Nicole Haught, as in Countess Eleanor Haught. Nicole is a Noble. That lives alone in the woods. Why? My redheaded captor, now known to be called Mercedes, draws me from thoughts when she releases me and rushes over to Nicole. She pauses to give the archer a once over.
"It really is you!" She exclaims as she embraces an unsuspecting Nicole. I watch in amusement as Nicole awkwardly pats the other woman on the back. "Everyone thought you were dead." Mercedes says when she finally releases Nicole.
"Yeah, it is kind of a long story." The archer replies, glancing in my direction warily. I return her gaze fully, every question written on my face. She was going to need to tell me about herself soon. Her eyes hold mine for a few more seconds and then she gives me a slight nod, confirming that we would talk about it soon. I give her a small smile in return, satisfied.
"All right. Well, when you have some time to tell me this story, we should definitely catch up! It has been so long since our time in the Castle." Mercedes says with a warm smile, to which Nicole nods. Castle. She must be referring to Monument castle then. So Mercedes knows Nicole from the castle somehow?
The caramel skinned woman Nicole had pinned down walks over and stands beside me, pulling me from my thoughts. She gives me a look of confusion, nodding towards the two redheads' direction, clearly not in the loop about their relationship either. Like me, she must also be a bit confused as to how we just went from ripping each other's throats out to hugging and being civil. I just shrug at her in reply, as this is just another question added to my ever-growing list on Nicole Haught.
A bark draws all our attention. Jack. Nicole's whole demeanour instantly changes as she is reminded of her four-legged friend and the reason for us being here. She grabs Mercedes by the shoulders aggressively, a thunderous expression on her face. "Why did you take my dog?"
I watch as Mercedes's eyes widen and a tinge of fear creep into them at Nicole's tone and action. The woman next to me moves forward quickly and places her hands firmly on Nicole's arms. "Hey, get your hands off her!" Nicole ignores her plea, keeping her attention fully on the other redheaded woman. "Tell me why you took him!" She insists, not removing her grip from Mercedes.
"I didn't know he was yours, okay! Honest." The true fear in Mercedes' voice lets me realize they were honestly not intentionally malevolent. So, I run over to the two women and place my hand gently on Nicole's shoulder.
"Nicole, they sound genuine. I think you should give them a chance to explain." To my surprise, I feel the tension leave her body at my touch. She looks at Mercedes a moment longer before finally letting her go. Mercedes shoots me a grateful look then she turns back to Nicole and removes something from her dress. She hands the item, a key, over to Nicole.
Nicole immediately heads for the tiny cage, releasing an ecstatic Jack. As soon as the gate is open, he jumps onto Nicole causing the redhead to topple to the ground. I let out a giggle as I watch him lick Nicole's face gratefully. The redhead laughs and it's the first time I have heard her let out such a truly joyful sound. My giggles stop as I experience a new emotion. My heart warms with a feeling that I do not recognize.
I notice the caramel skinned woman looking at me, a knowing look on her face. I quickly divert my gaze from Nicole and Jack. I extend my hand to the woman. "Hi, I am Waverly." I say, to get her attention off me and Nicole. She shakes my hand with a smile. "Rosita."
Then she looks back at Nicole. "So how long have you guys been together?" My attempt had failed. Her words cause me to sputter and blush. "Uh, we are not together…we are just friends…sort of." She frowns at my words, as if she did not expect them.
"Oh, I just assumed by the way you look at her that…" To my horror Nicole comes up behind us. "Looking at who?" She asks curiously. Rosita must see the panic in my eyes because she quickly changes the subject. "Oh nothing. I am Rosita." Nicole shakes her hand. "Nice to meet you. I am Nicole."
Rosita makes a show of moving her shoulder. "You are damn tough, girl. You need to teach me that flip move." Nicole smiles. "Yeah well, I don't take lightly to people who take my dog. Or anything important to me."
Rosita nods with a rueful smile. "I'll remember never to cross you again." Then she indicates for us to go sit down at the logs by the fireplace.
Mercedes, who had been rummaging for something in the wagon, finally joins us by the fireplace too. She carries what appears to be a poster in her hands. She moves to stand in front of where Nicole and I are seated on a log. She opens the poster and we see that it is a wanted poster for Jack. Beneath a picture of a dog resembling Jack, it reads:
Wanted.
Dog, alive.
Deliver to Bobo del Rey for reward of $500
Nicole gets up, her body tense again. "You thought you could take my dog and use him to make some money?!" Mercedes takes a step back, Rosita also starts moving to stop Nicole again. But I manage to stop any further escalation by pulling Nicole down by her waist.
"Nicole, give them a chance to explain." I tell her softly, but firmly. The redhead looks at me then reluctantly complies and takes a seat again. Her fist remains tightened and her jaw set, however. Mercedes looks at me gratefully. "Thank you…?"
"Waverly." I tell her, causing her to nod with a grateful smile at me.
"Thank you, Waverly." Then she turns back to Nicole. "We wanted to give your dog to Bobo, for a trade. Not money." Nicole lets out a growl, I place my hand on her fist and it loosens. "How is this any better?" She asks, voice full of contempt.
Seeing that it was safe to do so without risk of bodily harm, Mercedes continues. "I think it is best if I just start from the beginning." I nod at her encouragingly and she starts her tale.
"After your mother kicked Beth and I out," I feel Nicole's eyes go briefly to me at these words. She must know by now that I am going to have A LOT of questions. I squeeze her hand, conveying "Later." There is an unexplainable sadness in her eyes as she looks at me, before returning her attention to Mercedes.
"…we wandered around for a while, not having anywhere to go. Long story short, we stumbled into a gypsy campsite in the woods. That's how we met Rosita and Kate. They gave us a place to live, food to eat and clothes to wear. They really helped us out." Mercedes looks at Rosita with a warm smile as she says this, gratefulness in her eyes.
Rosita rolls her eyes, but returns the smile warmly. "I told you to stop thanking me. We girls have to stick together around here." Mercedes nods with another beaming smile at her friend before she returns her gaze towards us.
"Yeah, and stick together we sure did. We kind of just became this family of women traveling together. Rozi and I do the hunting for food and trade. Beth is our trader. She takes the meat and pelts and other wares into town and negotiates with the merchants for the best price for our products. Then there is Kate. She is a fortune teller, quite a hit amongst town folk. She makes a lot of her money with her talent."
I remember how mother told me about the mystique surrounding a fortune-teller's abilities to tell people their future. They could tell you if you were going to be rich, poor, in love, dead etc. in the future. I have always wanted my own fortune read.
"We go from town to town and set up in a clearing in the woods nearby the entrance to the town. Mercedes and I make posters and send them with Beth to advertise when she goes into town for trading. We do a circular route, and Monument was next on our route after we left Chalkley." Chalkley was the town nearest to our little farm. I feel a pang of sadness and nostalgia when Mercedes mentions it.
"Well, our advertisement seems to have caught the attention of Bobo del Rey. Two days ago, he came into our clearing, demanding that Kate read for him. She calmly invited him into the privacy of the wagon. 30 minutes later, he came storming out of the wagon looking absolutely furious. Then he and his posse rode off into the woods. I asked Kate what had happened and she explained that he did not like the fortune she read for him. She had drawn the cards for Revelation, Justice and death."
"Woah, that sounds bad." I pipe up. Rosita nods in agreement. "Yeah, it is. No one wants to have the death card appear during their reading. Kate's readings are very accurate. She has read for young men and then the death card pops up. They initially don't want to believe her, claiming it was complete nonsense. Then an illness befalls them a few months later leading to their death, or they get called up to war and die in battle." My eyebrows raise at this. Kate really has a gift that can be both wonderful and tragic.
"Yeah well, I can think of nothing better to happen to Bobo than death." Nicole says from beside me. I look up to see her expression and find that her jaw is clenched tightly. She really dislikes Bobo del Rey.
"I couldn't agree more. Bobo really did not like what Kate had read for him. On the following day, Rozi and I returned from hunting and found both Kate and Beth missing. We searched everywhere around the clearing, but couldn't find any trace of them. Rozi did manage to spot some very fresh horse tracks near our campsite. One set had the front left hoofprint much deeper than the right. When Bobo was here, I noticed that one of his men rode a horse which favoured its left front leg."
Nicole gets up from the log then and starts pacing. "You think Bobo took them." She states more than asks. Mercedes nods. "I am pretty sure that after Kate read for him, Bobo did not wish anyone to know what Kate knew and thus came back to take her. Beth must have caught them in the act, so they took her as well."
Nicole nods, taking all this in. I see the concentration on her face as she calculates the various scenarios in her head. I find the little wrinkle that pops up above her nose when she is deep in thought to be very attractive. I shake my head to get my focus back on the conversation.
Nicole turns and stops to face Mercedes. "So, you took Jack to trade him for your friends?"
Mercedes nods sheepishly. "Yes. We were desperate, okay? We are like two woman and Bobo has an army of men. We couldn't just simply walk into his camp and free Beth and Kate. So, when by pure stroke of luck, we saw the very dog that Bobo wants in the woods today, we thought it was our only chance. I would never have taken him if I had known he were yours, Nicole." The sincerity in Mercedes's voice causes Nicole's demeanour to soften. She looks at the other redhead and nods. "It's okay, I understand. Just don't ever do that again."
Mercedes nods rapidly. "Never again, I promise." Then Rosita finally speaks up again. "But what do we do now? Jack was our only possible chance to get them back." Her voice is clearly full of worry for her friends, an emotion mirrored on Mercedes's face.
Nicole then looks at me. "How's your foot?" I frown at her odd question. "Uh, it was hurting a bit when we made our way here. But it feels better now, as I have been sitting down." I tell her.
"Okay. Will you be able to find your way back to my house? Do you remember the landmarks I showed you?" I think for a moment and remember how Nicole had pointed out certain rocks, trees or dead branches marking the way to her home. I will be able to make it if need be, so I nod. "Okay." She says, satisfied. Then she turns to Mercedes.
"Will you do me a favour? Break camp, and take your wagon to my house. Waverly will show you the way. It is safe there." Then Nicole turns back to me again.
"Make sure you are not being followed. And…and be safe. I promise we will talk about everything later, okay?" She says in a soft, sincere voice as she gently squeezes my hand. This melts any argument I might have had. But I find myself still very much confused. "Okay. But what about you and Rosita?"
Nicole sets her jaw and stares into the woods. "We are going to find the camp where they are being held and set them free."
And with that Nicole heads off into the woods, a very confused Rozita following close behind her. Yet another rescue mission for the great Sparrow. I sigh, whispering "Come home safe." Then I get up and start helping Mercedes break camp.