The Evion

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

            The following morning was dark and cloudy with an eerie light across the farmhouse estate. The gloomy clouds drifted lazily across the sky, trudging along as if they had all the time in the world. Since there was no real sunrise that day, and nothing to really get up for anyway, the children ended up sleeping in till well past their morning cartoons. Even with the added sleep, the children felt groggy as they meandered around the old farm house. Such was usually the case during rainy or overcast days. Though it was not in fact raining, the wind was blustering outside, and the air was significantly colder than the children’s windbreakers could handle.

            Jesse and Charlie pressed their faces up against the rear sliding glass door as they watched the dead leaves swirl around the yard.

            “Tag?” Jesse asked.

            “In the house? Mom would probably bust us for running.” Charlie replied.

            “Hm. How about a board game?”

            “Opa’s only got puzzles, and most of them are missing pieces.”

            Jesse huffed against the window.

            “What about hide and seek?” Charlie asked.

            “Boundaries?”

            “No oven, washer, or drier.”

            “Deal.” Jesse said. “Standard one minute.” She shouted as she dashed out of the room. Charlie flopped his head against the window as he closed his eyes and began counting out loud.

            Jesse scurried around the house, padding quietly without her shoes. The farmhouse had a few guest rooms with well made full beds and shelves covered in books with old and fading covers. Jesse considered diving underneath a bed, but quickly discarded the idea on account of it being the first place her twin would look. The same reasoning also discounted the closets and sneaking behind any curtains.

            Going further along the corridor, Jesse slipped into the study and searched frantically for a space large enough to conceal her. Under the desk was a possibility, but perhaps one of the trunks off to the side held enough room for her.

            She flung open the lid to a large traveling trunk and shuffled the maps and crumpled pages about. Though the trunk was not entirely filled, a pair of trekking polls, multiple books, and some strange devices that looked as if they belonged on an Spanish exploration ship crowded what room remained.

            “Thirty, thirty one, thirty two…”

            Her time was running out. She closed the lid, but left a small cloth peeking out to give a false trail. Jesse hopped back out of the room and continued round the corner, down another part of the house. The only doors in this wing either led to the bathroom, the master bedroom, and a linen closet.

            The closet wasn’t the worst option possible. If Jesse could hide behind the linen piles without making it look like they had been touched, she just might have a chance. But Charlie was a particularly observant boy, and the odds that he would pass up such a clever hiding spot were rather low. Jesse bit her lip in concentration and turned away from the closet. She looked up and down the hallway, unable to make up her mind. Suddenly, something above her caught her attention. She looked up to see a long trap door with a small rope pull attached to the end. Time was nearly up, and her temptation to explore was simply too strong. She jumped to reach the rope pull. She was not the tallest twelve year old in her class, but after the third jump, she successfully snagged the rope and pulled the trap door open.