“He changed their tongues—all the folk began speaking in different languages. I wish I could have seen the spinbugs all nattering at each other.” He leaned his head against mine. “Anyway, they didn’t finish their tower. The snow globe was shaken the next day, and the ladders shattered. The tower became a monument of ice rubble that still sits in the Polar snow to this day.”

I smirked. “That’s a good story.”

Zane looked at me. At first, I thought he was just staring into darkness, but his eyes settled on my face, a miniscule dot of bright blue shining through the slate on his left iris.

“Can you see me?” I shifted to face him.

“No.” He chewed on the inside of his cheek, shoulders dropping. “I don’t know how to be bloody blind, Trite,” he admitted.

I held his arm tighter, wishing I could give him knit blankets, warm tarts, and bedtime stories. I stared ahead at the cold stone wall across the alley.

The factory appeared over the hills, its front lights glowing against the whipping flurries, but the rest of the factory looked unlit.

A cold tear bit at my eye. “We made it.” I huffed hot air on my knuckles to warm my hands so I could drag Kaley into a hug. It had taken us another full day to arrive, and my bones felt like mush.

We clamoured inside. The doors slammed behind us with an echo as cocoa and nut fragrances hit my senses, and I breathed in a lungful. I glanced up at the ramps and balconies, and I spun to see the halls. “Where is everyone?” I reached to stop Zane before he tripped on anything.

“By the sharpest wind!” Apple flew down the staircase and bounded across the main room. She swept me into a hug, her bangle bracelets clapping at my ear. “Helen! Mr. Zane, I’m so relieved,” she said.

“We got delayed.”

But Apple spoke before I could tell her what had happened, “There’s trouble, I’m afraid.”

I realized her lipstick was smudged, and her irises were splotchy like she’d neglected her eyedrops. Theresa came from the hallway; she stopped in front of Zane, taking in his blank stare, his fingers hovering in front of him. Her earth-brown eyes filled with remorse.

“Come, love. Let’s get you settled.” She took Zane’s hand and led him away.

“I’ll make you cocoa…” Apple spun around, frazzled like she couldn’t remember which way the kitchen was.

I stood in the empty main room and looked around, wondering why no one had bothered to light a candle or start the fireplace. I went to the stack of logs and lifted one off the pile, but a voice came from the unlit corner, “You’ll just waste the firewood.”