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a much worse place than she could imagine.

-12-
     
     
    Sophie looked up into the late afternoon sky and listened to the crickets and cicadas. There was a time when she found the sound to be soothing, but now it just seemed to foretell of something looming ahead of them. Rowen walked alongside her, and she could hear Corrine and James shuffling behind. She hadn't known that footsteps could sound indignant. It had been over a week since the fire but as much as she tried to move on, Corrine took nearly every opportunity to snip away at Sophie's patience.
    "It's almost nighttime, we need to stop soon," Corrine said from behind them. It occurred to Sophie that they didn't have anywhere to stop other than the woods, but she kept her thoughts to herself, glancing at Rowen to see if he agreed.
    He glanced at her and nodded. "Probably a good idea."
    She cringed at the thought of halting their march and having to put up with the other two for another night. At least when they were on the move, they didn't bother her as much. Once they stopped and there was time to fester, all of the attitudes would come marching out. It was unbearable to see her father's willful deterioration. None of them had bathed, but for some reason he seemed to generate even more of a foul odor. His clothes hung off of him, torn badly in several places. He refused the offer of new clothes which Sophie had found for him, simply shaking his head and limping off.
    They made their way closer to a dense grove of trees. James wandered off for a few minutes and returned with an armful of wood to start a fire. He dropped it at their feet and reached into his pocket for a lighter but Rowen put a hand up to stop him.
    "Wait," he said, turning his head away before the look of annoyed incredulity appeared on James' face. Rowen took a small hand shovel from his bag and began to dig. He went down for several feet before taking the wood and dumping it in. "Less chance of people seeing it in the dark anyway." James sat down without a word of gratitude and within minutes was lying down, with his back to them. Corrine sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring into the fire, not acknowledging the other two or showing any interest in speaking.
    "I wish you would at least say something," Sophie said to her. She didn't even look up. "I just wish you—"
    Corrine stood up before she could finish and walked off towards the trees.
    "I don't think it's a good idea to wander off like—" Rowen reached out to try and stop her, but Sophie shook her head.
    "There's no point. She's not going to listen to either one of us. Just let her go, she'll be all right eventually."
    "Sure, unless there's someone wandering around out there and—"
    "Would you shut the hell up about it?" James snapped at them with his back still turned. "If she wants to walk off into the God dammed woods, then let her do it."
    "Daddy," Sophie said, grabbing on to whatever frayed patience she had left. It didn't matter what she would have said anyway as the sound of his snoring made its way over to them. She shook her head and huddled up to the fire pit.
    The minutes ticked past slowly as she felt her senses begin to dull. Just as she felt on the verge of sleep, she looked up at the sound of branches snapping, thinking that maybe Corrine had made her way back but it was a deer, frozen in mid stride. It cocked its head, as if surprised at their presence and for the barest moment, Sophie imagined that she saw a look of smug satisfaction on the animal's face, at the proof it now saw of the natural playing field being leveled. Before she could voice that thought however, it turned and darted back into the trees. Rowen turned back to her, showing no indication that he had noticed.
    "When we left home..." he trailed off and she sat there in silence. He had yet to really talk about himself in any way, but as much as she wanted to hear about it, she also didn't want to pressure him. "When we left, I didn't say anything