The next morning, I am shaken gently to wakefulness by Rosita. I grumble and sit up, looking at her with great annoyance. The sun is not even up yet! "Sorry Waverly, Nicole's orders. You know how Miss Pleat-in-her-pants likes her sun salutations." Rosita tells me with an eyeroll. At the mention of the redhead, I am suddenly fully awake. My hand involuntarily goes towards my lips as I remember the kisses we had shared last night.
Rosita gives me an odd look and I realise that I must look very strange sitting there with my hand on my lips with a dreamy expression. I quickly cover it up by pretending to yawn. Then I stretch and get up, passing Rosita. I feel her eyes on me all the way to the exit of the tent.
Once outside, I see Kate, Beth and Mercedes perched around the fireplace. Kate offers me some more dried fruit. My stomach yearns for something more substantial, like eggs and bacon, but alas. The dried fruit would have to do for now.
My eyes automatically search for Nicole, my shoulders dropping in disappointment when I do not see her anywhere. Mercedes comes to my rescue. "Nicole went over to the stream that way." She says with a knowing smile, gesturing in the direction I would find my elusive archer. I realise I just called Nicole mine in my head and am unable to stop the blush that starts to crawl its way up my neck. I shake it off, trying to look composed in front of the other women. I nod in thanks at Mercedes before heading into the thicket.
As I walk along a new path formed in the woods, I hear the sound of water coming closer with each step I take. When I finally reach the stream, there is no sign of Nicole. Deciding I might as well have a drink, I kneel down and scoop up a handful of water. As I am about to drink the water in my palm, a hand grips my shoulder suddenly, startling me.
Before I can react, I hear Nicole's voice behind me. "Let go of her right now, bandit scum." Despite the sudden dread I feel at potential danger, my stomach gives a pleasant lurch at the authorative tone in Nicole's voice.
The hand on my shoulder loosens its grip. "Bandit scum? Nicole, I am many things, but definitely not outlaw material." I whip around at the voice I immediately recognize. "Jeremy!" I shout in glee at my friend, embracing him tightly.
From behind him, I watch as Nicole lowers her bow.
"You found my note, then?" She asks Jeremy with a small smile. After being released from my embrace, Jeremy turns around to face Nicole. "Sure did." He says proudly, pulling a piece of parchment from his pocket.
"Note?" I ask, very confused. Jeremy hands me the piece of parchment on which I see the following written in neat cursive.
J,
The Sparrow flies away when its nest is compromised.
If you seek her, follow the green path towards where healers are born.
50 paces from the entrance, the Swallow goes left.
1000 paces from the past a temporary nest will be constructed.
N.
After reading the note I look up at Jeremy with a frown. It sounds like a bunch of gibberish to me. Before I can ask, Jeremy explains. "That's Nicole's coded way of saying that her home was destroyed so she headed via the woods to Physicia, turned left 50 paces before she reached the entrance to Physicia and then set up camp for the night 1000 paces from the spot she turned left." He smiles proudly as he looks towards Nicole, who nods in confirmation.
I frown, reading the note again. Then I finally see the meaning behind the coded words. I look up at them impressed. "Wow, that's really amazing."
Nicole just gives me a small smile before walking towards Jeremy, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Jer and I used to write each other coded messages when we were living in the castle. It was usually about a silly joke or insults towards my mother." I laugh, imagining their antics. A warmth enters my heart at the thought that they at least had some happy memories from the castle, besides all the other things that happened.
"Oh yeah those were the good 'ol days." Jeremy says with a huge grin.
I turn to Nicole then. "How did you manage to get a note to Jeremy in the chaos?"
"Remember how I disappeared for a few minutes before we left the clearing?" I nod, recalling the moment.
"I went to the old knotted oak tree at the western side of the clearing. It has a conveniently hidden hole in the side of its bark. Jeremy and I have always used it to communicate after we got out of the castle. He used it to inform me of any intel he got from The Pussy willow about Bobo or my mother, without risk of bringing unwanted guests to my house."
Jeremy nods in agreement. "Yeah. That tree has seen a lot of action." He says to me jokingly before his face becomes serious once more. He turns back to look at Nicole. "I was at The Pussy Willow again last night when I heard some of Bobo's goons talking about how they managed to burn down the Sparrow's house. Naturally, I panicked. I headed straight for the clearing, only to be met with the burnt remains of your house…" He trails off, looking at Nicole with genuine sadness at the loss of her home. "I am so very sorry, Nicole."
The redhead just shrugs and repeats what she had told me. "It's just a house, Jer." Jeremy gives her a worried look, but says nothing further on the matter. Instead, he turns my way again.
"After that I immediately went to the oak and found the note Nicole left me. Then I headed into town and borrowed my friend Robin's horse." Nicole raises an eyebrow at him. "Friend huh?" she says with amusement dancing in her eyes. I watch as a blush creeps onto Jeremy's cheeks. He shakes his head, smiling at her ruefully. "Yes, Nicole. My friend Robin."
Nicole looks unconvinced. "Mmm, people from the rich parts of town don't just borrow their horses to poor folk." She teases with a knowing smile, causing the blush to darken even more on his face. I make a mental note to interrogate Jeremy about this Robin fellow that has him blushing so much.
"Anyway." Jeremy says pointedly before he continues. "Then I took the horse and headed straight for Physicia. Following your instructions, I found your camp last night. You were all asleep. I didn't want to startle you, so I made camp a small way away from where you were. I came to refill my water this morning and there you were." He finishes with a smile.
Nicole nods, mirroring his smile. "I am glad you found us, Jer."
Jeremy then perks up even more, if that were possible. "Oh! And I also brought some food. Figured you guys would need some."
At the mention of food my stomach lets out an obnoxious grumble, causing Jeremy and Nicole to look at me with amusement. I just smile sheepishly at them. "And, er, where exactly might this food be?" I ask, trying not to sound too eager.
"Over at my camp. I'll go get it now when I pack up my stuff. I'll meet you back at your own camp?" He says, turning back to Nicole with a questioning gaze. The archer smiles warmly and nods. "See you there, Jer.
Jeremy disappears back into the sea of green and brown, leaving Nicole and I alone once more. I take two slow steps in her direction and grab her hand, looking up at her from beneath my lashes. "Hey." I greet her softly. She squeezes my hand then lowers her head closer to my face as she whispers "Hey, princess."
Her simple statement causes butterflies to roam freely in my stomach and a warmth to spread over every inch of my skin. Unable to wait any longer, I stand on my tip toes and bring our lips together. The kiss is slow and sweet, full of unsaid promise.
"I really like doing that." I whisper against Nicole's lips when we finally break apart, resting our foreheads together. Nicole hums in agreement, smiling contently. I move my head back to fully take in her beautiful features and notice that, despite the happy light in her pretty eyes, her face shows signs of tiredness.
I frown and raise my hand to cup her face gently, running my thumb across her cheek. She keeps her eyes on me, watching my face intently with an awe-filled expression. "I can't remember you coming into the tent to sleep last night." I say, causing a guilty expression to flash across her face. "Busted." She says sheepishly. I punch her shoulder lightly. "You promised you would."
"Yeah, I know. After you left me, my mind was still too busy for sleep. I did get at least five hours of sleep in when I eventually passed out next to the fire."
I frown at her words. "I thought my speech had worked, that it had calmed the turmoil in your mind?" I say, my voice full of worry.
"Oh, Waves…" Nicole says with a small smile, moving her hand to my forehead to smooth my frown lines. "It was not bad thoughts that had kept me up after you left. It was good, wonderful thoughts." She smiles at me happily. Then she moves her hand to cup my cheek gently. "I was thinking about you." She says finally, her eyes conveying only honesty and that other emotion which I am too afraid to yet name.
Her words make my heart do cartwheels and the butterflies in my stomach turn into honey. Unable to voice yet how she makes me feel, I do the next best thing. I kiss her again, this time with much more passion. Nicole immediately responds, kissing me back with just as much enthusiasm. Her hands drop down to my waist as mine starts tangling in her short locks.
Before things could start going in a direction that I don't think either of us was quite ready for, we are startled apart by a scream ringing out from the direction of our campsite. We immediately recognize Mercedes as the source of our interruption, for a second time. In a split-second Nicole has readied her bow, my own hand going to my left hip where my dagger is located.
The sound of a clearly very terrified Jeremy follows the scream, causing us to instantly relax and release the grip on our weapons. "Looks like Jeremy has met the girls." The archer says with amusement in her voice. I let out another giggle. "Yeah, let's go save him before his obituary reads 'Killed before his time by castration at the hands of a group of wild women." Nicole lets out an obnoxious laugh before grabbing my hand and leading us back to the campsite.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
After Nicole explained that Jeremy was indeed a friend of ours and not another moron male out to get us, the other girls allowed him to stay. All signs of animosity disappeared completely when Jeremy whipped out the satchel of food. We feasted on two loaves of horsebread, a quarter of cheese, four peaches and a flagon of apple cider. Everything was divided up evenly, with no one being left hungry.
It felt like we were being served a meal fit for a king, despite it being an average meal for most people who had some form of income. Everyone expressed great gratitude towards Jeremy, his offering of food scoring him a free spot in our team of ragamuffins. When Kate enquired as to where Jeremy had gotten the food, he became all shy and Nicole started teasing him about Robin again.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
With our bellies finally full and our spirits high, we set off on our journey towards Purgatory once more. As we passed the entrance gate to Physicia, I noticed numerous people being turned away when attempting to enter the town. When I asked Nicole about it, she explained that they were people from Monument who were trying their luck at a new life, free from her mother's tyranny. Physicia was the town closest to Monument, which is why people tended to head there first in search of work and potential riches.
Unfortunately, the Pressman family were in cahoots with Eleanor Haught and had therefore denied entry to anyone who were not a citizen of Physicia by birth or who had some form of status. I expressed to Nicole how much that disgusted me, to which she just nodded her agreement with a tightness in her jaw.
After passing Physicia, we travelled through the countryside, passing through a myriad of small farming villages that fell within the rule of Eleanor Haught and the Pressmans. There was Honeycomb, Leechwood, Alicedale and various others.
The people living in the villages were farmers, trying to make a living off the field via livestock or crops. Unfortunately, the country was going through a dry spell and harvests were low. The famine had brought many prosperous farmers from a life of health and money to that of poverty and illness. Many of these people had also turned into outlaws as a means to survive, causing a spike in murders and theft.
In every village we passed, I saw only despair and sadness in the eyes of the people residing there. It broke my heart to see the lack of hope in their eyes and it angered me that the nobles, who had all the means to do something about this, were not lifting a finger. Instead of helping these poor farmers with food and alternative sources of income to get through the famine until the next season, Eleanor Haught and the Pressmans were taking away the little food and money the farmers had for their own prosperity. How utterly disgusting.
As I am thinking these bleak thoughts, my eyes fall on Nicole. At the sight of her sitting proudly next to me on the wagon, with her back straight and a determined look on her face, my own sense of despair immediately vanishes. Perhaps these people would soon have much reason for hope, if all goes well in Purgatory.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
We currently find ourselves camped in the woods near a farming village called Redstone, only a day and a half's horse ride from Purgatory.
As Jeremy and the girls set up the tent and water the horses, Nicole and I head deeper into the woods to gather kindling and firewood. We share many stolen glances and kisses when we "look for firewood" like this and today is no different. My heart feels light as I release a giggle at a joke Nicole makes when she bends down to pick up a sturdy piece of wood.
I am much too late in noticing the figure behind her and am forced to watch in horror as Nicole falls to the ground after a club hits her on the head. Before I can even open my mouth, I feel a searing pain on the back of my own head. Then everything goes black.