Dominic told me where to go, and as soon as I could get away from danger again I was out. I got into the little hiding space in the tree like he told me too, but when I turned around to say something to April, she wasn't there.
I started to go back to the house to grab her, but the dark mass had already seen her and it was too late.
I prayed that she would be okay, and hesitantly got back into hiding.
Soon enough I heard the back door open, and light, quick footsteps trailing away from the house, followed by what sounded like a group of moose following them.
"RUN APRIL!" Were the only words I heard.
Shock.
Terror.
Fear.
What other words could I use to explain how I felt when I knew my only child was running away from heaven knows what, and I'm stuck here in a tree.
I could hear more rustling from in the house, when another set of feet ran the same way April did.
This set was only followed by the first dark mass I could make out. I heard them talking while they ran but couldn't hear what was being said. Once I didn't hear anything for a solid 10 minutes, I decided to come out from hiding.
No one was anywhere.
So I went inside the house, (And closed the dang door) and tried to preoccupy myself.
I know this seems selfish, but I know Dominic would never let her get hurt. And I also think I would do the opposite of helping with my injured leg. It was a tough decision, but it was for the best.
I started cleaning up after the mess the stupid beasts had made, following that I made some bread. I felt like forever had passed, and still I heard nothing back.
After the bread had cooled and I had put it away, I made some jam from the various berries Dominic told me were okay to eat. It tasted weird, kind of gritty after you swallowed, but it was better than plain bread so I just went with it.
After forever had passed, they finally came back. I finished bottling up the jam and walked to the door welcoming them in. Though I was reluctant to let the beasts in, Dominic seemed pretty comfortable with them now.
"I'm sorry Veronica. We can't find her anywhere." Dominic couldn't look me in the eye.
I just sat, staring for a few minutes, I'm sure my mouth was wide open. I gathered my thoughts, and finally spoke.
"How do we find her." My voice was surprisingly steady.
"We wait." The largest beast said sorrowfully. "We have her scent tracked, and as soon as she's in a 2 mile radius we'll find her."
Dominic looked as if his life was over. "I'm sure she'll come back this way. She knows the Gytrashes can't stay forever."
I walked over and hugged him.
"This isn't your fault hun."
We stayed this way until we had both composed ourselves, then started to make a game plan for finding her faster.