He’s angry, and I can’t help but be a little excited about that.
I hurry downstairs just as he bursts through the door, his face a mask of fury and his body trembling with rage. When he looks like this, he reminds me a bit of Daddy, and I can’t help but feel myself warming up to him.
“How did you get your hands on Heidi?” he booms throughout the room. “And where is Lils?”
“Hold on.” I hold up my bloody hands, the blood of his daughter and my mother staining my palms. “You can’t get mad at me about Heidi. She was my mother to do with as I please. This blood?” I wave my hands. “Runs in my veins too.”
“Where. Is. My. Daughter?” Spit flies from between his teeth as his single eye shoots beams of murderous intent at me.
“Upstairs, sleeping.” Eternally. I turn away from him and open the valve for the kitchen sink, washing my hands in the cold water. “You can go up and wake her, but she was tired from the anguish you caused her earlier, and I don’t think she’s ready to talk to you.”
“What the fuck was on your head before?” he snaps, as I dry my hands on the rag by the sink.
“My father had a new wife he brought home when he decided he had had enough of me and couldn’t be bothered to look for Heidi.” I turn around and look him in the eye. “I liked her hair.”
When he doesn’t say anything, and that one eye of his keeps skipping to the second floor, then back to my face, I wave him off.
“Go check on her,” I huff. “I hated my father’s wife, okay? She was trying to move in on him for the position he had in this town and this house he worked so hard for.”
His jaw tightens, but he continues to say nothing. And he thinks I’m crazy.
“I scalped her, washed the hair, and saved it for myself, but only after I chopped her to bits.” I take in an audible inhale. “What are you cooking?”
“So you’ve kept her hair,” he snarls.
“I’ll look like my new daughter tomorrow when we marry.”
“I cooked the boar meat that was left in your cold cellar. It would start to turn soon if it’s not cooked.”
I almost choke on my saliva because that’s no boar in the wood stove’s oven. He’s cooking what’s left of Tanner’s rump.
“It smells fantastic. I’ll go wake Lils and we’ll eat as a family.” I head to the stairs. “Oh! By the way, I saw Daddy out behind the house, hovering just beyond the treaty line. That’s why I tossed him his wife’s carcass. Maybe he can forever be haunted by the family he fucked up.”
“You saw Pollyx?”
“He’s not really my daddy anymore, is he?” I turn my sad eyes on him. “He’s lurking around here, probably looking for me.”
“He’s been a thorn in my side for long enough.” Colby strides for the back door when my hand on his forearm stops him.
“You should eat first.”
“I offered some to Tarquin.”
“Go on and fetch Tarquin. I’ll set up the table.” I pat his arm. Daddy really missed out. I can be a good wife.
“Lils…” He looks up the stairs again.
“I will make her a plate and bring it up to her. She’s a girl, and I can understand what she’s going through a bit better than you.”
“Don’t show her the hair.” He points his finger at me, and I swallow the urge to bite it off.
“Absolutely not.” That’s my hair. Why would I show that to the brat? Not that she would even appreciate it now.
He heads out the front door on his way to go get Tarquin as I rush up the stairs with the large burlap sack I found in the pantry. As soon as Lils is in the bag, I hoist her small body over my shoulder and head back down to the kitchen, slipping the bag out the back door.
I close it just as the front door opens and let out a sigh of relief. That was close.
“Hi, Tarquin!” I call out to the balding perv who’s been eyeing me since I was a young girl.
“Well, hello, Miss Hill.”
“Sit down.” I motion to one of the three plates on the table. “I’ll get the boar out of the oven.” Tanner is an absolute boar.
I snort at my thoughts while Colby gives me a confused look. At least, I think it’s confusion. That one eye throws me off.
“You still have a gathering out front. Would it be too much to share this rare boar?” Tarquin asks.
“Absolutely!” I exclaim as I grab a chipped plate from the cabinet. “Just let me serve a plate for my daughter first.”
“Daughter?” Tarquin gives me a puzzled look.
“My daughter, soon to be Bevie’s when we marry,” Colby explains.
“Oh! A sweet new family for us to welcome.”
“I don’t know if there’s enough meat for everyone.” I look into the pot. “There’s no fixings either.” I lift a brow at Colby. What kind of stew is this?
“I was interrupted by a body,” he mutters, his eye darkening with anger again.
“It’s okay.” Tarquin looks into the pot as his eyes widen. “That’s enough for us all to have a bite.”
I set the plate up and start for the stairs. This will be mine to savor later. I would’ve never guessed that Tanner would be with us for this long.
After resting the plate on my bedside table, I close the door and start back down the stairs, finding Colby waiting for me at the bottom.
“She’s still sleeping?”
“She’s moping, like a normal hormonal girl. Give her the space she needs,” I advise. “Or you can try to force her to talk to you.”
“No.” He steps back, a sad look on his face. “She’s never stayed mad at me for this long before.”
“As girls get older, they hold grudges longer. You’ll keep that in mind for future tiffs. Pick your battles.”
“It was about our wedding.”
“Pick your battles!” I repeat as I head to the kitchen to find Tarquin handing out forkfuls of Tanner.
How poetic? The town’s sunshine being digested in the townspeople’s bellies.
While Colby is at the front, talking about leader shit with the people, I open the door to ensure Lils is still safely stashed away. I find the bag undisturbed, but a low growl has my head snapping up to find Daddy on the other side of our fence, over the treaty line. The skin on his face is peeling away and revealing the bones, and his eyes are yellowing in their sockets.
The grotesque look of him startles me as I scream, hauling Colby and a few others away from eating Tanner’s ass.
“What is it?” My one-eyed savior runs to the back door with a few men in town.
“It’s Daddy.” I point out beyond the fence as Colby snarls.
“That’s it!” he snaps, and hurries toward Daddy the other.
“We should call the Four Regencies!” Tarquin exclaims, and rushes out to help Colby.
I see my chance and take it by grabbing the bag of Lils, then heading past the hoard at the front, all riveted on what was once Daddy in my backyard. I feel a pang of nostalgia for the man who raised me, then fucked me, but it’s quickly doused away when I picture his melting face.
Gross.
“Could you tell Colby I went to see Cora to invite her to our wedding?” I ask a lady whose name I can’t recall.
She gives me a slow once-over, then a quick nod.
“Don’t forget.” I look over my shoulder as I hear him yelling. “You wouldn’t want him to worry and go on a rampage through town, would you?”
“I’ll tell him.” She nods and swallows.
“Thanks!” I chirp, and skip down the road, Lil’s bones jabbing into my back.
I will make the perfect wedding gift for my one-eyed man.