“-Two... One!”

Charlotte tightly clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. She was crouched behind the old chicken coop, in which no chickens lived, hiding from her brother who was no doubt scouring the bushes next to the water fountain for her. He always began searching for her where he last found her, a habit he had picked up after one terrible loss, when he had searched for her for over an hour because he didn’t think to look where she had last hidden.

”No one’s stupid enough to hide where they were last found,” had been his excuse.

Clearly, stupidity was far from it.

Charlotte pinched the coarse grass beneath her, twisting it around her fingers as she breathed as quietly as she could. Her feet ached from running around the yard with her brother, and her heels begged her to sit back and take her weight off of them, but that would mean her skirt would get even more dirty than it already was, and she would have to stand through her nanny roughly brushing it off when she got into the house.

She closely listened to the crunch of leaves as John searched the yard for her. It was well into autumn now, and the large plum tree in the middle of the yard had created a blanket of leaves beneath it. Their mother always said she found the tree the most beautiful in autumn, when its branches were holding on to its last orange and red leaves. Charlotte found it the ugliest. It looked dead with so few leaves.

The crunching of leaves steadily grew closer, and Charlotte carefully began to move around the coop, away from the source of the crunching. They had a rule that you couldn’t move after you had chosen your hiding spot. Neither of them followed it. Ever since she had caught John sprinting across the yard through the upstairs study window, she had made sure to pick hiding spots she could easily leave.

”Charlotte?” her brother called, “where are you?”

Charlotte slowly tiptoed around the corner of the chicken coop, staying in her doubled over position; she could hear him on the other side of the coop.

“Charlotte,” he called again.

She grinned to herself and covered her face with her hands. She shook slightly from the giggles she held down in her chest.

As she heard her brother getting closer, she moved to tiptoe once again around the corner of the coop, when she heard a rustle, and looked up to see a flash of a silver tail in the bushes in front of her. She froze, leaning forward to try and see the creature slinking about at the edge of the forest.

”Found you!”

Charlotte jumped, landing back on her elbows as she stared up at her brother, startled.

“What were you staring at?” He asked, looking at the bushes that had held her full attention moments before.

”I think I saw a cat,” she replied.

“Ah. Well, Nanny wants us inside now anyway, so let’s go,” he said, easily picking her up off the ground.

Four years her elder at the age of twelve, John had already started hitting his growth spurts. Their mother liked to say that John would reach their father’s height whenever guests commented on his taller than average stature. He swung Charlotte around as he carried her over to the back door that led to the kitchen parlour, laughing as she demanded to be put down.

Several elbows and kicks later, John dropped Charlotte to her feet in front of their nanny, whose amused smile quickly turned to an unimpressed frown as she noticed the state of the back of Charlotte’s skirt.

”Playing hide and seek,” She grumbled while brushing her skirts down, “does not mean you need to roll around in a pile of dirt.”

Charlotte shot a glare at her brother. If he hadn’t of scared her, her skirt would’ve been fine. She voiced as much, but was simply met with another unimpressed look.

Their nanny led them through the kitchen once she was satisfied with Charlotte’s skirt, the chef looking up and smiling at the two as they passed. He subtly pressed a raspberry drop into their hands as they passed, grinning when their nanny turned and glared at him. They quickly plopped them into their mouth before their nanny could confiscate them.

Their nanny sighed and shook her head, lightly grasping Charlotte’s upper arm and pulling her along. Charlotte and John giggled to each other, rolling the sweet treat around their mouths.

They were led into the dining room, where their mother sat flicking through the newspaper with disinterest. The radio was turned on to a news station, a man’s voice filling the room.

”-the latest movement from German troops-“

The voice cut out as their mother switched the radio off. She wiped her hands down the front of her skirt.

”Did you have fun playing outside?” She asked, directing her question to Charlotte.

Charlotte grinned, running up to her mother, oblivious to the tension in the room, “Mhmm. John took forever to find me.”

She turned to her brother with a smug smile, who rolled his eyes at her, “Did not. You were easy to find.”

Their mother chuckled, “I’m sure you chose the best hiding spots, Pumpkin.”

Charlotte grinned, while John snorted.

”Come on, let’s sit. Our favourite chef should be bringing out lunch very soon,” their mother directed them to the table, brushing stray strands of hair out of Charlotte’s face as she sat down.

True to her word, the chef brought out their meals shortly after. Their mother and nanny chatted casually to one another, laughing every now and then as they spoke. John and Charlotte engaged in a half hearted game of footsies beneath the table, both trying to get their feet on top of the other’s.

The conversation stayed light, and the four of them enjoyed the potato soup that the chef had prepared for them.

The pleasant atmosphere was quickly broken, however.

”Mum, how much longer is Dad staying away for?” Charlotte questioned.

The table fell silent. Her brother’s hand froze as he held a spoonful of soup to his mouth. Their nanny breathed in sharply, and their mother sat still. Charlotte looked between the three, confused.

It was their mother’s sigh that broke the frozen scene. She put her spoon down slowly, staring ahead as though bracing herself.

”I don’t know, Pumpkin,” she turned to Charlotte, “soon, I hope.”

”Why does he have to be gone for so long? Why don’t his bosses let him come home,” she whined.

Her mother reached out, slowly brushing her fingers through Charlotte’s hair, massaging her scalp, “It’s not so simple, Love. He’ll come home as soon as he can.”

Charlotte pouted and sighed, unhappy with the response. It had been several weeks since their father had left, dressed up in his uniform as he was driven off. She missed having him sit with them at the dining table, laughing loudly at her brother’s jokes and kissing her mother’s cheek at the end of each meal before he went back to work in his study. She missed him running after her in the backyard and picking her up, spinning her around until she was so dizzy she could’ve thrown up. She missed sitting in his study as she learnt to write, him leaning over her and her brother as he explained a math problem they couldn’t understand.

She missed him bringing her books at random times of the day, a wide smile on his face as he told her;

‘You’ll love this one.’

She always did.

”I miss him,” Charlotte stated.

”We all do,” her mother rubbed her shoulder.

”We all do.”

The old lamppost stood in front of the little girl, roots crawling over its base where it sat at the edge of the path. It flickered as the weak flame cocooned in its metal grasp spluttered out, then came back to life. The candle lit, then unlit.

Lit.

Unlit.

In front of her, the silver cat sat, staring. Behind it, it’s long, sleek tail twitched back and forth in time with the ticking of the clock hanging at its neck.

Tick.

Tock.

Back.

Forth.

It opened its mouth wide in a yawn, revealing two rows of sharp, metal teeth as its lips curled back. The cat’s jaw snapped closed with a barely audible metal click, its eyes blinking once in tandem.

Tick.

Tock.

Lit.

Unlit.

It tilted its silver head at the little girl, then, without any warning, its hind legs tensed before it pounced at her, mouth open wide. It dispersed into white mist as it hit her, and the girl reeled back as she felt a force rip through her chest.

She looked down, seeing a patch of red spreading across her gown from the centre of her chest.

She gasped as she fell.

In the distance, a bang echoed out across the forest, and the night was filled with the sound of a thousand wings flapping as crows flocked into the sky.