62 Where Is Ruby? (1/2)
He went outside and greeted the very confused deliverymen wearing a hoodie, sunglasses, and a face mask. ”Hello, are you delivering this for Ruby Gardner?”
”…uh, yeah. Can you sign for her?”
Ash took the proffered electronic device that required his signature and signed it in ancient looping script. The delivery driver didn't even notice how odd that was in the face of dropping off a fridge and wood chipper in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere to a guy wearing such heavy clothes in the middle of summer.
”Thank you,” he said perfunctorily. ”I can take things from here.”
The deliveryman was skeptical but let it go. ”Sure…have a nice day.”
Once he and his comrade got back into the car and drove away Ash felt secure enough to lift the fridge and carry it one-handed, balancing it against his chest and head. With the other hand he dragged the wood chipper just inside the barrier to deal with it later.
His grip on the fridge was much more secure with two hands even though he was strong enough to hold it with one. He brought it to the kitchen and set it down in an empty space. If Ruby didn't like where he placed it he could move it when she got back.
Come to think of it, where was Ruby? Had her errands really taken so long?
Ash had a bad feeling about this. He sent her a text but still hadn't gotten a response thirty minutes later so he tried calling her instead. It rang for a long time before going to voicemail.
Panic seized him. Had she been caught or was he overreacting? He didn't know how much she intended to do today or how long it would take but he couldn't help but worry.
He tried getting through to her multiple times in the next few hours to no avail. That was it! He was going out to find her himself even if she did make fun of him for being overly paranoid later!
Ash ran as fast as he could until he reached the area where he could get spotted. Then he slowed to a normal human sprint.
He wasn't sure where exactly she had been planning to go today other than the witch coven so he headed there first. Philomena's expression turned from welcoming to pitying the moment she saw him and his heart sunk. That couldn't be good.
”Hey Ash…Blair told me to send you straight to her if you showed up,” she said apologetically, tugging on her oversized witch's hat.
He blew past her and went straight back in search of the witch he was looking for. Blair was in her workroom and gave him an unbearably gentle expression as if she was about to break terrible news.
No. This couldn't be happening.