Mermaids are Menacing (Book 2) Complete

60.) Moving Day

The past few days in the cave were suprisingly warm, not in temperature but in my heart. The girls and Jen got along well, really well. The twins crawled after her wherever she went inside the cave. Chaising after Jen, their little tails swung side to side trying to keep them from falling over. It was funny to watch the three walk like a line of ducks. Much like their father they didn't want to be outside during the day. They rubbed at their eyes and stayed in till the sun went down.

When the two would eventually catch up to her they would waller all over her while she laughed at them. Even though I had seen the fast growth in Vee the change snuck up on me. The flip from baby to basically a toddler over night. They were slower to change than Vee had been but i didnt see it as a problem. If I could I would bottle these moment to make them last a little bit longer.

Kids already grow up fast but even more so it seemed with mine. I spent the morning splitting trees length wise down the middle. The rounded underneath would be the bottom of the wagon and the flattish part would face up and be the inside floor. I used my nails to claw out little triangles. These would be the joint hole. Fitting together like pieces of puzzle.

Wide tree trunks would be sliced and carved in to wheels by my claws. It took some time to do but it wasnt difficult work. Each day i made a little more progress. Always making sure that my three girls had food to eat, water to drink, and a warm place to sleep. But they deserved better. Next time we settle I'll build them a bigger home, someplace warmer with plenty of dense tree cover. Far from red eyes and dangerous things. Grandpa tree can have a place outfront where he won't need to hibernate because of cold weather.

After a full week i finally finished the wagon. It wobbled when i pulled it because of the uneven wheel shape but it worked. It had a flat bed where I laid first a layer of leather then furs ontop of that. Mostly to prevent Jen from getting splinters. Their was two wheels in the back and two in the front. The wagon was a bit short without guard rails but it would work.
I left a pole extending out the front of the wagon to pull it by. With this i could tied down the supplies and also carry the girls. When the morning came we could finally be on our way to our new home.
...

When night came I checked my little Idelias claws first they weren't to long but I nipped them down to the finger just to be safe. She didn't compalin or struggle but waited calmly for me to groom her.

Aelia's were unfortunatly already starting to become dangerous. I trimmed them down as well but she wasn't happy about it.

"Mine."  She whined and tryed to struggle away.

"Have to keep them short." I explained.

"No!" Aelia squalled.

Aside from a word here or there they didnt talk much. I tried to remember when Vee started talking. He started speaking to me in the common language much later but Cerastes had said he understood the first language that dragons used from the begining. It was something they were born knowing.

"You have to if you want to play with Jen." I told her.

"No!" She squirmed in my arms.

"Ok, only Idelia can play with Jen then." I said letting go of her. She fled my arms to the far side of the cave. Pouting. Her tail swished angrily as she looked at her remaining long claws. Then she gave a long glance at Idelia and Jen who were happily drawing on the walls with water. It was obvious that she wanted to be doing what they were doing. Her tails swished a few more times before she looked away. I pretended to be looking elswhere. When Aelia saw that I wasn't watching her she tried to sneak closer to Jen and Idelia.

"AAa!" I barked a scolding sound at her. The three jolted in suprise at the sound. Aelia gave me a pitiful look, i nodded my head once and pointed towards my lap with my puckered lips.
She crawled back to me slowly with a pouting face and Jen and Idelia hunched their shoulders trying to not look in our direction. Aelia sat in my lap her  shoulder length white hair bunched around her shoulders and she offered me her unclipped hand still pouting.

I made quick work of her claws, running my finger over each one  to make sure they were safe. When her was done i picked her up from my lap and sat her on the floor.I patted her butt pushing her towards the other two girls.

"Go play." I told her.

Aelia forgetting her earlier grumpyness, giddly crawled to the other two and put both her hands in the water pale before smearing them on the wall. They finger painted cats and trees and all manner of things with the water. The fire in the cave was warm and caused the water on the wall to fade untill the pictures completly dissapeared, only to be coated with new water pictures again.

"This one is Aelia, and this one is Idelia, and this one is me, and this one is mom." Jen said before blushing when she realized she had called me mom instead of Rowan. Embarrassed she glanced at me to see if i heard her. 

I grinned at her and gave her a wink before I carfully cleaned up the sharp pieces of nail before placing them in the fire. Like bone they didn't burn easily but at least they wouldnt end up in someones foot while they were in the fireplace.

It was fine with me if the girls stayed up most the night. If anything it would make traveling during the day easier. In the morning I'd add our bedding to the wagon and the girls could sleep while I pulled the wagon. I yawned a wide mouth yawn and layed on our bed. I doozed a bit while they continued playing.

When i woke up the fire had gotten low. The coals were still hot but the light was dim and the room had lost heat. I looked around me and found that the girls had come to bed. Jen layed against the wall with Aelia and Idelia sprawled between us. A little leg draped over me here and another foot by my ear. I got to my feet and drapped another fur over Jen. The twin had kicked off the furs while they slept since they tended to run hot but Jen didn't  have the body temperature they did. I went to the stack of wood near the entrance. It couldn't be left outside because it needed to dry but i didnt want it by the fire because it would leave a puddle when it dethawed.

I added wood to the fire a moved the coals a bit to bring them to life. The room became brighter in the yellow light, smelling of ash and burning. It came to me like a dull gnawing feeling. Something was off. I felt my heart beating faster and got to my feet. The feeling of excitement or fear.  I tasted blood in my mouth and realized I had bitten the inside of my mouth.

Carefully I went to the entrance. Half of the wide opening was blocked by fallen treesi had stacked to prevent the wind from coming in but the rest was open. Outside the clearing was calm and quiet. A thin sheen of ice covered the grass in patches. The wagon was outside to the side just at i had left it. Piled up with all our belongings, and ready to move in the morning. I stuck my head out of the cave to check the cliff sides. Nothing was out of place but I couldn't shake the feeling of a presence.

"Rowan."

A single word that made my heart stop. Made my body freeze like the grass in the field. I looked up to the top of the cliff face and found a pair of red eyes looking back at me.

"Found you." Cerastes grinned.

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I did promise my readers two chapters this weekend. The next one will be out later. Tonight. The more comments i get the more i feel encouraged to write so dont let me slack off to long.