Sarah Benadine is Dead

Chapter X, Part II

McKenzie House was big and blue. It was obviously old but it was well maintained and cared for and was actually quite nice to look at, despite the nickname given to it and its neighbor, Boulder Hill. A wraparound porch spanned the house and a bench swing hung in the front. White-trimmed windows were positioned at equal intervals all around the house. The sheer size of the house was what really commanded attention; it dwarfed all the other houses surrounding it besides Boulder Hill, including Jared's, Dexter's, and Ginger's.

Shannon felt a little intimidated by it. She grew up in Clearwater; she'd seen the house many times, looming next to Boulder Hill on the west side of town. It was so big, it didn't fit in with the rest of the town. It seemed like a separate entity, part of a different world; Shannon had never dreamed she'd set foot in it.

She'd also never made the connection that this was where Ollie lived.

"That's your house?" Shannon asked, voice a shade of incredulous as they all approached the porch.

Ollie blushed. "Yeah."

Shannon slapped the heel of her hand to her forehead. "Of course. O'Brien. Your brother Alfred..."

She trailed off, realizing her mistake. Ollie smiled gently at her.

"He got hit by a car a few years ago."

Shannon nodded, not knowing what else to do. The seven of them entered the house in silence.

The first objective when they all got inside was to clean everyone up. Thankfully, the thick winter coats and clothes they all had on had protected them from a lot of bodily harm, but their faces were another story. Caleb and Allison were the worst. Caleb's split lip was an ugly shade of purple, and a thin line of blood trickled from a cruel looking cut on his cheek where the tree branch had gotten him. His left eye was puffy and swelling, the tell-tale signs that another shiner was in the works. There were three small scrapes on his forehead and a gash at the bottom of his chin. There was blood drying on his coat, but it was anyone's guess if it was his own. Allison had a cut on the bridge of her nose—her glasses had probably nicked her at some point—and all along her cheeks and forehead were nasty scratches where fingernails had scraped away flesh. The worst of them were still bleeding.

The others had gotten off with lighter injuries. Ginger had three claw marks running down the side of her face. Her bottom lip was swollen. Dexter's nose was bleeding, and there was a nick under his left eye. The knuckles of his right hand were crimson. Jared had a number of cuts on his face and one long but shallow one on his neck. Ollie had mere scratches on both cheeks. Shannon had only one bleeding cut on the side of her nose, but her right cheekbone throbbed, and she was sure she was going to have a bruise. That was going to raise hell with her parents.

Ollie and Shannon raided the rooms, gathering anything they thought could help them. Shannon stuck close to Ollie's side, shocked by how many different rooms there were. They found a pile of bandages in the bathroom and a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet. Ollie dragged a handful of old rags out of the drawers in the kitchen and pulled a bag of frozen peas out of the refrigerator. Shannon discovered a package of cotton balls in a cabinet in the living room, of all places. Ollie hunted through the bedrooms, finding dry clothes for everyone to change into. Most of it belonged to her siblings; Ollie was too small for her clothes to fit anybody but Ginger.

"Here," Ollie said, coming back into the living room and tossing Caleb the frozen peas. He groaned and slapped them on his sore eye dramatically, leaning his head back on the chair he occupied. Ollie moved on, giving one of the rags to Dexter for his nosebleed. She headed to claim a chair for herself. As soon as she sat down a small ginger cat trotted into the room as if called and curled up in her lap.