(23) Home Isn’t Home Anymore

(23) Home Isn’t Home Anymore

     Sunset had just begun in the town of Hillcross. Off and on flurries dusted the air, but the wind had lost its bitterness. The stable brigade, as they had been dubbed, were happy for the break in the weather as they sat watching the house. Nothing had happened since everything had happened. The bell had rung, the house had moved, and then Bliss came out to talk to the Marquis and Carter.

The unofficial leader of the brigade, Jesse, had gotten a giant sheet usually used as a tent in the summer feast. He had put it over the mangled pile of the Georges et al. The older men spoke of giving him a promotion. After the house went back to sleep the ones left in their houses decided the basement of the temple was the best choice after all.

And then it was quiet again. The eeriness of the village being empty had waned. They knew what would happen if the house woke up, and that there wasn’t much they could do but witness.

The sky was streaked with red, orange and purple, when Bliss came out of the house dragging Lou behind her. The lookout closest to the temple ran inside to find whoever they could find first.

 And then a new sound, so loud and sharp like one of the gods had cracked a whip. The house lurched. Not quite like when it was up and moving around, but still scary enough. It dropped down, hard and everyone braced for the worst.

The house lurched back the other way. It dropped down again and then nothing.

Inside the house Saint and Riley tried to brace as they had before, but sweater set turned and left for the dining room with her nose high in the air.

After a minute they got up, and everything seemed as it was. Riley asked, “Where is Bliss? Lou?”

Saint nodded, “They got out.”

Riley smiled, but it faded quickly.

“What about Ash?”

She did not like the confused look that Saint returned her. She scrambled to the basement but there were no answers there. It had been devastated. She couldn’t even get down a few steps if she expected to get back up. Back upstairs she frantically started throwing open doors. No sign of Ash.

Saint caught Riley by the shoulders as she ran by. “Riley, breathe. Calm down. I thought Ash was with you.”

Riley was feral. “Obviously not!”

Saint’s brow furrowed, as he sought out the right answer. He settled for an answer. “We have to go tell Carter what happened.”

Riley shook off Saint’s hands and looked at him with a steady calm.

“Carter needs you. Ash needs me.”

Saint responded with a look of confusion, exasperation, so many other things. “You are right. Carter does need me.”

And with that, he left. Outside was a full procession. Carter was closest just off the porch. Bliss was there next to her, with Lou tucked in close behind her holding her hand. Next some of the Lords and Ladies, and a humbled Marquis Roarke.

Carter was wearing an undeniably smug look.

“I’m sure my sister and Ashton will be out in time. There’s no need to wait for them. Saint, please tell us we are safe.”

Saint hesitated. “Shouldn’t we maybe talk about this somewhere more privately?”

Carter made a familiar face at Saint, one that said he better play along.

Saint took a deep breath. “We have neutralized this monster and made Hillcross safe again.”

He said it with no conviction, but the Aristocrats ate it up anyway. Carter looked pleased. Saint cast a glance back at the house as if he were glad that Riley had decided to avoid this.

But it was all Carter needed. She took back over easily.

“This is proof that the Bonners will always protect Hillcross. In fact, I suspect that this will mark a new time of prosperity for our town.”

This was met with doting devotion from the Lords and Ladies. Even Bliss looked like she was on the winning team. Only the Marquis and Saint looked displeased with Carter’s framing of the situation.

Inside the house Riley was on the couch clutching Ash’s backpack sobbing. After a while she came up for air. A quick look outside the window showed that rest of the group had gone somewhere else. No one had even come to check on her before they left. She appeared to be desperately alone.

There was no sneaking out a window today. With complete confidence as if it were her own home, Riley left the house. She walked across the courtyard to Mrs. Willis’s shop. She used a hidden key to get in and grabbed a premade sandwich from the refrigerator. She left a note that read, “Be by tomorrow for lunch, Love Riley.” And then with her sandwich in hand she returned back to the monster house.

She was aware of the stable brigade watching her. But she had nothing to say to them, and they didn’t try to stop her.

She made her way in through the backdoor into the kitchen, and looked comforted. She found Ash’s water bottle on the floor near the breakfast nook. Riley sat where she had been earlier, and ate her sandwich mechanically.

Eventually she finished eating, and came back to reality. She threw her trash in a trash can. And then she went through every room on the first floor. Then she checked what she could safely of the basement. Then she checked the first floor again.

She stared for a while up the upper staircase. Eventually she checked the second floor, but couldn’t bring herself to go up anymore. She tried calling up, but it just wasn’t worth it. If Ash was up there, he would come down to her.

She made her way back into the living room, zombie like. She sat down on the floor, waiting for the crying to start again, but there was nothing left. Out of boredom, or almost daring Ash to come in and catch her, she started going through his backpack.

Which slowly morphed into taking everything out of the backpack and arraying it around herself. Nothing terribly surprising. Mostly just survival gear. She considered it. It looked like he had been collecting this stuff for some time. Did that mean that his backpack usually went with him when he traveled? Did he find a way to drop his backpack on purpose? There was so much she didn’t know and so few ways to get more information.

Maybe Ash was just a compelled to put together a backpack whenever he got to a new time. Maybe there were a dozen copies of his poem strewn across time.

The tears started down her cheeks again when she got to the notebook. She ignored the other pages, some taboo diary entries, other personal information. She read the time traveler poem again. A whole new look of horror on her face as it had been made more real now.

She put down the notebook finishing emptying out Ash’s backpack. There were only a few things floating around the bottom. Riley pulled out a box and familiarity flashed immediately across her face.

It was a simple container, just a childhood game of jacks. Out of habit Riley flipped it over, and there it was, her initials R.B. written on the bottom. Their mom must have donated some of their childhood stuff when they had gotten older. And somehow Ash had gotten his hands on her childhood game. It was enough to make Riley laugh.

In the quiet that followed the house settled in its new weight. A waiting. A recovery.

Back on the winning team Carter was soaking up the admiration and praise. There had been a few tasteful mentions of honoring those that were lost in the fight. But overall, Carter had defeated the house monster with her masterful plan. She hadn’t even stopped long enough to hear any of what actually happened from Saint. All the better to sell her version.

Bliss was enjoying her slice of the praise. If the choice was between working closely with the Marquis or Bliss, then Carter had clearly had her preference. And the Marquis knew it wasn’t him.

And then Carter’s speech turned to celebrations.

“We want to celebrate this win for our town. What started out as a monster could become a true boon for Hillcross.”

There was a cheer from the crowd. They were exhausted and hyped up and relieved. After an entire day of tension, they were being told that they were going to be fine. That they were going to benefit from their discomfort. It was hard to blame them. It was a dream come true.

“We will have an impromptu feast! Here and now! To celebrate our triumph!”

Another cheer from the crowd. Servants had already been informed and were making preparations. It was a brilliant way to keep everyone busy for another few hours so Carter could make sure she wasn’t proven wrong in front of the whole village.