Someone was at the door.

I frowned as I got up from the table and checked out the window. From this angle I could only make out one of the women outside the inn.

It was the middle of the night. The kind of late that warranted locking the front door of the building. It was the first night we had locked the door, since earlier today someone had told the innkeeper that there were people going around and looting the abandoned buildings. She had been worried about us being bothered.

Stepping over to another table, I grabbed the sword I had rested against it. It was the one I’d been carrying around all this time. The one Vim had made at the smithy. The dull blade for training.

It was dull, but I knew with my strength it wouldn't matter. Plus it was better than nothing.

More heavy knocks shook the door and I gripped the sword tighter... and then stepped forward.

After a few steps I hesitated a small moment and wondered if I should open the door or not.

Would burglars knock on the door…?

“Lasly! It’s me!” a woman's voice shouted from outside as she banged on the door some more.

Lasly was the name of the innkeeper… but…

“Coming, coming…!” I heard Lasly’s voice from down the hallway. She sure enough showed up, half dressed in a nightgown. I frowned at the older woman, since the thing was actually kind of… well…

It was scantily.

“What the heck do you want this late?” Lasly shouted angrily as she unlocked the front door and opened it.

I stepped closer, to help the older woman just in case she needed any. But it didn’t seem to be something I needed to worry about.

It was two women and a young girl.

“Sorry Lasly… but you’re the only one with extra beds,” the oldest, and skinniest, of the two women said.

“What…?” Lasly looked down at the young girl, and I realized why. She had recognized the two women, but not the young girl.

“She showed up this afternoon. Washed ashore. Poor girl’s from one of the farms up the river,” the other woman said gently.

The young girl frowned as she glanced around, and then her eyes fell upon me.

I hesitated a moment as I realized what was going on.

A young girl. Alone. Who had washed up from the river…

“What…? Gris, you can’t be…” Lasly started to complain, and new footsteps drew my attention away from the door.

Oplar walked down with a frown, lightly dressed. I smiled at the bear who yawned after she studied the scene for a moment. She had yawned after verifying everything was fine, and there was no danger. Funny.

“What’s going on…?” Oplar asked quietly as she stepped over to me. I noted that she glanced down at the sword in my hand as she did.

“I think we’re getting a new resident,” I said gently.

“Come on Lasly. You got kids, what’s one more for now?” one of the women asked. I didn’t know if she was Gris, or the other one was.

“It’s not about that! Whose is she? Where’s she from?” Lasly asked, a little loudly.

“Like I said! She washed ashore! Unconscious! She just woke up, so,” one of the women argued.

“Woke up? So she’d been asleep until now? Likely in a bed no doubt,” Lasly said with a huff as she crossed her arms.

I frowned at them. Was… was Lasly actually going to try and deny shelter to the little girl…? Or was there something at play here I didn’t recognize.

Glancing at the young girl, I found her frowning in a way that made my heart hurt. She looked like she was about to cry.

She looked fine, other than her emotional state at least. She looked to be ten or so years old, and like most girls her age was scrawny… though she did seem to have some rather thick hair. It was as dense as it was long. She needed to braid it.

Other than her hair, she really did look fine. Her clothes were simple, but it was likely because she was poor. Or from a poor family, at least.

“Just take care of her for now, Lasly! Jeez! The priest can handle her tomorrow!” one of the women shouted, and then the two of them pushed the young girl forward… up into Lasly. Then before anyone could say or do anything more, the two women turned around and left.

“What…! You damned bags!” Lasly shouted at them as she grabbed the young girl by the shoulder, to keep her from falling over by bumping into her.

“Did they just abandon her?” I asked.

“So it seems,” Oplar said.

“Blasted...!” Lasly cursed under her breath as she stepped back and stared down at the young girl.

The girl looked up at Lasly, but wasn’t crying. She looked about to, but hadn’t yet. She was either unable to comprehend what was happening… or…

I realized she was likely traumatized. If she had washed ashore, then… well…

“Family?” Lasly asked the girl.

“Fires,” the girl responded.

“Aye. Figured… just great. Come in then. Soulless wenches, I swear their hearts are cold enough to put out the fires if we could wring them,” Lasly said as she guided the girl into the inn.

Wanting to comment that Lasly had just been kind of trying to argue and deny the girl just a few moments ago, I smiled gently instead as the girl looked at me and Oplar.

“Just great. Pa won’t be happy about this at all,” Lasly mumbled as she shut the inn’s door and latched it, locking it once more. Likely for good.

I waved at the young girl as Lasly stepped around her. “Pick a room. There’s food and drink behind the bar, you’re old enough to take care of yourself aren’t you?” Lasly asked the girl.

The girl nodded up at the innkeeper. Lasly sighed and nodded back and then glanced at us.

“Keep an eye on her, yeah? Toss her out if she tries to open the door for anyone,” Lasly said as she walked away, heading back down the hallway and to the back of the inn… where her families rooms were located.

A little dumbfounded, I shifted and glanced at Oplar. She glanced at me and gave me a sad, knowing frown as she shrugged.

Lasly mumbled and complained the whole way down the hallway, and then slammed her door rather loudly. Likely hard enough to wake other people up. As if she wanted the rest of those asleep to wake and suffer just because she had been bothered.

“I had not thought her unsympathetic,” I said softly.

“People get cranky when woken up in the middle of the night,” Oplar said lightly, and then yawned.

“You can go back to sleep, Oplar,” I said. It was my turn to watch the fires tonight anyway.

“Awake now. You there, tiny little thing you are, hungry?” Oplar asked the young girl with a smile.

The small girl shifted and then frowned and shook her head.

“Really…? She just gave permission for us to loot her stores, we should at least benefit from it,” Oplar said with a grin as she stepped away, heading for the kitchens and storerooms.

“Really doubt she meant that, Oplar,” I said.

Oplar giggled, not caring, as she stepped behind the bar and headed into the kitchen.

Oh well. It was true though.

“My name’s Renn,” I greeted the young girl with a smile.

For a small moment the girl stared up at me with a strange look, and then sniffed. “Angie.”

My smile grew. “Nice name. Come on, let Oplar cook us something then you can go get some sleep,” I said with a gesture to the table I had been sitting at all this time.

Although there were plenty of tables here, since it was something of a tavern… I had been using the same one since arriving here. I felt like I had claimed it for my own, somehow.

“I just woke up,” Angie said softly.

“So I heard. Did you really wash ashore?” I asked as I sat back down in the same chair.

“I guess,” she mumbled.

As I got comfortable I watched the young girl walk over and pull one of my table’s chairs back. She sat down in it, and sniffed again as she leaned against the table, crossing her arms upon it.

She did indeed not look tired… but she also looked about to weep. Hopefully she wouldn’t, it’d make me cry too.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Really… what to do about this? Those ladies had said something about a priest, but…

“You live here?” Angie asked.

“No. Just visiting. You’re not from here either?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I’ve been here before though. With my parents,” Angie said.

Hm. If she’s been here before maybe I didn’t need to worry too much…

Maybe she really was just a kid from one of the nearby settlements. A farm or something. Maybe they’ll be able to find her parents, or…

I gulped as I realized I’d just internally decided to make sure the girl would be safe.

Vim was not going to be happy with me.

The girl sniffed again, and I flinched… but she didn’t start crying.

Instead…

Wait…

I half stood and leaned forward, and reached out to the girl. She frowned at me as I pushed my hand up against her forehead.

“Oh my,” I groaned at the feeling of clammy sickness.

She was hot. And sweaty.

“What…?” she leaned back a little, wearily staring at me.

“You’re sick. You really did float down the river, didn’t you?” I asked.

She nodded softly but said nothing.

Wonderful. A kid being sick was normal, but…

Glancing at the window, and the strangely burnt red sky… in the middle of the night…

The fire was close. Closer than ever. Likely right over the river.

Standing away from the table, I patted the young girl on the head. Her thick, fluffy hair, felt odd. “Stay here for a moment Angie,” I said.

“Mhm.”

The girl was strangely obedient. It probably helped she was sick.

Heading for the kitchen, I found Oplar in the middle of cooking something. She was humming as she cut up vegatibles. “Oplar, she’s sick,” I said.

Oplar startled, knocking off a good chunk of the stuff she had just been cutting onto the floor. I groaned at the sight of wasted food. “You’re kidding? The plague?” Oplar asked.

Oh.

Oh!

I too panicked at first. “I… I don’t know. She’s just hot, and sweaty. But they had said she had floated ashore from the river,” I said.

“Oh… right they had. Let me go check. One second,” Oplar said as she put the knife down and hurried out of the kitchen.

I sighed at myself. Really, Renn, how could you forget? Sure we hadn’t seen or dealt with that plague in a while, but it had been all over…

Glancing at the nearby stove, which was burning hot with something inside it, I figured it’d be fine for a small moment. I stepped away and returned to the inn’s front tavern, and found Oplar smiling down at the young girl.

“She’s just sick, Renn. No spots or anything. Yet, at least,” Oplar said.

“That’s good,” I said.

“Sorry,” the girl whispered.

Oplar ruffled the girl’s hair, which made the girl groan. “It’s all good! I’m making food. You’ll eat then off to bed with you!” she said loudly.

“I’m not tired though…” Angie mumbled as Oplar stopped messing with her and stepped away.

Oplar paused next to me for a moment. “I… don’t need to warn you, do I?” Oplar asked softly.

“You’d abandon her too?” I asked.

“What…? Wait… no,” Oplar frowned at me, and then smirked. “I meant just keep your distance, Renn. Don’t get sick too. I’d not abandon a little girl, jeez, who do you think I am? The Chronicler?” she asked with a laugh.

I couldn’t help it, I smiled warmly at her. “No. I thought not.”

Oplar nodded and patted me on the shoulder as she stepped past, heading back to the kitchen.

Watching my friend go, I felt my smile soften a little.

How wonderful.

Though…

Frowning softly, I wondered if Oplar’s comment just now had been said out of spite for someone she hated… or genuine.

Would the Chronicler actually have abandoned a little girl…? Even if she was a human… wasn’t the Chronicler a member of the church? A rather important figure of it, too?

A tiny sniff drew my attention away from the kitchen and my thoughts, and I found the young girl staring at me.

“Oplar’s big, but she’s nice. Her heart is bigger than she is,” I said as I went to sit back down across from her.

“Mom was big too,” Angie said.

Was…?

Sitting down slowly, I hesitated at the expression on the young girl’s face.

That was…

“The fires…?” I asked softly.

The young girl nodded gently, and my heart wept.

“I see. I’m sorry,” I said gently.

“Mhm,” the girl sniffed again.

A runny nose. Hadn’t there been a towel nearby…?

I found it a few tables over. But it looked filthy. Likely had been used to wipe the tables down.

I’ll need to find her something clean. She was a little girl, after all.

For a short while the young girl and I sat in silence, except for the occasional sniffle.

Oplar was clanking around in the kitchen. I could hear her loud humming as she cooked. The fire in the kitchen crackled, and there was a slight wind whistling outside. I knew it was a hot wind, not a cold one that you usually felt in the middle of the night.

It was strange. It had been hot in the south, where even the wind had made me hot… but the hotness of this wind was something different. A dryer kind of heat, maybe.

“Where are you from?” Angie then asked.

Sitting up a little straighter, I smiled at her. She was staring rather intently at me. Maybe it was because she was sick, but it almost felt like she was enraptured by me. She had a slight flush on her face and everything.

Yes… I’ll not be able to ignore this girl. I’m sorry Vim, but I’ll end up going out of my way to make sure she’ll be safe. Hopefully he’ll understand.

“I’m from the far north. Where it snows more than rains. A place full of huge mountains and deep forests,” I said.

“Hm… Is it far?” she asked.

“Yes. It’d take months to get there from here,” I said. I wasn’t entirely sure the exact location, but I bet I wasn’t too far off.

“Huh… I’ve never been very far from here. My parents never cared for traveling,” she said.

Hm… “Well… like it or not you may end up traveling a little soon. Something tells me that fire will reach here, any day now,” I said.

She nodded. “It’s getting hotter.”

“Well…” I didn’t point out she was likely just feeling hot because of her condition.

“How far is your home from here, Angie?” I asked.

“A little over a day from here. It’s burnt down now though,” Angie said with a sniff.

That hadn’t been a sniffle from her runny nose.

“I see,” I said softly, and decided not to press it. If she was going to just outright say such things, maybe I should just take the hint.

But…

“They’re gone. So is my home. It’s okay,” Angie said softly as she reached up to wipe her nose.

Watching the girl wipe her nose, only to have to sniff again anyway, I wondered if her tough demeanor was just shock. Surely, right? How many little girls could just… lose everything, their family and home, and then say it so readily like that?

“It’s not okay, Angie,” I said softly.

“No. But there’s nothing that can be done about it. Unless you’re a god and can bring them back,” she said as she glanced behind her, to the kitchen.

I gulped as the young girl stared at the kitchen, and Oplar who could be seen occasionally walking back and forth inside it through the doorway.

“Think she’ll make drinks too?” Angie asked softly.

“I’ll make sure of it,” I said as I stood.

“I don’t like tea,” Angie told me as I stepped around the table.

Oh…? “What would you like then?” I asked.

“Warm milk, please.”

I nodded. I knew they had a few pitchers of milk. I had helped carry them in the other day, given to Lasly by one of the nearby shop owners who had fled and hadn’t been able to take the milk with them.

“Did I hear she doesn’t like tea?” Oplar asked as I entered the kitchen.

“You did.”

“Ridiculous! I’ll fix that, you’ll see,” Oplar said with a shake of the head.

I chuckled at her as I found one of the larger pitchers of milk. It was too big to actually use to pour its contents into a cup. It was the type that held many gallons of the stuff. So I instead poured a portion of its contents into a smaller, different pitcher. Then I carried it and a couple cups out to the girl, making sure to bring a couple fresh towels with me.

“I’m not a messy eater,” Angie said as I placed the stuff onto the table, while she eyed the towels.

“For your nose,” I said.

“Oh. Right,” Angie mumbled and nodded as she watched me pour her a glass of milk.

It was a good thing she wanted it warm. Because it was. The inn did have an ice room, but it wasn’t that cold anymore. Not only had they not replaced the ice, it had been left open a lot as they packed for their inevitable departure.

It was why Lasly hadn’t cared if Angie ate and drank her fill. Because there was no way to take all the food with them anyway, even if they wanted to. It’d all just go to waste, or be burnt in the fire eventually no matter what.

“Thanks,” Angie thanked me as she grabbed the cup of warm milk and quickly chugged all of it down.

I had been about to put the pitcher down, to sit back down, but instead ended up just refilling her cup.

The young girl smirked happily as she watched me refill her cup… and then she took another deep drink.

This time at least she didn’t empty the whole thing, but she did let out a tiny burp of relief all the same. “I was so thirsty,” she said with relief.

“Looks like it…” I said.

Odds are that meant she was hungry too. Had… had those people not fed her at all? The ones who had dropped her off, had they literally just dragged her out of the river and then once she woke brought her here?

I had thought humans better than that. Especially towards children.

Maybe the nearby fire, and what it meant, was making people lose their typical kind attitudes. Or maybe people being cruel like this was just… normal. And I’d never really noticed.

I knew people could be mean. And cruel. But I’d always thought humans were nicer to children, no matter the situation. Cruel to another adult? Sure. But a child…?

Though… Lujic and Ginny had been abandoned too. And this girl was even older than they had been at the time.

And Nory. Poor Nory, abused.

Really… what was I to do?

This wasn’t a full grown woman. This wasn’t Elisabell. And although she wasn’t a baby like Hark, he had a family to be given to. People who would love and protect him.

She may have no one now.

Yet she was sitting here. Drinking calmly. Sniffing, sure, but not depressed and crying. You could see her sadness readily, but she wasn’t allowing it to ruin her. Not yet, anyway.

She reminded me of Nory. Of the kids.

Of myself.

“Renn…?” Oplar’s voice drew me from my thoughts, and I realized I had been standing next to Angie and staring down at her rather oddly. With the pitcher still in my hand.

Oplar had emerged from the kitchen, carrying several plates of food. I went to help her, since it looked like she was about to drop half of them. But I hadn’t needed to. She made it to the table without issue and immediately livened up the table… forcing the girl to eat even though she kept claiming she wasn’t hungry.

It seemed my friend of a bear was more motherly than I had thought.

And… she was better than me at controlling her concern and worry. I knew she had heard everything said between us while she had been cooking. Oplar’s hearing wasn’t the best, but it was still better than a human’s. Yet she didn’t seem to show the girl any pity or worry, and instead continued to act as normal. Loud, boisterous, and cheerful.

A far cry from the now depressed cat that I had become upon figuring out the poor girl’s situation.

As I sat with Oplar and Angie, eating and drinking with them through the rest of the night… I did my best to be cheerful too.

I’ll worry and fret over the girl and her situation later. For now I’ll just enjoy the moment.

So that she could too.