He studied her for a moment. “Been awhile since you been inside a store, I bet.”
She nodded again.
“Okay, gotta pay before I pump. It’ll be a sec. Now, don’t you go running off and leaving me.” He winked at her and headed away. “Oh,” he called over his shoulder. “And keep your eye out for snipes. A gal out this way lost a few toes to one just a couple of weeks ago.” Isabel set her hands on her hips and watched him trot off.
About a minute after Jesse entered the store, a car came up the highway and pulled into the lot. Isabel withdrew into the shadows. Two teenage girls and an older boy climbed out, laughing over some shared joke. One of the girls jumped onto the boy’s back and rode him piggyback into the store, all three hooting and carrying on as though life was one big carnival ride. So carefree, Isabel thought and tried to ignore the jealousy biting at her. “Life don’t always go the way folks want,” she muttered under her breath. “That’s all.”
Isabel watched them romp about in the store. Both girls had long, wavy hair. It bounced and shined, silky in the glow of the beer signs. Something a man would want to run his fingers through, Isabel thought, and touched her own cropped hair; it felt waxy, crusty. She hadn’t had a chance to wash since fall; the creeks were too cold this time of year. The girls had on makeup, lipstick, and eyeliner, earrings. All the things girls wore to pretty themselves up. She wondered if there might be some makeup to cover up the blotchiness on her face. Maybe a little lipstick? Might look a little bit more like a young woman than some cave monster.
Jesse walked out; the gas can in one hand, a sack of groceries in the other. He nodded her way, headed to the pump, and began filling the canister with gas. The kids left the store a moment later. The boy shook his can of soda, popped it open, and sprayed it at the girls. Both of them let out wild screams, scooped up handfuls of snow, and threw it at him. He ducked, slipped on the ice, fell, dropping his soda. All three of them laughed so hard Isabel thought they would need medical aid. And all at once Isabel wanted them to stop. She didn’t want to hear them, or see them. She clenched her hands into fists. Found she wanted to shut them up, wanted to tear their beautiful hair out of their heads, scratch their pretty faces, make them know what it is like to lose everything.
One of the girls tugged the boy to his feet. He slipped his hands around her waist, pulled her to him, and they embraced, kissed—a long kiss that only new love can share. Isabel put her fingers to her own lips, stared, hardly breathing. They piled back into the car and Isabel no longer wished them ill, no, only wished to join them, to climb into their car and go wherever it was that young boys and girls go these days to have fun. She tried to imagine what that would be like, to just have fun. She watched their taillights until they disappeared up the dark highway.
Jesse walked up to her. “Here. Can you take this?” He handed her a grocery sack and set the gas can down at her feet.
“I’ll be right back. Need to make a quick call.”
“Call? Wait. I don’t know if you should.”
“Isabel, I have to know if my little girl is okay. Just gonna call her grandmother. There’s no way one phone call is going to endanger Krampus. So you’re off the hook.”
She bit her lip. If something wasn’t obviously endangering Krampus or directly breaking one of his tenets, then her actions were her own.
“Isabel, I’m not asking. I’m going to make a phone call. I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah . . . okay.”
He started toward the phone, then turned. “Oh, here. I bought you a little something.” He pulled a plastic sack out of the grocery bag and handed it to her.
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you take a look and find out?”
She watched him go to the phone booth, then peered into the sack, found a pack of watermelon bubble gum, a giant chocolate almond bar, and something fuzzy. She tugged it out. It was a toboggan cap, black and white and so frizzy. She held it up and realized it was shaped like a panda bear’s head, complete with nose, ears, and big, droopy eyes. Two large fuzzy earflaps hung from each side. It was utterly ridiculous, but no one would ever, ever mistake it for a boy’s cap. There was something else in the sack. She pulled out a box, popped it open, inside she found a charm bracelet with an attached oversize pink, heart-shaped locket. She let out a small cry, covered her mouth. Apparently, Jesse had as bad a taste in jewelry as he did in women’s hats, but she couldn’t stop smiling. She tore it out of the box and slipped it on her wrist. Just some ticky-tacky, she knew that, but it was still glittery and oh-so-girly. Not the sort of thing a guy would buy a monster, and for that second she felt like a girl again. She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling. A tear ran down her cheek, then another. She tried to remember the last time anyone had given her a gift. It had been her Daniel, it had been the ring, some forty years ago. She wiped at her eyes. “Stop that,” she whispered. “Now’s not the time to go all weepy-eyed.”
Jesse hung up the phone and headed her way at a fast clip.
Isabel shoved her hood back and tugged on the toboggan, quickly tied the fuzzy earflaps beneath her chin. She hoped she looked as silly as she felt, couldn’t wait to see his face.
Jesse snatched up the gas can. “We gotta get back.” He headed up the gravel road without even looking her way, his face set and grim.
Isabel hesitated, confused, felt a sting of hurt. What just happened? She grabbed the groceries and sprinted to catch up with him.
“They’re after Abigail,” he said, his voice hard and tense.
Isabel didn’t know what to say.
“Linda’s mother asked me why Ash Boggs showed up at her place looking for Abi. That’s all the old witch would say, wouldn’t tell me a goddamn thing else. Just kept asking me what I’d done. You know what that means?”
Isabel shook her head.
“Means the General intends to make good on his threat, that’s what that means. Fuck,” his voice turned raw, cutting. “Fuck!”
Jesse’s long legs ate up the road and Isabel had to jog to keep up.
“There’s just no telling what the General might do,” Jesse said, but it was more like he was talking to himself. “I gotta do something before it’s too damn late.”
ISABEL WATCHED JESSE empty the gas into his truck, then screw the cap back on and toss the canister into the camper. They found Vernon on the steps. He glanced at Isabel, his eyes going right to her cap. He let out a chuckle. “Why that is just adorable. I do hope you brought Makwa one.” Jesse started past. Vernon put out his arm. “Hold up. I wouldn’t go in there just now if I were you.”
“Why?” Isabel asked. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Old Tall and Ugly is just in one of his moods. That’s all.”
Jesse pushed Vernon’s arm aside and headed in. Isabel followed and they found Krampus sitting cross-legged in front of the stove, his eyes closed, his face deep in concentration, the sack before him, an assortment of arrows, gold, and bronze, all looking ancient, strewn about his feet. The Shawnee sat away from him, watching him, looking nervous. Wipi glanced over at them and gave a warning shake of the head.
“Now’s not a good time,” Isabel whispered.
Jesse ignored her, started forward.
Isabel grabbed his arm. “Wait.”
Jesse shrugged her off, kept walking. “Krampus.”
Krampus’s brow tightened, but he didn’t look up.
Jesse walked right up to the Yule Lord. “Krampus. We need to talk.”
Krampus still didn’t open his eyes, but raised a hand, shook it urgently. Isabel could see the rising frustration on the Yule Lord’s face, knew what that could mean. She rushed to Jesse, put a restraining hand on his chest. “Jesse,” she said in a low, harsh tone. “You gotta wait.”