Daughter of a Ranger

Chapter 11

The next morning, Jemma gently carried Sapphire out of her room to meet Sable, Will's dog.

Will and Alyss were sitting at the table, eating fresh food. They watched with anticipation as Jemma laid Sapphire next to the sleeping Sable.

Sable sleepily lifted her head and then sat up, facing Sapphire. The little wolf trotted over to Sable's side and nudged her head softly. Sable sniffed the wolf and brought her head up to bark, signifying her territory.

Will had stood up in an instant, thinking something was wrong, but Jemma signalled for him to stand back.

Sapphire bowed her head and placed her head on the ground, backside in the air, wagging her tail. Sable then laid down and the little wolf snuggled into her side.

Jemma looked to her parents, happiness gleaming in her eyes.

Will had sat down in wonder at the two animals snuggled up on the floor. It looked as if the wolf had found itself a new parent-like figure.

Jemma jumped up and sat on the extra chair at the table, as Will put a plate of fruit in front of her.

...

A few weeks later, the entire gang were at the Treaty's cabin, discussing and talking over things and signing and officialising Jemma's entrance into the Corps.

Will had made coffee and was handing them out, but nobody was going to take a sip until Jemma had tried it first.

"I can't believe you've never tried coffee before!" Will had exclaimed as soon as he had found out.

"Honey, you forget that she wasn't allowed to have coffee as a servant, and she hasn't tried it since then anyway." Alyss had reminded him, as the others shook their heads.

A coffee mug was placed in front of the girl in question and she looked at it apprehensively before picking it up. She lifted it to her nose, to sniff for poisons (as she had gotten used to looking for them before eating, since she was a child) and was about to take a sip when she dropped the mug and exclaimed, "DON'T DRINK IT!!!", before running out.

The group stared after where she had disappeared and Gilan looked at Alyss and Will with a question in his eyes. Will shrugged, having no idea what was going on. But, the group trusted the girl, so they didn't drink the coffee.

Maddie had raced after Jemma, and soon caught up with her. She was sitting on a log not to far away, rocking herself, back and forth, back and forth, head tucked between her knees, whispering the word "Poisoned" over and over again.

Maddie gently sat down next to her, wrapping her arms around the quaking girl.

Jemma sniffed and told her that she smelt poison, which had brought up memories that she had hoped to forget. Maddy nodded, understandingly.

After about half an hour, she lead Jemma back to the cabin, and Jemma was greeted by odd looks, before Maddie explained she had smelt poison.

Will walked over to his coffee bean container and sniffed it, but couldn't smell anything. Figuring that Jemma had developed a very keen sense of smell, he placed the coffee pot in front of her. Jemma had a whiff and grimaced.

She walked outside, grabbed a leaf and dipped it in one of the cups that still had the beverage in. It was cold, but had the same effect.

When the leaf came out, the colour was gone and the leaf was shrivelling up.

Everyone stared at it, scared that they probably would have died, and had no idea who had put the poisoned beans in the coffee pot.

But luckily, everyone was safe.