Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things by Matilda Woods

Author:Matilda Woods [Woods, Matilda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2019-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

18

THE BLIND GIANT

Word quickly spread that the cellar below Frau Ferber’s factory truly was as warm as Nim had said. With each passing night, the number of tattercoats seeking refuge grew. Soon, all the tattercoats lined up outside at night – even Sage. As the days grew colder, the tattercoats spent more time inside the cellar than out. Soon, they only left for a few hours during the day to stretch their legs and steal food.

One day Nim went out to steal some dinner. Dusk was falling over the icy city. Fires burnt inside the homes she passed and chugged smoke into the darkening sky. Most people in Hodeldorf remained inside.

The woodcutters were the only people spending more time outside than in. They were constantly leaving the city gates to fell wood, cut it and haul it back to the city. It was a dangerous job, but it had to be done. If the city ran out of wood, the fires would go out and half the city folk would freeze in their sleep.

The main square was almost empty when Nim arrived. Fewer than half the stalls were open and only a few customers passed between them.

The lack of crowds made Nim stand out. Every time she neared a stall, the owners scowled and moved their wares away. It was getting more difficult to steal: all the tattercoats were having trouble. In desperation, Sage had broken into the home of a wealthy duke and stolen enough to feed everyone. But when she’d gone back to steal more the following week, she had found the house bolted up, and even the windows had bars on them.

Nim was starting to fear she would go without dinner when she noticed a trail of food on the cobbles. She followed the food with her eyes. It led to a woman whose grocery bag had split. Nim scooped up the items.

“Excuse me,” she called.

The woman turned and scowled.

“What do you want?” she said. She didn’t like talking to tattercoats. She didn’t even like looking at them.

“You dropped these.” Nim held out the groceries. “There’s a hole in your bag.”

“Oh.” The woman stopped scowling. “Thank you.” She took the food off Nim and hurried down the road.

“She could have at least given me something in thanks,” Nim mumbled to Nibbles. “Or invited me to sleep in front of her fire for the night.”

Luckily, Nim had expected this and kept a little treat for herself. She reached beneath her coat and pulled out a large sausage which she’d stuck under her stockings. “There’s enough here to share with everyone.”

Nibbles had followed the sausage out from beneath Nim’s coat. He twitched his whiskers and licked his lips. He loved sausage.

“All right,” Nim said. “You can have a little bit now.” She peeled back the oiled paper which protected the meat and tore off a piece. Nibbles gobbled it right up.

Nim was just tearing off some for herself when someone tried to snatch the whole sausage.

“Hey! Get off, Blink,” Nim said.

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