Kidnapped

Brielle pulled the blanket up over Jack as he passed out, smiling despite the situation. She didn’t even care that they’d have to find a new ride or else walk a ways until they reached the next town. She felt a little like a bottle of champagne, all tingly and fizzy. She climbed into the opposite side of the bed, curling up and trying to get some sleep. They’d have to figure out a plan tomorrow. She drifted off to sleep pretty quickly; it had been a long few days.

When she woke up in the morning, she felt like her whole body must have blushed when she realized that she’d rolled over in her sleep and snuggled against Jack like he was a pillow. She supposed she should feel bad about it, but she oddly didn’t. She did feel a little shy though and wondered if Jack would be bothered by the fact that his arm was wrapped around her. He was still dead asleep, and she knew he was going to feel the full effects of his spontaneous drinking contest when he finally woke up.

Brielle continued to lay there for a while, her head resting on his chest. He finally stirred, and Brielle tilted her head slightly to look at him. He was a little pale and he was grimacing until he noticed her practically laying on him.

“Morning,” Brielle said, careful to keep her voice soft.

“Morning,” he said slowly. “Is it morning? It’s still dark in here.”

“I kept the curtains closed.”

“Right. Good thinking. Then no one can see inside.”

“I also figured you were going to have the headache of the century,” Brielle said dryly. He winced.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I acted like an idiot.”

“Yeah.” Brielle smiled and sat up slightly. “But it’s okay.”

She leaned down to kiss his cheek, which seemed to stun him. Brielle climbed out of bed and went to fetch a cloth soaked in cold water. She came back and dabbed gently at his face with it.

“On a scale of one to death warmed over, how do you feel?” she asked.

“Death warmed over and then left to get cold again,” Jack muttered.

“Here, drink a little water and I’ll go find something light for you to eat.”

Brielle moved cautiously into the pub downstairs, on the lookout for any of the men she’d seen with Merton. She returned quickly to the room, where Jack was grimacing at the ceiling. Brielle coaxed him to eat a little.

“I didn’t…say or do anything to make you uncomfortable, right?” Jack asked. “I really don’t remember much.”

“You didn’t say much,” Brielle shrugged. “You passed out pretty fast once I got you up here. And no, you didn’t do anything to upset me.”

“I still fucked up our chances of getting a ride,” Jack sighed. “I’m sorry, Bree.”

“We’ve made it this far. We’ll figure something else out.”

“You seem awfully confident about that.”

“We make an oddly good team, so we’ll find another ride. I trust you, Jaxie.”

“Even after I made a fool of myself last night?”

“You didn’t totally make a fool of yourself,” Brielle grinned. “You did win.”

That made him laugh, though he still looked a little sheepish.

“Besides, I’d have had to endure Brennan trying to flirt with me the whole way to Whitmill if we went with them anyway.”

“So, you didn’t…like him?”

“No,” Brielle laughed. “I was being nice and doing my best party smile so they’d give us a ride. Once you start to feel better we should go see about finding another way out of Elmdale.”

They were sitting in the pub again late that afternoon, trying to decide on a course of action. Brielle wanted to be careful to avoid going through their meager amount of money before they made it home, but she was starting to think they may have to just buy supplies and walk to Whitmill. It would probably be cheaper than bribing someone to give them a ride. She was starting to explain her reasoning to Jack when a man in a colorful cloak turned to them with interest.

“You say you’re trying to get to Whitmill?” he asked.

“Yes, it’s rather important that my husband and I get there soon,” Brielle said. The man studied her for a moment and Brielle thought Jack looked mildly annoyed. Then the man smiled.

“We’ll be happy to take you to Whitmill with us, no charge, if you don’t mind being a fairy.”

“I’m sorry?” Brielle said, brow scrunching.

“Forgive me, I should explain. My name is Claudius Riser, and I’m with an acting troupe. We’re heading to Whitmill to do a performance at the annual summer solstice festival. But one of our fairies left so we could use a pretty red haired replacement. You’d only have to say one line and wear the fairy costume, and we’ll happily get you to Whitmill. You’d be riding in one of our wagons instead of having to walk. You don’t get stage fright though, do you?”

Brielle traded a look with Jack to see if he was okay with this plan. He gave her a small smile and a nod.

“No, I won’t get stage fright,” Brielle replied, turning back to Claudius. “We’d really appreciate the ride and I don’t mind being your substitute fairy.”

“Great.” Claudius beamed. “We leave first thing in the morning; just meet us at the end of this road. You can’t miss us, we’re pretty colorful. Welcome aboard, uh…”

“Jeannette,” Brielle said. “And this is my husband Edmund.”

“Jeannette and Edmund. See you bright and early.” Claudius gave them a jaunty salute and headed off to tell the rest of his troupe that they’d have two other people along for a couple of days. Brielle let out a breath, relieved.

“Okay well that solves that problem, at least. And now we’ll be one step closer to home.”

“Admit it, you kind of just want to dress up in a fairy costume,” Jack teased and Brielle flicked a drop of ale at him.

“I’m not opposed to it,” she grinned. “And I’ll bet no one looking for us will recognize me. With the festival going on it might also be easier to find a way to get from Whitmill to our next destination, and it could even be sort of fun. I’ve heard that Whitmill’s summer festival is quite the event. They harvest blackberries and make blackberry everything, and there’s lots of music and dancing. I’ve heard they make an amazing blackberry cake.”

“You and cake.” Jack flashed her a lopsided smile. They returned to their room not long after, since they needed to get up early enough to meet Claudius and his actors. Brielle suddenly felt a little shy again and Jack’s ears turned a bit red.

“Uh, listen. I know you put me in the bed last night because I was drunk, but if you want me to I could sleep on the floor.”

Brielle shook her head. “No. We said we were being mature adults about it, remember?”

“Right.” He nodded. “Right, mature adults. It’s just sleeping.”

“Exactly.”

They still both laid down a little awkwardly, and at first Brielle faced the opposite wall. Then she rolled onto her other side and hugged Jack, surprising him.

“It’s a little bit cold in here,” she lied. “I can be a warm mature adult, right?”

“Right. Definitely. The cold might dull your maturity.”

“Good night, Jack.”

“Good night, Bree.”