Mrs. Fox met them all at the door as Mr. Rabbit quickly dug a path through the increasing snow. “You poor things!” She led them into the main parlor, where the fire roared and steaming cups of cocoa were already on the table. “Eagle got here first, after we heard those horrible gunshots. I called the police the moment I heard them. What happened?”
“We were ambushed by robbers.” Hilary dropped her suitcase next to the couch. “We’re going to need ointment and bandages. Troll will need medical attention, too. He was shot.”
“So was Bear.” Betty held her bloody sweater to the whimpering ursine creature. “I think his is just a flesh wound, but the way he’s crying, I imagine it hurts terribly.”
Bear gulped, trying not to whine in front of Betty. “No, it’s not bad. Bear not cub. Bear ok.”
Maple turned to Eagle as he swooped in. “Are you ok? I don’t think I saw them touch ya.” She grinned at Mrs. Fox. “Oh, ya should have seen him! He was magnificent! He just picked those jerks up an’ tossed ‘em like they were rag dolls!” Eagle was still red under his feathers. He hid modestly behind a wing.
“I think we all did very well. I certainly did my part. I’m particular about who paws me.” Hilary put an arm around Troll. “Mrs. Fox, we’re going to need to extract that bullet somehow. It may get infected.”
“Just leave it.” Troll hissed as Hilary held it to his leg. “It’ll be fine.”
“You’re bleeding like a stuck pig. It’s not fine.” She turned to Mrs. Fox. “Where’s your nearest bathroom?”
In the end, it was Mrs. Fox herself who finally got the bullet out as Troll clutched the edge of the bathtub. He roared so loudly, every medicine bottle in the cabinet of the small but immaculate downstairs bathroom rattled like teeth, but she ignored him. Hilary stayed with him, not even flinching at the worst of the blood that seeped through his no-longer white dress shirt.
“There!” Mrs. Fox dropped the bullet in the sink. “You’re lucky it barely went in! You might have lost use of this arm.”
He growled. “Do you know how much that hurt?”
“Yes,” Mrs. Fox grumbled, “and so does the entire household.” She looked up at Hilary, something like admiration in her eyes as she brought clean bandages. “I have to hand it to you, Miss Hilary. You didn’t even flinch, and the blood was pretty bad.”
“I’ve seen worse. I was a nurse in France during World War I.” She washed out the bloody rags they used on his wound, then grabbed a clean bandage. “Now, if you’ll just hold out your arm…”
He roared in her ear the moment she gently took the wound. “That HURT!”
“It’s a bullet wound.” She gently rubbed ointment around the wound, then wrapped it. “Of course it hurts.”
“If you hadn’t run away,” Troll grumbled, “this wouldn’t have happened.” Mrs. Fox rolled her eyes behind his back.
Hilary glared at the overgrown walking green cheese. “If you hadn’t thrown a fit at dinner, I wouldn’t have left!”
He glared. She ignored it. “You threw a fit, too! You should watch that temper, Miss Booth!”
“And you,” she snarled right back, “should learn how to watch yours! Did you really think I’d accept your proposal? I’ve known you for less than a day!”
“I don’t know why you didn’t,” he grumbled darkly.
“Gee,” Mrs. Fox muttered, “Could it be that you said ‘marry me or else’ at the top of your very large lungs?”
Troll glared at his housekeeper. “Mrs. Fox, I would prefer a moment alone with Miss Booth. You could please tell Mr. Cat to make sure the fires are going tonight and he’s to turn down the bedclothes. And tomorrow, the two younger Misses Blooms will have rooms of their own.”
“So,” Hilary said with a decided smirk as she tied off the bandage, “we’re all staying?”
He made a face. “Oh, fine. You can all stay. Bear and Eagle certainly won’t let them go now. Bear…the look on his face when he came to me saying his Betty had left, and we had to stop them…”
“You’re very…fond…of that poor teddy bear.” She helped him to his bony feet. “In your own grouchy way. Even if you bully him abominably.”
Troll looked away, trying not to let Hilary see the shame in his beautiful almond eyes. “He’s a servant.” He started walking, but stumbled, wincing. “Oww."
“Here.” She took his arm. “You can lean on me.” She was surprised he actually did as they went to retrieve the others.
Betty was wrapping Bear’s arm with a bandage when Hilary and Troll emerged. Maple was alone, sipping hot cocoa while cuddling in a thick woolen blanket. “Troll?” Bear looked up, those amber eyes flooding with concern. “Are you…good? You…were shot. Shot bad. Bad men…hurt you.”
“I’m better, Bear.” He nodded at Hilary. “Maple, where’s Eagle?”
“He went to direct the cops to the robbers.” She shrugged as she gulped her cocoa. “I think he was sayin’ somethin’ like he was gonna let them see enough of him in the air to think he’s just a really big eagle. I didn’t get the whole gist, but I think I got most’a it.”
Hilary raised an eyebrow. “You understand what he’s saying?”
“Well, not exactly.” Maple licked the marshmallow off her cocoa. “But I’m a musician. I can figure out the notes well enough to know how the song goes.”
“Musician?” The corner of Troll’s mouth turned up just slightly. “We have a very good organ downstairs, in the music room. She…she’s a good, solid organ. Mr. Rabbit plays her…it, sometimes. I think she’d appreciate more visitors.”
“She?” Maple grinned. “Oooh, a lady organ! I never thought of Mama’s piano or any of the pianos at school as girls or boys. I like that. I miss playin’. Used to play at school, an’ for my sisters an’ Dad before we sold the piano.”
“Well, you can use the one here whenever you want.” He turned to Betty, cuddling with Bear. “And you…you’re the writer. I’ve seen your plays. They’re…very good. I suppose you’ll want the library for your work.”
Betty nodded, beaming. “Oh, yes! It’s the most beautiful library I’ve ever seen. I could write so many stories there. So many plays, just waiting to be created…”
Bear gently took her small fingers in his big paw. “Can I help too? Bear not write. Bear not read. It hurts. But Bear can try. For Betty.”
Her smile as she stroked his furry cheek cracked Hilary’s heart. “Of course, you can. I’ll help you. You’re smarter than you think. There’s something in there blocking you.” She trailed her finger along his hairline. “If we work together, maybe we can break those blocks.”
“We can?” Bear closed his eyes again. “I…she…m’head…hurt…” He coughed, his rumbling voice caught in his throat. “We can try. Yes, try.”
“Yes,” Hilary coughed herself, ‘well, it’s time to go to bed. We’ve had a long day. We’ll discuss all this in the morning. We’ve been hearing organ music since we came. It must be coming from there.”
Bear rubbed Betty’s little hand. “Can I walk you to room?”
“It’s ok, Bear.” She scratched his neck. He whimpered happily. “I’ll go with Hilary. See you at breakfast?”
Troll gave Hilary a grin she thought was oddly raffish for such a hideous creature. “I guess you don’t need me to walk you to your rooms.”
“No, we’ll go with Mr. Cat until we can find our way around.” She gave him her own small smile. “Thank you for saving me and my sisters today. If it wasn’t for you and your friends…well, much worse things could have happened.”
Troll just looked away, muttering. “It was nothing, Miss Booth. Those men shouldn’t have been prowling around on my property anyway. I doubt the police will believe their ranting about being attacked by giant bears and eagles. They’ll probably think they got attacked by wolves or went after each other. They were clearly drunk. I could smell the whiskey on their breath.”
Hilary raised an eyebrow. “So you really own the house? How can that be? You’re a troll.”
“Well,” Troll coughed, “I think that’s something else we’ll discuss in the morning. Get to bed, Miss Booth. It’s been a long day. The ladies will go with you. I’ll get Bear down. Eagle can let himself in.”
“Hey Troll,” Maple grinned as she gulped the last of her cocoa, “if you see Eagle, tell him I think what he did tonight was really amazing, and I’d love to see more of his papers tomorrow. I think I almost understood him when he was talkin’ with his wings about what’s goin’ on in Europe.”
Troll couldn’t help his small smile. “I’ll do that, Maple.”
“Well, yes.” Hilary took her suitcase as Mr. Cat doddered over, still holding his broom. “Come along, ladies. Troll, Bear, we’ll see you in the morning.”
Betty gave Bear one last scratch as she and Maple followed Hilary. “Hilary,” Maple squealed, “do you think we’ll have those dreams again? I’d love to get in the shadows and really get that cute guy in the black tux on the bench this time.”
“I wouldn’t mind the other one holding me.” Betty blushed deep red. “It felt so good! Like I was being hugged by a teddy bear.”
“That reminds me.” She caught up with the ambling old cat. “Mr. Cat, I know there’s some kind of a curse in this house. I heard Mrs. Fox and Troll and Bear talking about it this morning. Not to mention, it’s pretty obvious. Can you tell us anything about it?”
“No, I can’t.” The nice old cat shrugged. “She said you have to figure it out yourselves.”
Betty frowned. “Who’s she?”
The old cat ignored her, looking up at the large old grandfather clock in the hall. “Would you look at the time? You ladies really must get to sleep. It’s been quite a day.”
“Yes,” sighed Hilary. “It has.” She knew this wasn’t the end of it. She’d find out by any means necessary about this “curse.” And those dreams…she couldn’t help hoping she’d have them again herself. She missed Jeff so much. There was something about all this that seemed so familiar. Like it was made for the two of them. “Oh Jeff,” she murmured as they followed the old man, “please, where are you?”
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