Peter was still watching her with wary fascination. He looked exhausted. Worry lines ran across his face, his red jacket and black pants crumpled and damp.

  She said the first silly thing that came to mind, ‘Nothing. What are you doing here?’

  Well, that didn’t sound like a guilty teenager at all.

  ‘I can see you’re doing nothing,’ he responded drily. ‘As for me, we’ve just gotten back from the search, and I wanted to stop by to resupply my first-aid kit.’

  Lacey forgot her embarrassment, and the ridiculous posture he’d caught her in.

  ‘Did you find her?’

  He pressed his lips together, slowly shaking his head.

  ‘Oh no.’ Her shoulders sagged in response. ‘I’d hoped…’ She also shook her head.

  Feeling a wet drop on her nose, she looked up. Gentle snowflakes were sifting down around them. ‘I guess I’m not getting up on the roof tonight either,’ she said, sadness in her voice.

  Peter’s eyes widened. ‘You were trying to get on the roof? Why?’

  ‘Long story,’ she sighed.

  He nodded, casting a troubled gaze at the roof. ‘Why don’t we go inside, and you can tell me all about it.’

  ??

  The door to the Healing Hall opened, revealing a dark and lonely place. Lacey couldn’t help comparing it to that first day, when Peter had brought her in after finding her in the snowdrift. The emptiness was palpable, so opposite to what it had looked like then, with the bright blankets and Mathilda bustling about.

  They walked past the empty rooms, faint lingering smells of healing oils hovering in the air. A note of peppermint lingered, with subtle hints of tea tree and eucalyptus threading around. Reaching a small kitchen, Peter dropped his rucksack in a corner.

  He began opening and closing cupboards, confidently pulling out mugs, hot chocolate, and a little container of marshmallows. He also grabbed a tray of gingerbread and cold glazed sausages out of a cooling box, placing it on the table between him and Lacey.

  Thankfulness bloomed in her chest. Peter had just returned from a very long day, and one much more difficult than hers. Yet, here he was, still taking care of her alongside himself. He sat down, placing two steaming mugs between them.

  ‘Do you eat here much?’ she asked.

  ‘Every now and again. Mathilda keeps a few things stocked for overnight patients. Want to tell me what was going on with the roof?’

  Lacey filled him in between bites, while he attacked his food. ‘And that’s why I was trying to get onto the roof,’ she finished.

  His brows furrowed together. ‘Albyrne heh? That doesn’t sit quite right with me. He’s been here a long time, and Santa trusts him.’

  ‘But if there’s a connection, we need to investigate all the same.’

  Peter nodded, but his face was still troubled. Lacey took another bite of gingerbread. The spicy flavour lightly tingled on her tongue, filling her with a little of its warmth.

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  He tapped the hilt of his knife on the table. ‘Getting on the roof wasn’t a good idea, though. It’s high and there could’ve been ice.’

  ‘But, I had to do something,’ she said.

  ‘I don’t disagree. Just, next time wait for me, okay?’

  She frowned. ‘I had no idea how long you’d be gone. I can’t wait on you every time something important happens.’

  ‘But there was no imminent threat, and what you did was dangerous. Please don’t do things like that.’ His voice strained, he lowered his fork with a piece of sausage on it back to the plate.

  Irritation mixed with defiance rose in her. By the hobbling bobblins, she was an adult. She didn’t need anyone, least of all a man, to tell her what was dangerous and what wasn’t.

  ‘What do you mean “things like that”,’ she said, a threat hanging in the air even though her voice was quiet.

  He placed his cutlery down on the plate, looking incredibly tired.

  ‘I’m saying it all wrong, aren’t I. This happens with Mathilda too.’ Raising his eyes, he looked directly into hers.

  ‘I didn’t mean anything by that, other than I worry and I don’t want you to get hurt.’

  Everything about his voice told her that he was sincere. Which was a bit annoying – how was she supposed to stay mad?

  ‘Okay,’ she sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be so touchy about it. I just don’t like it when people imply that I can’t make good decisions for myself.’

  ‘Oh, have people done that before?’

  Her mind flashed back to Cassy leaving Ms Gabby’s office, her face shrouded and unfathomable. Had there been a hint of inner delight in her eyes? Lacey sometimes thought so. And then there was the look on Ms Gabby’s face, as Lacey had entered her office and sat down.

  Coming back to the present, she was once again surprised at Peter’s perceptiveness. A bit more unexpected was that she wanted to answer his question. When she’d built the wall around her heart, she’d seen no reason to add a gate. How did one remove the stones, when the mortar holding them together had grown so strong? Long-practised reticence warred with the urge to let it spill out, the conflicting emotions playing on her face.

  Peter watched, patiently waiting.

  Finally, she said, ‘Let’s just say that it’s my life and I have the right to my own decisions and their consequences. Whether it’s good or bad.’

  He nodded, not pressing for more. ‘Well, if you’ll agree to stay off snow-covered roofs, I’ll grant you that.’

  She opened her mouth, ready to snap back that she didn’t need his permission for anything. Then she stopped herself. There was a twinkle in his eye – he was joshing with her. She gave him a mock huff and glare, and they both laughed.

  ‘You’re a brave man,’ she said, still grinning at him.

  He shrugged, facetiously. ‘What can I say?’

  She took another sip of hot chocolate, the sweetness filling her mouth. Was this a good time to ask him about the search? He looked so tired. But it was important.

  Making up her mind, she said, ‘How did it go today? Did you find anything in the Wasteland?’

  His knife tapped a nervous beat on the table. He inhaled deeply, as if preparing for something.

  Lacey gasped. ‘You didn’t go there, did you?’ Her voice rose, growing louder in her ears. ‘You told me you would search the beginning stretches. We both saw where her coat fragment was! Why didn’t you do it?’ She left the second, most important, part unspoken. You told me you would.

  ‘It’s not like that,’ he tried to defend himself. ‘Honestly, Lacey, no elf in their right mind would go there on their own.’

  ‘And what if she hadn’t been in her right mind? Or if she hadn’t gone there alone? You’ve already checked everywhere else – twice now! Do you need to see her dead body hanging from a tree in there, before you’ll finally do the logical thing?’

  She regretted the last sentence almost as soon as she said it. Of course he wouldn’t want that. But, it was too late.

  A light flashed in his eyes as his temper also flared. ‘I thought you said it was Albyrne,’ he replied. ‘Which do you want, Lacey? For us to dig up the Wasteland – risking the life of every person on the search team – or tear Albyrne’s house apart? How many additional lives should be lost on top of Jinxy disappearing?’

  That was every bit as unfair as what she’d said, but now, personally attacked, she couldn’t back down.

  ‘I said he was suspicious,’ she shot back. ‘Besides, living here, he could dump her body in the Wasteland and no-one would ever know.’

  ‘Are you listening to yourself? You’re making it sound like he killed her! I know you’re suspicious, but we can’t just accuse an innocent man of murder.’

  ‘Innocent? You don’t want to know the truth, do you? Just forget it – I’ll figure it out myself!’

  She got up forcefully, her chair scraping a discordant note on the floor as she pushed it away, before turning around and stomping out.

  ??????

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