Blush Cutiebunny's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

But when she opened the front door, Zorie was already there on the porch steps, breathing hard. Her backpack hung from one shoulder, the bottom seam ripped open. Bright glass jars with candy-colored seeds inside had spilled onto the ground around her feet. Zorie's face was red and tear-streaked. "I need a card," she said fast. "Right now. Before the bus comes." Blush pulled her backpack around and dug for a card, but Zorie grabbed her wrist. "The big kids found my candy garden seeds. They said they're going to stomp them all at recess unless I give them to their little sister." She pointed toward the old phone booth down the path where the bus always stopped. "They're watching from there. They told me I had five minutes." Blush's stomach went cold. The cards were supposed to protect kids after she gave them out, not solve problems this fast. She didn't know if a card would even work against kids who were already threatening someone. Blush looked at the wooden planter by the cottage door, the one filled with purple lavender and bright green mint. She grabbed it with both hands and set it on the bottom porch step, then helped Zorie gather all the spilled jars. They tucked each one carefully into the planter between the plants. "This stays at headquarters," Blush said. "It's protected here. Tell them you already hid it somewhere they'll never find." She pressed a hero card into Zorie's hand. "Show them this. Tell them heroes are watching now." Zorie stared at the card, then at the planter full of her precious jars, then back at Blush. Her breathing slowed down. She wiped her face with her sleeve and nodded once, hard. The distant rumble of the school bus echoed from somewhere beyond the phone booth. Zorie shoved the card in her pocket and ran toward the sound, her torn backpack bouncing against her back. Blush stayed on the cottage steps and watched her go. The hero cards couldn't fix everything by themselves. But headquarters could hold things safe while kids figured out how to be brave. That was something real she could do.