The Pasture

"Finally!" Beatrice exclaimed when, after a long walk through the forest and the pastures with her girlfriend, a little familiar hut appeared.

Adelaide's old home.

"I'm not so sure about this, Bea", Clover said.

"We wouldn't have to stay here forever, only until we find better somewhere else. It's not like Adelaide will need it anymore."

"I still don't get why you want to go here now. Plus we can't just take someone else's house like that…"

The girl in blue opened the door to the old hut, letting daylight enter it and revealing all the dust and spider webs that had appear since the last time she went there. Back then she was still a bluebird and her friends Wirt and Greg were still lost in the Unknown.

The mere memory of the teenage boy's face when he realised what Beatrice's initial plan actually was still punched her in the guts whenever she thought about it.

"Bea, are you listening?" her girlfriend asked. "I just asked you a question."

"Huh? Sorry, 'just thinking", the redhead apologised before finally entering the hut. "What was the question again?"

"Do you know if Adelaide had any family or anyone else that would mind if someone used her old house?"

Beatrice shrugged as Clover joined her inside. The brunette took a quick look into the room before speaking again :

"Well, at least her spirit isn't still here."

"What? How do you even know if-"

"How don't you? It's so obvious!"

"…You're really weird sometimes" Beatrice pointed out, walking to the still open drawers and looking into it.

"You really can't sense these things?" the brunette asked. "You're like my father."

"Your father and everyone else but you, Clover."

The Woodsman's daughter opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. She had always thought her father was the odd one out ; could it be that she was wrong all along? Was she really the only one to perceive things the way she did? Did her girlfriend really think she was weird? Was she weird?

"And here it is!" Beatrice exclaimed, interrupting her partner's train of thoughts.

Before she could show what she had found, they heard someone coming through the door.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my sister's house?" the strange old woman who had just entered asked in a monotone voice.

Clover froze ; Beatrice stepped away from the drawers and towards her girlfriend.

"No-one had heard from Adelaide in a while so we went to check on her", she lied. "Looks like she's not here, she must have moved out, goodbye. Let's go, Clover."

The redhead grabbed her partner's hand and lead her towards the door only to find out another girl around their age was standing in the doorstep, blocking their way.

"You knew Adelaide?" the old woman asked.

"I… she was supposed to help me in exchange for a favour but it seems she disappeared", Beatrice explained, mixing the truth with lies. She couldn't tell Adelaide's sister what really happened, could she?

"And I was just accompanying her", Clover added while pointing at her partner.

While the latter was understandably nervous, the former was strangely calm.

"…I guess we better leave you two alone", the redhead stated.

"If you ever want to come over to our home and discuss all of this…" the third teenage girl started before giving the other two directions to her house.

She then stepped aside to let them leave.

The couple remained silent until the hut wasn't visible in the distance anymore.

"They both have a good soul", the brunette observed.

The girl in blue nodded. She figured her girlfriend knew what she was talking about.

"If you say so. But still, for a second I thought that old lady was going to eat me alive or something…"

"That's my job."

Beatrice froze in place, surprised to hear this from Clover of all people. The latter just smiled, grabbed her hand and lead her through the pasture and back home.