“Why would you try to beat up your daddy?”
I frowned and jutted my head back in surprise. “Who said anything about beating anyone up?”
“You said you got in a fight.”
“Yeah, like yelling and stuff. No one got beat up.”
“Oh. Two kids in my class got into a fight, and one of them ended up with a bloody nose.”
“That’s not how Joel and I fight.”
She nodded. “That’s good. Ms. Wreprecht says fighting is not how you solve problems.”
“Who?”
“My teacher.”
“What’re you, in like kindergarten?”
She folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes on me. “I was in kindergarten two. Once I go back home and school starts, I’ll be in first grade.”
“Whooptie doo,” I droned, twirling my finger around in the air.
“What grade are you in?”
“I’ll be starting seventh grade,” I answered, shocked by my response. I usually didn’t answer questions from those I didn’t know. “Hey, I want to be by myself. You should get back to where you’re staying. Your grandpa’s probably at the campground waiting on you.”
“But I don’t know where that’s at.” She looked over her shoulder before turning back to me. “Can I stay with you until he finds me?”
I was about to tell this little girl to get lost, but I couldn’t. What if this were Ace lost in the woods? I know when he got lost a while back, he was scared shitless, even though he didn’t want to admit it. Yeah, the kid was a pain in my backside, but he was still my little brother. Joel might be a prick at times, but I remembered how he often said it was the responsibility of those of us who could protect ourselves to look after those who couldn’t.
“Yeah, just don’t make too much noise,” I responded.
Jodi’s little face lit up, and before I knew it, she moved beside, taking my hand in hers. Frowning, I glanced down at her hand in mine, but I didn’t pull back. She was scared and wasn’t likely to make it out here on her own.
“Where’re we going?” she questioned when I turned and started in the direction I’d been heading when I heard her first yelling.
“My favorite spot out here.”
“Where’s that?”
Sighing, I stared down at her. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“My grandma says asking questions is a good thing. It means I’ll be smart when I grow up.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I kicked a rock. “I was coming out here to this swimming hole when you interrupted me.”
“We’re going swimming? I don’t have a bathing suit.” She looked down at the clothes she wore. “It’s with my grandaddy at the place we were camping.”
“We ain’t swimming.”
“What are we going to do then?”
I shrugged and kept walking, veering to the right, off the main trail, to a smaller one that would bring us to my favorite spot.
“It’s dark out here,” Jodi whispered.
“You’re not scared, are you?”
