Quinn shivered as the cold air brushed against her skin. She tried to grab her blanket and pull it down, but someone was pulling it from her grip. The last bit of fabric slipped through her finger and the cold air washed over her, easily cutting through her thin nightgown.
Shivering, Quinn forced open one eye. It took a heartbeat for her eyes to focus on the older woman standing next to her bed, straightening out the blanket over her shoulder. “Mama?”
Her mother looked down. “It's okay, baby, mama just needs to redo your blanket.”
A blast of cold pummeled Quinn. She shivered again and clutched her knees to her chest, trying to shield herself from the air. Peeking over her shoulder, she saw that the front door of their house was open and the winter's wind had already scattered snow across the entrance. Frost painted the door and the windows but there was only a light dusting on a pile of boxes lined up against the entrance.
She frowned. When she went to bed, there weren't any boxes out there. In fact, there was no hint that that it was anything other than a normal night.
Still confused, she looked up at her mother. “Mama, what's going on? Is daddy leaving?”
Her mother looked down and then at the door. “No, yes. We're all leaving.”
Quinn looked out the door at the pitch darkness. Even thought it was the middle of a nearly moonless night, there was just enough light to see the ripples of snow and ice. Beyond the field, the dark edge of the Bordeli Forest coated the sky like tar. She shivered at the sight of the forest, the haunted tales rising in her mind. It was a dark and evil place, one that her parents repeatedly warned her about.
Another blast of wind came through the door. She clutched herself as it planted ice and snow against her skin. “Mama, it's cold.”
Her mother finished straightening the blanket and fanned it over her. Pulling it down, she swept Quinn from the bed and held her tight. Her mother's blonde hair flipped against Quinn's face, temporarily obscuring the girl's vision.
“Merci, we have to hurry up.” It was her father speaking from the door. His voice was low and tense. Quinn shivered at the sound of it, it was his angry voice.
“Get those boxes in the wagon, Pieter.”
“I have Quinn's spot already set up. The blankets are down, but if you don't hurry, the ice will cover them.”
“I know,” snapped Quinn's mother. She picked Quinn up from the bed and carried her. “Okay, baby, it's going to get cold, but then we'll warm up.”
“Where are we going?” Quinn asked.
“Far away from here. Far, far away.”
“Why?”
Her mother said nothing as she carried Quinn outside. The wind kicked up and blasted around Quinn, easily seeping through the blanket. She shivered and clutched her mother tighter. The cold made her body ache; it was the same type of ache she had when she stared at the forest too long.
Somehow, in the middle of the night, someone had brought an unfamiliar wagons in front of the house. Quinn could see the trail the wheels left in the ice and snow; it hadn't been there long. In the back, there were boxes and blankets piled up. Looking back, Quinn saw a few things out of place but most of the house remained untouched.
It didn't make sense. When her best friend moved to the other side of the village, they had emptied everything out before carrying the contents across the town. They also did it in spring, not the middle of winter.
A box crashed to the ground inside the house. Quinn's brother, Jed, woke up crying.
“Fuck,” snapped Merci. “Pieter!” she whispered loudly.
“Gag it, Merci!”
“Get Jed! He'll wake up the village.”
There was a shuffling inside the house.
Quinn looked up at her mother through the snow already gathering on her tiny eye lashes. “Mama? I'm cold.”
“Just a few more minutes.” Merci reached the back of the wagon. She started to place Quinn inside but she couldn't reach a gap between two stacks of boxes. The blankets from Quinn's parents bed was already heaped up in the space, a tiny little fort. With a sigh, Merci ground Quinn against her large breast and crawled inside.
Quinn whimpered at the cold and clutched to her mother.
“Under the blankets.” Her mother held up the thick pile on the wagon floor, giving Quinn a tunnel to crawl from her shoulder.
Shivering violently from the icy air, Quinn slipped from the blankets against Merci's chest and into her parent's. It smelled nice, the warmth and musk of her parents. Except for the bitter cold that had seeped into the many thick layers, it wasn't any different than when she crawled into her parent's bed during a thunderstorm.
Merci crawled off the wagon.
“Mama?”
“Just a bit longer, I have to get your brother.”
Quinn's father came out with a bundle of blankets. A small hand stuck out and waved in the air. It was Jed, Quinn's brother.
Merci took him and looked back at the wagon. “How much more?”
“Get in. I'm just going to throw these last two boxes in and we're out of here.”
Quinn pulled a blanket closer as her mother crawled into the wagon. A moment later, Merci slipped under the blankets with Jed held to her chest. Quinn immediately crawled next to her, sighing contently at the warmth of her mother as it enveloped her.
“Oh, Baby, don't worry.”
Shivering under the blankets, Quinn pressed her face to her mother's flanks. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere far away.”
“For how long?”
Merci sighed and twisted to look up over the blankets. The cold air seeped through the gap in the blankets.
Quinn lifted herself to follow her mother's gaze. She was staring at the Bordeli Forest.
With a sigh, her mother pulled herself down and tucked the blankets around all three of them. She kissed Quinn on the forehead. “For a long time, baby. A very long time.”
“What about grandpa?” Klaus was the mayor of the small village.
“Grandpa isn't going to be seeing us for a while.”
“Why?”
Merci shook her head. “He's one of the reason we're leaving.”
Jed stirred against his mother, whimpering loudly before nuzzling under her shirt. He was only a year old.
Merci pulled open her shirt and aimed a swollen nipple to his mouth.
Quinn watched for a moment, then asked the question that hovered in her head. “One? There is another?”
“Yes.” But then her mother refused to answer any more of Quinn's questions.