The Problem Child (Emerson Pass Historicals 4)

Cymbeline

Iwoke disoriented. I’d fallen asleep in the chair by Addie’s bed. My parents had been up for days, and I’d finally convinced them to go to bed. I’d promised them I’d look after Addie. Bleary-eyed, I sat up, heart racing. The bed was empty—nothing but wrinkled blankets tossed aside.

Heart racing, palms sweating, I sprinted out of the room and down the hallway to the bathroom. The door was open. No Addie.

I shouted her name. Doors up and down our hallway opened. Mama and Papa, in their dressing gowns, stumbled out of their room. Fiona, still dressed, did the same, with Delphia behind her.

“She’s not in her bed,” I said, breathless with fear.

There were no empty rooms upstairs, so we knew she wasn’t anywhere on the second floor. I raced down the stairs, almost slipping in my stocking feet. Where could she have gone?

That’s when I saw the front door ajar. She’d gone outside. Why? Snow fell heavily from the black sky, but I saw traces of her footprints. They were of boots, not bare feet. I shoved my feet into a spare pair of work boots in the closet and grabbed the first coat I could find and ran down the front steps. Light from the front porch only extended so far, and soon I was in the darkness. Behind me, I could hear Fiona’s voice calling Addie’s name, followed by Papa’s deep baritone.

I heard a rumble of a car in the distance. Someone was coming down the driveway. Who would be visiting us at this hour? Theo? The sound didn’t grow louder. Perhaps it was only someone on the road, not our driveway. I turned frantically in a circle, trying to find Addie in the dark. Snow fell in my eyes and stung my cheeks. She would not survive out here for long. What if she hadn’t put on a coat? Why, why, why, Addie? Why would you do this?

I stumbled and fell in the thick drifts of snow. Wiping ice from my mouth, I clumsily rose to my feet. I ran one way, then the other as best I could in the drifts, disoriented and growing more lost by the minute. Where was I? Keep going, I told myself. I called out her name again and again as I tried to find the driveway.

Then a light flickered through the trees. A car. Headlights. I squinted into that light and ran toward it, falling several times. Finally I found the tire tracks in the driveway and ran as best I could in the skinny, icy trenches. I now knew where I was.

I rounded the corner. It was Viktor in the driver’s seat. Was there someone beside him? Yes. The white face of my sister was barely visible, but it was her. Thank God. My knees weakened with relief.

I shouted to him. “Viktor.”

He looked up at the sound of my voice. “She’s here,” he shouted back. “I’ve got her.”

I sprinted toward them, slipping once before I arrived on shaky legs.

“Get in the back,” Viktor said. “We need to get her inside to the warmth.”

I did as he asked without question. How long had Addie been out here? She might have frostbite. The sooner we got her home, the better.

Addie had fallen asleep in the front, her head tilted at a sharp angle.

“I found her walking the driveway,” Viktor said as he pressed on the gas pedal. “She told me she was a cat, looking for a place to die.” His voice constricted. “But I persuaded her to come back home with me.”

I started to sob. “Oh, Addie,” I whispered.

“I think I’ve convinced her to eat,” Viktor said. “I’ll tell you about it when we get her inside.”

I nodded, too bereft to speak.

The rest of the family were still looking for her when we arrived. Papa had turned on the light over the barn doors, making it possible for me to see their silhouettes.

Viktor brought the car to a halt. He went around to grab Addie from the front, lifting her as if she weighed nothing. I shouted that we had her. The rest of my family ran to us from all directions. Even Delphia had been out looking. It had only been minutes, I realized. Minutes that had felt like an hour.

Papa got to us first. “Goodness, Viktor, where did you find her?”

“She was coming down the driveway,” Viktor said. “I just happened to be coming by to see how you were faring.”

Papa lifted Addie out of the car.

“I’m sorry, Papa,” Addie whispered.

“No, lamb. Nothing to be sorry for. Just rest.” Papa headed toward the house. Mama, Fiona, and Delphia were all huddled together on the front porch.

We hurried into the house. Papa set Addie on the couch in the sitting room.

There were red embers remaining in the fireplace. I poked at them and added several logs. When they didn’t immediately catch, I wanted to cry again. Instead, I knelt and blew as if my life depended on making the flames catch. When a bit of pitch caught and sizzled, I stood.

“Fiona, please go down and heat up some of Lizzie’s chicken broth,” Mama said as she perched next to Addie.

“Is there any of the potato soup left?” Viktor asked. “If so, give her that. It’s bread that she can’t eat.”

Mama looked at him for a second as if she weren’t sure he was real. “Yes, go ahead and do that, Fiona.”

“Delphia, come with me,” Fiona said. The two of them ran out of the room.

Viktor looked over at me before addressing my parents. Papa was pacing back and forth behind the couch.

Viktor hovered near the desk, seeming unsure of what to do.

“How did you find her?” Papa asked.

“Or even know she was missing?” Mama removed Addie’s boots and began to rub her feet. I joined her, doing the same to my sister’s cold hands. Addie’s eyes fluttered open but only for a second. The poor little thing was exhausted from the cold and hunger.