Jess peered over the edge of the newly dug trench. It was far more impressive than she had expected.

“You’re going to need a fence or summat, Miss. Stop the littles from falling in.”

Jess turned to the labourer who was mopping his brow. His brown hair clung limply to his brow.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’m pretty sure you’re right.”

“Is it deep enough to trap the slimes?” asked Nevin.

The labourer shrugged, before leaning over the edge of the pit and spitting into it. “Not my area of expertise.” He replaced his flat cap and gave a polite nod to Jess before sauntering away in the direction of the rest of his team. At Jess’s request, now that the trench was finished, they were to clear the area.

Nevin stood back behind the gathered sacks of caustic quicklime. Jess couldn’t fault him. It was probably the safest place to be considering the circumstances. Though there were no nearby slimes, Jess wasn’t entirely certain that the trench would work. They needed to make sure that the slimes couldn’t just ooze straight up to the school gate in the night. Safety first and all that.

“Right Nevin. Do you remember the rules?” Jess asked, squinting at the distant slimes as they made their way around the lake.

“Don’t run with the quicklime. Don’t run with the arrows. Don’t run near the pit,” he dutifully recited.

“and…” prompted Jess as she picked up the long wooden bow that they had borrowed from Farmer Hewitt.

“And if it doesn’t work… don’t tell Mike?”

“No!” Jess answered. “Well. Yes. I guess. But no. If they can climb out of the trench, run like hell.”

“Will they climb out?”

“We’ll soon find out!” Jess said nocking an arrow. Nevin retreated several steps further back.

Jess wasn’t feeling particularly confident about her archery, especially when she had only picked a bow up for the first time several hours earlier that day. She had been given a few helpful pointers by Farmer Hewitt and his well-meaning wife, but her ability to accurately hit a target left a lot to be desired.

Still, as Farmer Hewitt had aptly put, “shoot enough arrows and you be bound to hit something eventually, Lass.”

She lined up her sights with one of the slimes that was nearest, took a deep breath in and out, before letting the arrow fly. It sailed like a beauty through the air then struck dirt about halfway between the slime and her feet.

Jess wrinkled her nose. Harder than I thought…

“I thought you said you’d practiced?” Nevin called from his safe vantage point.

“I did,” Jess called back.

“It doesn’t look like it,” Nevin replied.

“Thank you for that Stirling observation,” Jess replied dryly. “If you think you could do a better job, the next arrow is all yours.”

His lack of response spoke volumes about what he thought of that offer.

She nocked a second arrow, pulling the string as far back as she was able to before loosing it. She hissed, shaking her arm as she watched it soar. This time the aim was wide. It struck dirt but way further to the left and certainly not as far as it needed to. At least a quarter of the distance was yet to be covered by the arrow.

“How much practice did you do?” Nevin asked.

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Clearly not enough, Jess thought. She retrieved a third arrow from the quiver but knew that she wasn’t going to be able to hit anything at such a distance. It wasn’t even a matter of skill. Jess knew she simply didn’t have the upper body strength required. She needed an alternative plan.

“Nevin,” she called, “Check the gear that the work guys left. Are the big planks of wood still up there?”

Whilst Nevin moved further up the hill to check, Jess once again surveyed the ditch. It was a good drop. If she fell in, there was no way that she could climb out. Even with Nevin to help, she wouldn’t be able to reach him if he leaned over. It was a worry. Bother. Bother. Bother. What’s a girl to do?

“The planks are still here,” Nevin shouted. Jess turned to see him standing awkwardly beside them as if unsure what he should do with them.

“Have a look for a nice straight one,” Jess shouted. “I’ll need you to help me carry it down here.”

“Why?” he shouted back.

“Just watch!” Jess replied.

She knew it would be better to tell him about the plan after he’d helped. He hadn’t been thrilled about Jess firing weapons to start with. He’d be far less excited to learn that she was planning on firing them from the other side of the ditch.

With a little bit of huffing and the odd stagger, the pair of them were able to lift the plank and carry it to the ditch. They stood it on one end by the edge and let it topple into place with a thud.

“Won’t the slimes just move across the plank now?” Nevin asked.

“Not if we move it quick enough,” Jess said, hiking up her skirt. It wasn’t very respectable looking, but she tied up the hem, so her ankle length skirt now sat comfortably at knee height.

“Is this why Mike isn’t here?” Nevin questioned, looking unimpressed by Jess’s antics.

“No,” she replied, cautiously putting a foot on the plank bridge. “This would be a lot easier if he were here.”

She ran across with arms stretched out like a tightrope walker before turning to grin at Nevin triumphantly. He did not look impressed.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Now I should be able to get close enough to the slime so I can…” Jess started to explain before realising her error. “Oh.” On the ground, on Nevin’s side of the ditch, the bow and quiver of arrows lay discarded.

After a quick run back to retrieve them, she once again scuttled across the plank so that she was on the side where the ooze roamed.

“You’re not going to shoot them from there, are you?” Nevin inquired nervously.

“Nope,” Jess said. “I’ll need to be a lot closer.”

“But…”

“You stay there,” Jess warned. “Don’t move the plank. If I do manage to hit one, I’m going to run straight back. We can pull the bridge back when I’m across it. Hopefully that’ll do the trick.”

“I don’t like this,” Nevin called back.

“It’ll be fine,” Jess reassured him. “I’ll keep my distance. Don’t worry.”

Brave words but truthfully, Jess felt nervous about the whole thing. She didn’t fancy her chances against a whole mob of the slow-moving ooze, but even in her sturdy boots, she should be able to outrun them. Health before wealth. She needed to be absolutely sure that the ooze would be held at a safe distance from the school. She couldn’t open its doors in good conscious if she felt the kids might be in danger.

She steeled herself with a few deep before starting to walk towards the gathered slimes. She didn’t dare look back at Nevin. She didn’t trust that she could keep the nerves from showing on her face.

Once at a reasonable distance, it took eight more attempts before she finally hit a slime. It hadn’t been the one she was aiming for, but it did the trick. Their meandering came to an abrupt halt as every slime in a wide radius around the hit slime seemed to turn and beeline towards Jess. She turned tail and bolted back towards her escape route across the trench.

Ahead of her, Nevin was frantically waving encouragement. She made a mental note to hug the teacher that started the running club at her school when she managed to make it back home. Her chest burned already. The ladies she ran with normally didn’t belt down the road, hell for leather.

When she finally reached the plank, she frantically waved the bow. “Move, move, move!”

Nevin stayed way back while she scurried across, only diving in to help once Jess was firmly back on solid ground.

“I don’t think your plan will work,” Nevin announced in a worried tone.

Jess remained doubled over, panting heavily. “You don’t have to stay. I can watch for them climbing out.”

“No,” said Nevin, “I don’t think they’re going in the ditches.”

“They’re going around?” she asked.

“No. They’re not doing anything.”

Jess straightened up, still breathing deeply but unable to ignore Nevin’s warning. She looked out at the fields, disbelieving. The slimes seemed to have given up the chase and had resumed their languid, random movements, albeit much closer to the ditch than before.

It didn’t make any sense. She’d marked out the distances with Farmer Hewitt and given extra wiggle room, just in case. The slimes always chased their victims beyond this point.

“Maybe I should poke them with another arrow? Get them moving again,” Jess said, thinking aloud.

“It’s a shame you don’t have more arrows,” said Nevin.

“I’ve got two left.”

Nevin shuffled his feet, toeing at a clump of grass in silence.

Jess sighed. “Alright. Point taken.”

She watched the slimes for a little longer. They had seemingly lost all interest in her, even when physically she was so close.

“Plan B then, I guess,” Jess said.