“Perverts.”
That got another quick check-in glance with Hill. Davy raised his eyebrows in a “Well?” expression. When it dawned on Hill what he was asking, he shook his head in a violent no. Fraser had been…
He’d never been a bad stepdad, Hill supposed. Detached, reserved, and sometimes disinterested, but Hill realized that had been his best. It was better than some got. If Fraser hadn’t killed his dad, Hill might even have been grateful.
“I appreciate you weren’t,” Davy said. “That would have sucked.”
Fraser puffed smoke like a dragon when he laughed. “I guess there’s that too, then,” he said. “I never wanted kids or a wife, but…I can appreciate why people do. It’s comfortable.”
That wasn’t the most passionate declaration in the world. Hill appreciated that. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something pale flap in his direction. He looked over, and to his surprise saw Hen duck out from behind a tree, gesture emphatically at him, and then nip back out of sight again.
He hesitated. She poked her head out and looked at him expectantly. The chicken beak was missing—reminded, Hill felt for it in his pocket, ready to offer it up--replaced by a wooden mask of interlocked fingers. She gestured urgently for him to come over to her.
Hill took an uncertain step in her direction, and then another. A glance back over his shoulder showed that Davy hadn’t evennoticed he was gone yet. Emboldened by that, Hill covered the rest of the ground to where Hen was hidden.
“Hen,” he said. “You’re OK?”
She came in for a hug. Hill froze, his body at odd angles and his back hunched to compensate.
“Oh,” he said. “That’s what we’re doing. Didn’t realize.”
She squeezed him tight, rubbed his back with both hands, and then leaned back. “I’m OK,” she said. “You need to come with me.”
Hill stepped back. She tried to cling to him, but he’d had a lifetime of extricating himself from over-affectionate people. He squirmed free.
“I can’t,” he said. “There’s not much time left. I have to—”
“That’s why I’m here,” Hen said. “I found your father.”
Hill froze. Figuratively, of course, but it didn’t feel that way. The chill of the Beyond sank right down into his bones and made him feel stiff and slow. He opened his mouth to say something, and where his words had been there was just a hollow.
“You have to come with me.” She tugged on his arm.
A second try and Hill found a few words. “Is he…”
What? OK? Albie Rosen wasdead; that was the definition of not OK.
“He’s here,” Hen said. “But he can’t be seen. You can’t be seen. There’s things we couldn’t tell you before. Come on.”
She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him with her. Hill dug his heels in for a minute, but the promise of beingright—that people really had kept secrets from him—was hard to resist. He checked back on Davy, who was still making awkward conversation with Fraser, and then gave up and fell into step behind Hen.
Maybe Davy could talk Fraser into his redemption, Hill could find his dad, and things could all be set to rights by Christmas morning.
Everyone—his steps slowed without him meaning to, his feet dragging through the dull, dead grass of the Beyond—back where they belonged. That was it, wasn’t it? The closest thing to a happy ending they could get.
“Come on,” Hen urged him. “Hurry up. He can’t wait to see you.”
Hill did as he was told. They cut around the back of the house and headed toward the stables. They had never had horses. A donkey one year—he didn’t remember why, or how—but no horses. They still kept the stables, because apparently, it improved the value of the property if they ever sold. As they got closer, Hill saw vague flickering lights at the small square windows.
“You said you didn’t remember Dad,” he said slowly as he watched the lights.
Hen clicked the fingers of her muzzle together as she looked around at him. Her eyes glittered in the moonlight.
“I lied,” she said, smooth as icing. “I had to, because we couldn’t tell anyone what was really going on.”
She nodded in agreement with her own statement. It made Hill want to buy into it, even more than just his basic desire for this to be real.
“Tell me something about him,” he asked.
