Page 42 of What Doesn't Kill Her

“She wasn’t there.”

“Mrs. Maniscaldo?”

“She was gone. Grandma said she went to heaven. I think she went to the mountains.”

Kellen didn’t know whether to grin or console.

“When I get new crayons, I’m going to draw LightningBug riding Patrick, because I sat on Patrick in the van. Grandma’s not going to be happy because I wasn’t in my car seat.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t tell her?”

Rae mulled that over. “That’s lying.”

“It’s not telling all the truth. Rae, I promise when your grandmother finds out about this trip, we’re going to have a lot to tell her and we’ll want to make it so she isn’t too scared. In the big scheme of things—” like knocking people out with an ancient marble head and shooting them “—it won’t hurt her not to know.”

“So it doesn’t matter whether I sit in my car seat or not?”

“Ididn’tsay that. I’m saying we had no choice and it turned out well, so we’ll keep it between ourselves. Okay?”

“Okay! In my drawing, Patrick’s going to wear my pink tutu and I’m going to have a pink cape with jewels and flowers.”

“You bet. Let’s pick more berries and save them for later.” Kellen looked around.

The sun was going down and with the mountains surrounding them, the light would disappear quickly. Temperatures would drop to near freezing. They needed a place to stop for the night, a spot she could protect, someplace they’d be safe.

“Mommy, can you find me?” Rae’s voice was muffled.

Alarm sent a trill up Kellen’s spine. She looked around. “No. Where are you?”

Rae’s head popped out from under the bushes. “Here!”

“Is there room under there?” Kellen pushed her way into the hedge. The densely leafed branches grew low to the ground, and in here, no one could see them... “This is a great place to sleep! Let’s get our stuff.” She crawled out and dragged in her backpack and the Triple Goddess.

“We’re going to stay here?” Rae did not sound impressed.

“It’s a good place. It’s fairly dry and protected from the rain, if we get any more. It’s hidden from the bad guys and easily defensible.”

Rae looked around. “Where are we going to have our fire?”

“We’re not going to have a fire.”

“We’re camping. We have to have a fire.”

“We’re not camping. We’re running away.”

“How can we make s’mores?”

“We don’t have graham crackers, chocolate or marshmallows. A lack of a fire is a moot point.” Why was Kellen even saying this stuff? “We’ll eat dinner—”

“Whatdinner?” Rae asked suspiciously.

Smart kid. “A breakfast cookie with peanut butter on it and some water.”

“I like cookies! I want milk.” Rae started to droop so suddenly, Kellen was caught unprepared. “I’m hungry. I want my daddy.”

“And you’re tired.” Kellen helped her take off her boots.

“No. I’m not!”

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