And Now, Back to Our Story

[moon_custafer]

“Did you find... the rest?” Nine nodded.
“Show me where you found the bones.” They trudged back into the woods, and Nine after a while veered off the path her mother had trod. The woman followed her in a scramble through brush and down a steep hill to a shallow river.
“Nine! You might have drowned!”
“There were fish, mommy, I wanted to catch one for supper.”
“Well never mind that now.” She had caught sight of something pale on the narrow strip of rocks along the shore. They walked the river stones until nightfall, collecting every bone they did not recognize as fish or bird or animal. When the light began to dim they started home, Nine’s mother carrying the bones in her apron. She circled the house again, checking it before she’d let them enter.
The place was still a mess, and she set the girl to restoring order to the smaller furnishings, while she tidied the kitchen enough to prepare some food. There were unopened tins and unbroken jars, and the bread, though stale, appeared untampered-with. When they had eaten, she put the kettle on and gathered up a number of blankets.
“Get the hot water bottle. We won’t go so far as last night, but we’ll sleep outside and watch the house, rather than stay under this roof.” They made camp just within the shadow of the trees around the house. Nine curled up beside her mother. The bones of Bill’s sweetheart lay between them, still wrapped in the apron.
No one came near the house that night, and Nine’s mother, as she got up stiffly the following morning, was tempted to spend the next night back in her own bed -- “but,” she thought, “tonight is the last night for a month that the moon will be bright enough for anyone to find their way out here. If he tries anything, it’ll be tonight.”

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I hope Nine's mother's instincts are correct--frankly, I worry about them more out in the woods than in the house...