Page 21 of A Little Christmas Wish

Zippy looked a bit confused by that.

“Makes us feel useful,” Royal explained to her.

“Ahh.” Zippy nodded as though she understood that.

Maybe she did.

“Wow, what did you guys buy? Did you leave anything for everyone else?” Baron joked as he pretended to stumble under the weight of all the bags.

“Of course we did, silly,” Zippy told him. “There’s plenty left at the shops.”

“Do not go looking in those bags,” Betsy said to him as he set them down. “Now, what did you burn down?”

“Nothing.” Baron held up his hands. “I’m innocent.”

“He is, Ma,” Royal added. “He was with me when the car caught fire so it couldn’t have been him.”

“Car? What car? I thought you were talking about the chemistry lab?” Betsy demanded.

“Whoa, you set a car on fire?” Zippy stared up at Baron with wide eyes.

Ink couldn’t tell if she looked horrified or excited. Maybe a bit of both.

“I didn’t,” Baron said. “I couldn’t have. I was with my brother. At a party.” He shot a look to Betsy. “Where we were not drinking.”

“I think at this stage; underage drinking is the least of my worries.” Betsy sat, looking exhausted.

Ink shot her a worried look. There had been a lot going on lately. And now he had to tell her about Zippy’s ex-foster father. Their time together on Monday had been good for both of them, but also far too short.

Maybe what they all needed was a vacation.

“Don’t worry, Ma. The guy that owned the car was a real dick,” Baron said. Then he glanced at Zippy. “Urgh, I mean, not a very nice man.”

“I’ve heard the word ‘dick’ before,” Zippy informed him. “What did the guy do?”

“He hit his girlfriend,” Royal said coldly. “We don’t like men that hit women.”

“Or children,” Baron said.

Zippy was watching them both with a strange expression on her face. Then she nodded solemnly.

“They’re bad men that do that,” she whispered.

God.

Had her foster father hit her? Was that why she’d threatened him?

Baron crouched in front of her. “Yeah. They sure are. Very bad men. Has anyone ever hurt you like that, Zippy?”

Ink held his breath. It could be the wrong move. She could clam up.

To his surprise, she shook her head. Was she lying?

“That’s good. If anyone ever does, you will tell me and Baron,” Royal said firmly. “We’ll take care of them.”

“Will you set their car on fire?” Zippy asked.

Baron grinned. “Now would we do a thing like that?”

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