A Tall and Small Collection | S2

Saving Our Hero pt. 3 (Finale)

Ashlynn, eyes wide, watched as Casper himself stepped out from behind the electrical cover and onto the kitchen counter. She glimpsed two small hands try and tug him backwards, but they did not succeed. They did not follow after him, but undoubtedly were listening with baited breath by the door.

"Please," said Casper. "You've earned my trust. Now, help me save my son."

Ashlynn nodded as slowly as possible and dared to kneel in front of the Borrowers so she was at eye-level with all of them. She dared not make any kind of fast movement, terrified she might scare away the head of the Rafter family. She felt herself trembling and, based on how Casper was standing, he was trembling too.

Soren, Dorian, and Rey were all staring wide-eyed and stock still, not sure whether to watch Ashlynn or to watch Casper. Regardless, all parties refused to back away. This was too important.

Obviously feeling the intense pressure, Casper was the one who broke the silence between them first.

"So, what is your plan? How do you propose getting Hero back?" asked Casper. Ashlynn took a breath and glanced to Soren and his brothers before addressing Casper's question.

"We don't have a single plan. We were hoping to go over that once we got back here, but I do have a few ideas," said Ashlynn. Soren nodded, looking at Ashlynn reassuringly.

"As do I," he stated. "The main thing that I think is important is having two separate teams. We need Borrowers in the wall to go to the apartment and try to get Hero back from the human girl there while we run interference and try and catch the family before they leave. We probably will also need a Borrower to go grab Hero, so we need a team of two doing that."

Ashlynn nodded.

"My idea precisely," she said. Casper looked from Ashlynn to Soren in rapid succession, his eyes looking quizzical and skeptical.

"Who is the dual team?" asked Casper.

"I thought it might be Soren and I," said Ashlynn. Soren nodded his agreement. At that point, however, Rey spoke up.

"No, I want to do it," said Rey. He pulled the blanket off of his shoulders and stood boldly. All eyes turned to him, and even the Rafter children dared to peer out from the cover of the wall to look at Rey. "He's my friend. I promised him I would come back. I need to do it."

"Rey, this is going to be dangerous," said Soren. "Besides, you need to lead the way to the apartment for the rest of us. We don't know where Hero is, but you do." Rey, obviously ready to argue, looked from Soren to Ashlynn, desperation in his eyes.

"Ashlynn..."

"Rey, any other time, I would agree with you, but Soren is right. You're the only one who knows where Hero is. Your job is way more important right now," said Ashlynn. Ashlynn, in a daring moment, reached up and gently laid her fingertip on Rey's shoe. "We're counting on you, and so is Hero. Now, we don't have any time to waist. Do you need any of your inventions?"

Rey nodded and gestured for Ashlynn to turn her hand over so he could climb on. Casper took a few steps back, looking slightly faint as he watched Rey step onto Ashlynn's hand.

"We'll be right back," said Ashlynn before standing up once again and ducking around the corner with Rey. The moment Ashlynn was out of sight, Casper staggered back toward the wall and leaned against it. His children, seeing the coast was clear for the moment, darted out onto the counter to look at their father.

"Dad, what are you thinking? Revealing yourself to that human?" demanded Atlas, keeping his voice low.

"Are you okay?" asked Cali. Tiron said nothing and, instead, looked back at the corner of the wall and then looked to Dorian and his family. Mayzie, sensing something was amiss, was whimpering and toddled forward into Soren's arms. He held her tight to his chest as he looked to Casper.