Ninita and the fox burst through the window, the little girl’s hands holding tightly to the long fur on the fox’s neck. Monica’s front paws just touched the wooden ledge outside the window before she jumped into the rain gutter running under the window.  There was only just enough room for the fox’s slim form in the gutter, but Monica quickly slipped into it and padded along.

The open window was left behind as the fox followed the worn out gutters. She rapidly passed one stone house, and then next, making her way along the long row of buildings. Every few steps she would raise her nose and sniff the air before continuing, the gutters bouncing and squeaking each time the fox bound ahead.

 Ninita looked down over the side of the gutter, her eyes darting all over the street down below.

There were so many people down there and she never knew where to look. Even if they were giants to her, they all looked the same from up here! Almost everyone had dark hair. And most of the men had the same looking hair. And they never looked up, no matter where they went! How could she see their faces if they didn’t look up? Monica was a smart fox, but could she really find Jonas in all those people down there? A cold shiver passed through Ninita and made her stomach twist. What if they were all lost? Or the big guards found Jonas first?

The little girl shook her head. Strands of hair slipped free of her messy braid and fuzzed around her head.

 No, she couldn’t think that. Her teachers would want her to pray and look for the answer that was given to her. And Jonas had said she could trust him and Monica. ‘He has been really nice. And he promised me that he’d help me find my way home. AND he promised to not lie. So…Great Creator please help me, and Monica, and Jonas. We need help finding each other. And getting away. Please.  Oh, and thank You!’

Ninita smiled as she finished her prayer. It was going to be ok now. She just needed to remember that Jonas and the Creator had promised it would be. And she had Monica the giant fox to help her too.  The little girl giggled and leaned forward to lovingly hug the fox’s neck, the red and white fur enveloping her slight body.

 Monica suddenly stopped her quick steps and barked. The sharp noise startled Ninita and she leaned back to look at the fox’s face. “Monica? What’s wrong?”

The fox barked again, whining a little. She turned her head and nosed Ninita with her long snout.

Ninita smiled and her eyes became round as she quickly understood. “You saw something? Where? Is it Jonas?”

 Trying to get a better view, she leaned over the side of Monica’s neck, her upper body half dangling over the side of the rain gutters.  The fox’s green collar just stopped the little girl from falling off of Monica’s brindled back when the fox abruptly starting running.

“Wait! Monica!” Ninita squealed and clutched onto Monica’s neck again. “Where are we going?!”

The fox ignored the little girl and ran on.

It quickly became a bumpy ride. Most of the boards were slick from years of rainwater, but the heat had put big cracks in them. Monica slipped past the ones she could dodge, and jumped the worst. The peeling paint made her paws slip, but the fox was able to right herself before her legs became tangled.

Ninita did her best to stay on the sprinting fox, holding on with all of her strength and pressing her face into the fox’s neck.  But even as Monica scrambled from one gutter to the next, Ninita relaxed a little into the wild movement. She had ridden on big draft horses before. Riding Monica was like that. Almost like that. Monica was bigger, and she moved all crazy. But it was close enough to help her remember the few instructions given to her.

Ninita relaxed her body and adjusted her seat. The inside of Monica’s collar steadied her, but Ninita didn’t feel it as she naturally let her body sway with the fox’s.

A wild thrill went through the little girl and she laughed. Maybe when they found Jonas, she could ask him if Monica could go back to the orphanage with her. The teachers probably wouldn’t be happy with having a giant fox on the grounds, but she was better than the horses!

The fox barked.

Ninita was lost in the thought of which girls and teachers would be scared, and she didn’t hear Monica bark the second time. She was thrown back into the collar when the fox abruptly stopped. The little girl laughed and pulled herself back towards Monica’s neck. The ride had been too much fun to be scared of one bad stop.

Monica turned and looked out over the street, whining as she watched something down on the street below.

Ninta gasped and looked down to find what the fox had seen. How had she forgotten about Jonas? Holding fistfuls of fur, and she leaned over the side of the gutter.

The street had widened into a large plaza, the cobbled way now covered by large stone pavers. The buildings were still mostly stone, but smaller wooden structures stood in what gaps the builders could find, squeezing together and leaving narrow alleys between. People were spilling out of the buildings, crowding the area. Many were pulling wagons and boxes out of stables built in the back alleys, setting up displays of sickly looking fruit and vegetables on tables. They tried to hide how little they had to offer customers with other goods, but the state of the wares was impossible to miss. Beggars lined the walls or sat on the ledges of dry fountains, their hands outstretched to the pressing crowd. Some people just sat, not looking up at any of the passing people, but staring at the ground. Families that were out and shopping, looked straight ahead and kept their children close with sharp words; they had nothing to spare any of the desperate people around them and tried to completely ignore them.

But Ninita’s brown eyes swept over the mass of people and immediately saw the one man that was running down in the marketplace. Some people moved out of his way, but the young man was able to slip past most of them before they even saw him. A large pack on his back, and another slung over his chest and thick coat, barely slowed his sprint.

“Jonas! That’s Jonas!” Ninita said, bouncing in excitement. “We found him!”

Ninita’s hands flew up to her mouth and she was just about to call out to the running giant, when a group of six men in light armor suddenly entered the plaza. Her hands dropped and fear flooded her eyes.

They were far enough away from the running man that they didn’t instantly see him. The little girl and the fox watched, still as statues as the guards split up, one group of three moving down the right side of the square, while the other group went down the left.

Ninita gasped. “They’re too close Monica. We-…We have to warn Jonas!” She lightly kicked the fox’s sides, her feet tapping Monica just hard enough to let the fox know it was time to run again.

Monica was startled enough to start running at the light kick. She could instinctively feel her little rider’s fear and worry, and it only drove the fox to run even faster than she had been.

The fox sprinted, following the gutters along the side of the plaza. Ninita watched Jonas as well as she could while she held on to the sprinting fox. He was still running, a little slower now, but he still stayed far ahead of the guards. How was she going to get his attention? He was too far away still!

Jonas ran on.

People were still moving out of his way when they saw him, but he entered a different part of the marketplace, jumping down steps and pushing his way through a packed archway, and was instantly faced with an even larger crowd. The area was teeming with bodies, most were men and women who stood around crafters tables, shopping through inventory and haggling prices. The beggars were thicker here too, but hired guards stood at many of the tables, discouraging them from coming too close.

The young man pushed through, leaving a trail of jostled and irritated people behind him.

Dodging around a shocked mother and her screaming infant, his bag became tangled between his legs. Ninita gasped as Jonas fell onto a table, bolts of cloth and dress forms falling everywhere. He got his feet under him and was able to catch one of the now bare mannequins before it hit the ground. The dressmaker’s husband lunged across the table towards Jonas, but the other man was already stumbling away and out of his reach.

Jonas shrugged apologetically and tossed the mannequin towards the man before running on. The angry man left his table and chased after Jonas, but the younger man veered into a group of people. Jumping into a dry fountain behind them, he ducked behind the line of beggars on the brim and waited. The merchant quickly gave up searching and stomped back to his irate wife.

Ninita laughed as she watched the man try and calm his wife down, holding the small dress form as she slipped a child’s dress back over it. It wasn’t a nice thing to laugh at, but the little girl couldn’t help herself.

 The fox trotted forward, following Jonas’ progress through the plaza. Ninita blushed and looked back to the fountain where Jonas was. She needed to warn him before the guards came!

Jonas was easier to spot this time. He was quickly walking through the fountain’s basin, his dark head swiveling back and forth from one side of the plaza to the other. Every few steps he would duck down, peering through the crowd and past their legs.

 The little girl watched, her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to figure out what he was doing. The giant crouched again, but quickly looked back up to look the other way. She could just see that he was frowning, worry deep on his face.

Suddenly, Ninita knew that he was looking for her and Monica. But he thought they were somewhere down in the plaza!

“Monica! Stop!” She pulled on the fox’s fur.

The fox felt the tug and stopped, whining and turning her head toward Ninita.

“He’s looking for us Monica! Look!” Ninita pointed and the fox looked back, her long ears flicking forward as she caught onto the little girl’s excitement.

Excited and grinning, Ninita knelt on the fox’s back. “Jonas! JONAS! Up here Jonas!” Ninita waved her arms over and over. The giant would see her, she knew he would.

Ninita squeaked when the man in the fountain started to look up, his eyes confused but searching upward now.

“JONAS!  UP HERE!” She yelled even louder.

Monica added a sharp bark, and Jonas’ eyes finally traveled up to the roofline and found them. He was far away, but she could see his mouth drop open in shock as he realized where they had been.

Ninita laughed and waved harder. He had found them! They would all be alright now…

“Oh no…Jonas! L-LOOK!” Ninita shouted as loud as she could and pointed behind him.

Fear dropped through the little girl and closed around her heart. She had forgotten about the guards. But now it was too late. She could only watch as three armored men walked up to the fountain and began to impatiently pulling people off the rim.

“HALT, and stay where you are! Curse you, no more running!” The heated order rang across the square.

People stopped and turned. Many of them became completely silent as a heavy alarm settled.

Breathing in short, scared breaths, Ninita stared down at Jonas. He had turned to face the men, his hands moving in tense gestures as he talked with them. His words were lost to the dry wind that blew through the plaza and she couldn’t hear anything he said.

One of the guards, clearly annoyed, shook his head and signaled to his men. The other two jumped into the fountain, and were quickly joined by the last three guards who had just found them.

Shaking his head in frustration, Jonas turned and looked back up to Ninita and his fox. His hands went up and framed his mouth. “GO! Go on Ninta! …Monica, RUN!”

Ninita was thrown forward as the fox suddenly sprang ahead, running as Jonas had commanded. Whimpering from fear, she slid down till she felt the collar on her back again and her legs straddled the fox’s shoulders.

The little girl felt sick to her stomach from the sudden movements, but she looked back, searching for Jonas. He was still in the fountain, hands up as the guards slowly closed in. How was he going to get away now?

Next Chapter: New Chapter