Chapter 8
NELLIE LEFT the shepherd’s house as quickly as she dared. Down the steps, into the courtyard and across the alley. She collected the hessian bag with the empty bowl in it from under the table in the church vestibule and set off for the palace. A steady drizzle fell from the sky, making the cobblestones slippery.
As she passed the church, the sound of voices drifted out, but she kept walking. She felt guilty that she couldn’t do more for Jantien and Mina and those poor children. The shepherd was right: with the coming winter, things would get worse. Many more people would find themselves without a home.
At one point some people sheltered in the main church, too. One of them had reportedly stolen something. But why did that make all the poor people thieves?
But she could still
