Page 40 of Hollow Valley

The clothes she wore were in stark contrast to her understated appearance.They were layers of robes made of gauzy, flamboyant fabric draped all over her petite frame.She was bone thin, with bracelets and bangles clattering on her narrow wrists.

“Hello,” she greeted us with a warm smile and a voice like honey.“My name is Cornelia Mahler, but most folks here call me Nell.I am the Allmother of the Reverence for the Revenant.”

“And we’re some people passing by,” Boden said.He was standing in front of us all, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Now, that isn’t exactly true, is it?”Nell asked, her pale eyes flicking over to Alphie.

“I only tried to help them find their way around your territory, so none of us would be a bother to you,” Alphie argued in a tremulous voice.

“We really don’t mean you any harm,” Edie added from where she sat on her cot beside mine.“If you just let us go, we’ll be on our way.”

“What do you know about the Reverence for the Revenant?”Nell asked, ignoring both Alphie’s and Edie’s comments.

“Not much,” Leandro answered.

“A rumor or two’s made the rounds, but I wouldn’t believe the half of it,” Fergus said, and his lip was still swollen from Benedict hitting him with a stick, adding a touch of irony to his smirk.

Nell gave us all a placid smile that never quite reached her eyes.“We protect the ones who walk between worlds, and those who join us find a purpose they cannot find elsewhere.”She paused, bracelets clinking as she folded her hands in front of her abdomen.“Not everyone understands our ways, but I promise you, everything we do is for the greater good.”

“Okay,” Boden said uncertainly.“What is that you plan to do with us exactly?”

“It takes time to make a decision,” Nell explained.“First, I need to see that you are healthy, and it seems that not all of you are.”

“Aye, boyo,” Dougal agreed tiredly.He was sitting up thanks to Fergus’s help, and he was noticeably pale and sallow.“I’ve been feeling rough, I have.But it’s no virus, or I’d already be out in your courtyard, dancing like gobshite in rainbow pantaloons.”

“We have ways to help those who are unwell,” Nell offered.“Do you wish to recover?”

“Sure I do,” Dougal said with an uncertain glance to Fergus.

“Benedict will take you to our Wellness Center,” Nell said.“You can begin your recovery there while a decision is made, and I will take the child to the nursery.”

“No,” I said instinctively, and my arms tightened around my daughter on my lap.

Edie stood up, and Boden dropped his arms and widened his stance.But Benedict and Dusty loomed over Nell, their rifles in their hands.

“You’re a bit like a cheeky fairy tale witch, so you are,” Fergus commented, slowly getting to his feet.“Coming in here, bold as brass, demanding a baby.”

“I have been called a white witch before,” Nell admitted, sounding amused.“But you misunderstand my intentions.Yes, I demand the child, but only to keep her safe and healthy.”

“If you took her, what would you do with her?”I asked.

Nell stepped closer, and Boden moved back slightly so we could look more directly at one another.“Is she your daughter then?”

“Yes,” I said.“And I’d rather not be apart from her.”

“We have a nursery here, where our children are safe and nourished, both body and mind,” Nell assured me in an oddly serene voice.“She will be cared for and protected as if she was born here.”

“She is safe and nourished with me,” I insisted.

Her expression turned to one of pity.“You are exhausted and filthy, and I know what exists beyond my territory.”

“She’s not lying about the nursery,” Alphie interjected.She was still standing at the back of the room, her arms hugging herself tightly, and her eyes on the floor.“The children are well cared for, and she’d never hurt them.Nobody here would.”

“Perhaps Alphie’s assurances will soothe your worries, but truly, it is no matter,” Nell went on.“The child is not contagious, so the barracks are no longer the best place for her.She will be placed in our nursery, with or without your compliance.”

“You can’t really expect to come in here and rip a child from her mother?”Boden asked, his words hard but calm.

Nell stared up at him, nonplused.“I have done it before, when necessary.But please know that defiance always reflects poorly when it comes time for me to decide.”