The temperature was dropping. Relda stood at the frost covered kitchen window, leaning over the sink, rubbing another circle into the glass to view the woods beyond. The trees blew around, branches creaking in the wind, a low moan escaping the forest that she knew set other humans ill at ease. But she was from Germany, another enchanted forest, and the noises never bothered her. No, what bothered her now was much more real.
“The boy will be fine, must I remind you he’s a fairy?” Mr. Canis said from the doorway. Relda hadn’t heard him approach but she had gotten used to that too, over the last few years. Especially now that they shared the house by themselves, she was used to him appearing without hearing him coming. It didn’t bother her like it had Basil.
She glanced at him over her shoulder, just as the wind howled again, shaking the glass in the panes. “It’s snowed two inches in the last hour and rained all day before that. I don’t care if he’s a fairy, he’s still a child.”
Her heart broke thinking of Puck out in the forest alone, wet, certainly frozen half to death now, fairy blood or not.
“Did he crawl under the porch without us noticing?” she asked, searching the treeline again. Sometimes caring for Puck was like caring for a particularly stubborn stray dog.
“No, I would smell him,” Canis called from the dinning room.
She pursed her lips. Something she wasn’t unfamiliar with.
Her mind was made up, “I’m going after him,” she said bustling through the dinning room to the entry way, where Mr. Canis was already holding her coat open for her.
She smiled as way of thank you and tugged on her good hat and boots, slipping her ice cleats over them; it would be slick.
Canis himself put on a slightly warmer coat than he usually wore, though Relda knew he didn’t cold as easily as the rest of them, “You don’t have to come with me, I know how he troubles you.”
Canis shook his head, “It’s how he troubles you that bothers me.”
She sighed but didn’t say anything. All these men and boys in her life- the Grimms themselves and the ones she’s picked up along the way- she didn’t know if she would ever learn to manage them.
She pulled a thick quilt off the couch, told Elvis to stay, much to his reluctance, and the pair set off into the storm.
Just trudging around to the back of the house was difficult, though the snow lightened as they made their way under the cover of trees. The forest was eerily silent, except for their foot falls. It was like the trees were holding their breath, waiting. Relda had always liked winter, but less so since Puck had started living in the forest. It had been almost ten years now, and she had only known him for 8 of those. She hadn’t known exactly where he had come from, or why, but he was stuck here now like all the rest, and she felt bad for him.
He had no guidance, even though it was clear he didn’t want it. There were a few children Everafters who lived in town but most of them had care of some variety, most of them weren’t so stubborn. As often as he accepted her food, or the comfort of her couch, twice as often he would laugh in her face and try to push her away. Usually he could fend for himself. He was used to living in the woods now and he had magic to help him when things got difficult. But it was times like these she truly worried for him, no one could have predicted the Nor’easter and he didn’t have any shelter that she knew of. He may be immortal, but he was also 11.
Relda trudged through the woods to the various spots she knew he camped out. Her and Canis walked in companionable silence through the first two areas without luck. As they neared the third, Canis slowly dropped away and Relda knew Puck was here. Canis hadn’t warmed to the boy, and knew the feeling was mutual.
“Puck?” Relda called softly, approaching a particularly large pile of sticks and downed trees. “Puck are you out here?” She could smell smoke on the air, but when there was no response she picked up the pace, circling the pile.
There was an dugout in the side, a little overhang keeping the snow mostly off a dwindling fire, and Puck. Who sat with his arms and wings wrapped around his legs, chin resting on his knees, blond hair wet and matted to his skin.
“Oh, Puck.”
“W-what do you want, O-old Lady?” he said, teeth chattering with every syllable.
“I want you not to freeze to death on my watch, mister.”
“I’m not on your watch, I’m not on-on anybody’s watch” he said, failing to achieve his normal level of bravado.
“Why did you let your fire go out?” She asked, in way of begging him to come back to the house. She knew by now that no matter how much she begged and pleaded with him, he’d only do something if he thought it was his idea.
He didn’t say anything for a minute, just sat there and shivered, then finally, “It’s not working.”
“What’s not working? Is the wood wet?” she asked, knowing well enough that wet wood didn’t matter when you were dealing with magic fire.
“I don’t know. My-my fire isn’t working,” he admitted, not meeting her eyes.
She pursed her lips together and tried not to appear as alarmed as she felt. He meant his internal fire, the one he could produce-usually by some unsavory method like burping. His body temperature had dipped so low he couldn’t produce a flame.
“I have hot chocolate at the house,” she said, abandoning her method. She would have Mr. Canis drag him back kicking and screaming if she had to.
He lifted his eyes to her and she once again felt her heart break. He was so young.
“With marshmallows?”
“And whipped cream.”
His eyes lit up and she was satisfied, he would come.
He stood shakily, tucking his wings back and she offered him a hand up, which he didn’t take.
“Since you insist, I guess I could have just one cup.”
“I do get lonely you know, it’s nice to have company,” she said.
“And I’m the best company,” he agreed, and let Relda wrap the quilt around his shoulders, though he didn’t meet her eyes.
As Puck warmed up he filled the walk back to the house with his usual chatter and the knot of worry in Relda’s chest began to loosen. He would be fine. But-she wondered, as she often did these days- what would happen to him when she was gone? It would be many years yet, she hoped, but still she worried.
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