It Begins by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Author:Richie Tankersley Cusick [Cusick, Richie Tankersley]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781101567654
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2005-08-18T04:00:00+00:00

16

It was a miracle they got home before Irene.

The girls pulled into the garage with just minutes to spare, leaving no time to examine the car or discuss what had happened back there on that dark country road. Not that Angela would have wanted to anyway, Lucy figured—which was perfectly fine with her. Trying to rationalize it to herself was hard enough.

She stood in the shower, trembling beneath the hard spray of the water. Still badly shaken from the attack on the car … still badly frightened from her encounter with the stranger behind the tent. Only frightened? Again she berated herself for being so careless, for putting herself in such a dangerous situation … yet at the same time she could still hear that low, whispery voice … feel the gentle urgency of that kiss …

How could cold, stark fear be so alluring at the same time? She was furious with herself for even considering such a notion. What’s wrong with me?

She turned the water as hot as she could stand it, washing her hair, her face, her lips, every inch of her body, as though she might be able to wash away every memory, every horror, every single event that had touched her in the last two days. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and have a peaceful night of dreamless, uninterrupted sleep. So it surprised her when she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door about an hour later and saw Angela peek in.

“We need to talk,” Angela said.

Lucy nodded and motioned her inside. She’d been sitting up, too, unable to relax; now she scooted over so Angela could plop down beside her. The girl’s dark raccoon eyes had been wiped off for the night, her long hair braided down her back. She was wearing a polka-dot flannel nightshirt and looked almost normal.

“I can’t stop thinking about what happened,” Angela blurted out. Her expression seemed strained and almost embarrassed. Her hands twisted nervously in her lap. “What do you think that was? I mean … really?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it, too … and I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, it must have been a wolf,” Angela announced flatly.

“Are there wolves around here?”

“Well … usually farther north, but sometimes they leave their territory, right? I mean, like if they’re hungry, or certain areas get too populated, I’ve heard of animals doing that.”

Lucy wanted to believe her. “It’s possible, I guess.”

“But … it could have been a bear, too, maybe,” Angela mused. “I was thinking maybe it was wounded. When an animal’s wounded, it makes them kind of crazy, and then they attack things they wouldn’t normally attack, right? I mean, haven’t you heard that?”

Lucy nodded. “It makes sense.”

“So if something was hurt … and hungry … and smelled us in the car …” Angela paused, her eyes almost pleading. “It could’ve happened that way. Right?”

“Sure. Sure it could.”

“Great.” Angela let out a huge sigh of relief. “And it’s probably not a good idea to tell anyone else about it, do you think? Just so we don’t cause a panic or something.

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.