Page 72 of Everything Under the Sun

“Please, sir,” the woman named Emily said. “We ain’t lookin’ for no trouble. Leave or stay or grab some breakfast and take it with ya’s if ya want, but please put the gun down. Is all I ask.”

Emily seemed like a reasonable woman, maybe even kind. Her disheveled hair wasn’t any more disheveled than mine was; her face, though rougher and lined with age, wasn’t any filthier; her dress, which went all the way to her shins, was even more modest than the one I wore. And they carried no weapons, as far as I could tell.

I placed my hand on Atticus’ wrist, urging him to lower the gun.

He wouldn’t.

“Stay behind me,” he demanded.

I didn’t.

“Atticus,” I said, “I think if they wanted to hurt us, they could’ve easily while we were asleep. Please.”

He sighed heavily.

A shadow moved along the ground, zipping through the pool of sunlight. A long-legged dog skittered into the barn, its nose canvassing the dirt. It ran right up to Atticus first, sniffed his boot with mild interest, and then came over to me and did the same. Atticus trained the gun on the dog until it moved away from me.

“That’s Trick,” David Doakes said. “He’s harmless; already made friends with ya’s horse.”

“Where the hell is my horse?” Atticus stepped up closer, pointing the gun right at David’s forehead.

David’s eyes grew wider; he raised his hands again.

“S-She’s o-outside eatin’ the grass.” He pointed in the direction. “Jus’ look out there if ya don’ believe me.”

“Atticus, put the gun down,” I demanded this time. “Please, put it down. They’re not going to hurt us.”

ATTICUS

I thought on it a moment, going over the facts in my head, and finally came to one conclusion: If they were cannibals they would’ve eaten the dog.

I lowered the gun at my side.

Keeping Thais close, we followed the brother and sister out of the barn and into the high sun bathing the landscape. David and Emily’s land was vast—forty-five acres, they explained on the way to their house—and denser with trees; the outskirts of a forest laid out before us in a horseshoe shape, hiding evidence of anymore fields in that direction. Behind us and westward, however, nothing else could be seen other than more fields and more roads and the desolate highway we had crossed to get here.

The farm could be seen in the distance, a tiny house, like a speck of yellow engulfed by the tall green and black woods behind it. A barn smaller than the one Thais and I had slept in last night sat off to the side next to a concrete storm shelter, its aluminum-foil-like bulbous fan perched on top of the roof jutting from a mound of dirt. Opposite the barn was a stable; three goats foraged in front. And just like David had claimed, chickens skittered across the front yard; a chicken coop made of wood and wire was pressed against one side of the tiny yellow house.

Okay, so cannibalism was unlikely, I decided, but that was only one box checked off a list of the many other threats these people could pose. And I wasn’t going to let my guard down no matter how hospitable they seemed. As for me, until they could prove otherwise, Thais and I were Hansel and Gretel.

I glanced at Thais. ‘Stay close to me’ my face read.

She nodded, and then adjusted the straps of the smaller backpack she carried on her back.

Trick, the long-legged dog, zipped past us and darted onto the front porch, bony tail pointed skyward, wagging excitedly.

David climbed the few steps to join the dog, reached down and scratched it between its floppy ears.

“He wants a treat,” David said, and the dog perked up, floppy ears raised.

David reached into the pocket of his slouchy jeans, and a small, wrinkled chunk of dehydrated meat came out in his hand. He put it into the dog’s view, and then slowly set it on the porch railing. The dog followed the leathery-looking piece of meat with his eyes intently, but never went for it.

“You have enough extra food that you can spare dog treats?” Thais asked. She looked at the dog and then at David in a suspicious, sidelong manner. I did the same.

Emily stepped onto the porch, moving past David and Trick, the swish of her dress stirring about her legs. “Trick is special,” she said, heading for the screen door. “Jus’ wait and see.”

David sank into a squatting position in front of the dog and looked it straight in its beady black eyes.

“Wanna treat?” David said.

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