The Madness of Annie Radford by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dark Season Books
Published: 2018-09-22T23:00:00+00:00

***

“So your clothes are drying,” Carrie explained as she set a plate of food on the table in front of Annie, “but they'll take a while, even in this sun. I managed to get all the stains out, but I won't be able to darn the torn sections until this afternoon, on account of having to wait for everything to dry. Don't worry, though. I don't believe in throwing things away when they can be fixed, so you'll have that lovely dress back before you know it. It'll look brand spanking new!”

Staring at the plate, Annie marveled at the sight of bacon and sausages and eggs and hash browns and a grilled tomato and even some mushrooms and beans. She couldn't remember the last time she'd seen such a huge meal. Living alone for the past few years, she'd mostly just eaten food with a fork directly out of cans, grabbing whatever was closest when the hunger became too strong to ignore.

“Now did you say you wanted tea or coffee?” Carrie continued, heading back over to the counter. “Ricky and I don't really drink tea, but we always like to keep some around the place, in case of visitors. If you ask me, tea's just flavored water, but there you go. Some people like it.”

She turned back to Annie and smiled.

“It's up to you, honey,” she added. “You can have whatever you want.”

She waited, still smiling, as Annie stared at her with a growing sense of unease.

“How about some juice?” Carrie suggested finally, heading over to the refrigerator. “I know some people prefer juice in the mornings.”

“Where am I?” Annie asked, her voice sounding harsh and damaged.

“Where are you?” Carrie took a bottle of juice from the refrigerator before swinging the door shut and turning to her. “Oh, my poor little thing, you were exhausted last night, weren't you? I don't think I've ever seen anyone look so tired. You could barely even make it up the stairs.”

Annie stared at her, half-expecting her to suddenly turn into a ghost, or maybe to launch an attack. A moment later, she looked back down at the tablet computer she'd borrowed, and which she'd been using to search for any trace of Eldion House. So far she'd found three potential candidates, all of them several hundred miles away. She was already starting to think, deep down, that she was fighting a losing battle, but at the same time she knew she couldn't give up. Eldion House was out there somewhere.

“You've been through an ordeal, haven't you?” Carrie added suddenly, briefly glancing out the window as if she was worried about being overheard, before turning back to Annie. “It's okay, you don't have to explain. I can see it in your eyes, that's all. Just remember that you're welcome to stay here for as long as you want. Ricky and I have all we need. More than we need, in fact. Our daughter's away, and to be honest the place always feels so empty whenever she's not here.

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