Alone, Henry took a moment to contemplate his next move. He couldn’t possibly spend his life serving this giant race only to help them reproduce. “No,” he repeated to himself, he wouldn’t. Was he to run away again if given another opportunity, or should he convince them to let him go. Both seemed risky. There must be a better way. His thoughts were interrupted as the main doors to the temple opened. He glanced over to see the silhouette of a large being in the entrance. Claire? The face stepped into the light, revealing a familiar face: Alice.

“Hello, Henry. I hope I haven’t disturbed you. I saw that our priestess left and was hoping you could do something for me?” She asked.

Henry nodded his head kindly.

“Perfect! I was wondering if you could pick some nightshade roots for us today. When it’s raining, that is the easiest time to retrieve them. I can show you what they look like and how to properly dislodge them and then you can do that the rest of the day. Okay?”

Henry replied, “Of course! You lead the way.”

He followed her out the back door, which led to the edge of the forest. Because of her long strides, henry walked swiftly to keep up with Alice following her to a nearby bush. Pointing to a plant, she explained to Harry, “See this plant here with the thorns everywhere? This is a nightshade. Now the plant is a bit intimidating, but if you dig down, you will find the roots, which are not thorned. In fact, if you look at them, you will see that they are very smooth and very dark. Darker than the earth.”

Alice began digging to example what she was explaining, showing Henry the root. Henry watched carefully as she broke a small portion of the black root away. Offering it to him to feel, Henry grabbed the root which was actually much larger to him.

“Place this in a bag and go around the edges under the trees to find these bushes. Be sure not to remove all of the root, as it will regrow relatively quickly and be able to be reharvested. Just make sure to cover it again wit soil once your done. Got it?” Alice asked.

“Yep.” Henry said assuringly.

“Alright well here’s a small bag for you to use. Make sure you’re inside in a few hours for lunch. I’ll be preparing food.” She told Henry while handing him a small sack.

Henry took the bag and placed his first root of nightshade inside. He watched as Alice took off back to the house. She didn’t even bother to look back, and in a sense, he was sort of free. Taking advantage, Henry trekked the outer edges of the forest, harvesting any nightshade he saw. He was becoming rather good at it, filling up his bag to the brim in less than an hour. As he headed back to the house to empty the contents of his bag, a voice shouted out to him, but in a whisper like tone, making it difficult to hear. Henry turned around seeing no one.

“Henry!” The voice called out again.

Henry spotted a man in a bush about 20 yards away who was waving at him, gesturing for him to come over. Henry was relieved to see another person his size, but was unsure if the person knew the danger they were in. Surveilling his surroundings for any of the amazon women, Henry hurried to the bush once he saw the coast was clear. Nearing the bush, he was finally able to see the man’s face and was delighted to see his old friend, William.

“Will!” Henry exclaimed, greeting him with a handshake. “It’s so good to see you.”

“You as well. We were worried you had died, so I came to find you. What is this place?” Will asked, observing the land behind Henry.

“Get down!” Henry warned. “We can’t be seen together. I’m sort of a prisoner here.”

“What do you mean you’re a prisoner? You don’t have any shackles. We should leave...or hell, we’ll kill whoever trapped you here. Nobody’s gonna give trouble to my friends and live to tell the tale.” Will said confidently.

“Will! These people are...different. I can’t come with you now, but if you meet me later tonight at that temple behind me, we can talk.” Henry advised.

“Meet tonight? Let’s leave now! Quit acting…” Will was interrupted as another voice rang out.

“Henry!!! What are you doin’ over there?” Claire shouted, spotting Henry in the distance.

Henry pushed his friend down into the bush and proceeded to act like he was searching for nightshade. “I’m looking for nightshade!”

Before much longer, Claire was standing over him, peering down at the ground. “There’s no nightshade there, Henry. Besides your bag is already full. Let’s go drop it off.”

Henry was sweating nervously, afraid his friend would be spotted. “ Yeah...uh... let’s go.” He shuffled back and toward the house, fearing any moment she would cry out to her family or suddenly tackle him. Peering over his shoulder, Henry watched as Claire still stood in place, staring into the bush.

“I’ll beat you there!” He said, hoping to coax out her competitive side.

Fortunately she took the bait, and turned to meet his gaze, smiling as though she had already won. Henry bolted as fast as he could, racing for the house. Claire’s long strides followed behind, gaining on him with each step. In a matter of moments, Claire caught up taking her first step in the lead. Henry, a bit competitive himself, pulled a cheap shot and knocked into her legs, sending her crashing into the ground while simultaneously propelling him forward from the hit. They both landed harshly, covered in mud, as Claire pieced together what had just occurred. Sitting up, she looked to Henry who had managed to get up and continue for the door. She was too far behind, and knew he had just managed to win.

“Hey cheater, you’re gonna regret that!”

Henry rushed inside, looking back to his opponent. Putting his hands up, he gloated in his small victory over the amazon woman. His smile quickly disappeared as he watched Claire stand to her feet and begin sprinting in his direction. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to outrun her, Henry slammed the door shut and locked it before rushing up the stairs searching for a place to hide. He dropped the bag of nightshade, not wanting to carry it as he hid. Scanning the room, he nervously tried to spot the best and least expected hiding place. His mind was jolted into a decision once Claire began banging on the door he had just locked. He could only hope for the best now.

---

Claire was a bit upset that the tiny man had not only beat her inside, but had now locked her outside. She rushed around to the front door and busted it wide open, her eyes darting around looking for the tiny adversary. Nothing. How had Henry not learned before?...She was the best tracker in the village, so finding someone in her own home didn’t seem to be much of a challenge. Her first guess was upstairs since that was as far as a person could get from the door that had been locked. Carefully, Claire ascended the stairs, excited to capture the man and give him a taste of his own medicine. Stepping into the room above, she analyzed the corners and potential hiding spots. One by one, she began checking everything: under the bed, the closet, behind furniture, under clothes. Nothing...he wasn’t there. Maybe she had been wrong to begin with and he was actually downstairs. She turned to walk back down when she spotted the bag of nightshade on the floor. She smiled, bending over to pick up the bag, and walked downstairs, no longer worried about finding Henry.

---

Henry watched from above as Claire rummaged through the room, finding no trace of him anywhere. He felt empowered by the fact that he was outsmarting the supposed “best-tracker” and laughed to himself as he clung to the wooden beam above the room. Claire apparently gave up, but funnily enough grabbed the bag of nightshade before heading downstairs. Henry listened as her footsteps trailed off in the distance, before her voice called out to her mother.

“Alice!” She shouted.

“Yes, dear?” Her mother replied.

“Henry left this on the ground empty. I knew what it was for so I just took the time to fill it myself. I haven’t seen him around at all, but if you do, I think he’ll need a server of servers punishment.” Claire suggested.

Henry couldn’t believe what he was hearing and scowled at the thought that she would do something so wicked and dishonest. She must of been really angry about being knocked over. Henry had no idea it would lead to this.

She continued on, “I’ll tell Eve so she knows too. I just don’t want the workload to be UNFAIR.” Henry knew why she emphasized that word specifically.  

Claire exited the house and went back to the fields. Henry watched through the window as she traversed across the farm, heading back to her duties from before. Henry wasn’t going to stand for these lies and decided to clear the air with Alice. Jumping down from the beam, Henry landed with a large thud. He quickly scurried down the stairs, eager to find Alice. She was preparing lunch as expected when Henry entered the kitchen.

“Hey Alice, I heard…” Henry began before Alice immediately interrupted.

“There you are! You thought it would be okay to skip your duties and not dig up the nightshade?! Well guess what?...you are in trouble now. I don’t want to hear any of your excuses. You are going to learn your place around here one way or another.” She said, snatching his face in her hand, smothering his mouth shut.

Her large hands had no problem steering Henry in the direction of her choice. She grabbed some cloth scraps from the counter and quickly bound his hands and ankles together. He began to panic and screamed out, “Wait!!!” when her hands were occupied elsewhere. Consequently, a cloth stripped was shoved into his mouth, gagging it, before being tied around his head. Alice lifted him from the ground with ease, tossing him over her shoulder and walked out.

“I found him! Meet me in the temple. It’s time to discipline him.” She called out across the farm.

In the distance, both girls could be seen walking back to join their mother in the beloved temple.