While the others now searched in groups, Nina Moreland had ventured off on her own. Always adventurous the now 13 year old farm girl found herself peaking into grates or climbing over objects as she searched for the magical toddler.
"Wonder how the others are doing," Nina said quietly. Adjuating her slacks, Nina now chanced a glance at her appearance in a nearby window. Despite the muted appearance, Nina could clearly see herself, alarming the girl.
It was definitely her, or at least her when she was young. An innocent face with a small smattering of freckles on her nose. Ninas sandy brown hair framed her angelic face while her clothes hung on her waifish body. "Now I remember why Daddy never liked all those boys hanging around," she smirked. "I was certainly a cutie at this age."
Nina stretched, making her way down a hallway as she reflected on her youth. She had always been a bit of a tomboy growing up. Living on a farm had meant hard work, meaning the girl had little time for makeup and dolls. Reaching to pull her hair back, Nina clearly remembered the braided pigtails she often wore. "I wonder if I have time to braid my hair," she mused.
Nina shook herself from her stupor. She hadn't worn her hair in pigtails in decades. It appeared she wasn't immune from the mental aspects of this spell either. "Okay Nina focus," she whispered. "You're young." As she spoke she felt herself shrink down to 12. The now preteen girl glancing at herself, raising an eyebrow.
"And getting younger," she grumbled, noting the childish tenor of her voice. "Think Nina. You've had little ones. Where did the boys always like to hide?"
As Nina thought over possible hiding spots, she examined herself. The sleeves of her blouse almost completely covered her hands while her slacks accordianed around her feet. The girl barely 5 feet tall now, sporting barely flared curves with softball sized breasts. Ninas shoes were beginning to be quite cumbersome on her smaller feet. Sighing the girl sat down, pulling her boots off.
"Now I really do feel like a farm girl," she sighed as she looked at her small feet. "All those years as a kid running around barefoot." Cuffing her pants Nina continued her search, her mind continually flashing back to her childhood.
Nina was a country girl at heart. Climbing trees, playing in the creek, running through the fields. Growing up she hadn't been treated any differently than her brothers, even when puberty blessed her with a body that all the boys gawked at and all the girls envied. It was her tomboyish ways and friendly demeanor that had won over Jacob.
"Wonder what he would say now," she wondered. Now she began to worry, what if they couldn't fix this? She was the same age as Connor now. Would she have to grow up all over again?
"Think Nina think," she whispered. "You had boys. You were a hunter. What does your experience tell you?"
Nina rubbed her chin thoughtfully. It came to her suddenly like a bolt of lightning. Whenever she was looking for the boys, she would often find them nearby, hiding in plain sight. Chances were Lynne was upstairs watching everything take place.
Smiling ear to ear, Nina now turned to find the others only to see her reflection. "Huh when did I braid my hair?"
Nina had absent-mindedly braided her sandy brown hair into two long braided pigtails. Nina now shrank down to 11, puberty completely abandoning the young farm girl.
"Okay Nina you need to...you need.."
Nina paused, her mind was growing foggy. It was getting hard to think. She wasn't 11, or was she? Their was something she was supposed to do but what was it? Something about a little girl named Lynne? All she knew was her dad and her two brothers, Caleb and Connor, had raised her to help people in need.
"I better find the others," Nina said. "I bet Lisa's kid sister is upstairs. I hope so though cause I'd hate to miss the Christmas party."
The now 11 year old farm girl now sprinted towards her friends last location. Unaware that they were actually adults or that they were still growing younger.