The Blue Woman and the High Wood
Book Two in the Nyla Series
Adam Cole
Chapter Six
(C) 2013, 2016 Adam Cole
Published by Nuncici Press, an imprint of Adam Cole Works LLC
Nyla and Vival knew why Sherluck was so certain that Chere would not appear. Through some mysterious enchantment, the thin man shared a body with the woman he claimed to be attached to. Either of them could change into the other when it suited them to do so, although once changed, whoever was in the open got to make the call. Typically, Sherluck changed to Chere when some danger threatened him, while Chere, who tended to be a little more principled, gave Sherluck a chance whenever she thought his particular skills might be needed.
In this case, Chere had known that Sherluck was a capable sailor and could be of help. It was no small sacrifice, for Sherluck would hold on to the body for as long as he could, giving no thought to the woman he kept inside. Nyla and Vival had no intention of telling the Captain Sherluck’s secret however. He very well might double the fare if he found out.
So Sherluck was allowed to stay.
They found him in the galley an hour later helping the cook rustle up food for the hungry sailors. By the time Nyla and Vival came down, it was clear that Sherluck had made a friend of the cook by being able to completely take over his duties. The cook, unused to leisure, retreated to a table where he picked at his arm and sampled Sherluck’s fare.
Nyla and Vival had to agree that Sherluck’s work in the galley was excellent, especially given the poor ingredients he had to work with. Still, Nyla was glum, and they both hunched over their food as the copper stove hissed from across the room and the coals underneath heated up the small space uncomfortably.
“I miss Chere,” Nyla muttered.
“Oh, she’ll be back,” Vival remarked wryly. “Sherluck’s enough of a coward that he’ll bring her back at the next sign of trouble.” He fell silent and gazed at her, afraid to ask the question that was on his mind.
She looked up at him and her mouth thinned into a long, stern line. “I told you, I don’t like talking about it,” she said.
“We have to get to the bottom of this at some point, Nyla. I’m bringing you to the Sand Witch, even though I’m not sure it’s the right thing to do.”
“I don’t care,” Nyla said unhelpfully, shoveling a spoonfull of porridge into her mouth.
That was a completely unhelpful answer. It told him nothing about what she knew or didn’t know. “Nyla,” he said, “I hate to press you. I know you don’t want to tell me. But were you expecting anything like that woman when we left this island?”
“I told you I don’t remember the woman!” shouted Nyla. A number of the sailors peered over their hands at the two of them, suspicious looks on their faces.
“Don’t shout,” whispered Vival, embarrassed. “What about the storm. You remember that?”
“Well, duh!” Nyla exclaimed, pouting into her bowl.
“Were you expecting that?”
“Only because it happened the first time,” she said.
“You mean when I tried to take you off the island in my little boat?” Vival had forgotten about that. When he first tried to remove Nyla from the island, they had quickly run into a storm which had dashed his little craft on the rocks of Veer Isle.
“Well, duh!” Nyla said again. Vival’s knuckles whitened.
“But why?” Vival insisted. “Why would something want to keep you there? You don’t seem to belong on the island. You don’t look like anyone else there.”
“The Clef thought I belonged,” Nyla said sulkily, referring to the keeper of the sacred instruments of the Kingdom under Mount Ingfier. “He was my friend.”
“I’m your friend, too!” Vival reiterated. “That doesn’t mean you and I—“
“Belong together?” Nyla finished. Vival realized he had stepped into one of Nyla’s traps.
“Oh, look. That’s not what I meant…”
“Can we drop it now?” Nyla interrupted him, glaring.
“I just want to understand how you got there…” Vival began.
“I don’t understand lots of things!” Nyla cried. “I can’t understand why an island would try to keep me on it, or why I can’t even remember a huge woman that seems to like me…” Her eyes began watering and her lips trembled. Before anyone could see her cry, she buried her head in her arms.
“Listen,” Vival said, as gently as he could. “The Sand Witch knew you didn’t belong there. She sent me to find you. She called you ‘The Princess!’”
From inside her arms, Nyla heaved sobbing breaths.
“Don’t worry about it,” Vival said, putting his large rough hand on her arm. “You don’t have to tell me anything else. Can we both agree that you wanted to be off that island?”
Nyla nodded from inside her elbows.
“When we get to the Sand Witch she’ll tell me what I need to know. Then we can decide what to do. One thing at a time. Like Sherluck!”
Nyla made a choking sound. Vival thought she was crying again, but when she looked up through her teary face, he saw that she was trying hard not to laugh. She was looking at Sherluck cooking for the crew. He saw them look over, and he saluted once with a little grin, the way he had for the Captain, before burning the fingers of his other hand on the stove.
More about The Blue Woman and the High Wood
Now that Veer Isle was secure, it was time for the hero Vival to take Nyla to see the Sand Witch. Accompanied by Chere/Sherluck and Tom the Incredibly Helpful Sword, Nyla and Vival board a ship bound for Zen.
But trouble begins as soon as the ship leaves the harbor. A terrible storm comes up. The sailors want to throw Nyla from the ship. And rising out of the ocean is the mysterious Blue Woman.
Adam Cole is an author and music educator in Atlanta, GA. He has written numerous books and stories for children, as well as a number of adult and non-fiction titles including Motherless Child and Seven Ways the World Can End.
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