Runaways-Orphans 5 by V.C. ANDREWS

Author:V.C. ANDREWS
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Abused Children, Teenage Girls, Horror, Fiction - Horror, Horror & Ghost Stories, General, Sagas, Suspense, Horror - General, V. C. (Virginia C.) - Prose & Criticism, Missing Persons, Fiction, Orphans, Andrews
ISBN: 9780754012467
Publisher: Atria
Published: 1970-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

9

Caught in the Act

That night Crystal worked out what everyone's

home address would be. She did have her social

security card with her and decided she would give

hers to Patsy and explain how ours were stolen.

"I think we'll get by with this, but I don't know

how much longer we should stay here under false

pretenses," she said. "Lies are like bubbles. They

eventually float to the surface."

"We'll stay until we get enough money, at least,

won't we?" Raven asked. She was pacing by the

cottage window. Taylor hadn't shown up as he usually

did after the dinner rush and Raven was getting

anxious.

"I can't make any promises, Raven," Crystal

said in a careful, noncommittal tone.

"Promises? Why does everyone all of a sudden

think I'm looking for promises?" Raven cried. She

went out, slamming the door behind her.

"Why is Raven so upset?" Butterfly asked.

"I think she and Taylor had a fight. At least he

hasn't shown up yet tonight," I told her.

Crystal sat at the table working on some kind of

revised budget for us based on the money we had

already made and the money we could anticipate

making. Butterfly wanted to go out and be with

Raven, but Crystal told her it would be better to leave

Raven alone for now.

"You can help me, instead," she told her and

spread the map out on the small table before them.

"Let's look at where we should go next and what we

can see along the way."

I went to take my shower. When we had first

moved into the cottage, the water had come out brown

and it took a while to get it reasonably clear. It was

running clear now, but there wasn't very much

pressure. Taking a shower was more of a pain than a

pleasure. For one thing, the shower head wasn't tall

enough, so all of us but Butterfly had to crouch. There

wasn't much room to move and adjusting the hot and

cold took a laboratory technician, but we managed.

I went into the bathroom and began to undress.

Naked, I played with the faucets and worked on

getting the water not too hot and yet warm enough to

enjoy. As I did so, I caught some movement in the

corner of the small window above the tub and I froze.

I waited and saw it again. It was definitely someone's

head.

I didn't scream. Calmly, pretending to still be

interested in my shower, I backed away until I was out

of sight and slipped my shirt and pants on as quickly

as I could. Then I crouched down, keeping below the

sight line of the window, opened the door and crawled

out.

Crystal turned, a look of confusion on her face

when she saw me on all fours.

"What are you doing?"

I put my finger to my lips and both she and

Butterfly became paralyzed with fear and curiosity.

Then I rose and charged out the door and around the

house to find Danny and his two friends squatting by

the window. None of them had heard me and they all

had their backs to me.

"Enjoying yourselves?" I asked, and they spun

around. "I suppose this is how you get your kicks. Is it

the best you can do?"

His two friends laughed nervously, but Danny

showed no embarrassment or guilt.

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