Page 19 of Protecting Little Phoebe

She nodded and left as his phone rang again. It was an unknown number, but it was coming from Montana.

Was it her? A surge of excitement ran through him, and he had to calm himself. This was really ridiculous. “Hello?”

“Yeah, hi. This is Zeus Matherson from ZM Mechanics in Porter’s Corner. I’m calling about a 1970s cherry-red Chev that got towed to my garage five days ago? I have an owner name listed and a number, but I haven’t been able to get hold of her.”

“You haven’t?” he asked. So maybe she wasn’t screening just his calls?

“Nope, I had your number on here from roadside assistance. Figured you might know how to get hold of her? Her vehicle is ready to be collected.”

“Uh, thanks for calling. I’ll get in touch with her and get her to call you or come in.”

“Thanks, appreciate it. Really nice ride she has. I’m sure she’s eager to get it back.”

Barren sat there for a moment. He could just call Rawhide and leave a message for her. Or he could do something for himself for once in his life. He could take a chance without knowing whether it was going to pay off.

Fuck it.

For once he wasn’t going to plan everything out. He wasn’t going to think through every outcome and possibility. He was just going to go with his gut.

“Get ready, the real fun is about to begin,” someone whispered to her as they pressed something into her hand.

Phoebe glanced down at the bag in her hand. It held several tubes with strings hanging from them.

Uh-oh.

Tonight was outdoor movie night. And she was sitting among some of the other Littles on the Ranch. Most of these Littles were ones who lived or worked here. She’d been here for five days now, and she was having so much fun.

When she’d first arrived, she’d spent half a day in the Nursery before figuring out that her Little wasn’t really that young. So she’d ended up in the preschool and that was where she’d settled in best. All day long, she got to paint pictures and practice doing her letters and play with her new friends.

Yet, no matter how welcoming people were or how much time she could spend in Little headspace here, it still felt like something was missing.

Or someone.

She couldn’t help but think about Barren. Which was silly. She’d only met him for a few hours. There was no reason for his face to pop into her mind every time she wished she had a Daddy. He was probably back home living his best life. No doubt he’d forgotten all about her.

Tommy, one of the Littles who lived in the dorms, sat down next to her. “Did you get your glitter bombs?”

“Yes,” she whispered back in his ear so he could hear her over the movie playing. It was cold out, so they were all sitting with blankets over them and had jackets, hats, and gloves on.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“One of Sadie’s pranks.”

Oh, that’s who’d handed her the bag. Sadie was Master Derek’s Little. She was sweet and funny and kind. And she also loved pranks.

As the movie ended, Sadie stood up. “Littles! Bomb them!”

All of the Littles jumped up with whoops and cries. Glitter exploded everywhere. Some of it landed straight in Phoebe’s face. She sat there for a moment, feeling stunned.

Then she jumped to her feet with a giggle and opened her own bag, pulling out a bomb. She pulled the string and glitter exploded out of the homemade bomb. She didn’t really aim for anyone, but it was still fun to do.

In truth, the idea of pranking one of the Bigs kind of terrified her. She didn’t want to get punished or kicked off the Ranch for breaking a rule. Although she didn’t think that anyone would be escorted off the Ranch for a prank like this. Master Derek would have to get rid of all the Littles since she saw most of them running around and giggling as they blew glitter everywhere.

With a laugh, she let Tommy take her hand as they darted through the crowd.

What was happening right now? It was utter chaos. Barren just stood there, staring at the group of people in front of him. It was obvious that they’d been having a movie night as the large screen was still up, playing the credits.

Someone had turned on the outside lights so that the area was lit up. Enough for him to see that everything had gone horribly wrong. Littles were running everywhere. It was a cascade of glitter and giggles. He wasn’t even sure what or who to focus on. Well, he was really looking for one person.

---