Caela hesitated, worried this was too good to be true. But she didn’t see what other choice she had. Going with this beautiful girl to a safe, warm place was certainly a better option than sleeping in her car, which, if it wouldn’t start, wouldn’t have any heat, either. So after a pause, Caela nodded slowly and pulled the keys from the ignition.
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now grab whatever you can carry. We’ve gotta walk. But Sol and me can come back to get the rest of your stuff tomorrow.”
“Who’s Sol?” Caela asked.
“A friend,” she replied, though her smile grew wider when she mentioned him. “You’ll meet him when we get where we’re going. You can call me Lily, by the way. Now, these garbage bags in the back seat—that all your clothes?”
“Um,yeah.”
“All right. I’ll grab one, just so you got stuff to wear until we get the rest. You bring anything you don’t wanna leave in the car overnight.”
Caela didn’t have much of value with her. The only thing that might be worth stealing was the fancy camera, tucked safely in its shoulder bag. She took it along with her car keys and climbed out, locking Jennette’s doors behind her.
Lily’s eyes lingered on the camera for a moment. “Are you a photographer?” she asked.
“No. I used to like making videos, but I haven’t done that in a while.”
“Good cameras are expensive, right?”
“Yeah.” A fact that made Caela feel all the more guilty for the fact that she hadn’t even turned the thing on in months, only using it when Sam had insisted on wanting her to film him. Even then, she’d usually just used her phone. The camera being a gift from the day she lost her dad carried far too many feelings with it.
“You ready?” Lily asked, hefting the garbage bag full of Caela’s T-shirts and jeans into her arms.
“Yeah,but I can carry that. You don’t have to.”
But Lily shook her head. “Not this time. I got it. Sounds like you been through enough. I can take a load off your shoulders.”
“I … Thank you. That’s really nice.” So nice, in fact, it almost made Caela start crying again.
Lily smiled and bumped Caela’s hip with hers before she started to walk down the street. Caela followed close behind. “Where we’re going, that’s how it will always be. We take care of each other. You’ll see.”
It was only later that Caela realized Lily had never even asked her name.
IRIS
“You know, I quit smoking years ago.” Sol takes the cigarette out of his mouth and tosses it to the ground, grinding it out with the heel of his cowboy boot. “But recent events have gotten me so stressed out that I picked the terrible habit up again.” He keeps smiling at us as he strides closer. “It’s awfully late to be heading out, isn’t it, Iris?”
I stumble back, bumping into Rose, who’s standing right behind me in the doorway. We have no choice but to back into the living room as Sol moves forward and pulls the door of the cabin closed behind him. He is in front of it now, blocking our way out.
“Ah, and Rose is with you! Where are you two off to?” he asks. That smile, the one that has always given me a feeling of warmth and security, seems cruel and leering now, as sharp as a wolf’s fang.
“We’re leaving.” I want it to sound confident. Maybe evencasual, so I don’t sound afraid. But my trembling voice betrays me.
Sol’s smile falters, and for a moment he looks sincerely hurt. “I take it you’ve made your decision about the trial, then,” he says, blue eyes searching my face for confirmation. He must find it there, because he closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed.”
“Sol, please …”
“I know you’ve let down everyone else in your life, Iris, but I thought you’d have more respect for me. After all I’ve done for you.” He opens his eyes and looks past me, to Rose. “Did she tell you what the knife was for?”
My heart stops then. The terror and shame that’s been stirring in my chest begins to claw its way up into my throat.
Rose is silent, standing as straight and still as one of the dogwood trees that will soon begin to bloom in the hollow. Her eyes are wide, darting around like a rabbit trying to figure out where to flee from a predator. But when Sol speaks to her, they focus on him, then flick down to the knife in my hand.
“Took her three days,” he says. “Three full days to decide not to slit your throat, and instead she’s decided to stabmein the back and betray all her sisters.”
I can feel Rose’s eyes on me. Can feel the question hanging inthe air. And I suppose my inability to look at her is its own answer.