“Ok, let’s get outside…”
“No! A car! We have to go. Now!”
Alex wrenched the door open and ran outside. The few cars that were in the parking area were rocking back and forth, alarms sounding. Alex ran towards the dad and daughter who were heading towards her.
“I need your car!” Alex yelled.
“What?” he asked.
“I have to have your keys. Please.”
“You’re crazy.”
The little girl in his arms began to cry. “Look,” Alex said as Michelle came out the door buttoning her jeans as she ran. “Head inside our room once the shaking stops. We’ve paid for three nights. Please…help me.”
The man stumbled as the quaking continued. He looked from Alex to his daughter and then to the car. Alex could see him output the scenario together in his head. He owed Alex for saving his daughter. He handed over the keys and rushed to join the other guests that had poured out into the carpark as Alex and Michelle jumped into the car and sped away.
“Where are we going?” Michelle asked.
“I- I dunno. Caves.”
“What? What caves? There aren’t any.”
Alex gripped the window sill of the car door as the car rumbled along the dirt road, straining to remember the voice. Following a voice in her head might not be the best strategy but it was all she had at the moment. “Caves…something about caves. We have to find caves. There has to be something!”
“Jenolan Caves? They are less than an hour away.”
“Yes! Good. Ok.”
“Alex, are you ok?”
Alex pressed her hand to her temple. “I don’t know, babe. Just…please hurry.”
Chapter Twenty-One
All You Need Is Love
Nicole held her breast with a trembling hand. Every time she blinked, more tears escaped just like her son. She tried to ease her nipple into his mouth, but the baby was having none of it. Howling his misery for all to hear. Her eyes ached from crying and exhaustion. He hadn’t eaten since she had been here. She was sure he was malnourished. She was worried about his heart. His constant wailing had caused a temperature.
She tried all manner of ways to hold him. To settle him. But on and on he cried.
“Please bub...It’s right here!” she sobbed, but the little man simply ran his tiny lips over the leaking nub and screamed. Nicole placed him down beside her on his back and buried her face in her hands. She tried to be strong, but she had told herself these things many times. She hated herself. She had no idea what she was doing and couldn’t even take care of her son. How the hell did women do this? What was wrong with her? Her milk was coming in heavy supply. She WANTED to feed him. She knew what to do but not how.
She couldn’t go on like this. The thought of him dying because of her shattered her soul. All she had wanted was to find him. To hold him. In her heart of hearts, though she knew it wouldn’t be easy, she had not expected this. Somehow, she thought he would know her. Sense her. That they would bond. But she felt as if he didn’t know her; he didn’t want her. She wasn’t enough, she wasn’t good enough. She had promised to take care of him but she couldn’t even feed him.
His feet kept sporadically kicking in to her hip, as he started to choke on his own saliva. She rolled him to his side and rubbed his back, blurting out, “I’m sorry...I don’t know what you want bub...I’m sorry.”
A small knock stopped her speaking. “Begging your pardon miss, can I come in...?”
It was the handmaiden she had sent away. Nicole refused to open the door for anyone, even using a chair under the handle. Not that it would keep out wolves, but it was the best thing she could think of. She was terrified they would take him away. Nicole was going to ignore it until she came again from the other side of the door. “Please, miss, I can help.”
Nicole had no idea if that was true. She had no idea if it was a trap or a rouse but desperation fuelled her steps. Opening the door, she started pouring herself out to this stranger. “Please...I don’t know what to do...I don’t know what’s wrong with him...”
The maiden walked past her straight to the bed. She cooed the infant and picked him up, cradling him just as Nicole had done. Almost instantly, he began to quiet down. Nicole could not understand. She was overjoyed and yet a strip of heartbreak hit her too. So much she uttered her thoughts, “It’s me...he hates me...”
The maiden looked up at her and shook her head earnestly. “Oh no, miss. No, he doesn’t. You’re everything to him, but...could you allow me a small piece of advice?”
Nicole wiped her eyes and nodded her head with quivering lips.
“He can sense your fear. Not just because he’s a wolf. He’s a baby. They need to know you’re okay otherwise they won’t feel safe. Here...let me show you.”
Nicole walked towards her and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Now...” the maiden said softly, speaking to Nicole yet looking at the boy with a beautiful smile and calm tone. “This little man is hungry and we are going to feed him...yes we are...and mummy needs to just relax because I’m here...and we are all okay. Aren’t we little man? Yes, we are. Now...is mummy ready?”
Nicole stripped off her top completely. Modesty was out the window as long as this worked. She just wanted her son healthy. “Yes.”
“Yes...” the maiden looked to Nicole and then to the baby. “You’re going to go to your mummy...yes...she wants to feed you...” she continued
