her back and patted her hand. “Thena,” he said to her softly. “Thena, wake up.”
​
“How you are knowing this is being Thena?” Selma asked.
​
Sideburn joined them. He walked all around the stranger in the canvas tarp, sniffing loudly.
​
“She’s the right age. But this, this is really how I know.” He pointed to the hourglass red mark on the back of the woman’s right hand. “Thena had a very distinctive birthmark.”
​
Sideburn licked the spot where Gino was indicating. The man pushed the dog away. “Sideburn, go back with the horses.”
​
The dog slunk off with his tail between his legs.
​
“He chust is being the dog,” Selma said. She patted the ground beside her and Sideburn wandered over for a few comforting pats. “Chino, stories I am hearing say Thena no is being living.”
​
Gino shrugged. “No one knows what happened to her. She simply disappeared on a trip to see her fiancé. No trace of her was ever found. Nor her guards or the horses or anything from her entourage. It’s a mystery that’s never been solved.”
​
He turned his attention back to the woman by the side of the road. “Somebody beat her up pretty badly. It looks like she’s been here for awhile.”
​
There were cuts and bruises all over the exposed parts of her body. Her clothes were bloodied and ripped in several places. A cane broken into two pieces was on the road beside her.
​
Selma disappeared for a few minutes and returned with a gourd full of water. She took the kerchief from her head and dipped it in the liquid. With gentle strokes, she cleaned the mud and blood from the woman’s face.
​
When the water grew too dirty, Gino went to get more.
​
Selma continued trying to tend to the woman’s wounds. She gently moved the stranger’s limp arms away from her body, trying to determine if anything was broken.
​
The injured woman began to moan. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, before she opened them.
​
Gino returned and leaned down close to her. “Thena! Can you hear me?”
​
She struggled to focus on his face.
​
“It’s me Gino,” he told her. “Gino Gencarelli.”
​
She closed her eyes and moaned some more. Her head lolled from side to side. Her face contorted in pain.
​
An instant later she lifted her head and stared straight at Gino. “Den rell ee…” she struggled to make out the words.
​
“Gencarelli,” Gino helped her.
​
The woman nodded, then winced from the ache caused by moving her head. She dropped back to the ground, but kept her eyes open. “Nee,” she managed to get out of her swollen mouth, followed a few seconds later by, “thee.”
​
“Nee thee,” Gino repeated with the long pause in between words. His brow furrowed as he tried to puzzle out what she was saying. He reached down and looked for something wrong with her knees.
​
“Nici?” Selma asked, suddenly excited. “My Nici?”
​
The hurt woman managed a smile.
​
“You are seeing Nici?” the anxious mother prodded.
​
The woman gave a barely perceptible nod.
​
Now both parents were kneeling beside the woman, leaning close to her head.
​
“Is she all right?” Gino asked.
​
The woman again nodded. Even this slight motion caused a grimace.
​
“Try not to move your head,” Gino cautioned. “If we ask you some questions, can you blink once for yes and twice for no?”
​
A single blink answered his question.
​
“Good,” Selma smiled. She held the woman’s hand and stroked it. “So you are seeing Nici soon?”
​
“Recently,” her husband interpreted. “You saw Nici recently?”
​
Thena responded with one blink.
​
“And she’s fine?”
​
Another blink.
​
“Is she in the town that’s up the road?” Gino asked.
​
Two blinks this time.
​
Gino blew out a long breath. “Of course not. That would be too easy. Do you know where she is?”
​
Again, two blinks.
​
The father smacked his right fist into his left palm.
​
“She is being with other peoples, yes?” Selma inquired.
​
The woman blinked once.
​
“Someone who’s helping her?” Gino asked.
​
One blink.
​
“Well that’s good news at least,” he said. “She’s safe with someone, we just don’t know where they are.”
​
The woman tried to say something. Both Gencarellis bent down closer to hear her.
​
It sounded like she was choking on something. Then a faint “ing” emerged.
​
The husband and wife looked at each other and shrugged. Gino, who was on her right side, looked down at the birthmark. He had no doubt that this was Thena, the long-lost sister of the King. He had looked at that red blotch many times when she visited him in his workshop.
​
Just like that, it dawned on him what she was trying to say. “King!” he nearly shouted.
​
The woman blinked once.
​
Gino smiled, proud of himself for figuring it out. “King,” he repeated, this time at a normal volume. “Is Nici with the King?”
​
Two blinks gave him a negative answer.
​
“She is being with King workers?” Selma asked. She let out a sigh of relief when her question garnered a single blink. “The King workers make the going to the castle maybe.”
​
Gino agreed with his wife’s take on the situation. “I bet you’re right. They’re taking Nici to the King. If we hurry and ride all night, maybe we can catch up with them on Castle Road.” He stood up and offered a hand to his wife to help her to her feet.
​
She frowned at him, then gave a slight nod of her head indicating the injured woman.
​
“Oh, of course,” Gino caught himself. He had been so thrilled with the news of his daughter that he had forgotten all else. There was no way they would leave without first making sure that Thena was all right.
​
He knelt back down. “Thena,” he said, “don’t worry. We’ll take care of you.”
​
The woman gave him a strange look.
​
“Your name is Thena, isn’t it?” he asked.
​
She blinked twice.
​
“It’s not?” Gino was shocked.
​
“My husband has the thinking you are being the King sister,” Selma explained.
​
The woman batted her eyelids twice. But then she got a far off look in her eyes, as she contemplated what they had said.
​
Selma motioned for her husband to follow her. They walked a short distance off to discuss what to do next.
​
“She no know who she is being maybe,” Selma stated. “Those beatings are having her mixed around.”
​
“I hope she’s not mixed up about Nici.”
​
“I no am thinking this,” his wife assured him. “Her eye movings, how you say again?”
​
“Blinking?”
​
“Her eye blinking is being strong for Nici. She is being knowing this as truth. My thinkings are, Nici is being okay so we are doing the helping for this Thena.”
​
Gino nodded. “You’re right. We know Nici is safe. Righ now we need to help Thena.” He whistled for Sideburn and the two of them went off in search of a suitable camping spot.
​
Selma sat with the stranger until Gino had the site prepared. Thena dozed off a few times while they waited. Selma’s thoughts alternated between concern for her patient and elation that Nici was on her way to the safety of the King’s castle. Even if it took them a week or so before they were reunited, at least now they knew where to find her.
​
Gino returned and lifted the injured woman in his arms. He carried her to a flat portion of a meadow that was a short distance off the road. The fire was already roaring and generating warmth in the cozy camp he created. He lowered his ailing friend to a spot close to the fire.
​
A while later when their patient awakened, the Gencarellis gave her some tea and a bit of bread. Selma had to feed her because she could not sit up without tremendous pain. The bread was hard after a few days of being exposed to the air. But dunking it into the tea softened it enough that the woman could swallow it.
​
Sideburn positioned himself beside Thena, seeming to understand that she needed extra warmth. He stayed there throughout the night, occasionally resting his head on her leg.
​
The next morning, a light rain began to fall.
​
“We need to get her out of this rain,” Gino stated. He surveyed the materials at hand, while creating a blueprint in his head.
​
For the rest of the day, the Gencarellis used fallen logs, large tree boughs, locks of Nici’s hair and Gino’s woodworking tools to create a shelter. They alternated logs at right angles and tied them together with the hair. They sealed the cracks between the logs with mud and pine needles. The tiny cabin was just long enough for the three adults to lie down. The roof, made of stacked trees and branches was high enough that they could sit, but not stand up.
​
When their building was complete, Gino carried Thena inside. Selma took the tarp and draped it over the roof of the cabin to make it more waterproof. She cut holes in all four corners and tied it down with segments of Nici’s hair so the canvas wouldn’t blow away in the wind.
​
The storm continued throughout the night, but they were dry within the hastily-built cabin. Sideburn kept whining to be let in, and Selma finally relented. He slept beside her and the injured woman all night.
​
By the next day, Selma was worried that their patient was not making any progress. She was still sleeping most of the time and some of her wounds were starting to get infected.
​
“This Thena, she is being needing a doctor,” Selma told her husband. “Her head is being too manys hot. And her woundings are being worst.”
​
“Maybe I should go look for a doctor,” he suggested.
​
“No, I am being the one looking, maybe,” his wife said. “I no can be lifting her if the moving is being needed.”
​
Gino was worried. The rain was still coming down. He wasn’t sure how far away Selma would have to go to get some help. And he didn’t like the thought of her traveling through this unknown country by herself. On the other hand, he was afraid that Thena might need more assistance than Selma could provide.
​
“Okay,” he agreed after some consideration. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”
​
“I am.” She gave him a kiss and left the cabin. A few seconds later, she returned. “I no am having my wrap,” she said, picking up what remained of Nici’s hair. “My lucky charming.”
​
Vanya was excited to see her and eager to go for a ride. He stood perfectly still as she draped the tack over his head, put the bit in his mouth and tightened the saddle. They rode off in the rain, heading for the Castle Road.
​
Hours later, she pulled into the town of Cronald. Since she had no idea where the doctor might live, she stopped at the first home where smoke was coming out of the chimney. She tied up Vanya on a fence post by the street, walked up to the front door and knocked.
​
A woman answered the door.
​
“Hello,” Selma said. “A doctor is being in this town, yes?”
​
“You’re not from around here, are you?” the woman asked.
​
“No,” Selma said.
​
“No you don’t sound like it.”
​
“A doctor?” Selma repeated. “There is being one?”
​
The woman shook her head. “Not anymore. He moved out a few years ago. Are you hurt?”
​
“No. My husband and I am finding a woman where the road is being. She is being hurting manys bad from some beatings.”
​
The homeowner frowned. “What’s the woman look like?”
​
“Grey hair. Red on the hand. And she is being walking on the stick, maybe.”
​
“Walking on the stick?” the homeowner questioned.
​
Selma pantomimed walking with a cane.
​
“Oh you mean walking with a cane?” the woman said.
​
Selma half nodded, half shrugged as she wasn’t sure if cane was the right word.
​
“Parmalee,” the homeowner practically spit out. “Don’t bother saving that horrid woman.”
​
“Why you are saying this?” Selma asked, taken aback by the woman’s anger.
​
“Just let her die. And I hope it’s a horrible death. She poisons babies, you know.”
​
Selma wasn’t sure what to make of this news. Without thinking she grabbed the hair scarf around her neck for comfort.
​
“You better not let anybody else in this town know you’re taking care of Parmalee. They’ll hunt you and your husband down and thrash you too.”
​
“This Parmalee, her beatings are being from this town?”
​
The woman frowned. “Well if you mean was she beaten up in town here, the answer is yes. She came here with a bizarre little girl to sell us poison pies. I don’t know what happened to the girl, but we made sure that evil woman won’t be coming back to Cronald. Everybody took a turn giving her a good punch or a kick. The Mayor’s guards dragged her out of town and I guess that’s where you found her.”
​
The woman became distracted by Nici’s hair around Selma’s neck. “What’s that you’re wearing?” she wanted to know.
​
Selma immediately let go of the scarf. She began to back away from the door.
​
“That’s that devil child’s hair, isn’t it? Lady, are you trying to get yourself killed?”
​
Selma turned and ran back to her horse. She yanked the reins free from the fence post and mounted Vanya.
​
“You better burn that hair, lady,” the homeowner called after her. “It’s from the devil, you know.”
​
Selma turned the horse back the way she had come. She couldn’t get away fast enough. There definitely was something sinister about this town. But was this Thena or Parmalee or whoever this woman was also evil? She had to get back and find out before something happened to Gino.
​
​
CHAPTER 25 / A Rude Awakening
​
Carlton motioned for Elliot to let go of Tem’s neck. The larger knight hesitated for a moment, then complied. He glared at his brother.
​
Carlton ignored him and turned his attention to Tem. “Mr. Waffa, why don’t you assist Ms. Picksley in hitching that horse to the wagon so we can get going.”
​
Tem quickly walked away from the menacing older knight, rubbing his neck where it had been cut and rubbed raw.
​
Carlton drew close to his brother so they could speak in whispers. “You have something to say to me, I take it?”
​
Elliot snorted. “I don’t trust them.”
​
His comment was met with loud laughter. “Of course you don’t trust them,” Carlton said when his mirth subsided. “They’re swindlers and cheats. But then again, so are we. So we can’t be trusted either, can we?”
​
His brother gave him a strange look.
​
Carlton continued. “Don’t worry. We’re smarter than they are. And we have better weapons. They won’t get the best of us, I promise you. But if they do indeed have information about Gencarelli, well, haven’t you dreamed of the day when we can exact our revenge on him?”
​
Elliot smiled. “I have.”
​
“As have I. So if these two hooligans can lead us to him, we’ll let them. Then you can do whatever you want to them.”
​
“All right,” Elliot agreed. His mood picked up considerably.
​
The brothers mounted their horses. “The first part of our journey is a little wet,” Carlton told the agricultural workers who were now atop the wagon seat. “Do you have anything to throw over yourselves to keep dry?”
​
“Not really. We lost our tarp to an angry mob in a nearby town,” Renetta answered.
​
“Pity,” Carlton told her. “I guess you’ll just have to get wet then. My brother will lead the way and I’ll follow along behind your cart. We have to keep an eye on your precious cargo, don’t we?” He indicated Nici who was still passed out in the back of the wagon.
​
Elliot gave his horse a slap on the rear flank and darted off. Tem thwapped the reins against his pull horses’ backs and guided them into the path the knight took.
​
Without slowing his pace, Elliot splashed into the shallow pool of water. He charged straight into the waterfall and disappeared.
​
Tem yanked back on the reins to halt his horses. “What in the name of…”
​
Carlton pulled up beside him. “It’s perfectly fine,” he assured the two shocked visitors. “Just drive straight through. The opening is plenty big enough for your cart. Just try to stay in the middle.”
​
“Drive through the waterfall?” Tem exclaimed.
​
“Well only if you want to get to our house,” Carlton answered.
​
Tem looked at Renetta who shrugged. “Do what he says, I guess.”
​
The cart driver was still unsure of what they’d find on the other side. But if Elliot had made it through, there must be something behind the water other than a wall. He snapped the reins again and cautiously directed the horses toward the plunging falls.
​
The horses hesitated when the spray first hit them. Tem continued to urge them on with the reins and his voice. When that didn’t work, he pulled out the whip, which he rarely used. Immediately the horses responded to the nasty sting on their backsides and moved forward. They vanished into the vertical stream of water.
​
A few seconds later, Renetta and Tem were under the cascade. The force of the water falling on their head and shoulders was extremely painful. It felt like rocks hurtling down upon them. Tem urged the horses on so they could escape the torture as quickly as possible.
​
A dark, damp cave awaited them on the other side. The workers strained to see in the faint light so they could guide the horses.
​
“This way,” Elliot called to them, his voice echoing around the cavern.
​
Tem steered the horses slightly to the right in what he thought was the direction of the knight’s voice.
​
“Not that way, this way,” Elliot said.
​
The visitors weren’t sure where to go. The cave was distorting sounds so that they seemed to swirl around and come from everywhere at once.
​
“Elliot, light a torch so our guests can see where they’re going,” Carlton called out.
​
There was the sound of a flint on steel, then a loud hiss. A bright flame lit up the interior of the cave.
​
Carlton rode up beside the wagon, flicking a few drops of water off his metal covering. He lifted his face shield so they could see him. “This armor comes in handy for all kinds of things,” he told them. “Now if you two will follow the torch up ahead, we’ll have you back in the daylight in no time.”
​
With Elliot in the lead and carrying the oil lamp torch, Renetta and Tem easily made the twists and turns that took them through the cave. They were careful to avoid the triangular formations that hung down from the ceiling and grew up from the ground everywhere except for the path they were following. A narrow stream of water that didn’t seem to be moving wove through the strange structures. Here and there, still pools of water reflected the light of the torch. Neither worker had ever experienced anything so bizarre in all of their travels.
​
One last turn to the left and they could see daylight shining through an opening. Elliot extinguished the torch he was carrying and placed it in a hole in the wall that served as a holder.
​
Renetta and Tem blinked several times as their eyes grew accustomed to the bright light. Once they could see normally again, they were astounded by the unusualness of their surroundings. The hollow mountain, terraced fields and stone mansion in the middle were not what they were expecting.
​
“Welcome to our home,” Carlton said. He rode ahead directly toward the mammoth house.
​
Elliot motioned for the workers to follow his brother.
​
Feeney and Tessa came out of the house. Renetta was shocked to see young children on the property. She would not have guessed that the knights had any offspring.
​
The young boy reached up for the reins of Carlton’s horse as the knight dismounted. He led the animal toward the back without any acknowledgement of the brothers or the newcomers.
​
The little girl stood open-mouthed, staring at Nici in the back of the wagon. She took a few steps backward in fright, bumping into Carlton. Using his middle finger and thumb, the knight flicked her sharply on the head and pointed toward Elliot who had dismounted his horse. She snapped into action, leading Barbaro off in the same direction as the boy.
​
“You have children?” Tem asked.
​
Elliot rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone assume these creatures belong to us? If they were my offspring, I would have drowned them at birth.”
​
“Now, now, brother,” Carlton admonished him in a mocking tone. “We must be nice to nature’s little slip-ups.” He turned back to the visitors. “These little ones are deaf. And they thankfully can’t talk. We have ten, no nine of them. They came from a town close to here called Cronald. Their parents didn’t want them, so we’ve gainfully employed them at our estate. It works out well for everyone.”
​
“That’s odd,” Renetta observed. “We just came from Cronald and no one mentioned any of this.”
​
Carlton laughed. “Well would you want to admit that you had given up your own children just because they weren’t perfect?”
​
She shook her head.
​
“What else did you hear in Cronald?” the knight wanted to know.
​
“Nothing of interest,” she assured him. “Mayor Glump made sure of that.”
​
Elliot, who had entered the home, came back out with Braxton and Carmello. He pointed to the horses in front of the cart. Each child walked over to a horse and started to lead it away. Tem almost fell off the wagon seat as it jerked forward.
​
“No, no, no,” Carlton said, running in front of them and flailing his arms. “Unhitch them first.”
​
The boys looked at him blankly.
​
“Pia,” he yelled. “Pia, get out here.”
​
A few minutes later, the tiny girl shuffled out of the house.
​
The agricultural workers immediately noticed that she was unique. While the four other children looked perfectly normal, this child was undersized with a deformed left foot and hand.
​
“Pia,” Carlton said to her. “Tell those two to unhitch the horses before they take them around back. And be sure to give the animals food and water once they’re settled in the barn.”
​
The girl nodded and then turned to the boys. She gestured wildly and pointed to this and that, mostly with her right hand. The two watched her intently, then nodded when she was through. They unhitched the horses and disappeared with them around back.
​
The tiny little child looked up at Carlton. “Cart?” she asked in a guttural growl.
​
“Don’t worry about it,” he told her. “Leave it here for now.”
​
She pointed to Renetta and Tem who had stepped down from the wagon. “Stay?”
​
“Yes, they’ll be staying with us for awhile. Get some rooms ready for them and tell Alton to prepare more food.”
​
She nodded, but didn’t move. Her eyes were riveted on the back of the cart. “Hair,” she croaked out.
​
Carlton slapped the side of his helmet. “We almost forgot about our young charge. Elliot, would you kindly take the girl into the house?” He offered his arm to Renetta and led her into the mansion.
​
Elliot leaned into the bed of the wagon and reached for Nici. As he started to lift the limp child, her head snapped back.
​
“Oh sorry,” Tem said, running over to assist. “I forgot that I tied her up so she wouldn’t escape.”
​
The girl’s hands and feet were unbound, which surprised him. Perhaps the knots he had tied had come loose as they rode from the outside to the inside of the mountain. The locks around her neck, however, were still in place. As Tem cut the braid loop holding the child in place, his knife dropped to the ground. Both men reached down to pick it up, so they didn’t witness Nici’s hair regrowing.
​
Elliot lifted the unconscious child out of the cart. A great deal of hair was left in the bed. “This thing sure sheds a lot,” he remarked.
​
Elliot carried Nici into the house. Her hair and clothing dripped water all over his armor.
​
“Wet,” Pia observed.
​
“I’ll put her by the fire until she dries out,” Elliot said.
​
“I’m kind of wet, too,” Tem mentioned, wringing out his pant legs.
​
“Pia, get our guests something dry to put on,” Elliot told the child.
​
A half hour later, Renetta and Tem came downstairs wearing clean, dry clothes. They may not have been so quick to put them on if they had known what happened to the original owners. These garments had once belonged to members of the Order of Rightful Succession, who had succumbed to Carlton’s evil exploits. The knights held onto the clothes thinking that the children would eventually grow into them.
​
The visitors walked into the main room where a roaring fire blazed in the cavernous fireplace. Nici was stretched out on a bench in front of it, her lengthy hair carefully spread out on the side away from the flames. A tall girl was ministering to her, using towels to dry out her clothes and hair.
​
Carlton and Elliot stood up from the large stuffed chairs where they had been sitting. They had removed their armor and were wearing the winter version of Pahdu’s standard outfit—white woolen shirts, suede britches and leather boots lined with sheepskin. Carlton’s pants were black, while Elliot’s were a medium brown.
​
Without their armor, Renetta and Tem could see what the brothers actually looked like. Renetta was particularly intrigued by Elliot’s scar, which ran from his right ear all the way to his shoulder.
​
“Won’t you join us in for some wine?” Carlton offered.
​
“We’d love to,” Renetta said.
​
Elliot stamped his foot on the floor three times. Donatella came from another room. Elliot pointed to his wine goblet, then to the two guests. The child nodded, then started to take the knight’s goblet and hand it to Renetta.
​
“No!” Elliot said, grabbing back his chalice.
​
The girl looked at him in confusion.
​
“These stupid children drive me crazy,” he mumbled.
​
Carlton took over. He pointed to Donatella, then to the back room. He mimicked holding a bottle, pouring it twice, and handing goblets to the two guests.
​
The child shook her head to indicate that she didn’t understand.
​
Carlton rolled his eyes. It’s just easier to do it myself,” he mumbled and disappeared into the kitchen. Moments later, he returned carrying two empty goblets and two full bottles of wine. “Brother, if you would give our guests some wine,” he suggested as he put everything on the table.
​
While Elliot uncorked a bottle and poured its contents, Carlton walked over to Tessa, who was still attending to Nici. “Back to the kitchen,” he said. The girl quietly left.
​
When they were alone, the four adults raised their wine for a toast. “Here’s to the success of all our plans,” Carlton offered.
​
“Here, here,” everyone chimed in and clinked goblets.
​
“And to the end of Gencarelli,” Elliot added.
​
Again they all clinked their chalices. The two knights sat down in their chairs, while Renetta and Tem took a seat on the sofa. In front of them was a low table that held a platter of bread and cheese.
​
Tem helped himself to some food. He hadn’t eaten anything since his dinner the previous night and he was starving.
​
“Is the Gencarelli girl still asleep?” Renetta asked.
​
Elliot looked over his shoulder. “Appears to be,” he answered.
​
“So what’s your issue with her father?” Renetta asked, pretending that she didn’t already know. She wanted to hear the brother’s side of the story.
​
“That Gencarelli dog is the reason we have to live here,” Elliot snarled. “He ruined our good thing.”
​
“Actually,” his brother corrected, “our good thing was ruined before him. He just added to our misery.”
​
“How so?” Renetta inquired. She grabbed Tem’s hand and pulled it away from the food. The platter was nearly empty.
​
“Well, if the truth be told, my brother Elliot should rightfully be the King of Pahdu.”
​
“You don’t say” Tem said.
​
“It’s true.” Carlton then began telling them the saga of how their father the king died when the boys were young, so their uncle took over the throne. He had just reached the part about Thena’s disappearance, without admitting the Etto’s involvement, when the sound of shattering glass interrupted him.
​
Elliot had broken one of the wine bottles that he had picked up to refill the goblets. Shards lay all over the floor by his chair, along with a puddle of red wine.
​
“Ow, ow, ow,” he screamed, pulling pieces of glass from his hand. He stood up and walked into the kitchen. When he returned, he had a cloth wrapped around his hand. Spots of blood seeped through the material and stained it red.
​
“I couldn’t get those dolts in there to understand me,” he fumed. “Pia! Pia!”
​
When the limping child entered the room, Elliot pointed to the spill. “Get somebody to clean that up,” he commanded.
​
She hobbled off to the kitchen and the twins came out a few minutes later carrying a mop and pail. Pia followed them holding a fresh bottle of wine in her good hand. She presented it to Elliot, who took it without acknowledging her.
​
“You’ll have to forgive my brother,” Carlton explained. “He had a bit of a crush on Thena. Perhaps he’s still carrying a torch for her.”
​
Elliot glared at his younger sibling and shook a clenched fist at him.
​
With all of the commotion, no one had taken any notice of Nici. She had awakened to the sound of someone screaming. She also saw a pool of red on the floor. The child immediately closed her eyes and feigned sleep again until she could figure out what was going on. To her relief, she deduced that it was just spilled wine.
​
The group was unaware that she was now hearing every word they said.
​
“So back to your story,” Renetta prompted.
​
“Ah yes,” Carlton said. “So after Thena was gone, we were sure the crown would come to us, I mean to Elliot. After all, Sevvy was only seven years old at the time. We were men. But no, that old goat Smithson held on for several more years and on his deathbed, he named his son Sevvy as his successor.”
​
“What’s all this got to do with the Gencarelli fellow?” Tem inquired.
​
Renetta shot him an angry glance and mouthed “quiet” to him.
​
“I’m getting to that,” Carlton continued. “Uncle Smithson made us knights, thinking that would appease us. But we were knights in name only. We didn’t have any real power. When the little upstart Sevvy took over the throne, his advisors warned him that we couldn’t be trusted. He let us keep our title as knights, but instead of working with the guards, he demoted us to agricultural marshals. Can you imagine? The throne is rightfully ours and instead we’re gallivanting around the countryside picking up oats and beans and tomatoes. How demeaning!”
​
Renetta took a sip of her wine and didn’t bother to comment on the fact that both she and Tem were agricultural workers.
​
“So Gencarelli was the King’s official woodworker,” Carlton went on. “And that spoiled child Sevvy wanted a throne built for him that was all his own. He didn’t want the one his father used or my father’s throne. No, he had to have one of his very own.
​
“He sent Gencarelli out traveling with us to pick up different kinds of wood from all over the kingdom to make the stupid chair. We figured it was no big deal.”
​
Carlton paused to swallow some of his drink. “How do you like the wine, by the way?”
​
“It’s good,” Tem answered.
​
“Exquisite,” Renetta added.
​
Elliot caught his brother’s attention. He pointed to his wine and then crossed his two forefingers in an X. Carlton shook his head no, indicating that he hadn’t poisoned the guests’ wine.
​
“I’ll tell you more about the wine in a minute,” the younger knight offered. “But back to Gencarelli. So Elliot and I turn this crop thing into a very profitable system. We tell the farmers that the new King has changed the laws and he’s not paying as much for their surplus food. We give them half of what they’re supposed to get and pocket the rest. It was brilliant. The farmers got angry with the King and we got rich. Plus, we thought this would surely lead to a revolt.”
​
“Then that Gencarelli fool goes and squeals on us when we get back to the castle,” Elliot interjected. “If he had just kept his mouth shut everything would have been fine.”
​
Carlton shook his head in disgust. “So the weasel boy-king takes all of our earnings from that year to give back to the people. At least he didn’t know about our previous years’ take. Anyhow, he not only steals our money, he banishes us from the castle.”
​
“From the kingdom,” Elliot corrected. “He kicked us out of our own kingdom.”
​
“Terrible,” Renetta sympathized. “No wonder you hate Gencarelli so much.”
​
Nici struggled to keep her emotions in check. She wanted to continue eavesdropping on this conversation and didn’t want them to know she was awake. But it was difficult to hear these things being said about her father, especially since he had done the honest thing.
​
“I nearly killed him,” Elliot said.
​
“He nearly killed you, too,” Carlton laughed. “See that scar on my brother’s neck? After we received our banishment orders, he went into Gencarelli’s shop and tried to choke him. The guy grabbed a chisel from his workbench and reached up and sliced Elliot’s neck.”
​
Nici reached into the pocket of her coat. She was thankful she had tied her father’s chisel to her waist. Now that she heard what her father had done with it, she realized that the tool could be much more than just a keepsake.
​
“I still could have killed him,” Elliot told the guests.
​
“Yes, if you didn’t need your hands to cover your neck wound,” Carlton laughed.
​
“I was bleeding to death,” Elliot huffed. “But he knew better than to mess with me again. I told him if me or my brother ever saw him again, we’d kill him and his family like that.” He snapped his fingers menacingly.
​
“So it sounds like Gencarelli went into hiding after that. Moved his family to a remote part of Pahdu,” Renetta filled in.
​
“Guess so,” Elliot agreed.
​
“Well lucky for you, we know where to find him. We could start heading there tomorrow if you like.”
​
“As much as we’d love to,” Carlton said, “we have something that’s a bit more pressing right now.”
​
Elliot burst out laughing. “Pressing. That’s a good one Carlton.”
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His brother smiled. “I hadn’t thought of it like that, but you’re right,” he chuckled.
​
“What are you guys talking about?” Tem wanted to know.
​
“We’re making wine,” the younger knight explained.
​
“And that’s more important than finding this Gencarelli guy that you’ve wanted to kill for ten years?” Tem asked.
​
“It is,” Carlton told him. “This wine is for the King’s wedding at the end of the year. Though he won’t know it’s from us. He’ll think it’s a gift of the King and Queen of Napoma.”
​
Tem was now thoroughly confused. “Why are you giving the King wine if you hate him so much?”
​
“Because it’s poison wine,” Carlton smiled.
​
Tem immediately placed his goblet on the table.
​
“Don’t worry,” the knight laughed. “Your wine hasn’t been poisoned.”
​
Renetta stroked her chin and smiled as she figured out the plan. “So you’ll poison the King and his new bride and Elliot will become King.”
​
“Something like that,” Carlton agreed. “Of course, there will be hundreds of heads of state and other dignitaries at the wedding who will also partake of our wine.”
​
“Then you can rule their lands as well,” Renetta stated.
​
“Exactly. A few countries for me, a few for Elliot. Brilliant, isn’t it?”
​
Renetta nodded her head and took a sip of wine. “There’s just one flaw that I can see,” she said.
​
“What’s that?”
​
“The King and Queen of Napoma will know that they didn’t bring the wine. If King Sevvy finds out it’s from you…”
​
“Not to worry,” Carlton dismissed the comment with a wave of his hand. “No one will ever know. I have a plan to…” He stopped midsentence and thought for a moment. “I just had a wonderful revision to my plan. If you two prove to be trustworthy, that is.”
​
“We will. And I’m assuming we’ll be paid handsomely?” Renetta asked.
​
With no warning, Nici let out a tremendous sneeze. Immediately, all four adults were standing over her.
​
“How long have you been awake?” the menacing Carlton demanded. “What did you hear?”
​
Nici was too scared to do anything but stare back at him.
CHAPTER 26 / The Thugs Return
As she rode out of Cronald, Selma kept glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. The words of the woman she had spoken with kept flashing through her mind. It was bad enough that the townspeople had beaten Thena or Parmalee or whoever she was and left her along the road for dead. But to threaten anyone who tried to help her was really low. And of course, the hateful things the Cronald woman said about Nici were difficult to hear.
The road was slick with mud from the steady rain and Selma feared going too fast. She didn’t want Vanya to slip or stumble and leave her stranded in this vulnerable location. On the other hand, she wanted to get back to Gino as quickly as possible so they could leave the area before any more trouble started.
The mud had another potentially devastating side effect. Anyone who was pursuing Selma could easily follow her tracks. Unless the rain picked up considerably and washed away the hoof marks or other riders came down the road, the single trail of indentations would be easy to trace. To confuse any trackers, Selma rode up and down a long stretch of road several times.
The concerned wife spotted the cut-off for the shelter where her husband and the mystery woman were waiting. She had Vanya gallop past it, contining all the way to the gorge where Nici’s hair had spanned the gorge. That might cause anyone following her to think that she had gone down the steep embankment.
Selma patted Vanya’s neck as she guided him off the main road. They took a path through the trees heading back in the direction they had just traveled. Selma prayed that the pine straw and other forest debris on this path would hide her tracks.
At last she spied the primitive cabin of logs. Selma tied up Vanya beside Mahoganybefore entering the shelter. Gino was helping the woman drink some tea.
“Sel, you’re back,” Gino smiled, stating the obvious. “Were you able to make it into town?”
She nodded. “I no am getting this doctor.”
“That’s too bad. But at least Thena is starting to feel better, aren’t you?”
The woman smiled.
“Your name no is being Thena, yes?” Selma demanded. “Your name is being Parmalee.”
“Selma, you’re being rude.”
“Chino, this woman no can be trusting. She is being very manys bad.”
Her husband waived off her angry words. “Thena told me all about that,” he said.
“You are knowing she is being giving babies poison?” Selma asked.
“Honey, sit down and have some tea,” Gino tried to soothe her. “It’s not what you think.”
“Chino, I no know who is being the truth. Your Thena is being talking she no is being the bad. But the peoples doing the beatings talk she is being the bad. And more beatings are happening if they are finding us here.”
The woman clutched at her covering blanket. “The people of Cronald are coming here?” she asked, her eyes widening in fear.
“Yes,” Selma answered. “Their want is being for more hurtings on you. And us.”
“We should get out of here,” the injured woman said and started to stand up.
Gino placed his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back to the ground. “You’re in no shape to travel anywhere. I think we’re safe here. We’ll leave in a few days when you’re stronger.”
Selma shook her head. “I no am leaving with no learning who she is being.”
“Selma, please!” Gino pleaded. “You’re talking to the King’s sister. By all rights, she should have been our queen.”
“Then why you are saying your name is being Parmalee?”
“It’s the name the Romani gave me,” the woman explained.
“How you are knowing the Romani?” Selma was not letting go of her anger.
Parmalee took a deep breath. A feeble cough escaped. With her broken ribs, it was all she could manage. “I was telling your husband how I was taken in by a traveling band of nomads who found me in a field.”
Talking was a substantial effort that weakened her voice, if not her spirit. In a near-whisper, she went on. “Nici told me the Romani saved you too.”
Selma’s harsh look softened a bit as she remembered the kind people who had fed and clothed her when she had nothing.
“It may have been the same troupe,” Parmalee questioned. “Did you know a healer named Ashanna?”
Selma’s jaw dropped. “Yes. No. She is being chust died before I am coming to them.”
“I sorry to hear that,” the other woman said sadly. She was wracked with a painful coughing spell. After it passed, she curled up and pulled the blanket tighter around her.
Gino tucked the covering around her like he used to do to Nici. He took over telling her story. “This was eighteen years ago, a few years before I met you,” he told his wife. “Thena doesn’t remember this part, but I do. She left with a caravan of guards to meet her fiancé who was a prince of Erlon. She was traveling there to discuss plans for the royal wedding.
“But she never made it. Something happened along the way. All we ever knew at the castle was that she and everyone and everything from her party disappeared. King Smithson searched for months for some sign of his daughter. But they never found anything.”
“Where you are going then?” Selma asked, turning her attention to the woman.
“I still don’t know,” she answered. “I don’t remember anything that Gino has told me. I don’t remember a caravan. I don’t remember any guards. Not even living in the castle. I have no memory whatsoever of my life before the Romani found me.”
“So how we are knowing you are being Thena?” Selma was still skeptical.
“I don’t,” Parmalee said. The frail patient let out another weak cough and lifted her right hand to cover her mouth. The hourglass birthmark was highly visible.
Gino pointed out the red blotch to his wife. “You didn’t ever meet Thena, but I spent many hours with her. That birthmark there, I’d know that anywhere.”
Selma wasn’t so sure. “How you know this no the false thing?
“Because hardly anyone knew that she had it,” her husband explained. “Thena was self-conscious about her birthmark and always wore gloves.”
“Then how you know this mark?” his wife questioned.
Gino looked over fondly at the older woman. “You used to come into my shop when I was working. You loved the smell of freshly cut wood. And you couldn’t resist touching it when I had sanded it smooth. To feel it, of course, you had to remove your gloves. I was always honored that you trusted me enough to do that.”
Thena gave him a weak smile. “I do like the smell of wood that’s just been cut.”
Selma could see by her husband’s tenderness toward the woman that he truly believed she was the King’s sister. But the poisoning issue was still bothering her.
“So how you are being in Cronald?” Selma asked.
“After I left the Romani, I settled down there,” Thena told her.
Again, Gino stepped in to fill in some of the details he had learned previously. “The people who found Thena took her on the road with them. They had no idea who she was. They were simply helping an injured woman. You know how much they travel around. So the King’s guards probably never caught up with them to ask about Thena. The two groups probably kept missing each other. So nobody knew who she really was.
“She rambled around with the Romani for a few years, then ended up here.”
“And the poison babies?” Selma prodded.
“A horrible misunderstanding,” Thena said. There was great sadness in her voice. She stared off in the distance. It was difficult to think about the unfortunate circumstances that led to her being vilified by people who once welcomed her into their homes.
Gino took his friend’s hand and held it in his own. “Thena worked as a midwife in Cronald. She had done it for years when something terrible happened. All the babies born during a few months had something wrong with them. The townspeople blamed her because she was at all the births.”
Thena sighed from beneath her covers. “I love children,” she said quietly. “I would never harm them.”
“Crowds,” Gino shook his head in disgust. “They do strange things. People get in a group and they lose their common sense. Their sense of decency. They do things they wouldn’t do on their own. Like the mob that burned down our house.”
Selma rubbed her forehead, trying to take in everything she had just heard. But one question kept nagging her. If Thena knew the people of Cronald despised her, why would she return? Selma posed this question to the stranger.
Thena looked directly into the frazzled mother’s eyes. “I wanted to make sure your daughter got into town safely,” she said quietly.
In that moment, Selma felt that she had seen deep into the woman’s soul. She grasped the compassion it took for Thena to sacrifice her own well-being for a child she had just met. Certainly that wasn’t someone who would poison children. Perhaps there truly was some other explanation.
The sound of horses’ hooves nearby silenced the three adults. The riders stopped somewhere close to the shelter. The cabin mates strained to hear the voices speaking.
“This is about where we dumped her, I think,” said one of the men. “I don’t see any blood or anything, but the rain could have washed it away.”
“She couldn’t have gotten very far,” another voiced chimed in.
“The woman who came for the doctor was riding a horse. They can travel faster if they have horses.”
“There are tracks over here,” another man called out. “They’re leading off this way.”
“How many horses?” someone asked.
“Hard to tell in this slop. Looks like more than one.”
“Let’s keep following the tracks,” came a suggestion.
“If we catch up to that witch this time, I’ll personally make sure she’s dead,” a menancing voice stated.
That was the last thing said before the band of brutes rode off.
Gino, Selma and Thena all looked at each other.
“No is being safety here,” Selma said.
“But Thena’s too weak to move,” Gino protested.
“If we no are moving, we no are living.”
​