Where There's Smoke by E. B. Vickers

Author:E. B. Vickers [Vickers, E. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2023-12-12T00:00:00+00:00

From an ash,

no matter how small.

16

I walk back toward the house, more purpose in my stride than I’ve felt since Dad died. Even if there isn’t anybody out there, leaving still feels like the right call. Trish said it herself: Ash is a different person when she’s spared all the intrusions and interruptions, when she can get outside. I should at least be able to give her that.

My eyes flash to the driveway, and there’s my answer in the form of the old Chevy Silverado, perfectly equipped for the ruts and rocks on the old dirt road up to the cabin. Fluffy told me just yesterday morning that it was ready to go up the mountain.

The picture, the memory, the truck. And then, his voice.

It’s time to go, Calli. To the cabin. You both belong there.

“Time to go,” I whisper, and the words feel both rebellious and right as soon as I say them.

Inside, I find Ash and Trish together in the kitchen. “Time to go,” I say again, and the way Ash’s eyes come back to life, I know it’s the right call. “We’re leaving.”

“Wait, what? Where? And who’s we?” Trish asks.

“Me and Ash. And the hares. Just to the cabin,” I say. “She’ll be different up there, I promise. The person you saw this morning.”

“Yeah, because no horror movie ever takes place at a cabin in the woods,” Trish says. “Calli, you can’t be serious.”

“Of course I’m serious,” I say. “You said it yourself: Ash does better when it’s just the two of us. I can’t stay here anymore. And today proved I can’t leave without her.”

It’s a low blow, but reminding Trish of her own mistake seems to make her trust me a little more. “Maybe. But won’t Officer Hunt be expecting you to stay here?”

“I don’t see why. We’re not under investigation or anything. And the cabin isn’t the end of the earth, it just feels like it. There’s a signal up there. He can still contact me if he learns anything. I told him we’d still be on our property, and we will. You can even follow us to the edge of town if you want, so you know nobody else is.”

“And if they are?”

“Then call the police.”

“I thought Maggie said you were supposed to turn Ash over to the professionals after forty-eight hours. I can’t believe Hunt didn’t take her with him, to be honest.”

To be honest. I know my whole cousin act can’t last forever, but I need it to last at least a little longer. So I let my own dishonesty coil safely inside me and jump on the last thing Trish said. “Turning Ash over to strangers was never the deal. I had forty-eight hours until we violated her boundaries, which seems like a pretty messed-up plan to begin with. The authorities know she’s here,” I say, my conscience grating a bit against the guilt of my half-truth. “You guys won, and we didn’t even get our forty-eight hours. Let me give her what control I can before she’s sucked into the system.

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