Alone

Chapter 4

Riley

"You listen here! That girl better be back here tomorrow, or you'll regret the day you met her." Joe, surprised, lowers the gun and opens his mouth to answer. Before I lose my nerve, I yell as loudly as possible, "Dad! We're out west-" Joe swings his hand at my face, backhanding me with the gun. I'm not prepared, and the impact knocks me to the floor. Everything goes blank for a minute, then I see Joe slam the phone shut and jump to his feet. Beyond him, I see Chloe cover her mouth with both hands, shock and fear in her eyes. I stand up carefully, leaning back away from Joe. I catch a glimpse of Peter out of the corner of my eye, on his feet and backing away. Joe is quiet, just like Dad was the last time I saw him. Another glance at Peter tells me that it is the same kind of quiet. The pistol is still in Joe's hand, and I give it a nervous glance before turning my eyes back to his face. He notices my look and tucks the pistol back into his waistband. My head is still spinning from the blow with the pistol when Joe moves again. I duck, but he isn't trying to slap me. Instead, he steps past me and walks to the door. The other man, Tom, opens the door and steps out, followed by Joe. When the door slams shut, I sink back into my chair at the table. After a moment, Peter steps forward and sits next to me, not quite looking at me. Chloe, who never got up, stares at me without blinking for a minute, then reaches into her pocket and hands me a folded Kleenex. I look at her questioningly and she gestures at my face as she answers. "You're bleeding." I gingerly run the tissue over my cheek, quickly discovering that the gun has cut a gash along my cheekbone, as well as bruising the whole side of my face. Peter runs his fingers along the grain of the wood over and over, keeping his eyes on the table. Chloe can't seem to decide what to do or think, and I can tell that her dad would never lay a hand on her, no matter what she did. Peter finally speaks, low and half angry, half compassionate. "At least that's all he did." Chloe looks even more appalled, but I know what he is talking about. Silence falls as I dab at the cut on my face again. We remain quiet as the door opens again and Tom and Joe enter the cabin. Chloe and Peter turn their eyes back to the table, but I look Joe in the eye, trying to keep the fear out of my eyes without looking defiant. He narrows his eyes as he looks at me, and I am not sure whether he is angry or approving. I know how to appease Dad, but not Joe. I keep both hands in my lap, wadding the bloody Kleenex up into a ball without looking at it. The men stay silent for a minute, just looking at us, and I get more nervous. Peter jumps when Joe finally speaks, but still doesn't look up. There is no trace of the earlier rage in Joe's voice, and all he does is tell us to climb up to the loft and stay there. Peter stands up first and climbs up the ladder quickly. Chloe follows him and I follow her, keeping eye contact with Joe until the last possible minute. The loft is even more sparsely furnished than the main room below, with only one rough bunk bed, a pallet on the floor and a wooden chest under one window. Peter flops down on the pallet, and Chloe walks past him to the bed and sits stiffly down. I move a little slower, giving the room a long look before swinging myself up to the top bunk.

Chloe

Riley jumps up to the top bed without using the ladder, making the frame knock against the rough log walls. Joe yells from downstairs and Peter jumps sharply. Peter and Riley yell "Sorry" in unison, and even though there is no answer from below, Peter stays tense as he turns to look sharply at Riley. I can't see Riley, because she is directly above me, but Peter looks at her for a long minute before he plops back on the pallet. The bed moves slightly, then Riley leans down over the edge of the bed and looks at me. "Hey. You alright?" I nod and she leans back up on her bed. Voices from down below rumble through the warm space, and pretty soon, Riley's breathing evens out and I can tell she has fallen asleep. Peter rolls over and looks up at Riley before turning his eyes to me. The room is small and comfortable, with heat drifting up from below and the sun shining through the small windows at either end. Peter glances up at Riley again, then climbs to his feet and comes across the room to sit beside me on the bed. Gesturing up at Riley, he whispers, "She falls asleep quick." I nod distractedly and mumble my agreement. With Riley asleep, I feel like I have to do what she has been doing, look around and try to find a way out. When Peter whispers again, I jump a little, then feel foolish for doing the same thing Peter does every time his dad talks. "So if your dad's the mayor that means that Riley really is poor." The words catch my ears and my guilt, and I turn to look at him. "Yeah, I guess so." He hesitates for a moment, sending quick glances toward the ladder and the top bunk before finally getting up the nerve to speak. "What about her family? What are they like?" I shrug, wondering myself. I wish I knew more about Riley. Riley continues to sleep through the long, drowsy afternoon, and soon Peter falls asleep leaning back against the headboard. I sigh and move across to the pallet on the floor. This close to the ladder, I can hear bits and pieces of the conversation from below, mainly about details of the kidnapping. The talk goes quiet for a while, and I can hear Peter and Riley snoring softly across the loft.