Redd punched her in the arm, and she laughingly apologized.
“I want to help. I’m just a little worried,” Faye told them. “I only just came into my powers.”
“Like, in the last few years?” Redd asked.
Faye shook her head.
“The last few months?” Coral asked.
She shook her head again.
“So when?” Redd persisted.
“Today,” Faye said sheepishly.
“Jiminy Cricket! We’re a little less prepared than I thought,” Redd cried.
The room fell silent as they all tried to come up with a plan.
“There’s three of us and one of her,” Coral said. “We just need to distract her.” She turned towards Faye. “Can you make some kind of distraction, something flashy?”
Faye held her hands out, palms facing the ceiling. Two orbs appeared over her hands, and they danced around like fireflies.
“You just learned that today?” Redd asked. “You’re a quick study.”
Faye shrugged off the compliment and turned off her light show.
Coral smiled at her. “I think we can make this work.” She motioned towards the door. “Come with me to convince Jake to let us go? He won’t listen to me.”
The girls walked quickly to Coral’s room, giggling and asking Faye to show off her skills as they went.
When Coral opened the door to her room, a cold breeze hit them. The window was open. She rushed over, looking out into the darkness as a feeling of dread hit her. Faye and Redd came up beside her.
“That way.” Redd pointed towards the woods. “See the tracks? Someone was in a hurry, and they’re dragging something behind them.”
“Jake!” Coral yelled, the thought causing her blood to run cold. She ran from the window, checking the bathroom and the hallway. “She took Jake!” Her knees hit the floor, the room tilting in her view. Then all she saw was Faye’s calm face.
“Look at me,” she coaxed in a soothing voice.
Coral responded, trying to keep her eyes on Faye’s.
“He’s going to be alright, but you need to calm down.” Faye placed her hands on Coral’s temples as she continued speaking in a soothing voice.
A wave of tranquility washed over Coral, and she was able to breathe at a regular pace again.
“What did you do?” Redd asked.
“Just something to calm her down,” Faye replied. “We need her thinking clearly.”
Redd brought Coral her jacket and then reached down and pulled a knife from her boot. “Here, put this in yourpocket.” Redd’s excitement radiated out of her. “We need to go rescue your man.”
Coral jogged alongside Faye as they concentrated on following Redd’s tracks in the freshly fallen snow. Faye guided their way with her dancing lights, but Redd had run ahead of them since she was much quicker than them and an expert at tracking. The blizzard had finally stopped, but the biting cold had not gone away. She slowed as Faye motioned towards the clearing up ahead.
The first thing they heard when they came upon the clearing was Redd yelling at the top of her voice. “Come on you old, nasty sea witch. You didn’t come for him!” Redd bellowed. “What are you going to do with him anyway? You’re too old to have any use for a man.”
It was the last sentence that sent Coral into a full sprint. She could no longer deny it. The sea witch had Jake, and her heart dropped to her stomach. Faye was running beside her and she slipped her hand into Coral’s, giving it a supportive squeeze. Coral’s chest tightened at the gesture.
Redd caught sight of them and raised a hand up to stop them while she gripped her sword in her other hand. Coral and Faye stopped at the edge of the clearing, and Coral looked up and saw Jake floating in a bubble, hovering 10 feet off the ground. He looked unconscious. She gasped and felt her knees weaken again.
