“Home sweet home,” came a voice from the front of the house.
Birda was back.
Crap.Doris hadn’t been able to keep her busy for very long at all.
Alice whimpered beside me. I shot her a look that saidshut it, but I didn’t think she could read eyeball speak.
Birda ambled around the living room, quietly mumbling to herself. She headed into the kitchen.
Then I remembered what Alice had told me.
Whenever Birda came home, she always stripped down in her mudroom. My heart sank. Within a few moments Birda would be standing in the exact room I stood in. She would flip on the light, and we’d be caught.
I scanned the room. A slash of light illuminated a towel draped over the freestanding white sink.
Birda was in the kitchen. If I moved, she’d see me for sure.
Just then she walked straight toward us and stopped at the fridge. Birda opened the door, blocking us from her line of sight.
I nabbed the towel.
Ruth and Alice stared at me. I flicked my head toward the towel and then to Birda. They nodded in understanding.
The refrigerator door shut. I held my breath. This was it. Birda shuffled forward. Her right foot crossed the threshold. She snapped on the light.
Before she had a chance to see us, I threw the towel over her head. Birda yelled.
I opened the back door and ran out. Ruth and Alice followed. We hauled butt toward the ATV.
I threw myself into the bed of the vehicle, cracking my head against the side.
Ruth slid behind the wheel and cranked it.
Birda’s back door flew open.
“Go,” I shouted.
Ruth slammed her foot on the gas. Alice, who wasn’t quite inside yet, grabbed the side rail.
“Ah,” she screamed.
“Hold on,” Ruth yelled.
Alice barely had her foot on the floorboard. I grabbed her jacket, pulling her inside.
“I’m gonna die,” Alice yelled.
The ATV jostled me to the side. I clutched Alice and, with every bit of strength I had, pulled her in.
Alice smacked into Ruth, who nearly fell out herself. I hooked an arm around Ruth’s shoulder and righted her.
I exhaled a deep breath. “Everyone okay?”
“I almost died,” Alice said.
“You almost killed me in the process,” Ruth snapped.
“Ladies, calm down. Do y’all think Birda saw us?”
