Chapter 12
NOW THAT SHE HAD A PLAN, they had a few days to carry it out.
First, Nellie needed to secure ham for the carpenter. So the next morning, she went on another trip to the palace. It was risky, and she didn’t need to go for leftovers because they still had the carrots and beans that had been left in the barn, and they now had a supply of fish, but there was no other place that Nellie could get ham.
She got up before the others, wound the shawl around her head and collected her basket with pots to disguise herself as a spice seller.
She stumbled through the dark barn to light the fire and turn up the wick to the old oil lamp and set a pot to boil so that there would be porridge and tea when she came back.
Two sea cows popped their heads above the water, and Nellie tossed them s
