Volume I: Forged

Chapter 16: Alone

Jack stared up at the avian worriedly, twisting the hem of his shirt in nervous hands.

"You've been in this house for how long?"

Jack swallowed hard. "Three days—"

"Dadza, it was out fault—"

Phil held up a hand and Puffy cut off, knowing not to push it. "You three managed to hide a child in this house for three days without me knowing?"

Jack fixed his gaze on his lap.

"Yeah, kinda—"

"Who else knows about this?"

A pause.

"About that—"

...

Three days earlier...

It was so cold—how long had it been this cold?

Jack had been cold before, but not this cold.

It had started slow, first in his fingertips and toes and ears, then moving to his palms and calves. Like a poison, slowly but surely making its way to his heart. It stiffened his knees and elbows, made standing a nightmare.

The nights were, quite ironically, hell. Bitter, sheer cold that ate away at his will to move, that seeped into his very bones till he was positive he'd never be warm again.

Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd slept a full night—or longer than an hour at a time.

Worse than the cold was the fact that he was so hopelessly, completely, alone. The ache in his chest from being so alone was worse the ache in his bones from the cold. He longed for someone to talk to, someone to laugh with. Somebody to battle the freezing nights with, someone to share whatever food he managed to scrounge up with.

He had nobody.

And when the snow that had come a week ago didn't melt—he knew he was done for.

...

Niki skipped along, humming to herself.

Puffy chuckled at the girl's antics. With her pink winter dress and pink cloak trimmed in white fur, the hood pulled over her blonde hair—she looked like a bouncing puff of cotton candy, dancing over the snow.

"It is way too early in the morning for her to be this chipper," Minx grumbled under her breath, pulling her own cloak tighter over her shoulders.

"She is always this chipper," Puffy pointed out.

Minx rolled her eyes and pulled her own hood tighter over her dark curls.

The girls had been sent out by Mumza with a handful of gold to have a 'girl's day.'

"Buy something completely ridiculous," Kristin said. "You've earned it."

Puffy had swiftly confiscated her sisters' gold, knowing full well that "something ridiculous" didn't include Minx betting she could beat some drunk in an arm-wrestling contest and Niki buying a baby chinchilla.

The town had traded out their autumn booths for winter ones—already displaying dozens of gag gifts for the holidays, colorful blankets and quilts, spiced breads and sweets, and steaming cocoa.

"Niki, don't wander far!" Puffy yelled, even as the little girl vanished into the crowd.

Sighing, Puffy started looking at what the vendors had to offer.

There were potions supplies (the cheap stuff for more—there was a reason Phil sent out his kids to other villages), cute little crockery sets, flower pots, weapons (not really the best grade, considering the blacksmith was relatively new, but he was learning), jewelry imported from another Kingdom, various spices—along with the normal stuff like fresh fish from the ice fisher's, bread from the baker's, and new cloaks on display from the tailor's.