Page 29 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

Ash shut off the alarm before she could. Had he slept at all?
He stood, still wearing a rumpled black T-shirt and jeans,
and waited for her to pull herself out of bed. She hovered
at his shoulder as they walked to the door. When he pulled
it open, she reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly.
The first day of kindergarten all over again. As the cooler
air of the hallway touched her skin, Greta fought the urge
to retreat, slam the door, roll up in the blanket again.

She wasn’t ready for the results.
Ash motioned her past their door, to the living room and
kitchen first. A strip of sky, as dark as the middle of the night,
showed through the low basement windows. Greta felt the
cold on her bare arms, an icy hand pressed there, but her
body disconnected from it. Smoke hung in the air. Greta
could sense the ghost of Patty, leaning against the doorframe

with a cigarette between her fingers, flicking ashes through
the open crack.
Greta led the way back to Roger and Patty’s door.
She examined it, but the varnished wood gave no clues.
Ash stepped beside her and knocked. They waited five
seconds. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. He knocked again.
Still nothing. He swung the door open. No one. The bed
was unmade, with two dents in the pillows and the blanket
twisted in a knot at the foot.

They stepped inside. All normal, except that Patty and
Roger weren’t usually gone by 6:00 am. Especially Patty.
Something else seemed off too. Greta ran her finger over
the vanity where the plate and candle had stood. Despite the

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