Children of Dust by Mary Hallberg

Author:Mary Hallberg [Hallberg, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-06-25T23:00:00+00:00

EIGHT

Simon agreed to walk me back to the campsite for dinner, but we didn’t speak much on the way. It was cooler beneath the trees, but still humid. Even the dead leaves on the ground didn’t crunch much underneath our shoes. Only a little sunlight shone through, but torches nailed to the tree trunks lit our way. Other than the crickets chirping, it was quiet.

We were almost to the picnic area when I said, “Simon, if you ever want to talk about what happened…”

“No, that’s not necessary. I already knew.”

“What? You knew about this?”

“Well, I suspected. I see them together an awful lot, sneaking around when they think I'm not watching.” He sighed and looked at the ground.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine, I promise. If anything, it’s a good thing. It makes me feel less guilty about disobeying her by hanging out with you tonight.”

“Why is she so insistent about your curfew anyway? Is it really that dangerous out here?”

“She seems to think so. Even without all this vampire nonsense, she says only Godless hooligans stay out after dark.”

And it was almost dark now. Past the trees, I could barely see the sliver of sun left above the horizon. A few beams of pink shone through the leaves, creating a colorful effect along with the torches.

“It’s getting colder,” I muttered. It was only a casual observation, but Simon untied his jacket from his waist and put it around my shoulders.

A few yards from the clearing, there was rustling ahead of us. “What was that?” I whispered.

“It’s coming from those trees. Probably a camper.” Still, he put a hand around my shoulder.

The branches parted and Sharpe stepped in front of us. His shirt had a hole underneath the armpit, and he stumbled as he walked forward, his fall only broken by a tree branch. “Evening kids,” he mumbled. “What’s going on?”

Simon stepped back. “Just walking Tinleigh back to camp. What are you doing out here?” He must have been thinking the same thing as me — where on earth had Sharpe come from? He was still in the storage room when we left the lodge. How had he gotten out here so fast? And what had Ruth done to him to leave him so disoriented?

“What? Me? Oh nothing, just finishing up some work at the construction site.” His skin was sickly pale, and as he tried to take another step forward he tripped again.

“What kind of work?”

“Oh, you know…seeing the workers home. Making sure none of them kill themselves.”

“They’re professionals. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

Sharpe inched closer toward us and glanced to our right. "Well well...would you look at that." He shuffled forward, trying not to trip again, I guess. He motioned us to get closer to whatever it is he saw, but neither of us budged. “Really, you should see this." Not wanting to anger him, I stepped closer, and Simon followed suit, his hands gripping my waist.

Sharpe pointed, and I shined my phone light on the space between two trees where his hand went.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.