Back to the Bright Before by Katherin Nolte

Author:Katherin Nolte [Nolte, Katherin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2023-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

I screamed. Simon screamed. Our voices mingled together, one horrible, high-pitched wail. Then I stopped screaming. I chose to stop. And so choosing, I helped Simon choose to stop, too.

Blood was everywhere. It was smeared across his cheeks, neck, the front of his shirt.

“Oh, Simon, where’s it coming from?” Frantically, I searched his body for the wound.

“Cheese,” he mumbled. His teeth were red.

Finally, I found it. He had a deep cut on his mouth. Part of his top lip had been severed and now hung like a flap. I tore through my backpack till I found my extra T-shirt. I balled it up and pressed it to his wound.

Simon whimpered as tears slid from his eyes.

“Cookie Boy, I’m so sorry this happened to you,” I said. And then I started crying, too. My tears fell on his face and made little riverbeds in the blood.

Crystal came over, snorted, and shook her head. I was just thinking that we’d probably never see Hope again, after what Gordon had done to her, when her black-and-white head poked out from behind a nearby pine. Cautiously, she looked this way and that. Coast clear, she strutted over to join us.

I lifted my T-shirt and studied Simon’s mouth. The bleeding had stopped, but the dangling lip made me shiver. I had packed Band-Aids, but a Band-Aid couldn’t fix this. He needed stitches, which meant we needed to go home.

The coin hunt was over.

“Here. Let’s get you up,” I said, and gently pulled Simon into a sitting position. “Do you feel dizzy?”

He shook his head, then pointed a chubby finger toward his crown, which had fallen off. I put it back on his head.

“You look like a king who’s just fought a terrific battle.” I took his hands and tugged him to his feet. Then I helped him onto Crystal’s saddle. I scooped up Hope, set her in his lap, and handed him his scepter.

Once my backpacks were on, we were ready. “Giddyap,” I said.

Crystal was as obedient as ever.

There was only one problem, but it was a big one. I didn’t know how to get home.

What I’m about to tell you will make me seem incredibly foolish. When I was planning our adventure and imagining that coin in my palm, I never thought about after. What I mean is, I pictured us wandering for days, wading through streams, trekking across valleys, till at last we found the coin. And that’s where my picture ended. I hadn’t even considered finding our way back home.

Which meant I’d made no map—not even a mental one—to guide us. Nor had I tied ribbons to branches or scattered bread crumbs to form a trail. No, I’d just walked for hours and hours and gotten us completely, unmistakably lost.

Errare humanum est. To err is human, Sister Melanie always said. And I had erred big-time.

The only thing to do was keep on moving in hopes that by luck or magic we’d somehow end up back at the farmhouse and the winding lane that would lead us home.

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