The Curse of Bliss

Chapter Thirteen

Amery trudges through snow in the general direction of his car. Violet and Chaser follow behind him, both of them happy to be outside. Looking down at Chaser, Amery can't help but smile. He is healing nicely, trotting along happily as if nothing happened.

Flexing his wrist, Amery can't help but wince. It is still pretty tender. At least the swelling has gone down. Without any material for a cast, Amery is just wearing a brace. It allows for movement, but by the end of the day, his wrist is always throbbing. The cut he had gotten on his face is mostly gone as well, but the tissue is still pink. He has a sinking suspicion that he is going to be left with a scar, but he can't find the energy to care.

The ground beneath his feet changes, going from the soft whish of snow to the crunching of gravel. He is getting close to the car now.

"Come on, you two," Amery calls. Violet and Chaser don't listen, however. Pausing, Amery looks over at where the two of them are standing. It is about ten feet off the main path. "Violet, Chaser, come on."

They continue to ignore him. Violet is intently sniffing something, while Chaser circles a tree.

"What the hell are you two looking for?"

Chaser pauses, and both of their ears perk up. With complete synchronicity, they look up into the tree. That's when he hears it. Something soft.

A way too familiar sound greets him.

His breath catches. Before he can think, he stumbles towards the tree where his dogs are sniffing. This is a bad idea, he had gotten hurt last time he did something like this, but he can't ignore the sound.

"Mama mama."

Finally, Amery makes it to the tree. His breath is shaky as he lets it out.

There, about ten feet up in the tree, is a car seat.

Amery looks around for something to get to it, but there is nothing.

"How did you even get up there?"

The baby pauses when it hears his voice, but once again picks up the babbling.

Reaching up with his good hand, Amery tries to grab the car seat. His hand doesn't even brush the bottom. He is too afraid to jump, the risk of the car seat dropping too great.

The baby's babbling soon turns to crying, sounding scared. He can't blame them, but hearing the anguished crying is making his heart ache. A few branches are low on the tree, and he grabs for one. Pain shoots up his arm, causing him to wince, pulling his wrist tightly against his chest.

"Dammit."

He looks around but he can't see anything, just snow everywhere. But there is something, lying on the other side of a large fallen log. Violet's rump is sticking out. Her feet are crunching as she tries to step back in the snow, but it seems like she can't back up.

"Are you stuck?" Amery asks. He walks over to the fallen log where Violet is obviously stuck or something.

Amery looks up at the car seat one last time before crouching down next to Violet. Before he can say anything else, Violet scoots out of the hole, dragging something out with her.

"What the hell?"

Violet gently drops what she is holding and sits down next to Amery, tongue out and panting.

He can hardly believe his eyes. Surely he is just sleep-deprived and not actually seeing a small child covered in dried blood.

"Shit."