Chapter Text
Now, the princess did not let Jemma go out alone, but instead offered her a chariot of pure gold. It was drawn by two white horses, and she had a footman and coachmen to keep her company, and nice boots and a muff to keep her warm. The eagle and his sweetheart went as well, following her for a few miles before they grew tired, bid their goodbyes, and flew home. It was hard for Jemma to part with them, for they had become fast friends, but the eagle from the woods told her that all the birds in the forest would keep watch over her, and they would alert him if she found herself in any trouble.
The chariot went on its way, sparkling like a star, and Jemma was sure that they would soon find the teacher the princess had told her about, and the teacher would know where Fitz was, and she would find Fitz in no time at all. But what she did not know was that there were robbers in the forests they rode through, and the robbers were blinded by the glare of the chariot. They blinked through their tears and saw that it was indeed made of gold and, being robbers, decided to steal it.
They attacked the chariot with swiftness, and soon they seized the horses, killed the footman and coachmen, and dragged Jemma out into the cold night. She buried herself into her coat, afraid, and she was soon set before an old robber woman, whose face was covered in scars like it had been hastily stitched together.
"She is fat," said the robber woman, "and she is pretty, too. I will steal her beauty and her life, just as my beauty and vitality were once taken from me."
Jemma was too scared to even breathe, for the woman had a withering glare and a very wicked smile. Her husband, who seemed small in comparison, stood by his wife's side and nodded.
"You will have whatever you wish, my dear," said he, and little Jemma thought she saw a madness in his eyes. But just as Jemma was sure they were going to grab her by her braid and throw her into a stew, the robber woman yelped in pain.
"Oh!" she cried, and then she turned to find her daughter, who had stomped on her foot. The robber girl jumped on her mother's back, wild and savage as any beast in the forest. Her father watched with an affectionate smile.
"Skye! You bad, wicked child!" said the mother to the robber girl, and the woman was so angry that she forgot all about killing little Jemma.
"She will play with me," said the robber girl, "and she will give me her fine clothes and make me nice food to eat. She will sleep in my bed, and if she ever bores me, I will tickle her with my knife so that she will fear me."
Jemma did not like this proposal at all, but she did not have any say in the matter. The little robber girl's father made sure she had anything and everything she wanted.
Now, the robbers were about to take the chariot and hack it to bits so they could melt it down, but the little robber girl wanted that, too. So she and Jemma were put into it, and off they drove deeper and deeper into the wood. The robber girl was as big as Jemma, with dark hair and eyes that held secrets.
"There," she said, pulling an arm around Jemma's waist, "they shan't kill you, so long as you are with me. No one will." She gave Jemma a smile, and was quite pleased with herself. "Oh, and don't worry about my knife. My parents want me to be as wicked as they are, and they would not have let me take you away if I had done otherwise."
Then the robber girl narrowed her eyes at her, and she looked little Jemma up and down. "I know who you are," she said. "You are the princess who lives in the castle yonder. I will help you escape, but you must take me with you, and let me live in your palace."
Jemma would have laughed if it were not very rude to do so, for she thought that no one could ever mistake her for someone so strong. But instead, Jemma told the robber girl her whole story, and how she was looking for little Fitz, and how much she needed to find him. The robber girl gave her a nod, and she dried Jemma's eyes.
The chariot arrived at the robber's hideout, which was not much more than an overgrown shack with tents all around it. The shack had large cracks in the walls, with ravens and sparrows flying in and out, which made Jemma feel quite safe. Surely, if there was any trouble, she need only to alert the birds for help to come. Inside, she found a large table with food scattered about on it, and a great big fire in the middle that sent tendrils of smoke up to the roof.
"Don't worry," said the little robber girl, "I will take good care of you. You will eat your fill of stew and rabbits, and then you will sleep with my pets."
When Jemma could not take another bite, the robber girl took Jemma by the hand and lead her to a far corner, where there must have been a hundred pigeons roosting.
"My parents intend to raise me up to be like the sky," she said. "Everywhere at once. All powerful. Dangerous. I am to be calm one minute, and a tempest the next. It is very tiring."
"You do not wish to be the sky," said Jemma, who was worn out by the whole ordeal herself. She had to stifle a yawn, which proved catching, for the robber girl yawned, too.
"No, I do not. I do not wish to be a thief at all."
Jemma could tell that there was truth in these words, for they leaked out of the corners of the robber girl's eyes and dripped down her dirty cheeks. Jemma tried to dry the girl's eyes, but it was no use. The girl started sobbing. So Jemma wrapped the robber girl up in her arms and sang her Fitz's hymn as a lullaby.
Daisy, my daisy, when winter has past
That is the time when I see you at last
You spring up in sunlight, and then I can see
The sunshine in you, in the world, and in me
And Jemma sang it quietly and gently until the crying stopped, and the robber girl let out a shaky breath.
"A daisy," she said as she unwrapped herself from Jemma's arms. "It would be nice to be a daisy."
"It is not bad to be the sky, either," Jemma assured her. "The sky is whatever it wishes to be. And so shall you be. I will see to it."
The robber girl offered Jemma a smile, rubbing the last tears from her eyes.
"That is what Mack says to me. Would you like to meet him?"
Before Jemma could think to answer, the robber girl scrambled to her feet and ran off. She returned a moment later with a large reindeer, who had a bright copper ring around his neck.
"My parents say that we must keep him close," said the robber girl, "lest he escape in the night. But he is too good to leave me here alone. Now, tell him what you said before, about little Fitz and why you came out into world."
Jemma told the whole story again, and the ravens cooed up in their roosts above. Jemma wondered if they had already heard it all from the eagle. The reindeer listened attentively, asking questions where questions were needed, and when Jemma finished, she found that the robber girl was fast asleep.
Jemma found that she had questions for the reindeer, about his life and how he came to be there with the robbers. But as she opened her mouth, the robber girl's father and mother came in the door, and the reindeer paled. Jemma looked around and saw the sleeping robber girl, her quarreling parents, and the quiet reindeer, and felt very alone until she thought to look up and see the two sparrows who remained awake above her.
"Coo coo," they said, "we have seen little Fitz. His sledge was drawn by a white horse, and he was sitting with goblin that calls himself the Snow King. He drove by us as we sat in our nests, and he blew upon our young ones and froze all except we two, coo coo."
"What are you saying up there?" asked Jemma, "where was the Snow King going? Do you know anything about it?"
"He is most likely going up to Lapland, for there is always snow and ice there. The reindeer can tell you how it is."
"There is ice and snow," he said, "and it's a very nice place. You can run and jump where you like, or you can keep to yourself, and no one will bother you. It's nice enough that even a goblin like the Snow King can look around at it's beauty and find a small sliver of peace. He is on the island, which is called Spitsbergen."
"Oh Fitz, little Fitz," sighed Jemma.
In the morning, she told the robber girl all that she had learned from the sparrows and the reindeer. The little robber girl looked quite solemn, but she nodded her head and said, "I see now that Mack will have to leave me after all. He will have to go to Lapland with you."
"No," said the reindeer. "If I do, you will be left here alone."
"But Jemma is going out in the world alone, and you know where she is going."
The reindeer looked at the robber girl, then at Jemma, and relented. "Who knows better than I? I was born and brought up there."
"Listen," said the robber girl, "you see that all our menfolk are away. That leaves only my mother to deal with, and I am more than a match for her. I will give her some wine, and she will take a nap. Then, you can make your escape."
The robber girl jumped out of bed and did exactly as she had promised. When her mother had had her draft from the bottle, and drifted into sleep, the little robber girl came over to the reindeer and said, "I have had the greatest pleasure having you here as my friend. I will hate to see you go."
"And I," said the reindeer.
And she took off his halter and his copper ring and sent him off, giving him strict instructions to stay with Jemma until she found Fitz. As for Jemma, the robber girl made sure she had the warm, fur boots and muff given to her by the princess.
"You shan't be cold," she said, "no matter what the Snow King has to say about it."
And she gave Jemma two loaves and a ham, and told Jemma not to cry as she sent them out into the wide, wild world.