Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 14: House Guests (Part 3)

By dawn, five scared-silent fairies were underneath a display case in Gretchen's long, well-lit second-floor hallway. They were waiting for an opportunity to make progress toward the stairs, but the humans had been stomping by nonstop for hours.

"Do you think it's safe to move yet?" Joe whispered to Chris when the hall finally cleared.

"I think so."

Chris had been contemplative for a while, trying to come up with the most efficient way to escape from his aunt's house and get to an airport. There were fewer options than he would have liked. The weather, although not as bitterly cold as in Chibougamau, was still on the uncomfortable side. They would have to find an empty house that had an available car and unattended keys. That would require time-consuming trial and error. On top of that, people would be on high alert with a murder suspect in town.

"Why don't we see if Gretchen can help us so we're not wandering around the streets of Westport all day?" Joe said, breaking into Chris's thoughts.

Gretchen. Their instincts about each other had been on the mark. They weren't ever going to part as "friends." Still, she was his mother's sister and had no way of knowing how big of a mess they were in before the SWAT team had shown up.

"Yeah," Chris reluctantly agreed. "We need to at least warn her. I don't want her death on my conscience."

Chris peeked out from underneath the display case. The closest piece of furniture was a decorative table by the staircase, about ten human-sized paces away. He ducked back under when two men in suits rounded the corner.

"That is one long walk," Chris complained once the detectives went into the bedroom.

When the hall cleared again, Chris squatted down to give the twins instructions. "See that table by the stairs?" They peered out and nodded. "I want you to fly over there and hide underneath. Can you do that for me?" They nodded again.

Chris looked left and right one last time. Then he signaled for the twins to fly. Chris, Joe, and Cassie hunched over and watched the children flutter over to the table faster than the three of them could have ever achieved on foot.

Joe agreed to go next and darted out into the open when the time was right. Then Chris looked to Cassie. She was lingering by the wall, immersed in shadow. Her silence hadn't concerned him until now. He walked over to her with a halfhearted smile and put his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon, this is child's play compared to what we've already been through."

"Oh, I'm fine," she said falteringly. "Well, no, I'm not. What concerns me is that I didn't grab my knapsack in Joe's room. It has all of our weapons, supplies, clothing, food. . ."

Chris glanced back at Joe's room. Voices were originating from that direction. "It looks like we're gonna have to cut our losses. I still have my bag. There are a few things we can wear, and there's some money left."

"Sorry," Cassie said with her eyes averted to the floor. "I should have remembered to grab it."

She really was sorry, too sorry under the circumstances. She was acting as if he was going to yell at her. Or worse. He didn't want her head to hang low on his behalf, so he tapped her underneath her chin. She looked up at him with her wide, pensive stare.

"It's all right. You were a little preoccupied saving our tails again. You're one up by the way."

He was still keeping track of who saved whose life. Did she catch that? Of course. A little cheer came to her eyes and it took away a layer of darkness.

"I'm a light sleeper and thankfully you are as well. Joe on the other hand—"

"Could sleep through a nuclear holocaust. He's always been like that. Are you ready?"