Darling - K. Ancrum Page 0,16

do a lot of walking around here? Is the area safe at night?”

Tinkerbelle snorted. “Nowhere is safe at night. Especially not when you’ve got a face like yours.”

Wendy thought they were done with the rude part of the evening. She scowled and opened her mouth to snap back, but Tinkerbelle clarified, “You know. Sweet and a bit stubborn, like mine. Plus, you’re a girl, and you know how that goes.”

“I’d never let anyone do anything to you,” Peter said a bit absentmindedly. “The boys are always out there watching.”

The corner of Tinkerbelle’s mouth ticked up, but it couldn’t really be called a smile yet.

“There is that,” she said fondly. “But they only watch out for me.”

She turned to Wendy. “You should be careful if you’re thinking about night jogging.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Wendy said.

Tinkerbelle looked out at the city as it whizzed by. “I think you’ll like the boys. They like tough girls. Smart girls.”

“What are they like?”

Tinkerbelle bit her lip while she thought. “They’re kind, but a bit rough.”

“They’re resourceful,” Peter said.

“They’re family,” Tinkerbelle insisted.

Peter huffed gently. “Yeah, that, too. No one else but family can be such a hassle.”

“Ignore him,” Tinkerbelle said. “He loves them. Or, well … as much as he can, I guess.”

That remark didn’t settle well into the atmosphere between them, and the air seemed a bit colder.

“So,” Peter said brightly, changing the subject. “Tell us a bit about you?”

“Well,” Wendy started, “I moved here from Hinsdale, like, four days ago. I’m a senior, but I haven’t started back at school yet.”

“Why did you move?” Tinkerbelle interrupted.

Wendy shrugged. She might as well use this to help her prepare for this conversation, because she was sure she’d be having it at school over and over again in a couple of days.

“My dad got a new job, and my mom wants to adopt a few more kids. They figured that living in the city would be better than having my dad drive all the way out here every day. Also, probably make it a bit easier to showcase that we’re stable enough to take in new children. Plus, they’re looking for older ones because they have lower chances of getting adopted or something. It’s a good time, too, because I’m probably going to college out of state, and they can go back to being parents again instead of being empty nesters in their mid-thirties.”

Peter and Tinkerbelle spoke at the same time.

“What kind of kids are they looking for?” Tinkerbelle asked urgently.

“Your parents are in their thirties?” Peter blurted in disbelief.

Wendy went with Tinkerbelle’s question first. “They’re looking for someone around twelve to fourteen, probably boys.”

Tinkerbelle’s face did something unexpected when she received that news, but Wendy didn’t know her well enough to figure out what it meant. Wendy looked up at Peter instead. “Yeah, my mom is, like, thirty-three, and my dad is thirty-eight. She had me young, and they met afterward while she was in graduate school. It’s not a big deal, but I can see why they would want to have more kids after I leave. This way they can do the whole thing over again and actually be able to afford to take them on real vacations this time around.”

“Hmm,” Peter said.

“Which,” Wendy continued, “the new kids would also deserve, since I’m sure the foster system isn’t a picnic.”

“It’s not,” Tinkerbelle said.

Oh.

Before Wendy could process her social faux pas, Peter pulled his arms down and whispered, “We need to change train cars.”

“We’re not even at the next stop,” Tinkerbelle started to complain. “Wilson is only two more—”

Peter looked over his shoulder quickly and grabbed Tinkerbelle by the back of her collar, pushing her toward the door. “Go. Now,” he said roughly.

Wendy followed his gaze and landed on a police officer near the back of the train car. He wasn’t facing them, but he was close to the train doors, and if he shifted a bit, they would definitely be within his line of sight. When she turned back around, Peter and Tinkerbelle were nearly through the crowd. At the last second, Tinkerbelle reached a hand out and firmly grabbed Wendy’s, pulling her toward the door.

“Those doors are for the train conductors only!” Wendy hissed.

“Just come on,” Tinkerbelle whispered back. “Don’t look down and you won’t fall.”

“But—”

“I won’t let you fall,” Tinkerbelle clarified fiercely.

Peter ducked low and wrenched the door open. The noise from the tracks was deafening as they hurtled through the night. The train car in front of them swayed ominously back