Page 104 of Ugly Duckling
Just as he came to a stop, I looked up to see the little tether that was holding the TV to the wall moving, swaying side to side.
A frisson of worry wormed its way through me as I said, “How bad do you think the trailer was rocking?”
He grunted. “No idea.”
“Maybe they didn’t notice?” I hoped.
He didn’t bother appeasing me with a lie.
“There’s a slight possibility.” He shrugged. “But sorry, they more than likely noticed.”
Still, as I got cleaned up and headed back outside, hobbling the whole way, the silence was oppressive.
It was Chevy who broke the quiet.
“That trailer’s shocks need greased.”
I died.
Literally, I died.
If it wasn’t so hard to get back inside on my bum ankle, I would’ve gone back inside and never come back out.
Twenty-Seven
If a bag is not resealable, it contains one serving. I don’t make the rules.
—Gunner to Sutton
GUNNER
I wasn’t sure what woke me.
The night was still dark all around me.
I lay on my side with my back to the door, Sutton was pressed up close to my side, and as I looked over, I saw Lottie tucked up close to Sutton’s back.
I closed my eyes again, ready to go back to sleep, when the trailer rocked slightly.
A whisper of a sound, and then I was up and out of bed, my eyes adjusting to the darkness as I looked out at the camper beyond the bedroom.
We had three other kids in our RV.
And none of them were big enough to cause that kind of motion in the trailer.
I moved on silent feet into the main cabin and felt my heart in my throat as I switched on the light.
Two people I’d never met before were standing in our RV.
A man and a woman.
The man looked vaguely familiar.
The woman had her arms outstretched as if she was ready to take Cutter’s daughter, and I pulled a gun off the bed behind me. “Get out. Right now.”
They moved as one, backing up toward the door.
They went backward down the steps of the RV and kept their hands up as they moved toward the campfire that was still burning low with bright red embers.
