Shadow Hunter

Chapter One
"Kids!" Their dad called from the back room.

"Yes, we need you!" Their mom added with a wink at the distressed and exhausted man she'd married. She gave the arctic wolf a reassuring nod and his shoulders relaxed but his torso was stiffened.

The three kids stomped in. They were playing around with each other blankly, hitting and hurting and punching playfully. Finally, their dad called it to a stop and they innocently looked at him, blinking rapidly. Anybody with a heart hated being yelled at by their dad.

Their younger sister was Liliana. She was only 6. Their middle sibling was Asher, a boy that was 7. And the oldest was 9, called Quince.

"Quince, you'll be in charge while we're gone off on tour- your father got a new invite to go on a special tour with the other performers from his movie." She hesitated, then added, "We're both going, so you'll be home alone- by yourself - for a week. There's no school on Monday."

"Are you sure you can do it? It's a lot of responsibility. Perhaps we could hire a babysitter. Yes, that would work... hmm..." Their father considered it for a moment. "You're sure you can handle it? You must call us every night before you go to bed."

"Alright, daddy!" Liliana jumped up, her doll in her hand, and squeezed her loving father tight. "When you get back?" She asked.

"It's when will you get back, sweetie," He started, "And I'll be back on Friday. It's Saturday."

Liliana's eyes widened. She'd never heard of such a length that her parents had left them alone. The most she'd ever heard was 15 minutes, and sometimes they left to go upstairs or one left for errands. But never both of them before! It was crazy!

"We all by ourselves?" She asked again. Her dad resisted from correcting her and said, "Yes, you will be. Now, we're leaving at 5, and by the time we get home on Saturday, everything must be tidy and in order. If it's not, you'll be punished."

The parents handed Quince a sheet of paper. "Here," They said. "Take it and read it over with your siblings. We expect it to be just the same as it was now when we return. Got it?"

"Yeah. Whoa. Does this have everything we need to do?"

"It has the rules, then the routines for each day," Mom explained. "So quickly reread it until you think you know it really well. Remember, you must attend all these things. You're becoming the parents now, take care of your little brother and sister."

"What if we're sick for school?" Quince's eyes scanned the page. "All of us?"

"You shouldn't be," His father cut in, "But if it happens, call the teacher and principal. We have all the numbers listed."

The kids helped with the packing, then ran off to go play. After they'd hugged their parents farewell, Quince watched the car pull out of the driveway and the arctic wolves disappear in their little but big cars.

Liliana was about as big as a bunny, but the same animal as her family. So was Asher, but he was slightly taller. Quince was the biggest, about the size of a wolf or so.

Quince always won their tackling matches. He sat them all down on the couch and read, "''Follow what Quince says. We give him every right to make decisions and punish you if you do not listen. If you need any help, call us. You know 9-1-1's number, Quince, in case. Make sure to get to everything on-time and you might have to do a lot of chores while we're away. Please cooperate." ''

"Are those the only rules?" Liliana asked, but Quince just kept reading on.

"''Rules. Call us if there are problems. Follow our orders. Be on-time. Do not eat junk food after 7:00. You may have one piece of candy each after dinner, which every dinner must contain vegetables, each breakfast must contain fruit, and lunch you may have sandwiches and chips or crackers, and perhaps a sparkling water, but no soda! If you have any forms that you need to fill out, Quince, you're the guardian for them, so ask them. Otherwise, your teacher doesn't know we're out. You might have to tell her. Don't overload with snacks that are unhealthy and eat well. Don't do anything we wouldn't normally let you." ''

Quince blinked once. His voice was tired after speaking so many words and so at first he didn't reply to the conversation that brewed.

"I sure hope Quince isn't as strict." Liliana said. She was tuggy at mom, but backed away at dad, for some reason. Despite this, she still loved them both.

"Me too! This is our only chance at freedom!" Asher complained. "If he doesn't let us do whatever we want, I'm gonna... not tackle him anymore!"

It was tempting. Quince loved playing games with his brother- mainly because he always won. But his passion was different. He knew he had to follow his parent's orders, no matter how tempting it was not to. A few times, he'd let it slip by, but otherwise, he planned to take charge and take it fast.

They needed to know who was boss. With a disapproving smile, Quince looked down at his younger brother. "I don't care what you blackmail or threaten me with. Mother and father's orders. Next time you say something like that, I'm calling them. And I don't think they'd like to be disturbed."

Asher's next planned words sunk back into his throat and he found himself obediently nodding. He might not hold it, but at least for now he was convinced that he needed to behave.

"We've got to act like adults." Liliana said. It sounded like a question.

Quince did Liliana's favorite thing: he lifted her into the air and spun her around. "Of course, Lily!" He laughed before setting her down, a grin replacing his frown. Soon, they started another match of playtime.

"What's the schedule for today?" Liliana suddenly asked. "Anything we need to get done?"

"Yeah. We need to go buy some tomatoes and carrots and beef for mom's stew. I don't know how she'll make it, though. She also told us to..." He scanned the list and then groaned. "Set up the basketball hoop? Dang it!"

"Are we strong enough?" Liliana questioned.

"Yeah, maybe," Quince shook his head thoughtfully. "I guess so. I'm not exactly sure, but I hope. Otherwise, we could skip it!"

He studied the rest of the list. "We also need to empty the dishwasher, wash and rinse the dishes, and then put them in the dishwasher."

"Oh, okay. Sounds alright." Asher said. He kicked a pebble from the carpet and sighed. "So, when should we begin? It's already 5:30."

"The store closes at 7:00!" Quince said frantically.

"That's in a long time," Liliana assured her elder seriously and smoothly. "Let's go. It only takes, what, half an hour on foot? We won't shop for long, anyway."

"Hold up. Don't they close 30 minutes early on weekdays?"

"It's not a weekday," Liliana pointed out, shoving on her pretty tap shoes.

"You can't wear those," Quince said immediately. He knew she shouldn't because of all the times she'd asked her mom to wear the polished beauties. She'd always yelled at her no and stuck them on her dance shoes rack angrily, as if they'd been over it a hundred times, which they had.

"Why not?"

"Mom wouldn't let you, so why should I?"

Liliana sighed and instead put on regular walking footwear. She walked angrily out of the house, but her mood calmed once they were outside in the cool air, walking together.

When they reached the store, an icy blast of cold air conditioning reached Asher's fur. He shivered and grabbed Liliana's hand. Quince grabbed her other paw- she was in the middle- and they walked through the vegetables section.

"What about mommy's food?"

"Oh, right." Quince looked disappointed and circled back around to the aisle. Liliana happily picked out her mother's favorite brand of tomatoes and helped look for the other ingredient, carrots. They also smartly bought some basil just in case. After they'd purchased their items, along with some beef, they called their mother just as they exited the store's sliding doors.

"Did you get a ride?" Their mother's cheery voice said from the other side. "We're still driving. What about you? Are you safe?"

"Of course, mom. We bought beef, carrots, tomatoes- your favorite kind- and some basil, just in case."

"Oh! That's what I forgot!"

"And actually," Asher said into the phone, "We walked to the grocery store. By ourselves."

"AND looked both ways before crossing the street!" Liliana piped up. "And I didn't even ask to wear my tap shoes!" She giggled.

Quince looked at her warningly. It wasn't intended to make her sulk back and stop laughing, but those kinds of looks had the effect that made her do exactly the opposite of your purpose. It was fine, though, since she was usually optimistic and got over her bad attitudes quickly.