Chapter 35
Nicky slowed to a fast walk through the thicker part of the woods, glancing over his shoulder at regular intervals. Emma sloped along next to him, her feet wooden and uncooperative against half buried tree roots and jagged rocks. “I don’t think I know you at all,” she sighed. “Where’s my cute six-year-old son gone?”
“I’m still here.” He elbowed her in the hip. “But it’s my job to take care of you. Always. Uncle Anton told me that over and over again. Once, when he drove me to McDonald’s for a burger when you got that chest infection and couldn’t come out in the cold, he told me all about Wingate Hall and the secret passages.”
“Did he?” Emma closed her eyes against the memory of Anton’s laughing eyes and gentle smile. A tree root snagged her foot and she opened them in a hurry
