Page 228 of Everything Under the Sun

The girl’s cherub face lit up.

“Alli-Loo-Yah,” she said in her childlike voice.

Thais nodded solidly. “Then Hallelujah it is!”

The children cheered, gathered around her, and hugged her from every angle. Then they took off running again, the boys chasing the girls, their laughter filled the air and then was gone. I thought she would make a wonderful mother someday…I shook that thought out of my head quickly.

Edith curled her hand around Ossie’s elbow. “Come help me get the food ready,” she insisted, tugging on his arm. “I’m sure Thais would like a moment with the young man.”

“All right, all right,” Ossie said; he winked at Thais, and then followed Edith away from the lake.

“I’ll see you later,” Ona told Thais then.

They embraced, and Ona left Thais and me alone.

She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed me.

“So, what happened while I was out?” I asked.

“Oh, Atticus,” she said with dramatic exasperation. “These people are absolutely wonderful.” She took me by the elbow and walked with me to a dock sitting on the lake. Everybody watched us as we went past, smiled at Thais, nodded at Thais, waved at Thais. And she acknowledged each one of them in kind.

We sat down on the dock; I laid the crutches beside me.

“They seem to like you,” I noted.

“Well, it’s not just me,” she explained, “or anything I’ve done—they love just about everybody.” She paused and looked out at the water thoughtfully, and then turned back. “They’re wonderful, Atticus. The second I saw Ossie standing over me in that field, I knew he was good. I trusted him like I trusted my father, before he even spoke to me. I trusted him with my life, and yours.” She waved a hand out in front of her, signifying everyone else in the camp. “These people are proof that there really is good still left in the world, to believe in, and to fight for. We’re not alone.” She smiled.

I reached for her hand.

“You look beautiful,” I told her, noting her freshly-washed hair, cascading in chocolate waves against her back; not a trace of dirt or blood she had acquired on our long journey was left anywhere on her young, tender skin; she wore a short-sleeve blouse with a flowered knit pattern and with eight tiny pearl-like buttons down the center, and a pair of navy cotton pants that fit snugly to her ankles, and a pair of flat-soled navy dress shoes. She smelled of coconut and honey.

“Well, now that you’re awake,” she said, “you can get cleaned up, too.”

“I will,” I said with a nod. “But that can wait.”

I took her into my arms again, her back pressed to my chest, and I held her there like that, looking out at the sunlight slowly fading atop the glittering water.

After a moment, Thais said, “They’re going to escort us the rest of the way to Shreveport.” She turned around to face me. “Strength in numbers. We can’t go any farther alone. No matter how strong either of us are, we can’t make it there by ourselves.”

I nodded. “No. We can’t.” I hated it that I alone wasn’t enough, that I needed help from anyone to save Thais. But I wasn’t too proud to admit it, either. “And I trust them,” I said at last. “I don’t know them, I’ve spent less than thirty minutes awake with them, but I trust them.” I sighed, glanced at our hands locked between us. “And it’s such a long way. I guess I have no choice but to trust them.”

Thais smiled, and I caught something mysterious in it. I looked at her curiously.

“That’s what I was going to tell you next,” she said. “Shreveport’s not a long way at all. I mean, if we were driving we’d probably make it in less than an hour.”

I blinked, surprised.

“How do you know?”

“Ona and Ossie told me,” she began. “We’re already in Louisiana, Atticus. We’re only a few hours away from Shreveport, on foot.”

I could hear my heartbeat thrumming in my ears. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then we should go now,” I said. “What are we waiting for?”

Thais reached out and touched my cheek. “Tomorrow we’ll be heading that way,” she said. “Their plan was to stay until morning and then they’ll be packing up.”

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