Hi guys, have yourself a merry Christmas!
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XIV. Falling snow

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A persistent stomachache tormented Zelena as soon as she woke up. She fumbled for the alarm clock on the nightstand to turn it off. She quickly got dressed and brushed her teeth in the bathroom so that she could go downstairs to prepare breakfast for her father. She didn't want him to find any reason to be upset. After setting out the sandwich and a cup of tea for him, she cleaned out the dishwasher and took down the laundry she had hung out to dry the night before. When she finally hurried out of the house, wolfing down a dry slice of bread, Freek was actually still asleep. She only dared to breathe a sigh of relief once she struggled down the snowy driveway to the road on her bike. The air she expelled condensed into fine wisps of steam.

She arrived in town earlier than usual, so she stopped before she reached the main street, leaning her bike against the low stone wall. An early walker in a coat and scarf, leading a Dalmatian on a leash, nodded to her in greeting. Through the wrought-iron gate she entered the cemetery, which lay silent and untouched. Slowly she walked among the snow-covered gravestones, skimming over one or two engraved names. All of these people had once been someone's parents, children, or siblings. It was the anniversary of her mother's death, but she didn't know if she even had a grave anywhere because her father refused to talk to her about it. At some point she had given up asking him about it. It only upset him. Her eyes fell on a stately mausoleum perched beneath bare snow-covered trees. She almost expected to read Mills above the locked entrance, because such a building would befit the mayor's noble status. To her surprise, however, another name was there on it. Blanchard. Of course, she couldn't place it, because she knew most of the town's inhabitants only by sight.

She started her work at the supermarket on time, which kept her busy for a few hours and distracted her from her gloomy thoughts. Time passed mercilessly fast that day, she was very sure. She had asked Hook to give her the shift that evening, but he hadn't scheduled her until the following, which meant there was no reason for her to stay away from home any longer. If she didn't do her chores around the house to Freek's satisfaction, it would only distress him, and that day he was too drunk too soon, so even the most trivial reason was enough for him to beat her up so badly that she could barely stand upright afterwards and wished she just wasn't there anymore. Once he hadn't liked the food, another time she had greeted the mailman too kindly. The clock hand worked against her as she kept the shelves neat and restocked when something was missing. Standing on a ladder, she reached out for a box of nibbles to fill the compartment in question. The movement hurt her chest, but she was so lost in thought that she barely registered it.

"Hi Miss West," a voice said from behind her.

Zelena winced so hard that the box slipped from her hands and she helplessly rowed her arms for a moment to keep her balance. Her eyes fell on a blonde in jeans, booties and an orange quilted jacket. Sheriff Swan bent down for the box and handed it to her once they were at eye level. Spasmodically, she closed her fingers around it to hide the nervous shaking.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"Then you shouldn't sneak up behind unsuspecting people," Zelena returned gruffly. "Especially not when they're standing on a ladder."

"I had approached you before, but obviously you didn't hear me." She pointed to the box. "Are there any of those pepperoni chips left in there, by any chance?"

Furious at her lack of self-control, she opened it and fished out a bag of salty crisps, which she handed to her with selected kindness. "Here you go. Do you need anything else?"

"Yes, another one of those," it came back promptly.

She resisted the temptation to just wordlessly slam it down to her, Bending over again, she felt dizzy, so she had to brace herself against the ladder and close her eyes for a moment until her surroundings stopped spinning.

"Let me help you." Sheriff Swan reached for the bulky box. "It was my fault, after all."

Zelena sparkled at her dismissively. "I can do my own work, thank you."

"Okay, never mind, sorry." Shrugging her shoulders, she turned to the shelf again and added peanut flips to the two packs of chips in her basket before going her way.

With one hand, Zelena balanced the box so she could free the other to climb back up the stepladder. It was hard for her to understand the relationship Regina had with this woman. Two people could hardly be more different, and yet they had been incredibly familiar with each other in the bar the other day. As if they understood each other even without needing words.

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When Zelena entered the farmhouse at the end of her shift and was welcomed by Freek's loud gurgling snore, the knot of tension she had felt all day loosened. She felt like she could finally catch her breath and risked peeking into the living room, where she saw him stretched out all fours on the couch. The half-empty liquor bottle on the low table indicated that he was already drunk. As deeply as he slept in his state of intoxication, not even a bomb would wake him. At least for now. Hastily, she went to the kitchen to prepare canned ravioli stuffed with meat in tomato sauce for him, which she left warming in a pot on the stove. Although she had drunk only water since the meager breakfast and her stomach growled, the smell of food did not give her an appetite. When she heard her father choking and coughing stertorously, her heart slipped. She didn't even take a moment to listen to see if his snoring would start again. As quickly as she could, she put on her winter boots and ran headlong outside.

It was snowing again, but Zelena didn't care as her steps carried her forward. She just wanted to be out of Freek's reach when he woke up. The shed where her bike was standing was much too close. That's where he would look for her first when he realized she wasn't in the house. Swiftly she hurried past the stairs leading to the underground shelter, a trap she would never willingly enter. She crossed the deep snow-covered field and left the grounds of Birch Hill behind her. Only when she made out the outline of the stable building in the dim light did she pause. She was so heated from her fast run that the biting cold now drove full force into her limbs and her lungs ached with every breath. She had rushed off in such a hurry that she had not even put on her jacket. Panting, her hand pressed to her stinging side, she walked down the barn driveway and finally opened the big sliding gate a crack so she could slip through. Inside it was dry, but since she was by now chilled to the skin, she didn't get noticeably warmer. Several horses poked their heads out of the stalls curiously, and she noticed Regina's noble apple gray mare, Silver Queen. A little further on stood Scarlet, Robin's chestnut gelding, who willingly let her pet him.

"You're a fine guy," she said to him, whereupon he snorted happily and wiggled his ears. "Unfortunately, I don't have anything for you to snack on, but maybe you'll let me stay for a while anyway."

In the stable aisle, she would be immediately spotted by anyone who wanted to check on the horses, so she decided to enter Scarlet's stall to let herself sink into the straw against its back wall. The big gelding turned leisurely so that his rump was facing the door, and lowered his head to nudge her gently. She stroked his soft nose and warm silky neck, which he gladly accepted. It seemed to her that Scarlet sensed her nervousness and responded to it. His company helped her calm down a bit. Surely her father wouldn't come looking for her in here. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around her torso. She would have to hold out in this stall for a few hours until Freek got too drunk to do anything else to her and was content to let her help him to bed. Sure, he would be furious the next day, once his intoxication had worn off to some extent, because she hadn't been home and he'd only gotten a lukewarm meal, but she could handle his humiliations and insults. However, she was incredibly afraid of what he would do to her that night if he got his hands on her.

A sound that was terribly loud in the comforting silence startled Zelena out of her thoughts. Since Scarlet raised his head and attentively straightened his ears, she could not have imagined it. The gate was pushed open with a squeak, and someone entered the stable alley. In the next moment, the ceiling light flashed on mercilessly. Tense, Zelena huddled deeper into the corner. She didn't know how much time had passed and if Freek had noticed her absence by now. Whoever had just walked in needed only to glance into the fox's box to notice her. The sound of footsteps approached and she felt herself begin to breathe faster.