“You almost ran me down,” Landon shot back. “You actually aimed my own vehicle at me and almost ran me down!”
“I didn’t see you standing there,” Aunt Tillie hedged. “I forgot to turn the lights on. It was dark. It was an oversight really.”
Landon narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits. “You didn’t have permission to drive my truck in the first place. You stole my keys from my pocket when I wasn’t looking.”
“That’s an ugly lie,” Aunt Tillie countered. “You dropped your keys, and I merely picked them up.”
“I didn’t drop my keys.”
“You did so.”
“I did not.”
“You did so.”
“I did not.”
“Oh, shut up,” I ordered, slapping the table for emphasis and earning dirty looks from both parties. “Is now really the time for an argument?”
“They’re only doing it to keep warm,” Bay explained, sitting in her usual spot. “It got cold out there fast. They’re not really angry with each other.”
“But she did try to kill me with my own truck,” Landon muttered, sliding into the chair on Bay’s right. “You can at least admit that.”
“She missed you by a good five feet.” Bay looked weary as she patted his knee. “You’re okay.”
“See,” Aunt Tillie said, beaming.
“Don’t push your luck,” Bay warned, extending a finger. “I can take only so much.”
“Whatever.” Aunt Tillie shook her head and turned toward me. “Where is Annie?”
“Winnie took her upstairs for a bath the moment we hit the front door,” I replied. “She should be down soon. I wanted to go with her, but Winnie just kind of took over.”
“That’s what she does,” Aunt Tillie said. “Annie will feel better after a bath. Then we’ll get some food in her and bundle her up in front of the fire. She’ll be back to her old self before we know it.”
“That sounds fabulous.” I said the words even though part of me didn’t believe Aunt Tillie was right. “Did you see anything in the woods?”
I didn’t miss the quick glance Aunt Tillie shot in Landon and Bay’s direction.
“No,” Landon answered after a beat. “There was nothing out there.”
“I’m not an idiot,” I pressed. “I saw that look. You found something.”
“We don’t know if we found something,” Bay clarified. “It’s too … weird … to wrap our heads around.”
That didn’t sound good. “What did you find?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Aunt Tillie said, turning her attention toward the stairs when she heard Winnie’s voice. “It’s nothing that needs to be brought up in front of Annie.”
I turned to Bay, unconvinced. “Are you sure?”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Bay said, keeping her voice low. “It was weird. I’m honestly not sure what we found. For now, though, you need to let it go. Annie is our priority right now, and we need to focus on her.”
I wanted to focus on Annie, so it wasn’t difficult to push myself to a standing position and shuffle toward the hallway. “I won’t forget this. You’re going to tell me what’s going on later.”
“We’ll tell you,” Landon said, “but we can only focus on one thing at a time. Right now, that’s Annie.”
I was reluctant to let it go, but Annie needed me … and I had every intention of being there for her every step of the way.
Six
I went straight to Annie when I saw her round the corner in her fuzzy pajamas. Marcus beat me to her, though, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to the table so he could settle her on his lap. Winnie looked as if she was going to argue against the coddling for a moment, but I planted my hands on my hips, practically daring her to say something. Finally, she merely shook her head and moved to the end of the table.
“Is everyone hungry?” Winnie asked, feigning brightness.
Annie didn’t respond. Marcus pushed her damp hair out of her face as he forced a smile. “Annie and I would like a huge plate of food. Isn’t that right?”
Annie remained mute and stared blankly into space, causing my heart to roll. I risked a glance at Bay and saw her conflicted eyes resting on the girl. Landon absentmindedly rubbed the back of Bay’s neck. He looked equally concerned.
“Well, I for one am dying for a good meal,” I said, hoping I sounded chipper rather than deranged. It’s a hard line for me to toe and I don’t always recognize how creepy my expressions come across until it’s too late. As if reading my mind, Bay shook her head and offered me a rueful look, so I took the smile down a notch. “How about some hot chocolate, Annie? That’s your favorite.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” Winnie, who had been fluttering her hands at the edge of the table, hurried into the kitchen while Marcus accepted the plate Twila slid in his direction. He kept one arm wrapped around Annie as he cut the meatloaf. He looked lost, and I felt helpless because there was nothing I could do to make the situation better.
“Do you want some mashed potatoes?” I asked hopefully. “You love mashed potatoes and gravy. You like to make a fort. I’m sure Marcus will make a fort for you.”
“Of course I will.” Marcus bobbed his head. “I love a good mashed potato fort as much as the next person.”
“Okay, you need to knock that off,” Aunt Tillie said. She’d been so zealous when digging into her dinner she’d managed to get mashed potatoes on her cheek. She either didn’t notice or didn’t care. I had a feeling it was a mixture of the two. “You’ll freak her out if you keep doing that.”
“Doing what?” I protested, annoyed. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re being a kvetch,” Aunt Tillie shot back. “That’s this one’s job.” She jerked a thumb in Clove’s direction, earning a scowl for her efforts, but kept her eyes focused on me. “Be calm. Don’t push her.”
Aunt Tillie is stubborn. Sometimes it’s her best trait, and sometimes it’s her worst, depending on how the day is going. I can be just as bad, though, and now I refused to back down. “She needs to eat.”
“And she will,” Aunt Tillie said, extending a finger to cut me off when I opened my mouth to argue again. “Trust me.”
I didn’t have many options, so I merely rolled my neck until it cracked and fixed her with a challenging stare. “Wow me.”
“I will.” Aunt Tillie licked her lips and gripped her fork. “Annie, pick up your fork and eat your mashed potatoes.”
“Oh, good grief,” I muttered, annoyed. “That won’t work.”
Aunt Tillie ignored me. “Annie, pick up your fork and eat your mashed potatoes.” Her voice was firmer this time.
Annie remained silent and staring for a full beat, and then, to my utter surprise, she lifted the fork from the side of her plate and dipped it into the mashed potatoes. She took a heaping forkful to her mouth and methodically began to eat. She didn’t engage with anyone at the table as she did it, but she picked a rhythm and stuck to it.
I exhaled heavily, relieved. “I … how did you do that?”
Aunt Tillie shrugged. “I’m magic.”
“At least you didn’t try to run her over with a truck,” Landon grumbled.
“Oh, suck it up,” Aunt Tillie sneered, her eyes flashing. “You’re still alive and you have your love monkey to cuddle with tonight. You’ll be fine.”
Landon rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips tipped up as he glanced at Bay. “Are you my love money?”
“I thought you were my love monkey,” Bay teased, some of the weariness fleeing from her vivid blue eyes.
Landon gently rubbed his knuckles down the side of her face. “I’ll be your love monkey if you eat your dinner quickly. I’m tired and want to head back to the guesthouse so we can get some sleep.”
Sleep? How could they sleep when Annie hadn’t spoken one word since we found her? “What about … ?”
Landon offered a firm headshake as warning. “That can all wait until morning
. She needs a good night’s sleep.”
“But … .”
“Landon is right,” Bay said. “She won’t answer any questions tonight. Forcing her will only traumatize her.”
“Oh, well, that’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day,” Aunt Tillie drawled. “I almost thought your hormones had taken over your brain the way you were falling all over Landon in the woods. But you seem to have regained your senses.”
“How was I falling all over Landon?”
“You know what you were doing,” Aunt Tillie replied. “All of that ‘Landon, hold my hand. Landon, don’t go too far. Landon, you’re so hot.’ It all drove me nuts.”
Bay made a face. “I don’t sound like that! And I never said ‘Landon, you’re so hot.’ Stop making things up.”
“You should’ve said that,” Landon teased. “It doesn’t matter, though. We can’t push Annie to talk when she’s not ready. We’ll see how things are in the morning and go from there.”
“She probably shouldn’t stay alone in her room,” I mused, running her hand down the back of Annie’s head. “Maybe we should put her in a room with Marcus and me. We can sleep on either side of her and make her feel safe.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Winnie said. “We have one open room, and it has a queen-sized bed. I can set you up in there.”
“Sounds good,” I said, smiling at Annie as I smoothed her hair. “You ate all of the mashed potatoes. Good job. You need to eat the corn now. You can have cake or pie if you want, too.”
Annie didn’t respond, instead using her fork to spear several corn kernels and slipping them into her mouth. She remained unresponsive, but I was happy to see the color returning to her cheeks.
“It’s going to be okay, Annie,” Marcus murmured into her hair. “We’ll take care of you. We’ll keep you safe.”
I nodded as I attempted to anchor the emotion. “I won’t fail you again. I promise.”
“ALL SNUG, my little bedbug?”
I had no idea why I said it – other than my mother used to say it to me when I was a kid – but I was so anxious as I tucked Annie into bed between Marcus and me an hour later that I was willing to fill the silence with anything. It didn’t matter how ridiculous it sounded.
Marcus flashed a smile as he got comfortable. “This is kind of nice, huh?”
I arched an eyebrow and flitted a dubious look in Annie’s direction. Her face was stony and she didn’t appear to notice. “Not really.”
“I don’t mean the part where Annie got lost,” Marcus said. “I mean this part. You and me sharing a bed with a little girl. Er, wait, that came out totally wrong and creepy.”
I couldn’t help but smile. He was adorable when flustered. “I think I know what you mean,” I said. “It’s kind of like we have our own little family.”
“Exactly.” Marcus looked relieved. “We have a fire going, the bed is warm, and Annie is safe. It’s a good night.”
Annie’s eyes were pressed shut. The only sign that she was still awake revolved around the way she clutched at the comforter.
“It’s okay, Annie,” I whispered, attempting to straighten her fingers in an effort to relax her. “Marcus and I are going to stay right here with you all night. I promise everything is going to be okay.”
Annie made a small sighing sound as she shifted and put her head on Marcus’ shoulder. I couldn’t help but smile as he traced small patterns on the back of her hand.
“It’ll be okay,” Marcus repeated. “I’ll be here when you wake up. You won’t be alone at all tonight. I promise.”
Almost as if she needed to hear the words before dropping off, Annie sighed again before her body went limp. Marcus recognized the moment she dropped off, and grinned at me over her head.
“See. This is nice.”
I extended my hand over Annie’s body and linked fingers with Marcus, creating a protective wall over Annie’s small body. “We need her to tell us what happened. We have to know. We can’t just ignore it and let her crawl inside of herself.”
“We’ll talk to her. We’re simply waiting until tomorrow morning. There’s no sense getting worked up.”
“But … .”
“Thistle, there’s nothing we can do right now.” Marcus’ voice was firm. “We’re both exhausted. It’s been a long and trying day. Can we table it until morning? I’m begging you.”
I wanted to push him further – mostly because my mind was so busy and I was doubtful I would ever manage to turn it off long enough to slip into sleep – but I couldn’t argue with the sentiment. “I’m sorry.”
Marcus squeezed my hand. “Don’t be sorry. You’re tired, baby. You need sleep. I need sleep. Annie is already out. Let’s join her. Morning will be here soon enough. We can deal with our bigger issues then.”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” Marcus lifted our joined hands and kissed my knuckles. “I love you. Go to sleep.”
“I love you, too.”
And, despite my assertion only moments before, I drifted off within seconds of closing my eyes. Apparently my body and mind didn’t agree about the sleep thing. I couldn’t help but be happy that my body won.
I DRIFTED in a dark dream, fear licking the corners of my mind as I jerked my head in a variety of different directions. I couldn’t see anything. It was too dark. I could hear, though, and the sounds whipped around me as my terror almost overwhelmed my already fragile brain. Blowing leaves, whispers – oh, the whispers – and the sound of footsteps in the forest caused me to bolt to a sitting position, heaving out uncontrollable gasps as I focused on my surroundings.
I was still in the bed with Marcus and Annie. She tossed and turned fitfully, and Marcus rubbed his hand over her cheek to soothe her. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “It’s just a dream.”
Was it? A dream, I mean. Was it something she made up in her head or was it a memory? And what about me? Did I merely dream what I thought happened to her or did I somehow slip into her head and get a glimpse of a child’s terror? In some respects, that made sense. I’d felt fear before, but nothing compared to the dream. Was it Annie’s fear I felt?
“Are you okay?” Marcus asked, his eyes drifting over my features. “You look pale.”
“I … had a nightmare.”
Marcus furrowed his brow, concerned. “You don’t usually have bad dreams. It must be everything that happened today catching up to you.”
I wanted to believe the assertion but I couldn’t. “Sure.”
I shifted my eyes to the door when it opened, gawking at Bay and Landon as they hovered in the doorway. Bay was dressed in fuzzy sleep pants and a hoodie and a Landon’s hair was tousled from sleep. I met Bay’s serious gaze over the muted light – Marcus left the lamp on low so Annie wouldn’t wake in darkness – and I could see worry etched on Bay’s face.
“What’s going on?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“I … don’t know.” Bay shuffled into the room, her eyes fixed on Annie.
“She had a dream,” Landon volunteered, sliding a worried look in Bay’s direction. “She woke up gasping and couldn’t catch her breath.”
Marcus flicked his eyes to me. “So did Thistle. What did you dream?”
“I … don’t know.” That wasn’t a lie. I had no idea what I saw in the dream. I couldn’t put a name to it other than fear.
“I think it was something from Annie’s memory,” Bay offered, moving closer to the bed. She sat at the end of the mattress, forcing Marcus to move his feet as she rested her hand on top of Annie’s leg. “It was dark. I was in the woods but I couldn’t see anything. I could hear the trees in the wind, though. I could hear footsteps. There was … whispering.”
“You heard the whispering?” The question was out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. “It sounded like a woman, right?”
Bay widened her eyes and nodded. “You heard it, too?”
“How is that possible?” Landon
asked, creeping closer. “How could you all share the same dream?”
“We’ve theorized before that Annie has a little witch in her blood,” Bay mused. “She can see ghosts. That’s not a human characteristic. That’s a witch trait. Maybe she inadvertently called to us when she was frightened.”
“Why couldn’t she do that when she was lost in the woods?” Marcus asked, stroking the back of Annie’s head to offer comfort. She’d ceased whimpering and relaxed into a normal sleeping pattern again. “If she could reach you on that level, why not earlier?”
“Probably because we’re at our most unguarded in sleep,” I answered, rubbing my forehead to ward off a building headache. “We’re cognizant of our actions and thoughts when we’re awake. Someone can’t just wander into our heads because we would actively work to keep them out.”
“But it’s different when you’re asleep?” Landon asked. “Is that like subliminal messages? I mean, say I whisper that you want to smell like bacon for an hour while you’re sleeping. Will you wake up and roll in bacon?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Landon’s face was so earnest – and Bay’s so annoyed – that it broke the heavy spell in the room.
“That’ll never work,” Bay answered. “However, if I whisper that you’re going to want to give me an hour-long massage when we wake up, that will probably work.”
Landon smirked. “Good to know.”
“So you’re basically saying that you have no idea what this means,” Marcus prodded. “Do you think it was real or a nightmare?”
Bay shrugged. “We won’t know until we question Annie in the morning.”
“Which is four hours away,” Landon noted. “We should get back to the guesthouse and at least try to get some sleep.”
“Why did you come here?” I asked, genuinely curious. “You knew she was safe. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Not twice, at least.”
“I wanted to see her,” Bay said through a wan smile. “I can’t explain it.”
“I get it.” I blew out a sigh. “Landon is right. Morning will come early. We won’t be able to deal with this until then.”
Thistle While You Work: A Wicked Witches of the Midwest Short Page 5