Acceptance | ✓

Chapter 14

[ETHAN]

We heard excessive barking as we pulled up at Mr. Collin's bungalow. He was out on the porch with Roxanne who ran into the small garden barking, with tail wagging fast in the air as she approached the car.

"Calm down," Andrew laughed as Roxanne tried to fit her nose into the tiny space Andrew was creating as he wound down the window.

I smiled, glad to see utter relief and joy on Andrew's face as Roxanne attempted to give him a dog kiss through the window.

My smile soon turned upside down at the sight of Mr. Collins approaching Andrew's window with Hector in hand. The half-grown chick was tweeting noisily as Mr. Collins passed him through the window to Andrew.

"Thanks for taking care of them," Andrew thanked Mr. Collins as he rubbed Hector's head with the base of his thumb.

"Are you glad to see him?" Andrew asked, looking from Hector to me. I grunted, making Andrew chuckle slightly.

Roxanne was still barking noisily as she ran from Andrew's door to mine. She started clawing at the door in an attempt to stand on her hinge legs.

I opened the door, letting her in. She jumped in, settling on top of me, as she let her paws rest on the dashboard.

"You'll be off now?" Mr. Collins asked, making Andrew nod as he placed the chick inside the cup holder. I smiled to myself, noticing Hector had gotten a little bit big for the cup. With time they'll be no car rides for him.

Mr. Collins waved us off as Andrew pulled into the road.

The ride back home was uncomfortable. Roxanne kept sticking her snout in the air and barking. Andrew reasoned that something probably smelled wrong or different and Roxanne was just panicking like she usually did when something was off.

We got to the cabin a few minutes later. I opened the door to let a very eager Roxanne out. She jumped about before running to the rare end of the booth to continue her barking fit.

"It's probably something we bought," Andrew said as he got down the car. Although he was being suggestive that Roxanne was worrying about nothing, there was something in his look that told me he thought otherwise.

I looked worriedly at Roxanne who was still barking and snarling at the booth. I've seen the things she capable of doing. Form sniffing out an oil leakage in the car to spotting a very small gas leak in the stove. It could be something minor — or really serious.

"We'll have to check though," Andrew said, taking a hold of the booth's hinge. "There's no helping by just staring at it."

My eyes widened in sudden panic and confusion when Andrew lifted the booth door to revile our luggage and a body.

I snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of Andrew cursing, and the more frantic barking from Roxanne.

"How the hell did she get there?" Andrew asked, looking from me to the booth, Where Roxanne had climbed into to sniff the body of the girl. The child was immobile, even when Roxanne barked directly into her ear.

I furrowed my brows realizing I'd seen her somewhere — the convention.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, making Andrew look at me with worry as I climbed into the booth with Roxanne.

"Is she—Is she alive?" Andrew asked in a whisper, clearly not comfortable with the idea.

"Yes," I said, feeling her pulse. "I think she just passed out from car sickness or something."

"We should take her to the hospital, don't you think? And call the police—"

"No," I said firmly, cutting Andrew mid-sentence. He frowned at me, clearly not liking my tone. My mouth fell agape in an attempt to explain myself, but nothing reasonable came out and I just ended up sighing.