Page 26 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part Two

“Not nearly as much as I’m glad to see them.”

I normally didn’t allow paws on my lap, but I couldn’t help making an exception to the rules. I let them lick my chin and neck until I finally cried, “Enough! I love you, too!” Nothing changed. But I knew how to handle that. “How about treats?”

The dogs went stock still and looked at me intently as if to say, “Yes. Right away. Big ones. Please. We’re very good dogs and deserve wonderful treats ever so much. Um. Do you have bacon by chance? If not, sirloin will do. Or chicken! And eggs!”

“Alright.” I grabbed Keir’s forearm for assistance. Limitless joy didn’t mean limitless strength. I’d apparently been weakened by having spent so much time immobile. I was also stiff as a centenarian.

“I can get their treats,” Keir offered.

“No. I want to do it.

“Take it slow then.”

“I don’t want to go to the kitchen in my nightie and…” When I looked down and realized I was wearing the magic shawl I’d gotten from Esme, I remembered the momentary comfort ithad given me in spite of being trapped in a nightmare. Tears started falling all over again. “Who put this on me?”

“Not sure. But I think it was Esme.”

She’d found a way to pierce the nightmare and let me know I was loved.

There was no time for over-sentimentality because, of course, the dogs responded to my tears with resumption of the incessant whining Keir had been telling me about.

“No, no, darlings,” I told them. “I’m crying happy tears, and I haven’t forgotten about treats.” I reached down to fondle each of four silky ears while telling Keir, “I just need flannel pajama bottoms and slippers.”

“Maybe you should sit while I get them?” he asked.

“No. It’s too hard to get up. Just let me lean on this bedpost.” He didn’t get far before I stopped him. “Wait! Could you open the shutters? I want to look out.”

Keir didn’t just turn the slats to their horizontal position. He pulled the shutters wide open so that I could enjoy the max view.

The day outside was overcast, but there were still a few colorful leaves on trees and Rita thought it was a sight worthy of the wonders of the world list. I drank in the light coming through the window. I drank in freedom like I never could’ve before. When I felt overwhelming emotions rising again, the dogs started to whimper.

I laughed at them and swiped away the single errant tear running down my cheek. “Sadness is over, loves. Rita is home.” I flicked away the errant thought that I might be caught in a nightmare again then remembered. Jeff had given me the power to free myself. From anything. Bless his soul.

Keir helped me into my pajama bottoms and slippers. He’d brought a thick, soft robe, but I didn’t really want to give up the shawl.

“I can put it on over the robe?” he suggested.

I nodded and surrendered the shawl just long enough to get nestled into the plush fabric that held onto every bit of the warmth my body was generating. When Keir cinched the tie belt, I looked down. The ends were definitely longer than I remembered. “Have I lost weight?”

“Probably. It would be no wonder.”

Suddenly I felt an urgency to get to the bathroom. Really bad.

“Get me to the Ladies’. Quick.”

Got there just in time and it seemed to me that I’d never sat on the toilet so long in my entire life. I got to my feet and leaned on Keir. “Um. How long have I… What did you do about fluids? In and out?”

“Oh. Ah. Esme did some kind of spell to maintain stasis.”

“Clever.”

Keir nodded. “Ready to face the press?”

By the time we reached the hallway, I could smell pistachio muffins baking. Heaven. The world just kept getting better and better.

At the kitchen doorway, I was met with a round of applause. For doing nothing more than waking up.

Keir settled me in the chair closest to the fire before getting a canister of dog treats from the pantry. The dogs followed him dutifully without taking their eyes off the treats to check where they were going. That’s devotion.

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