Bravery without Measure

When she awoke the next morning, Lizzy had no more tears to shed. The pain in her head had ebbed to a dull throb, and the ache in her heart had transformed into anger. To her surprise, her fearlessness had not diminished. "Bravery without measure," she recalled the fox saying. Well, she had it, and thus she was determined to no longer remain this man's prisoner.

George entered the barn shortly after she woke, provided her with a few sips of water, and then departed again.

After he left, she considered her options. She had to find a way to escape, but how? No fear in love, she heard again. Well, love was now lost to her. Perhaps it was time to concentrate on the other part of the message: There are rocks in here.

Rocks. That might be something she could use to help her escape, but where were they? Although the window revealed that it was day, it was too small to provide much more than the dimmest of light to the stable. She would have to use her body to find them, rolling around again on the ground. It took some time and many more scratches, but eventually she located a few sharp rocks buried beneath the hay. Grasping one in her fingers, she struggled to use it to gnaw against the ropes around her wrists.

After many hours, the ropes around her hands broke. She was parched, drenched with sweat and completely exhausted, but she couldn't stop, not when freedom was so close. She used her free hands to unlash her legs, and then stood to get the blood flowing again. She had returned the now-brown acorn to the pocket in her belt and was preparing to leave when she heard the barn door opening. Quickly, she dropped to the ground again, resuming her position with her hands behind her back and her legs beneath her, the ropes hidden underneath her skirt. The rock remained in her hand behind her body.

George had returned. She prayed he would not look behind her and see her untied hands. "Ah, my dear, who do you suppose I saw today? Your lover. He is a prisoner of King Thomas even as we speak." He paused, pursing his lips sorrowfully. "I'm afraid your hopes for peace have come to naught."

Lizzy remained silent. She would give away nothing. A setback for the prince, but she knew he would find a way through it.

George crouched down in front of Lizzy, his face so close to hers that she could smell his foul breath. "I must say I was surprised to see how much he cares for you. I suppose I was wrong about that. Happens now and then." He sat back and laughed. "However, realizing his affection solved a dilemma I had: what do I do with you? I've left you alone because I like them younger, but you are quite beautiful. And it would be so heartbreaking to Will to hear that I've brought his lover to bliss in a way he never could."

Do not react, Lizzy told herself again. Again, she felt no fear.

"So come, let me take you to places you've never gone."

She clutched the rock tightly as he came toward her. Without thinking, she swung, hitting him in the temple. "Agghhh!" he yelled, and grabbed her wrist, wrenching it backward until she screamed. "I'm going to kill you!" he shouted through gritted teeth as he lunged to throw himself on top of her. Her knee shot out between his legs, causing him to howl in pain and making him loosen his grip on her arm enough that she was able to use the rock again, bashing his head three more times.

He toppled off her. Lizzy wasn't sure whether he was dead or just unconscious, but she didn't wait to find out. She jumped up and raced for the door.

Outside the stable, she found herself not in the city but a more rural area, filled with scraggly shrubs. She had no idea which direction to go; she just wanted to get as far away from her place of imprisonment as she could. The sun was setting as she began to run, and as she had come to expect of the Auroran night, the temperature soon dropped rapidly. She kept moving, her feet freezing and painful from the rocky terrain, but the silver acorn retrieved from her belt lighting her way and protecting her from falling.

After she had traveled some distance, a dark figure appeared from behind a bush, making her stop short. Then she smiled. It was her friend the kit, now an old reynard. He bowed before her and said, "My lady."

"It's good to see you again, my friend!" she said, almost crying with joy.

"I am here to lead you home," the fox told her.

"Oh, no!" she shouted. "I have friends in the city the tunnel led me to. I must go back to them, or they will be worried."

"The tunnel will not take you there, my lady. It will only guide you to where you are most needed. Right now, that place is your home."

Lizzy nodded, trusting him despite her frustration. As if knowing her desperate thirst, the fox led her first to a stream, where she drank. She then followed him behind the bush from which he had emerged. A hole was dug beneath its branches. She kneeled down and crawled in, and soon found herself back inside the magic tunnel, where she stopped in exhaustion to rest. She awoke sometime later, refreshed and ready to begin again. This time, her journey through the maze was easy, and within a few hours she had re-emerged into the familiar woods outside of Merrytown just as dawn was breaking.

As much as she wanted to see Will, Truman, and Dottie again, she was suddenly filled with a deep longing for her family. She limped as fast as her sore body, cramped legs and bleeding feet would carry her, bursting into her house to find them at breakfast.

"Lizzy!" cried Kitty, the first to see her. Within seconds, her family had surrounded her, engulfing her in hugs and kisses.

"How we've missed you, Lizzy!" shouted Mary.

"Dear Lizzy, I thought we'd lost you!" her father said.

"You smell bad but you're alive!" Lydia cried. "That means the Aurorans did not kill you!"

Lizzy laughed. "Yes, I am very much alive! And yes, I do smell bad!"

Her mother wept as she squeezed her. "How you vexed me, child, but I am so glad you're home!"

Swept up in the joy of seeing them again and realizing that one of her greatest fears had been set to rest—that because of her oddness, her family did not love her—it took her a few minutes to realize one was missing. "Where is Jane?" she asked.

"She took to her bed the day after you left, Lizzy," said Mary. "She refuses to eat."

"She misses Charles," Kitty chimed in.

"We so thought he would make her an offer of marriage, but he and his friend disappeared the same night you did. She has not been the same since," said Mama.

"We have feared losing both of you, child," Papa added.

"I must see her," Lizzy said in alarm, turning toward the steps to their upper floor.

"Eat first, Lizzy, you must be hungry!" Papa admonished, but Lizzy was already half way up the stairs.

When she entered the room she shared with her sisters, Jane lay asleep. Her face was paler and thinner than Lizzy had ever seen it. Lizzy sat down on the bed next to Jane, taking her hand in her own. Jane's eyes fluttered open. "Lizzy!" she cried when she saw her sister. "I can't believe you're really here! We thought you were gone forever!"

"Oh Jane," Lizzy said, tears filling her eyes.

Jane started crying, too. "I've been so miserable since you were gone!"

"And losing Charles, too, must have broken your heart," Lizzy said with compassion.

"What is losing Charles compared to losing my most beloved sister?"

"But you love him," Lizzy said, based on her family's earlier words, although she herself was uncertain of Jane's affections.

"Not as much as I love you. You're my dearest friend, Lizzy, and I didn't know how I would go on without you."

The two women embraced, and when they pulled away, Jane took a good look at her sister. She touched Lizzy's bruised cheeks tenderly. "Oh, Lizzy, what has happened to you? You are hurt!"

Lizzy took Jane's hand in her own. "It's a very long story, and I promise you I will tell you everything. First, I must get cleaned up." She laughed. "Lydia tells me I smell, and she is right. I must bathe, and then I must eat, for I am starving."

Lizzy spent the next week being pampered by her family. They helped her bathe, tended her wounds, and fed her. Her mother was especially doting, wanting to do everything she could for her "sweet Lizzy" until Lizzy finally had to insist that she stop being so accommodating.

During her time of recuperation, Lizzy shared her story with Jane. "Do you believe me?" she asked when the tale was half told.

"Of course I believe you, Lizzy! If anyone were worthy of being bestowed with a magical treasure, it would be you. I have always known you were exceptional. In fact, I was often jealous, because there was something mysterious and wonderful about you that I was not a part of."

Lizzy took her hand and squeezed it. "Jane, I'm so sorry."

Her sister's eyes filled with tears. "No, it is I who should apologize, for it was I who was wrong. The night I was invited to the widow's home, I was thrilled to be singled out and so excited when Anne gave me her dress. I thought, At last, my chance to be special. Then you arrived, and I was so angry that I wished you were no longer my sister. When you disappeared, I was devastated that somehow I had made that wish come true and I would never see you again. The thought that I caused you harm has made me want to die. Oh, Lizzy, I am so sorry!"

Lizzy looked at her in a bit of shock. She had not realized that her sister had envied her, or that she had ever wished her away, and the initial realization was painful. Yet she could clearly hear Jane's deep remorse, and she knew that what she had always longed for—to be close to her sister again—was now possible. Lizzy reached out to embrace her sister. "Oh, Jane, you are not to blame for what has happened to me! I am here, I am alive, and I forgive you! And I promise you, nothing will come between us again!"

Her words seemed to bring her sister great comfort, and with Lizzy's encouragement, Jane began to eat again. Lizzy continued to share her story, not knowing what telling Jane would do to the power of her last remaining gemstone, the silver one, but decided it did not matter. Love seemed to be in neither of their futures, she concluded as the two sisters discussed the topic.

"I can't believe Charles' friend is really the prince of Pemberlea! And you fell in love! Oh Lizzy, that means that you could one day be a princess!"

Lizzy stiffened; she would not allow herself to hope for something that could never be. "Jane, he and I were together but four days. That's hardly time to create true love. And I am a commoner, so we cannot marry."

Her sister looked at her sympathetically, taking her hand.

Lizzy patted Jane's hand and smiled. "Do not worry about me. I had long ago accepted that I would never marry, so I have been preparing myself to be the ideal aunt to all my nieces and nephews. I will spoil them when they are young, and be the one they confide in when they are older!" Perhaps one day, if the gemstone still had power, she would use it for her younger sisters.

"Well, Lizzy," Jane said with a smile, "I will join you as their other spinster aunt, for Charles is gone, and I will never marry either!"

Both young women laughed. "Oh, Lizzy, I'm so glad you're home!" Jane said.

"So am I, dear Jane, so am I."

Soon enough, both young women's spirits and health revived, and they returned to their chores on the family's farm in time for the start of harvest season. Lizzy was grateful for the chance to absorb herself in hard work again. Thinking of the past, especially of what she had left behind in Aurora, brought her too much pain. She would forget that there were dear friends she had made in that country and a man she had loved. She would remember instead that her nation's prince was the man of honor, and was even now striving to fulfill his destiny. No word of peace had yet come, but her faith in this eventual outcome persisted. She would soon have reason to rejoice with the rest of her people, and thus, she would remain untouched by worry, fear, or heartbreak.

Despite her firm intentions, however, thoughts of Will continued to intrude upon her, as it did one day in which she was working with Kitty, sharing the task of mucking the barn. A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she turned to leave.

"Where are you going, Lizzy?" Kitty cried. "We're not yet finished!"

"I'm sorry, Kitty, I'll make it up to you!" she shouted back as she started to run.

She traveled quickly to the widow's house. The prince and Charles had arrived on horseback. She did not know whether Charles had departed the same way, but she knew for certain that the prince had not. What had happened to his horse?

She arrived at the widow's barn and opened the door. Inside she saw John, Charlotte's younger brother, brushing down a large brown steed.

"Oh, good day, Lizzy," he smiled when he saw her. "What brings you here?"

"I suddenly remembered the southlanders' horses."

"Charles must have taken his, but I've been caring for this one," John said.

"How did that happen?"

"The widow's daughter, the older one—you know, the one who never comes out? She came to our house about a day or two after the southlanders left. Everyone was so surprised to see her walking up the path to our door. She said that she thought she had heard a horse in her barn and was worried that he was hungry or scared. She couldn't convince her sister to come tell us, so she came instead."

Good for Anne, thought Lizzy.

John went on. "She offered to pay us to check on him and look after him. Papa said Tommy is too small to take care of a big horse like this, and Luke said what she was offering was worthless. But I liked it, so I told her I would be glad to help."

"What did she offer you?"

He stopped and pulled a large white object from his pocket, speckled with pink and beige patches and coiled like a snail's shell. Lizzy had seen objects like this sold in the Auroran market. "She said it's a seashell. She gave me a whole bunch of them, all in different shapes. She said her father brought them back to her once after a trip to the sea."

He returned to brushing the horse. "I'm calling him Seashell, even though he's the wrong color, since I don't know his name. He's starting to answer to it. Every time I say it, it makes me believe that one day I'll get to see the sea."

Lizzy smiled and stroked the horse's neck. "Seashell is a fine name, and you appear to be doing an excellent job caring for him. How is he doing?"

"Very well, but I think he misses his master."

Struck with sympathy, she blinked back tears and laid her head against the steed's shoulder, thinking, I miss him, too.