...

Effie, shivered in the cold, the dark silence gave her time to think about how she got here. Her mind still triggered back to the awful river, she was still able to feel the water choking her, the rocks beating her with every move. The rushing scene of land passing her out of reach as she tried to just keep her head above water. But she needed to focus now on how she got there. It started that morning, at the pub...

~~~

She did not look at the random silhouette sitting there, just up to the bar to Ely.

“Didn’t I just shoo you away girl?” Elye asked, his smile under his white thick mustache conveyed his ornery attitude, knowing damn well that Effie needed work, and would come in a dozen times today if it meant some dinner tonight. Sick of her face for the day, he had already told her not 2 hours prior to get going to bug someone else.

“I am not here for work.... at this moment, but I will take some if you have it!” She stumbled,

trying to get to her point. “I am here because I saw a taxer guy coming through! I thought I

should warn ya! That’s all. I’ll leave if ya don’t want to know where he was starting in town.”

“You didn’t see the taxman. Where?” he said, trying to clean the counter, while also looking

back, waiting to be proven wrong.

“Fine, I must be wrong. A man with more animal hair than his own hair walking down the street with more gold on than I have ever seen must be nothing.” She smuggly told Elye as she sat at the bar, satisfied she was going to get dinner tonight and not kicked out the pub.

“Oh crap, did he happen to have a gold band around his head, like a halo?” Elye knew that man well. Elye hoped it was at least a familiar tax man. Even if they are all affluent cruel people who take everything every time.

“He was. Tall, bald, tan.” Effie leaned over the bar to see if any food was within reach.

“Angus, great. Just what I needed today. Where did you see him, do I have time?” There was

still a chance Elye could hide anything, he wasn’t sure he could keep going if they lost

everything again. Last time they had taken all the money earned, and most of his stock in food, beer, and even his only goat left.

“I was coming here to tell you but I am so hungry, I almost can’t remember… it's like my mind is a fog with only thoughts of food being clear.” She smiled, knowing he could spare to give something, if the tax man took it neither of them would get it. At least let her eat some inventory before it's taken.

“I have some noodles made in the kitchen, tell me and you can have at it.” Elye was ready to

jump to hide what he can if she would just tell him already.

“He’s over at the market, you have maybe 4 blocks, should take him a few hours. If you throw in some chicken I can help you hide stuff. Or if you feed all of us, we can probably move it all to the abby” Effie may have just kept her eyes out enough today to get her whole family fed. Oh how she hoped Elye would need to cover his ass enough to help the whole lot.

Ely thought about it, he could spare a day’s worth of noodles to keep his goat, he needed her for cheese and without that he wasn’t making much profit off just noodles and bread. The beer brought in profit but half of it was probably going to the tax man.

“Okay, let's do this, you all move everything to the house, and back after the tax man leaves,

and I will give you all noodles AND the last of the chicken I made today if everything returns.”

“Deal!” Effie said before running back to the house to get the kids to earn their dinner. Her short hair was the last you could see of her as she bolted out the door of the pub. Effie had pale violet hair with white and pink highlights, they must have come from her mom, as her dad just was violet. She wished often it wasn’t so different so she would be less noticeable. That's a great skill to have these days, to be unnoticable. Effie hopped up the stairs of the abby feeling energy just knowing food was coming. 

“Paulo get the kids together, we got stuff to move for Elye and we can all eat tonight!!” She

exclaimed as she raced through the door, “If we move things discrete enough to avoid being

seen by the taxman.”

“I’m on it!” Paulo was tall as hell, the tallest person Effie knew, with fiery red hair, and dark

complexion, not dark as Jerrico, Paulo had more freckles and cheekbones for days. But he was quieter than most, he liked to keep his feelings to himself. He was a giant for being only 17.

The youngest of the kids was 12 they think, she didn’t have a name so everyone called her

Sandfly. Sandfly was as persistent as a fly and irritating as sand in your shoe. She could be tough as any of the boys but far meaner if pushed. 

“I am going to bring stuff back while you get the guys to listen.” Sandfly insisted, she was already out the door to get it done before the boys had looked up. "The boys" consisted of 3 thirteen-ish year old boys, who stuck together like a group, to avoid trouble. But had to stay hidden for the most part, or they risk being drafted for some new battle. They weren’t as quick witted as Jerrico nor as good at being unnoticed as Paulo, who for a big kid was surprisingly good at coming and going without a sound. 

By the time Effie was heading back to the pub to help, most of the supplies were on their way to the abbey under the arms and clothes of Paulo and Sandfly. The boys struggling to keep up are not as discrete, following behind them.

~~~

Effie would give anything to go back in time to stop them. To never have told them to help Elye. It wasn’t their fight. And the food wasn’t worth the risk. Costing them their home, and possibly lives. Effie worried how they reacted when they saw her go into the water. Did they respond just as poorly as I did??! Were they thrown in the river too?!?! Should I be looking for their bodies along the banks??? How did their plan go this wrong?

Effie cried for the unknown and for herself, cold and confused. No idea how to ever find her

family again.