Lost Souls

34

Michael and Grace Rusk kissed in the hallway, and then headed in opposite directions. Mr. Rusk, to the kitchen to start breakfast for everyone, while his wife went to see if Christopher had managed to get any sleep, lying in front of the log fire she'd prepared for him the previous night.

​Pushing the lounge door open, she was taken by surprise at the sight before her. Christopher was lying on the floor with a blanket partially covering his upper body and face. Katie was curled up in a ball on the couch with the rest of the bedding tightly wrapped around her.

​"Morning," Mrs. Rusk said loudly.

​Christopher woke with a start, and in a mild panic tried to sit up, push the blanket off his chest, and rub at his eyes all at the same time.

​Mrs. Rusk stifled a laugh at the flaying teenager before her.

​Katie slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the dying embers of the fire, still glowing defiantly in the grate. Turning her head slowly to where her mother was standing, she smiled and gave a little wave. "Hi mum."

​Mrs. Rusk came over and sat on the edge of the couch. Christopher had managed to sort himself out, and was now leaning against a chair waiting nervously to hear what Katie's mother had to say about finding them alone together.

​"You both look like you've had a rough night," Mrs. Rusk pointed out as she stroked Katie's hair. "Did you get any sleep?"

​"It's not how it looks mum," Katie said quietly. "I had to go outside. When I came back, Christopher invited me in here to get warm. I was freezing."

​"Ah ha. And what was wrong with your own bedroom?" Mrs. Rusk teased.

​"It's my fault Mrs. Rusk," Christopher interrupted. "I asked Katie to come and stay with me. It was a bit scary down here on my own."

​"I found a box," Katie said, before her mother could respond.

​"A what?"

​"When I went outside. I found a box. There's something in it, but we couldn't get it open. It's in the..."

​"Grace come here will you?" Mr. Rusk's voice boomed from the kitchen.

​"Dad's seen it," Katie informed her mum as she jumped up excitedly.

​Mrs. Rusk noticed the brown and green marks on the knees of her jeans, and for the first time noticed the dirt under Katie's fingernails.
​"Have you been digging up the garden?" she asked puzzled.

​Katie smiled. "Come on mum. I'll tell you everything when we go through to the kitchen.

​Katie grabbed Christopher's hand and pulled him to his feet. Together all three made their way to where Mr. Rusk was holding the box in front of his face as he closely examined it.

​"Where the heck did this come from?" he asked, as the others joined him at the table.

​Dad, you're never going to believe this," Katie began. "I was asleep and the crow woke me up..."

​"The crow!" Mr. Rusk said, shocked by what he'd just heard.

​"Yeah. It was tapping constantly on my window. I thought he wanted in, so I opened it, and went back to bed. He wouldn't come inside. Anyway to cut a long story short, in the end I figured out he wanted me to follow him..."

​It was Mrs. Rusk who interrupted this time. "Follow him!" she said, looking at her daughter as if she'd gone mad.

​Katie nodded, eager to carry on. "I went downstairs. I looked in on Christopher to see if he was awake. I thought about waking him to come with me, but I was worried I'd lose the bird, so in the end I decided to go out alone. The crow led me to the foot of one of the trees on the front lawn, and then he told me to dig."