Page 4 of Everything Under the Sun

“Well, you’re the best storyteller I’ve ever known,” Sosie said.

“You think so?”

“Definitely,” Sosie answered with a heavy nod. “And to be honest, I think your poetry is even better than mine.”

“Never,” I told her, shaking my head.

“Is so.”

“Is not.”

“Is so!”

Laughter erupted.

“What, are we in elementary school again?” I said.

Sosie chuckled. But then her smile faded. “I wish we were, Thais…I really wish we were…”

I turned back to the window to watch for my father, or Fernando and his mother, or anyone; it was eerily quiet outside. Sosie went on raving in the background about my stories. But when I noticed an orange glow illuminating the forest behind Mr. Hatley’s house, I put up my hand to silence her.

“Shh!” I hissed, my eyes fixed on the glowing light that seemed to get bigger and brighter as it came through the dense trees.

Sosie stood from the chair; the wood creaked as her weight lifted from it.

“What is it?” she whispered impatiently.

“I…don’t know.”

A flash of Father’s figure darted past the window then, and the front door swung open and slammed into the wall. Sosie let out a yelp.

“Help Sosie get her shoes on!” He was frantic as he ran through the house. “Now, Thais!” He pointed at Sosie with urgency.

I halfway expected my sister to protest about the assistance like she always did, but this time even Sosie knew there was no time for that—something terrible was happening; she looked affright standing in her tattered blue dress that hung to her ankles.

As I rushed through the room to grab Sosie’s shoes next to the fireplace, Father ran into his bedroom and came out toting his shotgun.

“Daddy, what’s going on?” I dropped Sosie’s shoes next to her on the floor. “I saw something in the woods. It looked like torches.”

Father went to the window and jerked the curtain over the screen, leaving just a sliver he could watch from. His gun was loaded, his finger never far from the trigger.

“I want you to go to the cave,” he demanded, and my heart sank. “Don’t take anything but yourselves.” His body shifted; he hunched over to peer through the sliver in the curtain more closely.

“Are you coming with us?” Sosie asked, her voice small and high-pitched like a little girl’s. She was standing next to me with her walking-stick; we were both shaking, our arms linked, panic in our faces.

“Go now! Don’t stop for anything and don’t come back here! I’ll come for you. Now go! GO!”

My heart pounding violently in my chest, I grabbed Sosie’s arm and dragged her through the living room, the kitchen, and then out the back door; the screen door slapped against the frame as it closed sharply behind me.

“I can’t run as fast as you!” Sosie cried. “I might fall!”

“I’ve got you!” I said, pulling her along. “Just don’t stop running!”

Sosie’s open-toed sandal caught underfoot and sent her falling forward. I couldn’t catch her in time before she went down, and I nearly went down with her. Sosie made a quick retching sound as the rubber end of her walking-stick buried in her gut.

“Get up!” I shouted, trying desperately to pull her to her feet.

Looking back, I saw the orange glow getting larger amid the trees, and I knew that whoever it was had to be close to our house.

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