Page 43 of A Little Red
Liam heard the clatter of his brother’s footsteps going down some stairs. Scarlet’s eyes and nose appeared above the covers.
“Scarlet,” said Liam. “Where are we? Why is my brother here? And most of all, where are my clothes?”
“We’re at my grandma’s house,” whispered Scarlet, her cheeks flushed pink. “I don’t know why Paxton’s here. And you weren’t wearing any.”
“OK, that’s… all very non-informative. What the hell happened?”
“We were attacked by warlocks and you got stuck in your wolf shape. And then you came to find me, but I couldn’t fix you because of the protest at the trees. So, I tried to bring you to Grandma’s, but we got attacked again. I think your brother came to rescue us, but I’m not entirely sure because I got knocked out. When I woke up, your mom wanted me to leave. And I think she hates me now because I threw a chair through her window. But either way, she wasn’t going to let me leave with you. So, then I wolf-napped you and brought you home to Grandma and she fixed you. I don’t know how Paxton got here.”
Liam scratched vigorously behind his ear. Several things were clear. Scarlet knew what he was. Scarlet was not bothered by that information. Both he and Scarlet had been attacked by warlocks and Scarlet’s grandmother had the skills to fix that kind of magic. Clearly, they had reached a point in their relationship wherethingswere going to need to be discussed. However, the thing that seemed most abundantly clear to him was that he was about three meals short of where he needed to be.
“I think I’m too hungry for any of this,” he said. “I need pants.”
“Mmm… food,” said Scarlet, in a tone that he’d thought reserved just for him. “I forgot about food. I want food.” She sat up and looked at his raised eyebrows. “Don’t give me that look. I’ve been busy worrying about your shit and haven’t eaten since possibly yesterday. I’m starving.”
“How long was I out of it?” he demanded as she climbed out of bed.
“I don’t know. You came to find me on Saturday morning and I’m pretty sure it’s Monday, so probably a couple of days. I tried to feed you beef jerky from the bodega on Saturday, but you didn’t like it.”
“Of course I didn’t like it,” he said making a retching face and Scarlet giggled as she rummaged through the chest of drawers.
“It was all they had that I thought you would eat.” She found a sweatshirt and some sort of flannel pants and pulled them on. “OK, wait here. I’ll go see if Ochre’s got anything for you to wear in his room.”
She came back a few minutes later with matching pajama pants to hers and a sports t-shirt from a team he didn’t recognize. The pants were far too long for him.
“How tall is your brother?” he asked rolling up the pants.
“Six-five,” said Scarlet. “Those are from when we did the matching Solstice pajama picture. Sorry, they’re all I could find.”
“Better than nothing.”
He followed Scarlet down the stairs noting the family pictures along the way. It was only in the oldest picture that Scarlet’s mother made an appearance. She was an ethereal looking woman, pale and slim with arresting blue eyes. Of all the children, Scarlet resembled her the most, but he thought Scarlet was prettier, more vibrant and full of life.
The smell of something wonderful was wafting up the stairs and Liam’s mouth watered as they entered the kitchen. Paxton was sitting by a wood stove with his head hung low and Scarlet’s grandmother glaring at him from the oven. She was a strong-faced woman with hair that might have been white or blonde in a long braid down her back, dressed in jeans and a puffer vest.
“Lunch will be on in a minute,” she said. Then she turned around to look at them. “Oh, shoot. You put your human back on.”
Liam paused mid-step, uncertain of how to respond. He had zero experience with discussing his dual body condition with anyone non-wolf.
“I was hoping you could run out and pee on some things for me,” she continued.
“Grandma!”
“What? That damn coyote out there thinks my chickens are his personal buffet. I thought if he caught a whiff of something Liam’s size he’d think twice.”
Liam glanced at Paxton who looked frozen in shock.
“Um,” said Liam. “I could probably do that.”
“Could you? Be a lamb, and just hit all the fence posts. I think that ought to do it. You can change in the laundry room.” She gestured to a door off to the left. “I’ll have some chili when you get back.”
“You really don’t have to,” said Scarlet.
“Um,” said Liam. “I have to visit the little boy’s tree anyway.”
Scarlet giggled.
“Yeah, OK,” said Liam, feeling that he’d entered the twilight zone. “I’ll be right back.”
