“It’s no trouble. We always keep clean sheets on Dad’s bed in case he comes back.”
“Comes back from where?” She thought he and Caleb had said he was dead. Her skin crawls at the thought of the sickly tobacco scent and powerful hands. She wouldn’t want Jacob Vass to return unexpectedly, like Papa Bear growling,Someone’s been sleeping in my bed.
“The woods. That’s where they all go.”
Do you hear them?Sarah swallows, and her pulse thrums a warning. “Why did you ask if I heard screaming when I called the house last night?”
“Because they all did. Before they—” Elijah’s eyes widen at the sudden crunch of tires on salted pavement. His hand shoots out to grab her sleeve, the knuckles white under the paint stains. She startles at the urgent touch. “Caleb’s coming. Go to your room. If he finds you out here?—”
Sarah’s chest squeezes, more alarmed by the terror lighting up Elijah’s face than the ominous growl of the truck pulling into the garage. Elijah releases her sleeve, already running down the landing. “I’d lock your door.”
“What?”
But it’s too late. Elijah has disappeared down the stairs like a ghost.
CHAPTER FIVE
Sarah dashes to her room and locks the door. Ripping off her mask, she hurriedly sets the coffee mug on the tray and then flops onto the recliner. She opensThe Tempestbut doesn’t read, only listens for Caleb above the racing of her heart.
Why would Elijah warn her to lock her door? Why would Caleb say the same thing? What are they not telling her about the other? Unless Jacob Vass is actually out in the woods and due to come home any day now.
Caleb’s solid gait sends the stairs grumbling. “Elijah, were you in my room again?” he calls out, his voice sharp as a knife. Sarah’s pulse jitters. Caleb has been kind, but how well does she really know him?He hasn’t been the same since Dad died.
Ben had been kind to her, too, at first.
Elijah’s reply drifts from downstairs. “I was looking for Bulfinch’s.”
“I gave it to Sarah. What did I tell you?”
“I know, I just wanted to look something up. Sorry.”
“Don’t do it again,” Caleb growls, and it’s like a completely different man is speaking. The voice belongs to the heavy-handed man in the family photos, not the boy who cried after shooting a rabbit.
When the knock finally comes, she jumps. “Sarah? Can I come in?” Caleb asks.
Sarah gets up and opens the door. The brass knob is tarnished, marked by Jacob and Meredith Vass’s hands. Another scar left on the house’s body to remember its ghosts by.
Caleb strides in. Sarah backs away and perches back on the recliner. His eyes crinkle above his mask, the perfect host once more. Maybe she’d imagined his angry outburst, and Elijah’s look of terror when they heard the truck pulling up. Or maybe she’s projecting too much on a normal sibling relationship. How many times have she and Graham bickered viciously over a trivial issue?
Still, she pushes her face into a pleasant, unthreatening shape. “Hi, Caleb. Did everything go okay with Kaylee Brighton?”
“She didn’t put up a fuss, thank God. It’s not like we leave people to starve, but sometimes they get really pissed off. Old Man Doherty waved a hunting rifle at Uncle Isaac last month. Uncle Isaac could’ve shot him, and everyone would’ve said he’d done the right thing.”
He shakes his head. Sarah holds her smile although the spot between her shoulder blades itches.
“How’s the foot?” he asks.
“It’s fine.”
“Can I see?”
She nods. Caleb sinks onto the bed and takes her foot in his hands. His fingers burn against her skin as he rolls off her sock, and she has to remind herself to breathe. Elijah can’t be scared of someone with hands as gentle as this.
“Looks like it started bleeding again, but it’s okay. Were you moving around a lot?”
She laughs nervously. “I was feeling cooped up.”
“How about I take you outside for a walk? It’s stopped snowing. We can eat our burgers.”
