An Angel Unspoken
The young man punched his dashboard as his van came to a stop after spinning out of control, somehow still on the road. He was thankful to be the only driver on this stretch of the freeway because that meant the only thing he hit was the Jersey barriers lining the middle of the road. He shook his head as he looked out the windshield. Less than half an hour ago he had been able to see just fine through the light snow, and he had slowed himself down while other cars kept roaring into the distance. Now the snow was falling so thick and the air was so misted that he couldn't even see a foot past the hood of the car.
He fished in his pocket for his phone, flipping it open. He pulled up a conversation with "AJ", the last message simply reading 'Make sure to pick up Apple Bloom on your way to the fair, Mac.' He stared at the date it was sent for a moment before noticing that there was no service. Rolling his eyes, he tossed the gadget aside and glanced back at the sizable meal sitting in the back seats. He had brought a collection of mashed potatoes, roasted turkey, four kinds of fried fish, and a massive bowl of cream of mushroom soup that he was glad he had buckled in place. Most of the food had slid onto the floor of the van, the saran wrap firmly protecting both the food and the floor from each other. He winced as he figured that there was no way he'd be making it to the gathering in time for his thoroughly prepared dishes to still be worth serving. He unbuckled, and climbed into the back, reaching for the plate of fish.
He knew about the blizzard before he started driving, but all reports had led him to believe he would be well inside before it came down this heavily. He made a mental note to not trust the weather channels anymore and peeled the wrapping from the fish before kneeling down to place the other plates right side up. He grimaced as the inconvenience of the situation made itself more apparent to him. He was supposed to be at the party, it was the first time in years that the entire Apple Family and the Pie Family had arranged to meet together, and he'd let himself get excited about seeing the Pies again. He wasn't sure why, but he always enjoyed spending time with their family. Maybe it was because hanging out with the Pie siblings was always an adventure in one way or another. Pinkie would always keep the mood high and light, Maud would mull around and critique the food arrangements, Limestone would delight them with stories of her time behind the counter at her local Stall-Mart, and Marble...
He paused. He wasn't sure what Marble would be doing. She was always so reserved and shied away from any attention. Sure, he was himself quieter than most people, but he liked to think he was pretty easy to read. Marble, on the other hand, seemed to be very hard to understand. She never spoke at all beyond the odd hum, and the only thing he could ever read in her was a strange sort of loneliness. Like she wanted someone to talk to but was too scared to let anyone approach her. She'd probably be standing behind the alcoholic punch bowl, sipping away until she was too plastered to stand like she did last time.
He shook the memories from his head and glanced at the vehicle's clock. 12:00 noon, he was an hour late. He reached up to shift the car into park, turning off everything but the heater and sat on the floor with the plate of fish on his lap. He took a bite and watched as the snow pelted into the windows in front of him. He closed his eyes and the sound was almost relaxing, like the steady clicking of a thousand rusted clocks beneath a flowing brook. He let the taste of the warm, breaded fish savor in his mouth, taking him to an isolated fishing village in the northern territories. He laid back, eating some more until he felt himself drift away into the realm of the unconscious mind.
Macintosh was disturbed from his nap by a harsh pounding on his window. Instinctively he hovered his hand over his holster while moving the platter from his lap onto the floor, and glanced around. Each of the van's windows were completely frosted over, and the wind of the storm outside was still in full force. Outside of the window behind him, he saw the silhouette of a person, their long hair blowing into his window and leaving small streaks across it. Without thinking twice he shoved the door open and was greeted by a force of nature pelting his face with shards of falling snow. The figure quickly ducked into the vehicle and he slammed the door behind them.
"What in the hell were you thinking, going outside in this storm?" Mac grunted as he wiped the melting ice from his eyes, "y'coulda froze t' death out there if Ah was a heavier sleeper, which Ah normally--"
The words caught in his throat as he saw who he'd just brought in from the cold. In front of him sat a very, very cold Marble Pie. She had no coat, only a wool sweater, and some loose jeans, and she was visibly shaking. Tears were streaming down her face as she held a large bowl of pudding and a small book in her shuddering hands. Thinking quickly, Mac took the items from her hands and pulled her in to embrace her. Just as he thought, she was freezing, and she needed to be warmed up as fast as possible, or else she'd catch a cold if she hadn't already. She curled up next to him, still crying as he reached under the seat, praying that he remembered to put the blanket he brought under there instead of in the trunk. Sure enough, he seized the sturdy cloth and quickly pulled it out.
"Now now, it's alright," he muttered softly as he slightly pushed Marble away so he could get the blanket around her. "Ah'm gonna make sure you're warm, okay?"
Marble nodded weakly, choking out a few more sobs as she held the blanket close to her. Mac moved the plate of fish aside and scooted himself up onto the middle seat, scratching his head as he stared at the shivering young woman. How did she get all the way out here? Was she stuck in the storm too? How long was she out in the snow without her coat? Why did she leave her car in the first place? He put those questions aside in his mind for now as she continued to shiver, and he started to grow more concerned for her health.
"Ma'am, are you warm enough?" He asked softly, leaning down towards her. "Is there anything else Ah can get you? Ah, should have another blanket in the trunk."
Without speaking a word, Marble opened her eyes and reached out to him, motioning for him with her hands. Mac gave her a questioning look, but climbed down anyways to embrace her again, she was obviously too cold to be shy about being in close proximity to another human being. He placed his head under hers so she could use it as a kind of pillow, and he felt her cheeks stretch in a small smile. She hummed quietly as her breathing slowly became steadier, and more relaxed.
Mac trudged through the snow back to his vehicle, holding his arms close to his chest as his thick coat protected him from the freezing air. The snow had stopped falling a few hours ago, and he had decided to scout for help while Marble slept. The sun was still up, but only for a few more hours. And even then it was hidden behind a thick cast of clouds. He didn't find anything but snow and trees for miles, apparently, no one else was risking the road earlier. The only sign of life he saw was a small sedan piled in a ditch not far from his van with the driver's side door torn clean off, likely where Marble had stumbled out from. But the strange thing was that it was on the opposite side of the freeway. Mac decided either he missed the exit for the farm or she did and reached for the door to his van.
He slid it open and was surprised to find that the inside of his car had been practically transformed into a small home. Several of the items he had left in his trunk, such as TV trays and an old laptop, had been taken out and arranged so that Marble was seated comfortably in the backseat watching something playing on the computer. She was staring out at Mac with a spoon sticking out of her mouth, and her eyes shone excitedly as she carefully placed the pudding she was eating aside and practically leaped at him. Mac chuckled as he stepped inside and she hugged him tightly, reaching one arm back to close the door behind him.
"What, did y'think Ah just up and abandoned you here?" He muttered as he patted her back, amused at her uncharacteristic energetic greeting. As if on cue, Marble seemed to realize what she was doing and pulled back bashfully, her face going red as she avoided eye contact. Mac chuckled to himself as he took off the coat, and looked at the dashboard. "Ah just went to see if Ah could find any help, but that was fruitless." He held up his cellphone and tossed it into the front seat, "couldn't even get a signal on this blasted thing, the wires collapsed 'bout a mile down."
Marble sat back down in the rear seats, her face turning red as a beet as she adjusted her hair slightly. It was then that Mac noticed that the two seats that had occupied the middle of the van were completely removed, the bars in the floor being used effectively to hold up the TV trays. Mac glanced to the back past Marble's head and saw the bottoms of the seats sticking out of the trunk. He shifted his gaze to Marble, who had reverted to her normal behavior of sulking in the corner and avoiding eye contact and then looked back at the seats. His attention drifted back and forth a few times as he tried to make sense of how such a small woman managed to move those seats in what must have been less than an hour since he himself had trouble moving them. He shrugged it off as her being a Pie, that whole family was full of people with hidden strengths.
He looked back to the dash and noticed that the engine wasn't running anymore. He reached up and turned the key, scowling when the engine barely sputtered before giving up. He figured they ran out of gas while he was gone, but it wasn't long since then. The interior was still warm enough to be comfortable.
"Outta gas?" He called back to Marble, trying the key again. He wasn't sure why he kept trying to talk to the girl, she wouldn't be talking anytime soon. Maybe he wanted her to feel involved with their survival somehow, maybe he just wanted to hear another person's voice to keep himself from going insane. Either way, the only reply he got was a muffled hum of confirmation.
He looked over his shoulder to see that Marble had retreated to sitting in the farthest corner possible, hugging her knees to her chest and hiding her face behind her bangs. What little he could see of her face was a single eye screwed shut, the rest of her face ever redder than before. Mac shifted an eyebrow at that and shrugged, moving so he could sit next to the sizable laptop and peer at the screen.
"What're ya watchin' in here?" He asked calmly, cocking his head. The frame that the scene had paused on looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place what from. A near-silent scraping sound drew his attention to the space by his arm, where a DVD case had been slid into his elbow. He looked up at Marble to see if she'd opened up a little, but it was almost like she was determined to stay in her shell, keeping herself closed off from him via leg barrier.
Mac grimaced slightly and picked up the case, examining the cover with a glint of recognition. It was a near-mint copy of You've Received Post, a classic rom-com. Mac smiled to himself as he lifted himself up into a sitting position next to where Marble was and held up the case for her to see.
"Y'know, Ah remember this film from back when it finally came out on disc." He lamented, waving the case slightly. "AJ used t' watch this all the time with Ma, once every two months at least. Used to bug the crud outta me..." He examined the case again, flipping it to the backside so he could read the summary. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marble's head lift up cautiously.
"... 'course, Ah haven't seen it since... well, since a while back." He chuckled ruefully, "AJ won't watch it no more, won't let 'Bloom take a peek either. Says it's 'too inappropriate for someone her age’, and... well, she ain't wrong, but Ah know that ain't why she ain't lettin' her watch. I think it's painful for her to look at. Ah've been meanin' to watch it for a few years now, but Ah've always been too busy." He glanced up at Marble, who was now peering intently over her knees at him. He smiled at her and flipped the case with one hand while slapping his knee with the other.
"Welp!" Marble jumped slightly when he barked, and Mac groaned dramatically as he hoisted himself into a semi-standing position, casually setting the DVD case by the laptop. "Ah didn't mean to interrupt yer movie there, Marble. Ah'll go out to find some wood for a fire while it's still clear out there. It's gonna get cold at night, and this heat won't last much longer."
He grabbed a piece of fish from the platter and took a bite, turning towards the sliding door and opening it with a grunt. The ice on the outside of the van crackled as it fell into the snow, and Mac stepped one boot outside to--
"WAIT!"
Mac choked on his food as a voice called out from inside the van, shaking his head rapidly. He heard a flurry of motion and the clattering of a keyboard as he turned to look at her, his eyes frantically searching for another source of the call. Instead he found her focused intently on the computer, eyes burning with determination as she typed on the number pad. Mac's eyes were drawn momentarily to the motion of the book that Marble had brought with her falling from the seat she had just been in to the floor of the car, flapping open to a large drawing of a pink heart above something he couldn't quite see past Marble's hair. Marble inattentively closed the book with a rush before he could get a better view, and seized Mac by the wrist. Before Mac could even fully comprehend what was happening, the door was closed loudly and he was sitting a few inches beside Marble as the beginning credits of the movie played on the laptop.
Dumbfounded, Mac opened his mouth, only to have it snapped shut by a delicate hand on his chin. Marble lifted a finger to her lips and shushed him gently, looking him right in the eye before nodding to the screen. Still feeling somewhat lost, Mac decided to shrug it off and set his attention to the screen. Out of the corner of his eye, he barely noticed Marble sliding her book under the seat, out of sight.
A quiet, comforting crackling permeated through the hazy fog of a waking mind as thoughts and memories flooded together to form a consciousness disturbed from slumber by time's passing tide. She became aware of herself within moments, yet remained unmoving to allow her energy to complete restoration as she processed her coordination. Shoulders, stomach, elbows, hands, fingers, hips, legs, toes, all in order and all desiring to move once more. As she had for weeks upon months beforehand, she lifted her form from her bed as a mist from the lake and--
THUNK
--was promptly introduced to the first pain of the morning. Her hand moved with the speed of a viper yet the grace of a swan to comfort her aching crown, the dull pain set aside as the truth of where she was finally sunk into place. She was stranded after a very gruesome crash, surprised but relieved to even be alive, let alone to have found him mere yards from where she wrecked.
She lifted the veils from her eyes, rubbing one with sleepy vigor while the other peered into reality for the first time in hours. The interior of the vehicle in which she had spent the past two nights remained greatly unaltered from her time redecorating, save for the warm orange light and the opened door.
Open door?
Her heart raced momentarily as she beheld the only entrance she knew between her sanctum and the chill of winter's worst among wraths, unsure if her guardian and savior was mere feet away or had forgotten entirely to seal away the warmth to ensure their mutual survival on this barren road. She stumbled off of the seats upon which she slept in a mild panic, hoping to obstruct the cold from entering once more when the sight that greeted her placed a pause upon her panic.
On the pavement outside, contained within a makeshift tent of blankets and old fishing rods, was a small fire. It was set up rather neatly in a circle of stones, wafting its comforting warmth into the interior of the van-turned-shack. What struck her as most curious was that she could plainly hear the whistle of the wind plunging across the snow furiously, but the walls of the shelter remained motionless.
"You like it?"
She jumped as a voice sounded from the front of the vehicle, where... he sat calmly, seeming to stare into the iced-over windscreen as if he was staring at his own oblivion. Her face grew uncomfortably hot as he swiveled himself to meet her eyes. A part of her wanted to pounce and embrace him merely because he was there, while the rest of her entered a small trance once she had begun to stare into those luminous, lucid emeralds set firmly beneath his soft brow. Those wondrous windows to a soul she yearned to learn more of, portals to an expanse of wisdom and caring she wanted to dance in and explore as if it were a field of soft flowers.
After what seemed to be hours of losing herself to a world she wasn't allowed into, she forced herself back into her own mind. There was a time and a place for her dreams to be borne unto her waking mind, but those fantasies were to be set aside until such time as she was in the soothing company of isolation, where her mind can explore freely without wanton distraction or intrusion. Once she had regained her composure, she set her head to nodding, vocalizing her approval to add as much emphasis on her appreciation for her dear's-- her dear friend's craftsmanship and intuition.
"Mmhm!"
As she had hoped, her confirmation seemed to bring a smile to her savior's lips, the muscles in his arms rippling as he set himself back into his throne at the head of the vehicle. She watched as he reached his powerful hands up as if he were to strike down a formidable foe, only to see his fingers delicately scratch at the back of his head as if a fly were bugging him.
"Ah'm glad," he boomed with his resonant tones, the very sound of his voice penetrating her soul and sending her heart racing unlike any emotional chirrup sung over radio ever could. "Ah figured it would be a mighty stupid idea to put the fire inside the car, so Ah made a little igloo there 'fore the storm got bad again. Not much, but keeps us from freezing."
Truly, Macintosh was a man of ingenuity that would surpass even the most competent of engineers. If he had submitted himself to proper schooling, he would surely have gained knowledge enough to steer the world into a new era of progress and discovery, but he chose instead to settle for what he saw as his given reign and drifted where the tide directed him. Oh, how she wanted to drift along with him on those seas, sailing and skimming the surface is subtle satisfaction instead of thirsting for depths that needn't be reached. Content to live life as it is, finding the beauty in making do for every day.
She scanned the interior of both the igloo and the van. Both were Spartan in the way of simplistic practicality, yet as intricate and beautiful as functionality would allow. Minimal items of solely personal values were scattered in the interior of the vehicle, each piece and pocket had a specific end goal in his mind and a path to take them to their assigned destinations. She set her gaze back on Macintosh, just in time to catch a glimpse of the reflection of his eyes quickly averting from hers. She smiled slightly, wondering if he planned interactions with people the same way as he planned for the items: setting an endgame in mind and adjusting the tides of controllable fate in pursuit of that very objective, and continuing on that course until it is clearly unobtainable.
She reached absently for her personal tome, opening the pages to a doodle she had made more than seven years ago and gripping the covers of the diary as a lobster latching onto its treasures. Tomorrow, she would. Tomorrow.
Mac stretched as far as the confines of the driver's seat would allow him to with a weary groan, feeling the ligaments in his back pop and readjust themselves into their proper placements. He opened his eyes, greeted by the unsurprising sight of an ice-coated windshield. The crystalline patterns in the ice had shifted since the previous day, which to him was almost the only notable occurrence over the past two days. Mostly he felt somewhat claustrophobic, trapped in a small survival shelter in the middle of a blizzard with no one to chatter at him. Though the company of Marble was greatly appreciated, he found himself wishing that he could stir up some form of interaction beyond eating together in silence. He longed for a voice to break the steady droning of the wind pelting loose snow against their temporary abode.
He looked into the back seat, vision resting on the sleeping form of Marble Pie. He smiled to himself, inwardly remarking about how peaceful she looked before moving his focus to the open door, a slight chill breeze brushing in. Shaking his head, Mac climbed out of his place in the front of the car to intrude upon the space he had given the poor girl, climbing out into the makeshift igloo as silently as possible so he could check on the fire without disturbing her. He frowned, it had gone out earlier than he thought, barely flickering as he took out a small pocket-watch and checked it.
5:00 AM, too early for it to have gone out. Air hissed out of his nostrils in a brief huff as he reached for his boots, and assembled himself for a walk. They had enough fuel to last for a few more days, he had made sure of that. But he wanted a change. He didn't care what it was, he wanted something new to happen before he lost his mind. He shuffled about in collecting his coat and hatchet, making more of a ruckus than he was hoping for. Once he was suitably prepared, he reached for the blanket that served as a door... only to have a small, grey hand gently grasp his shoulder. Mac closed his eyes, and pursed his lips in internalized frustration.
"Ah'm sorry, Marble," he mused, looking over his shoulder. "Ah didn't mean to wake you, jus' headin' out for another walk."
"Nope," came the humming reply, simple and direct as usual. Mac was about to object when he felt a pair of small yet sturdy arms wrap around him from behind, and a head rest against the back of his shoulder. He felt the rise and fall of her exhausted breathing against his back, and the hum of her voice in her cheeks. "Mmmmmmm... warm..."
"Now, now..." Mac chuckled, gently trying to peel the sleepy girl off of him. "Ah can grab you a teddy bear or somethin', ma'am. I just need you to sleep, alright?"
"Mm-mm..." Marble hummed again, holding him tighter as she stepped back, pulling him back into the van. Mac's confusion was displayed plainly on his face as he slowly obliged her wordless demands, ducking down so he didn't hit his head on the way back in. His curiosity peaked as she coaxed him into sitting on the floor, where one of the middle seats used to be. She plopped down opposite of him, wearily rubbing her eyes as her hair fell in a mess over her face. Mac chuckled audibly at the sight, she was purely adorable. Her orchid-colored eyes was tinted over with a dozing red once she opened them, and Mac observed as she reached for her bedding and pulled out a small book. She held it close to her chest, and took a deep breath.
When she opened her eyes again, her face had grown slightly redder, and she opened her mouth to speak. A minute passed, then two, and then three. Mac watched Marble’s mouth as it tried to utter at least a sound, but no words came. Finally, she seemed to grow frustrated with her inability to speak, and opened the book. She flipped through the pages impatiently, her movements tense and seemingly forced against her better judgement.
“Uh, Marble?” Mac raised his hand to question what was going on, but was quickly brought to silence by a determined glare from Marble. She practically wrangled what he assumed were the correct pages once she found them, her hands shaking as she stared at whatever was there. With a sharp inhale: she ducked her head, turned the illustration to face him, and shoved it forward.
Mac’s eyebrows rose as he examined the papers. From what he could guess, it was a small doodle of himself and Marble on a meadow, looking into the morning sky as their hands locked firm with each other. She was an appalling artist, but the sentiment was not lost on him. He felt his cheeks start to burn a bit as he glanced between the image and the girl before him. Back and forth, seeming to dwell on each for a minute apiece.
Slowly, Marble started to lift her head, the silence clearly not helping her nerves. She looked like she was starting to cry, and her cheeks were a deeper shade of red than any beacon apple he’d set eyes on. Her eyes shone an orchid hue with the buildup of tears, her hair fell over her eyes like a graceful stream. Everything about her, even in the state she was in, looked pure and unfiltered.
Mac glanced away, taking a deep breath as his thoughts tried to sort themselves. He’d always paid more attention to Marble than he intended, often during gatherings he’d find himself sitting next to her in the corner. Not for the sake of conversation, she didn’t seem overfond of talking any more than he was. In his mind, he just considered it polite to give the more introverted some company, but now he started to wonder if there was more to his gestures than he thought.
His mind examined every memory he shared with Marble: the quiet company, the games, the meals. When one particular event came to mind, he was snapped back out of his thoughts.
“Was it the Lake?” He asked flatly, no emotion in his tone.
Marble felt her soul slowly crumble as she forced herself to hold out the book, every second passing as smoothly as a kidney stone. She held her heart together with great strain as the silence marched onward like an unrelenting tide, washing over their shelter with malevolent omnipresence. It grew so thick that she felt the pressure in her chest, and tears started to well in her eyes. She fought to look up to him, shoving her anxiety and fears aside as she took full control, still only able to lift her head as her opponents weighed her down.
He was staring at her.
A small part of her still insisted that this was a mistake, but every other piece of her will was rising up with hope, bristling on an atomic level. She knew that look behind his eyes, she’d seen it so many times before. He was thinking. Whether he returned her affections or not wasn’t as important as that simple fact, he was too straightforward a man to dwell if there wasn’t a possibility, he needed to contemplate how he felt. Yes or no, his hesitance alone gave her a rush of confidence that grew as strong as a blooming cedar.
“Was it the Lake?”
Her distracted thoughts were brought to a screaming halt as the hand of reality seized her eyes, and pulled her home to face it. She scanned his face as a potent memory flooded into her mind.
Oh, the lake! The Lake! Pinkie, Applejack and their friends had somehow managed to arrange a meeting of six families all together for a massive feast at False Sea Lake, practically deluging the park with activity. The Apples naturally brought a “few” of their extended family, and the Pies themselves had a few Stones and Diggers tag along. Even with the smaller immediate families, like the Sparkles and the Shys, the throng of people was far too overwhelming for Marble. Before the day was even halfway done, she had found herself huddled by a tree, covering her ears and cowering as the cacophony of laughter and shouting dug into her head and heart as mercilessly as a starving mongoose. She felt as if she was about to break when a hand reached down to her.
She looked up, and saw him there. Macintosh, a giant among men, offering his hand in outreach. She saw in his eyes that he understood, and so she took his submission. He led her away from the noise and the chaos, away from the children and overfamiliar relatives. He led her to a quiet place, a place of rest and peace. Where the sunlight danced in the calming waters of a simple pool, pristine and shining with purity as it washed from the lake through filtering sands.
No words were ever spoken between the two of them that day, no contact beyond their hands was attempted in spite of the fears behind her mind. Macintosh showed her a place she could only assume was a secret only he knew of, and then let her alone so she would relax. She sat in the sun, basking in the perfect warmth the smooth rocks provided. She swam in the pool, diving under and savoring the cooling water against her skin. When she surfaced, expecting Macintosh to join her in diving, she found him yards away from the edge of the pool with his back turned to her. It was as if he were a sentry, unmoving as an obelisk as he stared out onto the larger lake.
That was the first time she felt her heart truly flutter in his presence, the first time the sight of him made her more warm than the sunlight ever could. They had grown to understand each other long before, but that was when she fell in love.
She smiled at the memory, meeting his eyes with an unrestrained affection as she nodded her head in silent confirmation.
“Ah found ‘em, Granny! Ah found ‘em!” Applejack cried out, pointing to the barely-visible corner of the van’s roof peeking out of the snow. She rapped on top of it loudly, silently praying that her stubborn brother didn’t freeze to death. She was both confused and elated when two separate knocks echoed back in reply, and she gave out a whooping holler. She took a flare gun out of her pocket and fired it into the clear sky.
The blizzard had stopped a few hours earlier, and any able-bodied soul that could emptied out of the festivities in search of their missing family. Within an hour, the entirety of the searchers were digging up Macintosh’s igloo, a few remarks flying from the crowd in curiosity on how he got it all done. Everyone was unanimously surprised when both Macintosh and Marble Pie climbed out of the van as if they were waking up from a pleasant nap, no signs of starvation or discomfort between them.
Mac took his first opportunity to stretch as far as he could after being unable to stand straight for a full day, his burly arms towering above most of the party. And much to her sisters’ surprise, Marble was more than eager to race around as soon as she got out. Her face was beaming with a smile unlike any she’d worn before, and she was acting as hyper as Pinkie Pie. It wasn’t until they were finally all together in the dining hall that both families heard of what happened, and the Apples especially were more than welcoming to the developments that transpired. The Pies needed a couple more minutes to wrap their head around Marble actually confessing, but soon they too were thrilled.
As both families were packing up to leave, Applejack and Macintosh worked on sorting away the decorations. Mac let out a grunt as he set another box into the moving truck, silently appreciating being the one to rely on for heavy lifting again. His sister laughed to herself, prompting him to give a curious glance her way.
“Y’sure are somethin’ funny, Mac. You know that?” She chortled, angling her hat back as she looked at him. “We don’t hear from ya fer over a year, and when you come back you’ve done gone and got yourself a girlfriend.” She shook her head, turning to continue her work. “‘Bout time, too. Poor gal’s been carrying that torch for years. I’m almost glad we couldn’t stop her from charging out into that storm lookin’ fer ya, even if she did scare all of us half to death.”
A loud clutter sounded as Mac dropped the box he was carrying, spilling the contents onto the floor. His head whipped around as he gave Applejack a glare full of confusion and concern.
“She did WHAT now?!”