Back near the road, Tessa’s phone beeped as soon as she had reception. A list of messages and two missed calls from Felix appeared on the cracked screen.
What’s happening? at 10:21.
Where r u? at 10:47.
U ok? at 11:03, 11:18 and 11:36.
It was almost noon now. Ok. Found Maeg, Tessa texted.
Meet at bus stop, he wrote back.
Tessa waited for a few minutes before Felix jumped out of the ski bus. Walking up the steep driveway to the house, Tessa had just begun telling him about her morning, when he shushed her. Bahne was walking towards them, skis on his shoulder, eyes hidden behind silvery goggles.
Tessa froze, but Felix pushed her.
“Act normal,” he hissed. Then he spoke louder: “Snow’s good today, Professor. Off-piste, as usual?”
“Probably.” Bahne slowed, but didn’t stop. “Schöngraben allows me to do what I enjoy most.”
Tessa clenched her teeth. Like hunting barbegazi, she almost said.
“Just stay away from those avalanches,” Felix said.
Bahne snorted. His thin moustache curled.
“How can you chat with him,” Tessa said when he was out of earshot, “as if he’s normal?”
Felix shrugged.
“Just thinking ahead. Perhaps we need to… I don’t know… get him to talk or something.”
“There you are,” Aunt Annie called through a kitchen window. “Food’s ready.” Luckily, she turned her back before she noticed Tessa wasn’t wearing the green ski-club jacket and didn’t have any of her ski equipment.
After discarding their outdoor gear, Tessa and Felix entered the kitchen in their thermal long johns and knitted tops, as if they’d both just come home from training. They wolfed down spaghetti and meatballs. Tessa finished her account of the morning in whispered bursts whenever Aunt Annie, who was baking, fetched something in the pantry or turned on the mixer.
“Was the car key in his room?” Felix whispered.
Tessa thought back, trying to remember if there’d been any keys in the drawer where she found the map. She shook her head. “He could’ve been using it.”
“We won’t get the master key with Mum here anyway. I’ve got another idea.” Felix raised his voice to be heard over the din of the mixer. “We’re going out, Mum.”
“Where—” The closing door muffled the rest of Aunt Annie’s question.
“Get dressed,” Felix said in the hallway, “I’ll get a coat hanger.”
“A what?” Tessa asked, but Felix was already gone.
Outside, Felix placed a wire coat hanger against his chest before he zipped up his jacket.
“What’s it for?”
“Opening the van. I saw it in an online video. Tried it once on Dad’s car.”
“It worked?”
“Yeah, kind of, but the alarm went off.” Felix shrugged. “With Maeg inside, I’m guessing the professor has disabled his alarm.”
They jogged all the way to Bahne’s van. Soon Maeg would be free! Tessa couldn’t wait to bring her to Gawion. He’d be so happy. And Tessa would truly become a secret barbegazi protector.
They tried the van’s doors, knocked on the windows and called Maeg’s name.
This time there was no answer.
“You’re sure she’s in there?” Felix asked.
“Still in there, you mean.”
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, with Bahne skiing, this is probably pretty safe.” Felix unbent and straightened the hanger, before he attacked the passenger door.
“Perhaps she’s sleeping,” Tessa muttered.
After a few tries the lock sprang up. No alarm sounded. Tessa opened the door, and crawled inside and between the seats to the back.
A large cage, with rusted iron bars as thick as her wrists, filled half the space. On the floor, in the furthest corner, lay a lifeless furry bundle.
“Maeg!” Tessa tore at the locked hatch. She stretched her hand in through the bars, but the opening was too narrow for her elbow, and she couldn’t reach the barbegazi. “Maeg!” she called again, a bit louder.
The bundle didn’t stir.
“Let me try.” Felix had joined her, and he nudged Maeg with the ex-coat-hanger before Tessa could stop him. A jolt, like an electric current, ran through the barbegazi’s small body, then it stilled again. Maeg moaned.
“At least she’s alive,” Felix said. The lock on the cage had an old-fashioned keyhole, which he failed to open with the coat hanger. Two modern padlocks on massive iron chains further secured the hatch. “Pro stuff! No chance opening these with any of Dad’s tools. We need the keys.”
“I promise, we’ll save you, Maeg,” Tessa whispered, as she crept out of the van.
They trudged between locked sawmill buildings and stacks of planks, the gushing river swallowing the sound of their footsteps. Scenarios for rescue missions flitted through Tessa’s mind, but none of them were realistic. She discarded them faster than they took to appear.
Halfway home, they sought cover from an icy drizzle under the wide eaves of a house. Here, Aunt Annie couldn’t overhear them, and so they leant against the wall to think up a plan. A few times one of them began a sentence with “What if?…”, only to end it with “…Forget it.”
Eventually the streetlights flickered on. Sleet pounded on the roof. Tessa’s bum was numb with cold when an idea finally took form.
“This might sound really crazy…” she said, “and we would need Gawion’s help. And lots of luck.”