Sarah's stepmother put a crumbling loaf of bread in her hands and shoved her out the door, Toby in tow. Behind her, Sarah heard the lock slide shut and knew one thing.
No matter what, she and her brother would not be returning home that evening. Not without a fight, at least.
And Sarah's resourcefulness had come to an end; she had nothing but the clothes on her back, her brother, and the bread which was too stale to eat. It was one last cruel reminder that the children were no longer wanted; because Toby was too young to understand anything yet, Sarah carried that burden herself.
It isn't fair, it isn't fair, it isn't fair, she thought, wanting to cry. But that might set Toby off, and then what would she do, alone in the forest with a screaming babe? That was by her parents' design, of course; nothing Sarah learned could have ever prepared her for a life in the forest all alone, and she doubted anybody from the village would be willing to take her and her brother in.
Oh, perhaps some family might take the boy in despite him coming from the forest. After all, he was young enough to grow up thinking his new family was his only family, and he was adorably angelic looking. Sarah knew that she was not so lucky; even if people could ignore that she lived so long right next to the woods they all feared, she was too old to raise. Perhaps she could find work as a maid, or…
The thought gave her pause. Yes, she could work as a maid, but nobody in the village was likely to need one. There was, however, a castle hidden away in the forest. A castle that, based on Sir Didymus's words, required vassals-why would it not need a maid? Sarah tore off a small chunk of the stale bread and dropped it on the ground; if something miraculous happened and she needed to find her way back home, she wanted to be able to. Even so, she knew foolish hope wouldn't get her anywhere.
Sarah squared her shoulders, set Toby more comfortably in her arms, and strode off in the direction of the castle. Behind her, something small and squat crawled out from the shadows and took the crumbs of bread. Human food was something of a delicacy, after all.
She ran out of bread earlier than she thought she would, long before noon. Sarah thought she'd been careful with it, dropping pieces only barely large enough to be seen and far enough apart to indicate a trail. But when she looked behind her, she saw nothing-not even when she walked a few paces back and stared at the ground where she was sure she left some. It was right beside a fallen, twisted tree branch distinctive in its shape. She explicitly remembered doing it, so why were the crumbs nowhere to be seen?
Sarah took a deep breath and tried to keep the frustrated tears from her eyes. There was no other choice; she would have to either find her friends, the castle, or-what she thought was perhaps most likely-get herself and Toby even more lost and die in the forest. Which was really only two choices; find her way to the castle or perish. Once Sir Didymus and Ludo heard of her plight, she was sure they'd let her become a maid in the castle, grumpy master or no. They had to.
She had nowhere else to go.
Just as she turned to keep on her self-determined path, she saw something creep up behind her out of the corner of her eye. Sarah went very still. It didn't look like anything she'd ever seen before, but by the way it was foraging through the leaf litter on the forest floor, she knew that it had to be behind her missing trail of crumbs.
"You! You beast!" She shouted, not caring if the broke the silence of the forest. "That was not for you!" And, impulsively, she kicked out at it, her boot only narrowly missing its head. The movement sent her tumbling backward, and with a squeal of indignation she fell to the ground, clutching Toby closer to her. He started wailing, the movement shocking him from his nap, and Sarah joined right in.
And that was how Ludo found her, sniffling and sore. Without much more than a grumble, he flopped down next to her, patting her on her back. His hand thumped against her and Sarah hiccuped in surprise.
"Hello, Ludo," she said glumly, leaning into his side. "It's nice to see you too." Toby whimpered in her arms, probably hungry; Sarah didn't have anything to feed him, not even the stale bread. Now that she thought about it, she was rather famished herself. Her stomach rumbled in confirmation.
It was now or never, because her courage wouldn't last long.
"Ludo, I have a favor to ask of you. I know that you and Sir Didymus don't want me going near the castle, and I appreciate that it is to keep me and Toby safe, but… We really have nowhere else to go. Please, please take us to the castle. I'll work!" she added when he frowned and started to grumble. "I'll work really, really hard. I won't be a bother at all. I do not expect to seek refuge for free."
Ludo stared at her, and Sarah looked back into his huge brown eyes. He was thinking hard about something-Sarah hoped it was taking her and her brother to the castle, but she couldn't tell. The beast snorted once, looked away from her, and then looked back at her.
"Please," whispered Sarah. "I can't get there without you."
Ludo growled, a low rumbling that turned into a whine as he tilted his head.
"Follow," he said, and Sarah struggled to her feet, keeping Toby in her arms. The tears she let fall freely down her face had mostly dried, making her skin feel tight where they left trails. She tried to tell herself it would be okay, that Ludo was leading them to the castle where she could find a job and take care of Toby. They'd never have to go home again to face their treacherous parents. Not for the first time in her life, Sarah wished her mother hadn't left her.
Sarah followed Ludo in silence broken only by the occasional twig snapping or whine from Toby. She wondered where Sir Didymus was and if he would stop her if he found her, and the thought made her feel cold. She couldn't let herself and Toby wander the forest. Sir Didymus would see that, if she had to explain it to him. Sarah forced herself to believe that.
Exercise made her hunger more pronounced, but as they approached the wall of briars Sarah passed through yesterday, it was displaced by excitement and a touch of dread.
"Wait," Ludo ordered, leaving her and Toby in front of the wall. Sarah nodded her head even though he'd already turned his back, and sat down on the forest floor. She hoped he wouldn't be long; Toby was terribly hungry and would soon start fussing again, which would lead to ear piercing wails, which in turn would surely attract the attention of the master of the castle. Surely, there couldn't be other children hidden within the stone walls. Sarah wondered.
Before too long, Ludo returned with Sir Didymus, who tsked at her and shook his head, whiskers twitching.
"Ludo tells me that you cannot return home, where it is safe."
Sarah did not miss the emphasis on his last word.
"He's right. Our father and stepmother do not have enough food to feed all of us, and so they kept sending us into the forest, no doubt hoping…" Sarah blushed, knowing that her friends would never harm her. "That you, or something in the woods would hurt us so we could not return. Well, I made sure that we made it home each evening, but…"
Sarah paused, and considered the ax her father brandished as they were forced out that morning.
"It is no longer safe to return," she finished. "So, you see, between two unsafe homes, I would rather live in the one where I have friends."
Sir Didymus's whiskers drooped, which Sarah took to be a frown. Ambrosias sniffed at Toby, who was in no mood to be mollified, not even by a dog.
"Very well," sighed the fox. "If you are sure of your decision…"
"I am," insisted Sarah.
"Then follow, young maiden. And keep the young sire quiet, if you can."
Sarah did so, careful not to catch her clothing or Toby's skin on the briars as they passed through them. As before, Sarah saw the castle and couldn't resist the urge to stare up at it. It was the most magnificent thing she'd ever seen in her entire life, and she'd soon be living in it. As a maid, of course, and with a terrifying master, but that wasn't quite the point.
She noticed that Sir Didymus and Ludo kept them to shaded paths and frequently looked up at the tallest tower; Sarah squinted up at it but couldn't see anything. As they walked, Sarah tried to commit the maze-like path to her memory, just in case she ever needed to traverse it herself.
Ludo ambled off as they approached the castle, but Sir Didymus took her right up to the back of it, and used his staff to rap on the wooden door. Sarah heard the clattering of what sounded like metal, some muffled cursing, and finally, the thumping of footsteps.
"What? What do you want?" The woman was hunched over, as if she carried a heavy burden on her back. Her grey hair hung down her back in tangled ropes, as if she hadn't seen a brush in a very long time; it was kept from her face by a bandana tied around her head. The woman eyed Sarah and her brother with interest.
"These two staying for dinner?" she asked, and cackled as if at a joke that Sarah didn't feel she was part of.
"Not quite," sniffed Sir Didymus. "Agnes, this is Sarah. She is applying to be a scullery maid here, and will be looking after her brother."
Agnes examined Sarah with a new interest, pinching Sarah's chin between two dry fingers and pulling her closer. Sarah tried not to worry about the state of the woman's cracked fingernails.
"Excellent," Agnes declared. "We could do with someone to scrub all those pots. My back aches if I'm at it too long."
Sarah offered Agnes a weak smile.
"I'm used to hard work," she said. "I used to take care of the garden and clean the cottage; I am sure I can be useful to you here."
Agnes nodded and patted Sarah hard on her shoulder, jostling Toby. The infant whimpered again, which turned into screams when he woke up fully. Sarah glanced around, eyes wide and wild as if the master of the castle already heard and was standing just out of sight. Sir Didymus winced, his fox ears pressed back against his skull, and Agnes scowled and dragged Sarah and Toby into the kitchen with her.
"He's hungry," Sarah explained, bouncing him on her hip. "We haven't had anything to eat all day." Her own stomach rumbled, but it could barely be heard over her brother's wailing. Agnes's frown deepened as she pushed Sarah onto a rough bench and, in the same movement, reached up above her to pull something down from a shelf.
"Here," she said gruffly, shoving a fruit tart into Sarah's hand. "Finding kids like lost kittens," she muttered after she turned her back, still rifling through shelves. "Come to my doorstep hungry-what is that fox thinking?" A small pile of food grew in the woman's arms, and then on the table when her arms filled up. Sarah tore off bits of the tart and fed them to Toby, trying to ignore the woman's ramblings and how she looked back and smiled at the siblings when she thought Sarah wasn't looking. Toby quieted down after the fruit tart, and Sarah snagged the small bowl of blueberries that Agnes placed on the table in front of her. Toby ate those happily too, and Sarah wondered how she had fresh blueberries so early into spring.
She wondered if there was a greenhouse on the castle grounds, and if she might be allowed to see it.
Agnes stood in front of Sarah and watched Sarah feed her brother with her hands on her hips.
"Thank you," Sarah said, "I can't even begin to thank you properly, really."
Agnes sniffed and held out her arms. "Give the boy to me; you'll be no use to me if you're so hungry you're falling over yourself later." Her sharp demand was softened by the small smile that graced her craggy face once Toby was in her arms, and Sarah thought that despite Agnes's harsh demeanor, she really was a kind woman.
"Now, let's see if we can't find some goat's milk for you, eh boy? Let your sister eat in peace."
Sarah ate her fill of the food set out for her on the table-she'd never seen such a wide variety of things to eat-and tried to put everything else back from where she thought Agnes got it from.
But when she went to go find her brother and Agnes, they were nowhere to be seen in the kitchen, or any of the closets Sarah checked in. Worry coiling somewhere behind her navel, Sarah left the kitchen and dashed out onto the castle grounds. She dared not return to the maze, and she didn't want to stray too far from the kitchen door in case Agnes came back.
And that was how she stumbled-almost literally-over a little man crouched beside a bush. He had a small spade with him, and a canister filled with what was perhaps smoke, like she'd seen beekeepers use.
"Hello," she said hesitantly, "I'm looking for-"
"You Sarah?" he asked, standing and brushing dirt off his knees. Sarah nodded. "That's what I thought," he continued. "Name's Hoggle. Ludo and Sir Didymus mentioned you. Can't go home, can you? Don't touch that; they bite," he snapped as Sarah reached for the tiny fairy emerging from between the branches of the bush. Her hand stopped mid motion, and Hoggle sprayed the fairy with smoke. It fell from the air with a thump.
"Oh!" Sarah gasped, but she didn't say anything else.
"Damn things are a nuisance," he growled, picking it up by its wings and tossing it as far away as he could. Upon seeing the expression on Sarah's face, he added "don't do them no harm, of course. Just disorients 'em, so they have a harder time gettin' back."
Sarah nodded, not wanting to contradict Hoggle.
"I'm looking for my brother. Agnes should have him, but I don't know where they went."
"If he's with Agnes, he'll come to no harm. She's as harmless as a pussycat." Hoggle grinned wryly to himself. "But I imagine you'll find 'em in the flower garden, if you just follow that path."
Sarah thanked him and dashed off down the path he'd pointed out. She found Toby and Agnes easily enough, but Agnes seemed reluctant to let Toby go. Instead, Sarah spent the rest of the day learning her duties under Agnes's direction. She was to collect water whenever they needed it, make sure the fire in the kitchen was kept going, help prepare meals, clean the dishes from the day, and clean a select few rooms in the castle. Under no circumstances was she to leave the kitchens after the sun set, whether to go outside or elsewhere in the castle. In fact, she wasn't supposed to go anywhere else in the castle after the breakfast meal was served. Sarah wondered why, but didn't question it.
Sarah settled into a routine; every morning she would wake late and help Agnes prepare breakfast for the master of the castle, which would not actually be served until very late into the afternoon. The master had, Agnes said with a solemn whisper, very strange eccentricities. It was best not the question them.
She followed her new rules to the letter, and watched sunsets from within the kitchen with Toby while Agnes worked on her seemingly endless knitting. Life, Sarah thought-when she had time to think-was good at the castle. Certainly better than living with parents who didn't care one whit about her or her brother. Agnes was kind, even if her kindness was buried. Hoggle taught her more about fairies and dryads and the creature that lived in the well; Sarah wasn't sure she believed that last one. Ludo would sometimes help her carry the heavy pails of water back to the kitchen, or offer her flowers to make into a crown. Sir Didymus was fond of riding beside her on Ambrosius, telling her about his heroic deeds. Sarah wasn't sure she believed those, either, but she listened with a smile anyway.
By the time night fell each day, Sarah was exhausted. It was good work, but difficult work, and Sarah was afraid her small bubble of happiness would pop if she messed up somehow.
And that was how Sarah found herself tiptoeing out through the kitchen door just as the sun set; Agnes was fitting Toby for a new hat-no doubt crochet-and didn't see her leave.
She'd left a pot or two sitting by the well; sometimes she took her washing there so she didn't have to lug water back and forth to the kitchen, but this time she'd gotten distracted and left some of it behind. Sarah glanced up at the sky. If she moved quickly, she might just get back before the sky turned completely dark or she was missed.
Sarah scurried through the now-familiar paths, keeping her eye on the sun as it sunk below the horizon. An owl hooted from a tree above her, but she didn't spare it a glance.
A pang of guilt lanced through her; she'd been at the castle for less than a week, and she'd already broken a rule. She consoled herself by thinking that she was still doing her job, and Agnes would understand; after all, Agnes wouldn't want their cookware sitting out overnight either. It would have to be washed all over again in the morning, and that would waste time.
Sarah approached the well, fighting the urge to peek inside it to try and spot the creature Hoggle claimed lived within.
"My, my, my," drawled out a voice from right behind her. "What have we here?"
And before Sarah could try to dart away, a hand clamped down on her shoulder and forcibly spun her around. Sarah forced herself to look up into the eyes of the master of the castle.