NIGHTMARE  NIECE
by HeartSong, and assisted by Melody,daring dragoon, and Emmygirl
Edited by Melody
        "I can't wait to see my niece, Julia, again! Last time I saw her, she was a baby!" Emilia exclaimed. She was waiting with Jack on the docks for her niece's ship to come in.
        "Hey, that must be the ship!" Jack said, pointing to the huge ship that was making its way slowly into the harbor.
    When the people started getting off the ship, Jack muttered, looking at each one, "Too young, too old, not a girl, too ugly....."
        "That must be her!" Emilia exclaimed suddenly, pointing to a pretty girl of about thirteen or fourteen years old. She wore a long green and white dress. Her long brown hair tumbled over her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled with excitement and mischief. The girl smiled when she saw Emilia and Jack, and walked over slowly, with delicate steps.
        "Hello, are you my Aunt Emilia?" the girl asked.
       "Yes, Julia," Emilia said, smiling. There was no doubt this was her niece.
    Jack rolled his eyes. "Great, a kid version of Em," he thought.
       "So, are you Aunt Emilia's boyfriend?" Julia asked Jack, grinning.
      "Julia!" Emilia said, shocked and astonished. "A young lady should know to speak with respect to her elders!"
      "I'm sorry, Aunt Emilia," Julia apologized. "Yet, what else am I supposed to think when I see you here with a man and I know that there's been no word of you remarrying?"
       "I don't care what you think, as long as that's all you do."
       "Hey Em, cut the kid some slack. Geez, she's only been here two minutes and already you're harpin' about her manners," Jack cut in before Emilia could continue berating the girl, forgetting about his earlier perception of her. "By the way, since your Aunt forgot to introduce me, I'm Jack Stiles."
        "Pleased to meet you," Julia shook the hand he offered. "You're an American, aren't you?"
        "Is it that obvious?" Jack feigned surprise.
        "Well, I noticed that you speak more like an American than like a British or French person," Julia said, smiling sweetly. "I've been to France, Italy, and America many times," she added, boasting.
         "Well, Julia, let's see about getting you settled," Emilia said, eyeing her niece nervously. They were supposed to have dinner with Croque, and she hoped that Julia wouldn't say anything too bold.
     Noticing the large crowd of boys following Julia, Jack whispered to Emilia, "Looks like your niece has a fan club."
     Emilia glanced behind them and saw the bunch of googley-eyed young men. She halted suddenly, causing both Julia and Jack to bump into her. "Will you please stop following us?" Emilia asked.
         “Don't think you're going to get rid of them that easily," Jack said at the same time Julia exclaimed "Auntie Em!"
         "Julia, you are here visiting me, not trying to find a husband."
         "Well, it doesn't hurt to look, does it?" Julia pouted.  “Besides they’re my friends! I'll be right back, Aunt Emilia!" Julia said cheerfully.
      Looking back at Jack, Emilia silently followed her niece and hid behind a wall, listening and watching. She watched as Julia smiled and said something to one of the boys, teasing them, probably. Emilia then almost fainted. Her niece was kissing one of the boys! "Time to try to create something in the lab," Emilia mumbled, shocked.
      Julia had returned to where Jack was by the time Emilia got back. “Well, let’s continue, shall we?” Emilia said, ignoring the glare from Julia’s eyes. The group of boys followed them once more. Emilia turned again and politely demanded they disperse.
       At that moment, Captain Brogard and a group of French soldiers appeared. "Is there a problem here, Madame Rothschild?"
      Emilia shook her head, seeing that the French arrival scattered the young men. "Not now, thank you."
       Brogard bowed. “Good day, Madame. Monsieur Stiles.”

 Once they reached home, Emilia pulled her niece into the study. "Julia, you are supposed to be upholding the family name!" Emilia scolded Julia, whose eyes were filled with tears.
          "But....." Julia whispered.
          "Em, let me handle this," Jack said.
         "Don't forget that we're going to be eating at Croque's home tonight," Emilia said, leaving to change her clothes.
         "Julia, you remind me of one of my friends, Kentucky Sue," Jack said.
         "Your friend?" Julia teased.
         "Just a friend!" Jack said.
         "Sure," Julia said, rolling her eyes.
         "Like aunt, like niece," Jack thought, noticing this.
         "Oh, by the way, Mr. Stiles, I wanted to know something. I heard that there was some sort of local hero.....the Daring Dragoon, I believe he's called. What do you know about him? And does anyone realize that Palau Palau means Island Island?" Julia asked.
     Jack bit his lip. "This kid loves to ask questions," he thought.
         "Just go change for dinner!" Jack said, not being able to come up with a good response.
        "Why are we going to have dinner at Croque's anyway? Who is he? A frog? Get it? 'croak'" Jack rolled his eyes and went to get changed himself.

     Later that night she brought up the subject and started to ask so many questions that they were thrown out. The next day when a ruckus happened the Daring Dragoon found something odd: there were now four Daughters of the Dragoon! Later that night he talked a bout it with Emilia.

     Julia put on a long blue and white dress. She wrote in her diary:
         I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Aunt Emilia and her friend. Her friend's so......so......I can't think of how to describe him! Aunt Emilia got angry when she saw me kissing Daniel. She probably wouldn't believe that we had met on that ship......Why does life have to be so complicated?
       Julia sighed and brushed out her long hair, then carefully curled it. When she finished that, she picked up her diary once more and wrote about the dinner.
         At dinner......
                "Sir, your name fits you well," I said to Croque.
                "Oh?"
               "Yes. Frogs say 'Croak' and Americans often call French people frogs!" Isaid, laughing.
         Perhaps that was not the best thing for me to say. Mr.Stiles almost choked, and Auntie Em hid her face behind her hand, and the Governor and his Captain...well, they almost did look like frogs tonight. Their faces turned a  pale shade of green. Funny, I always thought people turned red if they were embarrassed.
        Julia giggled. The expressions on everyone's face were so........funny! At least, she found it funny.
 

       That night later on, Julia sat in her bed, wearing her long white silk nightgown and pink velvet robe. She was in the middle of reading a good book when she heard a sound come from outside.....near the balcony outside her room.
          "Who's there?" Julia called nervously, stepping out onto the balcony.
          “But soft, what light through yonder windows breaks? It is the East, and Julia is the sun!" a voice said, as a person stepped out of the shadows.
          "Daniel!" Julia exclaimed, laughing.
       Daniel kissed her, then brushed his black hair back. "Your aunt seemed pretty mad at me, Julia," Daniel said, looking unhappy.
         "She's been after me, telling me 'Uphold the family name!'" Julia said, tossing back her long hair.
       Daniel laughed. "She's the wrong person to talk! She's living with a man and they ain't even married!"
       Julia sighed and put her head on his shoulder. "Daniel, I'm worried. If Aunt Emilia finds out that you was here, who knows what she'll do to you? Maybe she'll have you locked in the Bastille," she said softly.
           "Why the Bastille? Why not in ol' Croquie's dungeon full of snakes and other nasty things?" Daniel quipped.
            "Or-" Julia started to say, but was silenced when Daniel kissed her.

      The next morning when Julia came down to breakfast, she could only pick at her meal and did not say a word.
           "You're being very silent. What's wrong?" Emilia asked Julia.
      Before Julia replied, Jack ran in.
           "Someone broke several windows of Croque's house and painted the name Daring Dragoon on it!" Jack gasped out.
      Emilia slowly turned to Julia, who had turned as white as a ghost. "Julia, do you know something about this?" Emilia asked.
           "No.....What makes you think that?" Julia said quickly.
           "Because of the way you've been silent and just now you looked as if you'd seen a ghost."
           "I'm just a little tired, that's all," Julia lied.
           "I'll bet," Jack muttered.
           "Jack, do you know something I don't?" Emilia directed.
          "No," Jack lied. Emilia looked at him suspiciously but he did not budge. Finally she just let the entire situation drop.
 

    Later,  Julia walked into the library of the house. After reading a few pages of a book, she muttered, "Boring!" She tossed the book into the fireplace. When she saw that the book wasn't being burned, she leaned over the fire and slowly placed her finger in the fire. No burns. Julia climbed into the fireplace. "Wow," she whispered. She slowly walked down the stone stairs to the lab. Suddenly, she heard voices, and hid behind several large objects.
    Jack and Emilia walked into the lab.
          "I'm telling you Em, I didn't break Croque's window!!!!"
          "I'm not saying you did!" Emilia pouted. "I'm just saying that we need to fix this mistake before it becomes something serious!!"
          "You're right!" Jack said. "Any ideas Brainack?"
          "Well, the other day I concoted a...." Emilia stopped short when Julia fell onto the floor from her hiding place. "JULIA!!! What in the bloody hell are you doing here??"
           "Aunt Em, what is this place?" Julia asked.
           "Well, Julia, what are you doing down here? " Emilia said again.
           "Mr. Stiles, why would someone think you broke Croque's windows?" Julia asked, looking both curious and nervous.
            "Uh......well....." Jack couldn't think of anything.
            "Julia, why did you come down here?" Emilia asked once more, looking angry.
            "Well, I....." Julia couldn't think of a good excuse.
            "And look at your dress! It's ripped! Go change," Emilia ordered a very frightened looking Julia.  To be certain she obeyed, Emilia followed the girl through the fireplace, Jack coming up behind her. As they emerged there was a knock at the front door. Puzzled, Emilia answered it, only to find Croque, Brogard, and several soldiers.
            "Yes, may I help you?" Emilia said.
            "We're here to arrest your niece for the destruction of Croque's home," Brogard said.
           "What?!" Emilia gasped, seeing Julia's pale face and wide, scared eyes.
           "She will be hung at dawn tomorrow," Brogard said.
           "Wait, wait, wait! Hold on here! You're gonna hang a kid?" Jack said, astonished.
           "She is the main suspect in the crime," Brogard said.
           "I say we give the poor kid a trial," Jack said, looking at Julia and seeing mute gratitude in her eyes.
            "Ok, but if she is found guilty, we WILL hang her," Brogard said coldly.
            "Oh, no, you will not!" Emilia and Jack said at the same time. Jack put an arm protectively around Julia's shoulders.
           "I know Julia didn't do anything. She may be a girl who says what's on her mind, but that doesn't make her a culprit in this crime, Brogard!" Jack said.
           "Well, then you'll have to prove it in court," Brogard said.

     It did not take long for Croque to grant Julia Smythe a trial, and soon everyone on the island was gathered in the courthouse.
          "Croque VS Smythe case," the baliff announced.
      Julia bit her lip. Jack smiled. This case was in the bag. Both Croque and Julia would be speaking for themselves.
          "Call your first witness," the judge told Croque.
          "I call Captain Brogard to the stands," Croque said calmly.
          "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" the baliff said.
          "I do," Brogard stated, looking tense.
         "Captain, you were on patrol last night, and I correct?" Croque said.
         "Yes, that is correct," Brogard said.
         "Did you see anyone near the house?" Croque asked.
         “Only a group of boys and before that, that girl and her beau," Croque said.
     Emilia, shocked, stared at Julia, who looked scared.
          "Hmmmmmm......" Jack said. He was figuring it out.
     Brogard was asked several other questions, the Julia went up to cross-examine him.
           "You say you saw me and my beau BEFORE you saw the boys. About how much before?" Julia asked.
           "Oh, about two hours," Croque said.
           "And when you saw the boys, what did you do?" Julia asked.
          "I went inside for some water," Brogard said.
        *******************************************************
          "I call my first witness, Jack Stiles, to the stand," Julia stated.
         "Mr. Stiles, do you-" the baliff began.
        "Yeah, yeah," Jack said.
        "Mr. Stiles, you saw the defendant also, am I correct?" Julia asked.
   Emilia gasped.
        "Yeah," Jack said.
       "Well, would you please, uh, describe everything?" Julia said.
 *Flashback* "It was exactly eleven-thirty at night. I was still dressed in my regualr clothes. Well, I decided to go get a midnight snack, so I began to go to the kitchen, but I heard a noise that stopped me. I went outside and saw that kid, Daniel, just sitting on the balcony, talking to the defendant and kissing her. A few minutes later, they climbed down to the ground. Curious, I followed them. I followed them to several places, including Croque's home, which they only passed. They went right back the house where the defendant is currently living. Well, suspicious, I kept my ear to the door all night, but all I heard was their snoring. They had fallen asleep," Jack said.
      Emilia looked angrily at her niece. First she goes roaming all over town, then she lets a strange boy sleep in her room, if not her bed!
     Croque couldn't think of any questions to ask, and said, "No questions, your honor."
                         *********************************************
         "Despite the evidence proving her innocence........we find Miss Julia Smythe guilty of the crime," the judge said.
         "No!!!!!!!!!" Julia screamed, beng carried off by soldiers.
         "Don't take my niece!" Emilia screamed. But there wasn’t anything they could do…
                *********************************************
    It was dark in the jail- dark and cold. The fact that it was now nighttime didn't make it any better. Julia shivered involunatarily, a tear running down her face.
         "Why?" Julia whispered.
         "Julia," a voice whispered at the window. Julia looked up and saw Daniel, looking in.
         "Daniel, you'll get killed coming here," Julia whispered, walking over to the window.
        "I don't want you to be hung," Daniel whispered, slipping his hand through the bars of the window and gently squeezing Julia's hand.
    Julia smiled sadly. "It'll take a miracle to save me," she said softly.

   The next morning…..
        "Wake up! It's time for your hanging!" a harsh, angry voice said.
    Julia sat up, yawning and blinking. She had fallen asleep on the cold floor. Slowly, she stood up and walked out of the cell, being shoved by the warden to the place where she would be hung. Sadly, she looked at everything. "Goodbye, everyone and everything I've known. Goodbye, Daniel. I love you. Goodbye, Aunt Emilia. I'm sorry for ruining your life. Goodbye, Mr. Stiles. Take care of Aunt Emilia," Julia thought, a tear running down her face.
        "Quit stalling!" the warden barked, shoving Julia up the steps and onto the platform. Julia gulped as her eyes took in the noose swinging before her.
   Something was wrapped around her hands and the noose was placed around her neck. Trying to block out the feel of the rope on her skin, Julia looked at the aristocratic crowd that had gathered to see her swing. As she scanned the crowd, she was glad that her Aunt and Mr.Stiles were not present.
   Croque rose from where he'd been seated. "Before we proceed, would the young lady like to say a few last words?"
   Julia nodded her head vigorously. "I would just like to say that I'm sorry and aardvark, aardwolf, abaca, abacus, aboveground.." Julia continued to ramble off words alphabetically.
        "ENOUGH!" Brogard bellowed, cutting Julia off as she got to the E's.
        "Couldn't agree with you more, Brogey!"
     Brogard grimaced at the all too familiar voice of insolence. "The Daring Dragoon," he almost hissed. "I was wondering when you would show up."
     Julia kept going. "Each, eager, eagle, eaglet, ear, earache, eardrum, earl, early, earn, earnings......."
          "Shut up!" Brogard said, getting even more annoyed.
     Julia kept talking, without signs of a sore throat, or even being tired of talking! The crowd looked both amused and tense.
          "Um,kid, I think everyone knows you know your ABC's," the Daring Dragoon quipped.
          "Well, until you get this noose off my neck, I'm going to continue! Earshell, earsplitting, earth, earthling, earthly..."
     The Dragoon shook his head. "Women!" he muttered as Brogard gave the signal to attack. The Dragoon easily beat the two French soldiers that came for him, and the three that followed. "Come on Brogey, now it's just you and me!"
          "So it would see," Brogard raised his sword. The Dragoon easily parried the captain's thrust and came back with another, knocking the sword from his hand.
          "..fish, fit, flight, flip.."Julia was still going through the alphabet.
    Before anyone could stop him, the Dragoon ran up to the platform and removed the noose from Julia's neck. “There!"
         "Thank you," Julia said and, before anyone could stop her, she kicked Brogard- right where it hurt the most! "That's what you get for not telling the whole truth! I saw who broke Croque's windows- YOU!" she screamed, punching and kicking Brogard- and causing some serious damage to him.
        "Hey, easy there Tiger! We got to go!" the Daring Dragoon pulled Julia off Brogard and carried her to where his horse was waiting. Before Julia could find the air to protest not being able to give the captain his just desserts, she was holding on for dear life as they rode away from the palace.
     Croque turned to his captain. "Brogard, I think you have some explaining to do."
     Brogard could only groan.

     When the Daring Dragoon finally stopped Nutcracker (Julia finally learned the horse's name because the Daring Dragoon had a minor disagreement with the horse about which direction they were going),she saw that they were on the other side of the island. A ship was anchored a hundred yards from shore.
         "What's going on?" Julia asked.
         "You silly goose, we're getting you out of here!"
         "Aunt Emilia?" Julia could not believe it.
     Emilia appeared and before she knew it, she was holding her niece in her arms. "I'm glad you're all right."
         "The Daring Dragoon saved me!" Julia turned to thank him once more, but he had disappeared. "That's funny, he was here a moment ago.."
         "Hey Em, everything's ready," Jack Stiles walked up to them, and nodded towards the ship.
         "But....." Julia started, but stopped when she saw Daniel break through the treeline.
         "Hey, Ju, heard you gave ol' Brogard a real beating!" Daniel said, running up to her.
         "Yeah. He was practically BEGGING for mercy and-" Julia started.
         "Julia," Emilia warned, “we don’t have much time.”
     Julia started crying. She would never see Daniel again, probably. She loved him and would probably never be able to fall in love again.
        "Julia, what's wrong?" Daniel whispered.
        "Daniel, I'm going to be leaving Palau Palau," Julia said softly, her green eyes clouded with sadness.
     Daniel's eyes were instantly filled with sadness and pain.
        "But...." he started.
      Julia sadly reached into a small pocket of her dress and pulled out a gold ring delicately incrusted with tiny diamonds. She handed it to Daniel.
          "But I gave that to you to keep," Daniel whispered.
          "Give it to a girl who won't just have to leave your life because of being wrongly accused of something," Julia said, running off towards the boat sobbing, the tears running down her face.
      Daniel watched her go for a moment before looking at the ring she had pressed into his hand.
           "Daniel, I'm sorry," Emilia said softly, seeing his love for her niece.
           "Sure," the young man spat. "You didn't want her to be with me!"
           "That's not completely true!" Emilia protested.
      Jack placed a hand on the boy's shoulder before he could say something else. "Listen, I think I might have an idea that may leave both parties happy." Emilia looked at her attache' doubtfully while Daniel smiled.

       Julia watched the island become smaller and smaller as the ship headed out to sea. Her goodbyes had been sad, although Mr.Stiles and her Aunt said she would see them again, and perhaps Daniel too. "Yeah, right," she sniffed.
              "Excuse me, but is this ship going to England?" a familiar voice asked.
              "Daniel?" Julia looked up and her jaw dropped. Sure enough her beau was standing there, a smug grin on his face and love shining in his eyes.  "But..but how?" Julia stammered.
             "You can thank a certain American who convinced your Aunt that I might be a good apprentice to your father, and that he might agree to let you marry me."
             "But what about your parents?"
        Daniel laughed. "Don't worry. They're fine with the arrangement."
             "But-" Julia started once more and was silenced by a kiss.

       Jack and Emilia stood watching the ship carrying Julia and Daniel disappear from view.
              "Well, that was certainly an interesting experience," Jack said after a moment.
              "Yes, it was," Emilia nodded her agreement. "At least they're happy."
              "Yep. Love conquers all!"
 

THE  END
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