Page 116 of Break Out the Girl

“Sleeping?” I suggest, then look over to the oven. Bernie has a cooking timer shaped like a plump plastic tomato. It lets me know that it’s still far too long until supper.

Counting beds, and counting mississippi’s is not enough of a distraction. Throwing myself down onto the springy mattress, I finally let my woes out to the whole room. “I hate breaking promises. What if Mr. Burly Senior can’t rescue my tree-girl?”

Shane groans. “You have to let it go. That girl is someone else’s problem now.”

His tone turns all the vibes sour in my belly so sour.

“I wish you was someone else's problem.”

A classic Nan line.

It never made me feel the best.

Burt puts a hand on my shoulder. “London, hey, look at me.” He gives me the kind of eyes that pull down at the edges and up in the middle, like a pleading puppy. “You did the best you could for that girl, and you achieved the mission to get Sky. Dad will find the right people to take care of those other kids, you can trust him.”

I’ve never had a dad, so I’ll just have to trust my big wolf-friend that dads can be reliable.

But still.

I’ve been left in cold, dark storms before.

It’s never nice.

I hope Papa Bevan’s friends work fast.

Not keeping my word makes my belly worms nearly out of control.

43: AURORA

I shift slightly and see the storm has stopped, but condensation is running down the little trailer windows like it’s still raining.

I can’t tell what time it is, but sometime early in the morning.

It’s also a reminder that I really need to pee.

London is wrapped around me like a blanket, and my body feels hotter than last night’s baked potatoes.

Carefully unraveling myself, it only takes two steps and I’m in the narrow corridor. I can hear movement, someone else is up, but business first.

Bliss.

After washing my hands and splashing water on my face I head into the main body of the double-wide. The door to the outside is cracked open. Pushing it wider, I see Taliesin standing outside in the long grass. He turns as the door squeaks, eyes softening when he sees me. “Morning, Princess.”

“Good morning. Did you sleep at all?” I shiver slightly in the crisp morning air.

He grimaces. “Seeing as François claimed a bedroom for himself, I didn’t do too badly on the sofa-bed with Basil and Sky.”

That makes me frown. “I’ll talk to him. We need a bed rotation so everyone gets proper rest. Though…” I look around the misty field. “How long do you think we’ll be staying here?”

He comes over and takes my hand. “Let’s make coffee and try and figure that out.”

“I’ll do it.”

Opal had given us her large jar of instant, so I set the water to boil. Basil and Sky aren’t stirring, and I don’t want to wake them, so, grabbing a blanket, I take the mugs, and nudge the door open with my knee.

A dozen yards away is a lopsided wooden picnic bench surrounded by frozen soil and dead weeds. Tally wipes off the bench-seat and we sit, the heat from the coffee swirling up in fragrant steam. I unfold the blanket so it covers both our shoulders.

It’s so quiet and peaceful out here. Just the soft whisper of the winter winds moving through the long grass. A crow caws as a bright blue bird darts in front of us.