Page 63 of See How They Hide

Her grandma was an elder, and people listened to her. So if she could convince Grandma that she would be good and not talk to any strangers and do everything Daddy Robert said, then Grandma could tell her mother to let her go.

Riley had it all thought out.

She and her grandma were walking down an overgrown trail on the far side of Havenwood. Riley wasn’t allowed this far on her own, but she was with her grandma, so it was okay.

Grandma was quiet. She had been quiet a lot lately, ever since she was sick last winter. Riley didn’t want to think of her grandma asold. But Athena was the oldest person in Havenwood and that scared Riley. Old people could die. Young people could die, too, like when Peter fell from the roof of the barn three years ago. Or when Jennifer ate berries she wasn’t supposed to. Or the time Tom and Robert went to hunt a bear who had killed one of their horses, and Tom was attacked. Or when her mother was pregnant and lost her baby when the bad people came to steal from Havenwood.

“Grandma, if you talk to Mommy, she’ll listen.”

“Quiet, Riley,” her grandmother said.

She bit her lip. She didn’t want to be quiet. She loved time alone with her grandma. They used to always have time alone to explore and collect blackberries and her grandma would watch her draw and said she never got tired of it.

But they hadn’t had time alone as much as they used to.

After several minutes (it was only ninety seconds, but it felt like an hour), Riley said, “Where are we going? I’m not supposed to go this far past the south creek.”

Grandma didn’t answer. Riley frowned and followed. She ran ahead, then came back and walked with her grandma. Something was wrong.

“Grandma, you look sad.”

Her grandma sighed, stopped walking and looked at her. “Riley, you are the reason I made Havenwood.”

“Silly, I wasn’t born when you moved here.”

Her grandma smiled, but it was a sad smile, and that sadness made Riley sad. Her grandma wasneversad. She was always full of joy.

“I’m an old fool,” she said quietly and turned into a small opening.

Riley hadn’t been in this meadowfor years. She and the other children had been told that there was an old mine here, and they would fall into it and die and no one would ever find them.

She stood on the edge of the meadow because she was scared of falling into a rotted mine shaft.

Her grandmother walked into the middle.

“No, Grandma! Stop! It’s dangerous.”

She didn’t listen to Riley, and Riley wondered if she should run back to the village and get Daddy Robert to help her.

“Stay, Riley,” her grandma said as if she could read her mind. Maybe she could. Or maybe Riley spoke out loud and didn’t realize it.

The meadow terrified Riley, but it was beautiful, covered with wildflowers. Every color imaginable, but dominated by red poppies. Nothing this beautiful could be bad, right?

Her grandmother stood in the middle of the meadow, and the scene was so beautiful, Riley had to draw it.

Riley sat on a rock, pulled her sketch pad and pencil from her satchel, and rapidly started to sketch her grandmother. She worked fast, her hand almost with a mind of its own. She wished she had colored pencils with her, but she hadn’t brought them. Only a snack and her pad and two regular pencils.

She brought her grandmother to life on the page. The flowers, the field, and she hoped to remember the colors so she could add them later.

She didn’t think she’d ever forget.

When she looked up again, her grandmother was on her knees. Oh, no! Had she fallen? Was she hurt?

“Grandma!” Forgetting the fear of a mine she had never seen, she ran to the middle of the field as fast as she could until she reached her grandma. She squatted next to her. “Are you okay? Do you need Jasmine?” Jasmine was their doctor. She knew everything about the human body and would know what’s wrong.

“No,” her grandmother said, and that’s when Riley saw tears on her face.

“Are you hurt? Do you need water?”

---