Lost again

The aftermath

The next morning, Pin woke up, got ready, and headed downstairs for their next day of work at the book shop with his mum. They went to open up the shop. When they attempted to put the key in the lock. The door swung open. In the small gap in the door, the vision of chaos and mayhem was no longer concealed. The door wasn't damaged - it was the only thing that wasn't - but someone had picked the lock to gain access to every piece of information in the building. Pin pushed the door further into the room to see the full extent of the damage done to the shop.

Books and loose papers were splayed over the floor as well as gaps left in the shelves where they had once been placed. Pin heard footsteps come to a halt behind them. Isabelle had walked in to find the mess that they were gazing at in terror. It was then that they noticed the shards of glass scattered over wooden boards that were meant to be the floor. They followed the trail of broken glass to find the dark wooden display case that had once held the original copy of Freyja's manuscript from her time on Midgard. Pin turned to find their mum on the brink of tears, fists clenched in anger. They pulled her into a hug and waited for her to give in to the way she was feeling. Tears started to stream from her eyes as she brought her arms up around their shoulders. Pin was just as hurt by what had happened so they buried their face in her curly, blonde hair and inhaled the sweet smell of rose petals and saffron. It calmed them and they needed that to help keep their mother from doing something stupid.

"It's okay, we'll find it and bring it back." Their words made it sound easier than they knew it was going to be, "...I promise" Pin pulled away from her and held her face for a minute until a forced smile appeared on her face to try and reassure them that she was okay. Then they started to look properly at the smashed-up case. One single strand of raven hair about four inches long was almost floating from the breeze of the open door and a small drop of blood was left on the broken glass as if someone had broken it with their hands and cut themself. They took a handkerchief out from their pocket to wipe up the blood and collect the hair.

Pin stood up and turned around to find their mum sweeping up the glass and replacing the books to where they were before. Pin decided to try and help her by picking up the loose paper scattered over the floor and stacking it on the desk opposite the door. They guessed that due to the heavy winds last night once the intruder got in the wind had forced the stack of receipts and pages off the desk. Luckily no other books or passages were taken or damaged.

"Hey Bella, I found this..." Donna's sentence was cut short at the sight of the shop. Her face dropped as she stood there in awe of the damage done to the books and the shelves and everything surrounding them. "What happened?"

"Someone broke in last night and stole it. The manuscripts." Pin managed to spit the words out that they needed to while picking up the last few pieces of paper scattered everywhere. They looked over to their mum who was hunched over trying to hold back her tears. They walked over to her and helped her get up. "Go home, mum. I'll clear up and ask around to see if anyone saw anything."

She looked up at them, tried to smile, and then walked out the door.

"It was tough on her, huh?" Donna had joined Pin in clearing up at that point. She had tied back her hair into a loose knot at the back of her head.

"Yeah, it hurts to see her like that. I've never seen her cry before." The pin had to keep the hair out of their face because of how long it had gotten, so they pulled it back into a bun as best they could.

"Hey, it's okay. I'll clear up here so you can go tell your mum what's happened." She looked at them and smiled reassuringly.

Pin left to find Matilda who had left earlier that morning for her patrol. It didn't take long for them to find her as she had often taken them with her on quiet days, so they knew the route she often took. Once again they got on joey and left to find their mum.

Once They had left they realized how bad this was. It had finally sunk in what had happened. Those manuscripts had been passed down in their mum's family for generations. All because Isabelle's Great - great - great - great - Grandfather had fallen in love with Freya, Vanir Goddess of Love and fertility, and hadn't given up on asking her to dinner for almost ten years until she finally gave in and then fell in love with him too. After he died about thirty years later she returned to Vanaheim and had remained there since. Her manuscripts as they were called were actually diaries she kept from her time on our planet and how her love for her Grandfather grew. That book meant a lot to their family and especially Isabelle. Pin let one tear fall from their eye and wiped it away before approaching his mum who was a few yards ahead of them.

Matilda turned to greet her child but paused after noticing the look on their face, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Pin was flushed because they didn't realize how fast they had travelled, they finally managed to get the words out that they needed to say, as Joey almost spun on the spot from stopping too quickly, "It's gone, the diary." They watched as her face dropped, "Someone broke in and stole it last night, Donna's clearing up the mess that was left."

"Is your mum okay, it meant a lot to her." She had already started to mount Joey behind Pin so they could go home.

"She is upset, to say the least. I thought I should come to tell you so that you can speak to mum. I didn't know what to say to her." It was the truth. Pin was never very good at dealing with loss themself, let alone supporting anyone else dealing with it. Matilda wrapped her arms around Pin and they squeezed Joey to get him to walk on. Then, again and again, to try and pick up speed. Joey gladly obliged and carried them all the way back to their village. Pin was almost jealous that their horse didn't feel the same remorse they did.

Matilda split off from Pin and headed home to comfort her wife and they wanted to ride back down to the stream to visit the boy they met the previous night.

They had suspicions that Kace was behind the break-in but the only evidence to support it was the hair. Kace had beautiful raven hair that was long enough to be braided around the side of his head. The four-inch-long piece that was found near the case could definitely be his.

What if Pin was right and this boy they had met was the culprit? What would they do? Black hair is common though, right. Anyone could have done it.