The Stray

2-8: The Baker and the Badger

"Aw, why bring that up now?" Miss Larue said it jokingly, but he could tell the question had hit a sore spot... her cheery "joke" sounded forced. Timothy twisted his braid a little, trying to push through a sudden twinge of guilt.

"Well, ma'am," he swallowed hard. "I don't blame the littlun for how things shook out— an' you can tell her that— but I wanna know what drove a nice kid like her into the woods after a fairy tale." The rhino squirmed under his gaze. How far could he push this? And how far should he?

"It's a long, sad story, Timothy." Miss Larue hugged herself. "And it's a lot of ancient history, now— nothing you need to worry about now."

He shook his head. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'am," he said gently, "but don't I have a right to know why this all happened to us? To me an' mine?" That one looked like it hurt, and it showed on her face. Normally Timothy liked getting the upper hand, but this was no joy. The rhino sighed, and returned to working bread dough. He thought for a moment he'd pushed too hard, but then...

"Truth is, Timothy, Ada— Mayor Locke— was one of the family, once." The wolf stared, jaw dropping. "Oh, yes," she said, giving a sad little smile at his dumbfounded look. "Once upon a time, my children called her Auntie Ada."

Timothy tried to square that with th' harsh woman who'd forced her way to his sickbed. The woman apparently so awful Meri wanted to resort to literal fairy magic to make her kinder. Heck, the woman who'd been flinging army-grade siege magic in the town's defense, at least how V told it. "Auntie Ada?"

"She was family, dear, good as blood. Better, even," she said, her fist clenching. "I can't tell you how often she ate with us. She was Kate's best friend, her wife my confidante. Even as mayor, she made time to babysit our kids."

"But... why?" Locke hated them, or at least, she did now.

The rhino's smile only grew sadder. "There's a lot of ways to lose a family, dear. Kate was a mercenary, alone in the world even before she left her homeland. The less said about my parents, the better. Maisie was a foundling, with no clue where she'd really come from. And Ada, dear Ada... the Nightmare Lord took what little family she had." She gazed out the kitchen window. "Kate was bedridden, Maisie was lost, I was guilty, and Ada was grieving. Fate threw us together, and we held on tight."

Timothy swallowed hard, throat dry. Whether she knew or not, to hear her tell it... His thoughts went to the bees, the spiders, the magorons, the glowbuzzes. The elder Ashbornes were like him. And so connected with Locke? "I... I'd not have guessed, ma'am. And, when I asked, I didn't..."

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Dear, when go digging in a town this small, you're going to find some bones." With a wistful look, she continued. "Truth is, we needed each other. But we built something deeper than just desperation, you know? Kate and I fell in love, and we came to love Maisie as a daughter. Ada, and later Myrtle, became like sisters I'd never had."

That statement was a haymaker to the gut, and Timothy's eyes went wide as wheels. "Myrtle?" Mrs. Ashborne blinked at his shock, but then giggled.

"Sorry, dear, I forget sometimes you're not local. Myrtle, the late town witch, was Ada's beloved. Her wife." The wolf's jaw dropped. Even Mandy turned to stare at the rhino.

"Um... I've heard the name." It came out all awkward as he scrambled in his head to figure out what to say. "What... if you're okay with answering, what was she like?"

"Oh, she was a peach, she was." Miss Larue's smile grew more genuine. "Very kind, very beautiful. A ewe you wanted to know the moment you saw her smile. She came to town a year or two after everything happened. It was love at first sight for Ada, head over heels and topsy turvy." That was hard to imagine. "It was nice havin' Myrtle around; she was a good witch. Great listener, wonderful with animals, gave great advice. With her around, there was this sense of harmony to Fresa, like everything was just a little more in balance."