The Girls Return

Returning the bedroom, Faith entered carrying an upside down screw top soda bottle cap in her right hand, a small dollop of partially melted vanilla ice cream inside. “Guess who gets a treat?” she said aloud as the dark haired girl closed the door and replaced the towel barricade at the bottom.

Walking to near the end of her bed, Faith dropped down to her knees still holding the ice cream and pulled out the boot box now housing only Henry. The other girl went over to the bookcase to check to see if there was anything recorded on her phone.

Looking down into the box and its one lone occupant, “Well now,” Faith said, nodding to herself, “It would appear as if another one of my little ones has taken it upon himself to go on the lamb,” she commented.

Huddled inside the box, “I tried to tell them to stay, really I did,” Henry protested, tone plaintive.

Faith nodded, “I’m sure you did your best,” she commented, putting the little bottle cap inside the box near the tiny little figure. “You should get to that quickly before it melts any further,” she added, straightening out the food and water dishes before withdrawing her hand.

“I’m not sure Carver could have moved this stuff all on his own,” she commented, fixing Henry with a look.

Henry looked away, afraid to make eye contact with the gigantic young woman, “No it was him, he did it by himself even though I tried to dissuade him,” he assured, tone high-pitched and laced with panic.

“Hmm,” she commented, hands on the top of her thighs.

“Please, can you tell me what happened to Winston?” he asked. “My dog?”

From across the room, “You are most definitely going to want to check this out,” murmured the dark haired girl, a tone of amusement in her voice.

“Julian said you ate Ham, so can you please tell me Winston is okay?” Henry pleaded, but Faith wasn’t looking at him, instead she lowered the lid back down and slid the tabs into place and pushed the box back under her bed.

“Oh my goodness,” chuckled the other girl, looking down at the screen of her phone.

“Cadence, what?” Faith asked, climbing to her feet. “What is it?”

Cadence shook her head, pointing a finger toward where the pillows were on the bed.

Frowning, Faith turned her head, eyes following the finger, seeing the trail of discoloration down the face of the pillow slip.

“One of them was inside the toy, like right inside,” Cadence said, surprise and mirth in her voice.

Moving to the head of the bed, Faith reached down and picked Orla up, flipping her over and finding the split in the seam. “Cheeky little bugger,” she commented grinning, slipping a finger into the hollow space before putting the toy back down on the top of the bed.

“Here, I got it all recorded,” said Cadence, stepping closer and holding out her cell phone.

Taking the phone, Faith reviewed the footage, playing in back several times before shaking her head slightly. “The one that was hiding in Orla is Josh, the other one who peed on my pillow is Julian,” she said aloud, holding the phone back to the other girl.

“Who was missing from the box?” Cadence asked, retrieving her cell.

“Carver,” Faith answered, picking up her phone off the nightstand.

“Oh no, not the plump one?” she queried.

Faith nodded, calling up her recorded video footage. Frowning, she looked at the other girl. “Did you say you checked the boots?” she asked.

Cadence looked pensive for a moment, “I thought I did, wait, now that I think about it, I think maybe it was just one,” she answered, looking over at where the pair of boots were sitting. “That one.”

“That’s the exact one where Julian was hiding,” she said, pointing. “”When we left, he popped out, crossed the floor and somehow got up onto the bed where he made a point of relieving himself on my pillow,” she laughed softly. “You know Julian, I admire your temerity,” she said, voice louder, “but, just so you know, when I get ahold of you, and we both know it is going to be soon, I am going to get very creative in how we play,” she promised, nodding slowly, smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Cadence chuckled, “Uh oh Julian,” she said, grinning broadly.

“Don’t think you’re out of the proverbial water either Josh, I have something special in mind for you too. And as for you Carver, all I can say is I am disappointed,” Faith said, turning slowly on the spot.

“Shall we start looking again?” the darker haired girl inquired.

Faith nodded, blonde hair bouncing, “We’ll check the towels on the bathroom and closet, just to make sure they didn’t try to go there,” she said.

Cadence nodded affirmatively, getting down low to inspect the state of the towel there. Using her finger, she moved them along the gap trying to find any possible soft spots or area where a little one could shimmy under. “This one seems to be pretty secure,” she commented, leaning back on her heels.

Faith crossed the room and knelt down by the bottom of the bathroom door, checking. “Can you come check this one, you’re the one who put this one here and it seems a little loose at this end to me,” she invited, shuffling to the side out of the way.

Getting to her feet, Cadence joined Faith, reaching down and checking what the blonde girl thought might be evidence of tampering by the runaways.

Cadence grinned, lips parting to show her white teeth as she shook her head before looking to the blonde, “It wasn’t like this when I put it here,” she declared affirmatively.

Curling up the fingers of her right hand, Faith knocked on the bathroom door, “Hello?” she inquired, pressing her left ear to the door. “Anyone in there?”

“They would be stupid to come into the bathroom, there is practically nowhere to hide in there,” Cadence stated.

Faith nodded, “Maybe,” she said.

“I am so excited!” Cadence commented, the glimmer of excitement in her pretty dove grey colored eyes.

Reaching up, Faith took the knob and turned it, pushing the door open.