The wheel had been squeaking for so long, Catherine imagined she could still hear it even after it broke off the carriage.

“I told you about that wheel, Robert.”

“Squeaky wheels don’t just always fall off, miss,” Robert complained, jumping down from the driver’s seat.

Squeak. Squeak.

She could still hear it, away in the distance.

They looked off into the trees, down the path. Someone was coming.

Not someone.

Something.

SQUEAK. SQUEAK.

It trundled down the path and as it passed, it turned its head to look at them. And Katherine saw

it had wheels

that squeaked.