Harriet pulled down the box where Walter kept the money. She stared at the few coins laying on the bottom. It wouldn’t be enough. This wasn’t enough money for the medicine that would actually help Walter. Harriet took the coins anyway, then went to her room to gather all the little things Walter had brought her since she moved in with him.
There was enough to fill one of Iris’ saddlebags. She checked in on Walter. He was asleep, but sleeping fitfully. His breathing was loud and rattling enough that she could hear it from the doorway.
Iris stamped impatiently as Harriet clambered onto her back. “Let’s go, Iris.”
Harriet wore the cloak she’d borrowed from Miss Martha on the day of the storm. It kept her warmer than just her jacket. Iris stepped into a trot for the path down the mountain. She knew this route. Harriet didn’t have to direct her at all, and her thoughts wandered along with her gaze.
The ocean was calm. The sky was clear and blue. Some birds swooped over the waves, dived under for a bit, then came back out. Harriet asked Walter what kind of birds they were once, but Walter hadn’t known.
Something splashed out on the horizon. They grew closer to the bottom. Something splashed closer to shore.
Harriet stared where the water was rippling out from the splash. The next splash was by Walter’s dock. Iris huffed and whinnied as they finally reached the beach. There was another splash at the end of the dock and Iris backed up. Her ears flattened and her sides were heaving under Harriets legs.
“It’s ok,” Iris soothed. She ran her hand up and down Iris’ neck, but Iris wasn’t having it. She slid off the saddle and tied Iris to the post Walter had put in way back when he first moved to the mountain home.
There was another splash. Harriet turned to the dock in time to see a dark blue figure drop back into the water. Her hands shook and she clenched them into fists. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t.
She stepped forward and made her way, carefully, across the dock. The wood creaked under foot. The wind blew her cloak around her ankles. She clutched it tight in front of her. It was safe inside of a cloak in the same way it was safer under a blanket.
A shadow glided under the water. It was barely discernible from the surrounding water. Harriet stared at it then laughed. “Demon!” She kept her voice quiet. The town wouldn’t hear her this far out, but just in case. She knelt down at the end of the dock and dipped her fingers in the cold water. The Demon brushed past. The thick triangle of skin that ran the entire length of the Demon’s back burst through the water and against Harriet’s hand.
The skin was almost slimy feeling when wet like that. Harriet laughed and leaned over more to try and dip her entire hand in the water. The slimy skin passed over her hand again, then long fingers wrapped around her wrist. Harriet jumped and fear thrilled the breath out of her lungs.
“Got you,” Demon rasped.
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