Elgaboth, the Kidnapping: Chapter 6

If they had but known it the procession of prisoners passed with a mile of where Anna and Kurt slept, but by the time either woke their friends were many leagues beyond. Anna woke suddenly to find huge green eyes staring at her. She sat up with a start. About three feet to her left was a girl, very beautiful in an extremely youthful way. Her dark hair cascaded down her back and contrasted with her tan and creamy skin. The large green stared out at Anna. Anna would have guessed was thirteen or fourteen if she had not been very obviously in the latter stages of pregnancy. Anna did not know all the customs of Greyland but she did not believe they gave girls in marriage that young.

“Hello,” she faltered, quailing under the bright green eyes.

 “Hello,” said the girl. “Are you in need of anything?” The mesmerizing green eyes seemed to fill with concern.

Anna sat up slowly. “Yes, I suppose we are. You see…” she stopped, this girl seemed friendly but at the same time Greyland was not on the best of terms with Mixupland and Kurt could be held for quite a ransom if someone took it into their heads to hold him for one. “We lost our way in the dark. Where are we?”

“Greyland, the Quinila province, we are not particularly near any towns or even villages since we are so close to the border. Is there some way I can help you find your way?”

“Well,” said Anna carefully, weighing their need for help against the fact that she knew nothing of this girl. “My brother,” she indicated Kurt, sleeping a few feet away, “hurt his ankle rather badly. I don’t think he can walk for long. Do you know of a place where we can rest for a few days until he can walk?”

“Well,” said the girl. “There are always inns and the like in the towns but the closest one is about half a day’s walk at a good pace.” The girl seemed to ponder something. “If you come with me I will show you a place you can rest not far from here.”

“Thank you.” Anna a slight lessening of the pressure that had followed through her veins since the sound of screams had disturbed her sleep. “My name is Anna, what’s yours?”

“Angela,” Said the girl.

Anna put her palms out in a gesture of friendship. “I am glad to know you Angela.”

She knelt down and gently woke Kurt. He woke to pain and tried to push her away but eventually Anna had him sitting up. She introduced him to Angela as her brother. His first name was so common that she did not think it would hurt to use his real name. Kurt’s mood seemed to lighten with Angela’s acquaintance. Between them they helped Kurt to get up. Then he leaned heavily on Anna as Angela led him through the forest. They came to a small hut covered over in ivy. Angela opened the door to reveal a dark room with several pots and pans, a heap of blankets and a small fireplace. Herbs hung from the ceiling in profusion. Anna helped Kurt over to the blankets where he gingerly lowered himself to the ground.

“Can I see your ankle?” asked Angela kneeling beside him.

Kurt nodded wearily; the walk had taken a lot out of him. She carefully rolled up his pant leg.   

“We are going to have to get your boot off.” She said looking at it hard.

The idea seemed to sap Kurt’s remaining strength. He lay down with an arm over his eyes. Angela gave the boot a few experimental tugs, then, suddenly, yanked it off his foot. Kurt sat up and released several choice words which belied Lady Falcona’s careful upbringing. Angela jumped back looking a bit scared. Anna had no such scruples.

“Oh lie back Kurt. That was the only way to get it off.”

Kurt snorted but lay back obediently.

“Do you think it’s broken?” asked Anna as Angela knelt to examine the ankle more closely.

“How long ago did this happen?”  She looked from Anna to Kurt.

“Last night,” Said Kurt. “I jumped out of a window and landed on it wrong.”

“How did it feel then? Could you move or walk it at all?”

“Oh I could walk, even sort-of run, at first.”

“Then it’s not broken. The bone might be chipped but the immobility is caused by the swelling, not the other way round.”

“Great news.” Said Kurt, there was a hard edge to his voice. “Maybe I won’t be utterly useless.”

“Can we do anything?” Said Anna wishing she had paid more attention to her grandmother’s vast medical knowledge. It was odd to realized how much she and Lucy relied on each other. Never having a strong interest in anything medical she had always had Lucy to remind her of the name of that obscure plant that relived headaches or the way to correctly treat a broken bone. She forcefully pushed back thoughts of Lucy and the ways Lucy had relied on her.

Angela picked an herb from the ceiling. “This will ease the pain if he chews it. This,” she said pointing to another white colored leaf, “will make him sleep if the pain is too bad. But do not use it often.”

“Thank you,” said Anna. “Do you live near here? I don’t mean to force you to help us, but if you could check in on him or something. I just have no idea what I’m doing.”

Angela blinked her huge eyes. “I will be here.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Anna, confused.

“This is where I have been living. I was with the gypsies but they had to go to their gathering and outsiders aren’t allowed. They took me there because it’s so far from everyone they said I’d be safe.”

“You’re all alone?”

Angela nodded.

“But what if… “ Anna was in the awkward positon of not want to assume that her new friend was with child and wanting to know how she planned to deliver alone.

Angela seemed to understand. “In gypsy culture babies are birthed alone. They told me what to do if the pains start but they wouldn’t have helped even if I was with them.”

“Forgive me if this seems impertinent, but do you have no family?”

“I lived with my Mother and step-father, but I couldn’t stay there. It… it wasn’t working.”

“Angela, how old are you?”

“Almost fourteen.”

Something shifted in Anna’s brain. Up til now she had been thinking of Angela as an adult helping Kurt and herself who were still nearly children. She realized now that Angela was almost two years younger than her, essentially homeless, with no one to care for her. She determined then and there that, at the very least, she would see that Angela had someone with her when the baby came. “Do you know when?”

“I would expect in a week or two it was eight and a half months ago.” The last sentence was hesitating.

Kurt interrupted them from the corner. “So are we going to do anything about what happened?”

Anna turned to look at him. “I don’t see what we can do. Even if we could get back to Mixupland the authorities must know now and what would we do beside alert them.”

“I see.” The hard edge was back in his voice.

Anna didn’t feel that further talk would help him any. She reminded herself again that he was simply afraid for Lucy and Cassie, but that just brought back her own fears about her friends. Angela looked back and forth between them.

“Angela, why don’t you show me where we can get water.”

The pair went outside and began walking toward the sound of running water. 

“You have to forgive Kurt.” Said Anna, “Several friends of ours are in danger and he wishes there was something he could do.”

“That’s alright,” said Angela looking at the ground.

“So is there no where you can go to have the baby? It will be dangerous for both you and the child if you have it out here.

Angela shook her head. “Nowhere…” she hesitated. “There is one place, but I don’t know where it is or I don’t know where they are. Now, there’s nowhere I can get to.”

“Alright, we’ll do our best.”

When they returned Kurt was in the same position as when they left. His eyes were closed but Anna could tell by the way he held his head that he was awake.

“Kurt, put your foot up.” For a second Anna had needed to see him move, to be sure he wasn’t leaving her there alone.

Kurt made a no-too-friendly grunt and moved his foot onto the small stool.

Anna spent the rest of the day learning about how and where to find food. When she finally allowed herself to rest her mind was weighed down by the responsibility she now felt for Angela and Kurt. Whenever she was able to forget this for a time, her own fears would creep in upon her and she would wonder if Lucy needed her to care during one of her attacks or if her friends were even still alive. After being woken several times by Kurt crying out she finally fell into a fitful slumber.