Little Sister Song (Wynter Wild #1)

Chapter 9: The Mariana Trench

A shiver ran through Wynter. She had to be careful or everything would go wrong. She understood now why Joy had told her not to talk about her life in the Light. If she told Caleb how badly behaved she was, and the way they punished her, he might think she was too much trouble to keep.

No, she belonged here.

Caleb accepted her silence. He extracted his hand from hers.

"Go to sleep. We'll figure it out."

* * *

Caleb had spent most of his life dealing with the unexpected. However things turned out, tonight was going to be a tale for the future grandkids.

"Move your books out of the front room before morning, okay?" he said, leaning against Jesse's doorway.

Jesse's room was a disaster area. As a kid he'd kept it fairly tidy—kept the floor clear, in any case—to avoid confrontations with Caleb. These days Caleb was less concerned about it as long as Jesse kept the rest of the house tidy. Not that he was going to encourage bad habits by telling Jesse that. Tonight, Jesse had emptied the contents of his closet all over the floor. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of it, surrounded by files and shoeboxes.

"Look at this."

Jesse handed him an old photo—three brothers in shorts and t-shirts, a few years before they moved to Seattle. They were on a riverbank, Caleb and Jesse with fishing nets, Indio holding up a mason jar of murky water.

"Where is that—Lost Creek State Park?"

"I don't know, but look at Indio."

The shape of his chin, his brow... the resemblance was unmistakable. Indio's ratty hair was almost down to his shoulders, so it must be the end of summer. Before school started Caleb and Harry would've wrestled him into the yard to clip off those locks.

"You're right, she looks a lot like him," Caleb said. "Did you doubt her story?"

"No. Just thought maybe you'd want proof."

"I believe her, Jess. Didn't need a photo of nine-year-old Indio to see she belongs with us."

Jesse nodded, satisfied. "Have you told him yet?"

"It's been four hours—thought you probably would've, by now."

"Nope." Jesse grinned. "You haven't spoken with him since Christmas, have you."

Caleb set his jaw. Indio had been home twice in the last year—a few days in the summer for Jesse's high school graduation, and a few days over Christmas. On that occasion, Indio and Caleb had gotten into a vicious argument. Nothing out of the ordinary. They argued a lot.

"You could text him," Jesse said. "Nah, I guess this isn't really textable news. It's okay, I'll call him."

"No. I'll do it." Caleb handed back the photo.

"D'you think she's okay?"

"I don't know. I don't really know the first thing about the Light or what she's been taught."

"Her eyes are all hollowed out and she's so thin."

Caleb nodded agreement. He'd seen the sharp bones of her shoulders in the tub. "Set your alarm early and get to the bus station for the 4:35AM, okay? I'll do it tomorrow night."

"I don't even remember Joy."

"I'm sure she'll remember you."

"That goes without saying. I was a memorable toddler."