Page 129 of Something Handsome This Way Comes

“What? Is Marigold out ag—” He stopped beside Grievance. “Oh my Lantern.”

Their barn was frozen.

Crystal ice clung to every inch of it, coating the roof, walls, windows, and doors in a shimmering shell. Long icicles hung from the eaves. Thick drifts of snow leaned against the walls, and a perfect circle of white surrounded the outer edges of the barn.

Their cozy barn looked as though someone had plucked it from a winter holiday postcard and dropped it right in the middle of their spooky autumn world.

Milo’s stomach dropped. He ran.

“Mari!”

He was already halfway across the yard. His boots crunched through snow that absolutely had not been there that morning.

“Mari!” Milo grabbed the barn door. It didn’t move. “Fuck.”

Ice sealed the edges. Grievance reached him a second later.

“Move.”

Milo jumped aside. Grievance grabbed the handle and pulled.

CRACK.

Ice shattered around the frame. The door flew open.

“Mari!”

Milo rushed inside. Then, he stopped so abruptly that Grievance nearly ran into him.

The inside of the barn glittered. Frost covered the walls. Hay sparkled beneath a delicate crust of ice. Every breath fogged heavily in front of Milo’s face.

And in the middle of it all lay Marigold. Completely unharmed. Cozy as could be, looking up at Milo like he was the lunatic for bursting into her room.

“Baaa.”

“Mari?”

His goat blinked at him, then returned her head to where she’d been sleeping.

Milo’s knees nearly gave out. “Oh, she’s fine. Thank the Lantern.”

Only then did his brain catch up enough to register what she was lying beside. Something small was curled tightly against Marigold’s belly. Something white. Something fluffy. Something with a long, scaled tail.

Milo stopped breathing. Grievance leaned around him. For several seconds, neither said a word.

Then Grievance said, very quietly, “Our goat has an uncanny ability to befriend rare MythBeasts. Are we sure she is just a goat?”

“Pretty sure,” Milo whispered back.

Milo approached slowly. Marigold made absolutely no attempt to move. Apparently, after befriending one wounded wild creature who had wandered onto their property, she had decided this was her purpose in life now.

“Mari,” Milo whispered. “Sweetheart. Come here.”

“Baaa.”

“Yes, I know. Very inconvenient.”

He crouched and carefully slipped his arms around her.