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It’s just desolate.
This can’t be it. We couldn’t have come all this way for nothing.
My heart sinks and my stomach feels heavy. We’ve been walking for two days. It took two fucking days to walk here with the baby and my bag o’ kittens, and there’s just nothing. I’m out of diapers, out of food, and out of luck.
What did I expect?
I shake my head. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up, but I did. Somehow, I thought there would be someone here. Maybe several someone’s. I thought there would be information on how to find Fablestone. Hell, I kind of thought maybe this was Fablestone or that there would be some sort of secret portal, but that’s not happening. That’s not here.
There’s just nothing.
Daisy starts to cry, and as I approach the base of the tower, I look up at it. Vines cover the old tower. How fucking old is this thing, anyway? Kids in town always come up with weird legends and fables surrounding the stone towers, and even though I know it’s stupid, I always sort of thought they must be a little bit true.
I always thought there must be something more in the forest than we thought
.
Then again, maybe I’m too much of a dreamer. Maybe I’ve been reading too many books, watching too many movies. Real life isn’t some magical fairytale that can be neatly tied up with a happily ever after.
I know that.
“This can’t be it,” I whisper. “This can’t be the end.” I swallow hard. Daisy starts to cry louder, and the last thing I need is for any predators to find us. It’s the middle of the night and it’s going to get cold soon. The best thing to do would be to create a shelter and camp here tonight. Then in the morning, I’ll figure something out. I don’t know what, exactly, but I’ll figure something out.
I lift Daisy out of the baby carrier and she instantly calms.
“That’s better, isn’t it, Daisy?” I ask. She coos and reaches for my face, touching my cheek. “Yeah, I don’t like to be all cooped up, either.”
I carry her over to the base of the tower, lower my backpack, and sit down with my back to the tower. I turn Daisy around so her back is to my front. She sits in my lap while I rustle around in my backpack. To my surprise, there’s a single diaper left, and I pull it out.
“All right, little monkey,” I tell her. “It’s go time.”
I get her changed and set up a new bottle. The kitten twins are somehow sleeping. I have no idea how. They’ve basically been meowing the entire journey, so if anyone or anything was following us, they’d have no trouble locating the lady with the crazy cats. Still, it’s nice to have a little bit of quiet. As I hold Daisy, I start to rock back and forth, singing quietly.
I don’t know if the dragon shifters have special songs they sing to their children. I don’t know if they have fairytales they share. I don’t even know what they eat, but I know that Daisy needs to be with her people. I promised Ellie. Somehow, the idea of going back and turning Dais over to child services doesn’t even seem like an option.
No, even if I go back, I’m going to have to find a way to contact Fablestone.
I fish my phone out of my pocket and turn it on, but there’s no service out here. Of course, there wouldn’t be. We’re way too far from civilization for that. Still, I try, holding it as high as I can reach and then staring at it again.
“Come on,” I murmur. Then I look around the clearing. There’s maybe thirty feet to the nearest tree in any direction. I don’t hear anything and I certainly don’t see anything, but suddenly, I’m starting to feel a little scared and nervous. I basically got here on pure adrenaline, but what happens now?
What happens now that we’re here, and there’s just nothing?
No one?
What if there’s something watching me from the darkness?
“Don’t be stupid, Peggy,” I say out loud. “You got this far and you can make it the rest of the way. You just have to have hope. You have to believe in yourself. You can do this,” I say. “You have to do this. For Daisy.”
Then I sit there. Daisy finishes her bottle and quietly falls asleep in my arms. My kittens are still passed out. Me? I’m starting to feel scared and alone. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken up such an important quest all on my own.
You took an oath.
I still don’t know what’s happened to Ellie. Is she okay? Did she go to a hospital? Did she escape from whoever was trying to find her? And why separate Daisy from herself? I don’t actually need answers to that last question. I know why. I might not be a mother, but I’d do anything for my child.
Even if that meant leaving the child with someone else…while I fought for my life.
I close my eyes and stop singing to Daisy. There’s no one here tonight. There’s no one coming for us. In the morning, I’ll have to figure out what to do next. Hike back to my house? Or go deeper into the woods looking for Fablestone? There’s no way for me to know what the right choice is, and right now, I’m just so tired.
