"Look, Mommy! Tellus blew out the candle!"

Eve was sure it was the wind, for the piece of cake she and Autumn had left by the cave had been sitting outside all night.

"That's nice," she said, sounding distracted to keep from crying about her lost daughter any further. Last night, it had been a year since Tellus had disappeared into a cave near Mt. Parnassus, while celebrating her fifth birthday with her family.

It had now been a year and a day.

Autumn squatted down near the piece of the cake they had made to celebrate Tellus' sixth birthday. "It looks like she also ate it," the eight-year-old said upon examination.

Her observation interested Eve. Perhaps her youngest daughter was still alive in the cave, and all the fruitless searching had only served to help keep her hid.

"Really?" Eve said. "Let me see."

Autumn pointed with care. "Right there. It's been eaten."

Eve squatted down beside Autumn, holding her unruly orange-blonde curls from her eyes. There, near the bottom facing the cave, a small piece of the cake was now missing. Eve straightened up while still on her haunches, to peer into the mouth of the cave. Adam had gone in to search for their daughter for about the thousandth time.

At least it felt like a thousand times. Eve wished he would soon come out.

After another hour, Adam emerged unsuccessful. He handed Eve the flashlight he'd been using in the dark cave, while squinting hard in the bright Grecian sun. Eve felt no need to punish her heart any further, by asking him about the results.

Adam ruffled his dark hair to shake out the dust. "Where's Autumn?" he asked his wife.

"Koukla!" Eve called out. "Bampás is back!"

Autumn came skittering down from the outcroppings above the cave, bringing her own flashlight with her. Even though the sun shone through the thin clouds, she played the flashlight's beam over every crag and crevice, as if her sister might pop out of one to surprise her.

There had been very few good surprises for the family, in the year-and-a-day since Tellus had disappeared.

"Daddy!" Autumn called out as she made her way to the ground. "Tellus ate some of her cake!"

"It's probably a jackal," Eve whispered to Adam, before Autumn was close enough to hear.

Adam spoke in a normal tone. "I don't know. There haven't been jackals around here for a long time."

Eve scrunched up her face. "Well. Dogs, maybe then. Or I don't know. A raccoon?"

Adam looked squarely into Eve's moon pie face. "I'm pretty sure Greek raccoons don't exist."

Autumn ran up and leapt into her father's arms, while Eve tried very hard not to cry. "Well then, some other kind of animal! I don't think it's my baby!"

With Autumn fully clinging to him, Adam stepped into his wife for a group hug. He wrapped one long arm around her, using the other to hold their remaining daughter off the ground. Together, they embraced for a long time, helping Eve deal with her sadness. He kissed the top of her head as she stooped low, burying Autumn's face with her curls.

"Don't cry, Mommy," Autumn said. "It's Tellus. I know it is. She came out to eat her cake. We just missed it before going home."

Autumn found a way to look up at her father, through the hair and strong arms of her mother. "We didn't notice at first," Autumn said to him, "'cause she took so small a bite."

Adam hefted Autumn up to his face, to kiss her on her brown curls. "Can you show me?" he asked, expressing interest as they unwrapped from their hug.

"Sure!"

Autumn ran up to cake, still sitting on the ground near the cave. The lone candle stuck in it remained, apparently having gone out soon after having been lit, with the cake then left outside for the night.

"Tellus also blew out the candle, as you can plainly see," Autumn explained. She again stooped down near the cake. "But what's almost invisible is the bite she also took. You can see that plainly here."

Adam examined the spot on the cake where Autumn was pointing. "It definitely looks like something ate it," he said.

Autumn nodded with enthusiasm, her curls flying and her hands on her knees. "Uh-huh. Only it's not a thing. It was Tellus."

Adam smiled for his daughter. He picked up the cake with great care, and carried it to the car. "Let's spend the rest of the day at home," he said.

Autumn skipped for joy. "Really? I don't have to go to school?"

With an eye on Eve, seeking her approval, Adam said, "No, I don't think so. You've already missed the morning part, and I won't go to work until later."

"We can't afford for you to miss a day of work," Eve told her husband.

"That's why I'll go in later. They'll let me work until dark, to make up for my time with you."

Adam put the cake in the car, where Tellus used to sit when they went places together as a family. Autumn got in on her side, being careful not to touch the cake.

"Let's make kreatopita for Tellus!" Adam said to Autumn with cheer.

"Yeah! And spanakopita! She likes that the best!"

Adam made a thoughtful face while buckling Autumn in. "But I don't know how to make spanakopita," he said.

"We'll buy some!" Autumn said joyfully. "And baklava! For our mom!"

Adam saw a smile grace his wife's face as he entered his side of the car. It was a sight he'd rarely seen for a year.

"And baklava for our mom," he said to her with love.

At home, Eve cleaned the house while Adam cooked. Autumn sat at the kichten table, staring intently at the cake.

"It would be nice if Tellus came home," Adam said, knowing how Autumn felt.

"Uh-huh."

"But it's been a long time," he added kindly. "She may not."

"I know."

As the kreatopita cooked, Adam sat across the table from Autumn. Together, they stared at the cake.

"Sometimes the heart sees what's invisible to the eye," he said.

A moment of silence followed.

"Uh-huh," Autumn then said again.

Adam got up to check their meal. "Mommy may be right, Sweetpea. It may have been an animal that bit the cake."

"I don't think so," Autumn said with certainty.

Adam talked as he looked in the oven. "No? And why not?"

"Animals don't use a fork."

Adam almost burned himself on the oven as he turned toward Autumn with a start. She merely stared at the cake, with both elbows on the table and her hands fisted to her cheeks.

"Right there," she said, motioning with her eyes. "There's also cake on the fork."

Adam examined the fork without touching. "That does look like cake on the fork," he agreed.

"Uh-huh."

Adam straightened up and tousled Autumn's curls. "It's probably just a coincidence. Like, some crumbs fell on it somehow."

Autumn was resolute. "I don't think so. I think it fits where the bite is."

Adam examined the fork more closely. He feared touching it, as if it might unleash all the hell Eve's undead father could bring. With the very tips of his fingers, Adam picked up the fork. He pressed it to the place where a piece was missing from the cake.

It was a perfect fit.

"It's Tellus, Bampás. I just know it. Sometimes the heart does see what's visible. She's the one who ate the cake."

All the horror of New Year's Eve nine years ago came back to visit Adam. Of trees crashing in the fields of South Dakota, destroying combines and tractors and trucks. Of evil pouring forth from the ground, and giant bats rending people limb from limb. And a horrible man as the cause of it all, two meters tall and even taller, with fingernails long like hackling combs, and an insane amount of spindly teeth.

Eve's father, come to steal his daughter, from the world and the man she loved. Failing at that, he had stolen their daughter, breaking the hearts of those who love her so much.

Adam grew resolute. He placed the fork back on the plate, exactly where it had been.

"We won't tell your mother about this," he said.

The girl tore her eyes from the cake, pleading into her father's. "But why?"

"Listen to me, Sweetpea. Your mom's dad is an evil man. He killed people when he tried to take Mommy."

Autumn had heard these stories before. "You stopped him. And she saved you."

"That's right. But Mom says now he's back." Adam smiled kindly before explaining further. "But we can't see him. Do you know why?"

Autumn nodded, knowing this part of the story as well. "He's invisible."

"That's right. But just because we can't see him doesn't mean he isn't here. He hurts people, and he likes hurting your mom most of all. So let's keep what he did here as a secret."

Autumn scrunched up her face, very much in the way that her mother might. "But he didn't do this. Tellus did."

"We don't know. It could be him."

"It's Tellus' birthday. It's her cake. He wouldn't eat it. She would."

Adam got up to sit in a chair beside his remaining daughter. He put an understanding arm around her.

"We don't know this for sure. It might be a trick to fool us. It might be Mommy's dad, wanting to cause further pain."

Autumn seemed ready to cry. "Why would he be so mean?"

"Some people just are."

Autumn pressed down hard on her tears, knowing it was her pappoús her father was talking about. "I don't understand why he'd do that," she said. "He's supposed to be our friend."

Adam kissed his daughter on the cheek. "And neither do I, my Sweetpea. But we must be strong for Mommy together, because this hurts her the worst of all. So let's just not say a thing—for right now at least."

Autumn reluctantly agreed. "All right, Daddy. For right now."