Beginning Anew

For her

Walter sat near the top of a tall tree, peering into the darkness to get a feel for the terrain. He growled, annoyed that he still hadn't shaken Alberto.

The infamous bad weather of Europe picked the wrong time to disappear. The night was clear and cloudless, and the moon shone brightly. If he took wing now, Alberto would surely see him.

The blue-skinned troll had proven relentless in his pursuit of Walter, and he growled at the thought of the young changeling, still lurking much too close for his liking.

If he could find just one thick cloud to use for cover, he could fly away unseen, leaving Alberto safely behind. But to fly on such a pristine night wasn't worth the risk. Any human out this late, armed with a cellphone camera could snap a picture or catch video of him. Becoming a YouTube celebrity wasn't something Walter wanted – especially not like this.

All he could do now was keep sending messages to Barbara asking her to continue without him while he went in the opposite direction. Every night he hoped for rain, clouds, a storm – anything that might provide enough cover for him to fly back to Barbara without being tracked.

Not being able to move during daylight hours made him even more anxious.

He narrowed his eyes at the cloudless sky and hissed at it, frustrated. Just one cloud – that was all he asked for. Yet none appeared.

Walter sighed and snatched a quick glance down at his phone. He could almost feel Barbara's frustrations emanating through it. On the screen was written the same message he'd sent her too many nights in a row, "Go on without me." It pained him to send it again, but he had to keep Barbara out of this.

Walter let out a low, frustrated growl and sent the message.

Barbara hated this – being out on her own, not knowing what was happening to Walter. The only consolation she had were his text messages and his explicit instructions not to call him, so he could preserve precious battery life. Barbara knew it was also to keep her from giving away his location – if unintentionally.

She paced between two trees outside their parked van, waiting to hear something from Walter. The night was clear and crisp, and she pulled her jacket around her a little tighter.

Emil was fussy tonight, so she took him out of the cradle stone for a while. She made sure he was bundled up enough to shield him from the chilly night air. Right now, he was laying quietly on a low boulder several feet away, watching the leaves falling from a nearby tree.

Her phone buzzed.

Here it was again, the same infuriating message. The only variation was the name of the city. "I won't be able to meet you in Liberec. You should go to the next stop. I shall attempt to meet you there."

Barbara fought the urge to slam her phone down. Nothing! This was a whole lot of nothing! At least Jim was nice enough to text her some details of what was going on – well, when she finally forced him to text her.

Were all men like this? Getting into trouble and refusing to tell her about it?

She shot back an angry reply, "What's happening?!" No response.

Maybe Walter turned his phone off again to save power.

Barbara fought back another surge of worry. Walter wouldn't do this if he didn't have a good reason. He wouldn't abandon her in a strange country where she couldn't even communicate with the locals well enough to ask where the closest gas station was.

"Walt..." she breathed, looking hopelessly at the phone as if another text would magically appear. "Where are you?" she asked. "What's happening to you?"