Free Fall From Grace (Slater #1) by Sammy King

stared at each other for some time, before the mysterious eyes seemed to grow larger.  Laura realised that it wasn’t that the eyes were growing, but they were coming closer to her. They kept sneaking closer until she could feel a puff of breath on her face and a cold wet nose touch her own.  Laura moved back, sitting up straight on her knees as a fox emerged from under her bed.  Tentatively she reached out and stroked the foxes head between its ears.  It cocked its head to one side, an action that Laura mimicked.
    “You have a message for me?” she asked quietly.
    “One day Porter will return and then you can take the life he took from you” the fox replied.
    Laura was shocked to hear the fox speak to her, in her own language.  She leaned closer to the foxes face and rubbed her cheek on the soft orange fur, running her fingers through the white fur of its breast.
    “I should kill him?” Laura asked.
    “It will be the only way” the fox replied.
    Laura heard movement behind her; she turned her head to see Thomas standing in the doorway, his brow pulled tight into a frown.
    “Who are you speaking to Laura?” his deep voice rumbled.
    Laura turned back to the fox that sat in front of her; it had nestled onto her lap, and almost curled up like a cat.  She began to stroke its head and thought she could hear it actually begin to purr as its eyes closed and it settled in tighter.
    “The fox Father” she said incredulously.
    Thomas stepped forward and looked to where Laura pointed to the fox on her lap.  He shook his head, his face still pulled into a frown, his eyes unreadable in the dark.  He slowly eased his body down next to hers and put his hand on to the fox’s body.
    “Laura, child, my sweetness, there is no fox here” he spoke.
    Laura snorted in disbelief, how could her father not see the fox, he had his hand on its back?
    “Don’t be silly Daddy, your stroking it as we speak.  The fox, he came with a message for me, I know what I need to do when I find Porter” she spoke happily stroking the foxes head.
    Thomas reached up to Laura’s hair and smoothed it over her shoulder.  He stood and eased his way out the room.  Laura sat quietly petting the fox, while it purred happily in its slumber.
     
    Chapter Thirteen
    The fox came and visited with Laura regularly, it soon became her best friend, a friend that she could share her secrets and desires with.  She was never judged by the fox; no matter what she felt, it never judged her.  Her father too hadn’t left. He had stayed.  She often heard him and Aunt speaking in huddled whispers to one another about Laura’s state of mind.  She had heard her Aunt suggest sending her to an asylum.  But Thomas had shouted at Aunt and told her that he would never send his child there.  She had taken the conversation she overheard to the fox and told it she held fears that her Aunt would talk her father down and she would be sent to the asylum.  The fox had assured Laura it wouldn’t happen. 
    Late one night she sat on her bed, the fox was curled up in her lap, when suddenly it lifted its head to her and cocked it to one side.  Laura looked down lazily and gave a smile.
    “Laura you need to get your fathers gun” the fox said dryly.
    “Why?” Laura asked.
    The fox bared its teeth to her in a frightening way and Laura recoiled, unsure whether her friend was going to bite her.
    “Laura you mustn’t question me. I know what is best for you” it spoke again, its voice deep and strong, which sent a shiver through Laura’s body.
    She knew her father wouldn’t want her to take his gun, but she was afraid of what would happen if she was to disobey the fox.  She didn’t want to lose her only friend.  When she heard the deep rumbling snores of her father she snuck out the front door, closing it quietly with the fox beside her.  She crept around the side of the house and allowed the fox to lead her deep into the woods to where her father’s cottage