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avoid the questioning that was sure to come about my missing sister, but my stomach overruled.
     
    Everyone was gathering around the table by the time I entered. Sara shot me a look.
     
    “Cassandra didn’t return from fetching water. Have you seen her?”
     
    I took a seat and lowered my eyes. “Yeah, she’s not well. Some flu or something. Came on really fast.”
     
    “Should I send someone to tend to her?” Before I could answer she called for Josie.
     
    “No,” I said, “Case, uh, Cassandra was very clear about wanting to be left alone.”
     
    Sara paused, then nodded. “Very well, then.”
     
    The kitchen filled with the sounds of chair legs scraping along the wooden floor, the bickering between little kids, and the final additions of dishes to the table. Then Mr. Watson called his family to order to pray over the food.
     
     
     
    Afterwards, I headed back to the cabin smacking at the army of mosquitoes that appeared with dusk. Inside I struck a wooden match against a matchbox, sniffing in the faint smell of phosphorus, and held it to the wick of the candle. I sat up on the cot with my back against the wall and watched the shadows cast by the small flame flicker about the room.
     
    It was strangely quiet, until my ears tuned into sounds of the outdoors. Crickets. A hoot of an owl. Another noise I couldn’t identify. My nerves sprung awake. What kind of wild animals populated the forest around here, anyway? Could there be thieves wandering about?
     
    It was probably just the wind, but I went to the door to lock it. It didn’t have a locking mechanism. Had locks not been invented yet?
     
    I took the wooden chair in the corner and propped it up under the handle. Back on my bed, I twiddled my thumbs. Actually twiddled . I itched to have my laptop to play War of the Universe . The nineteenth century was boring , man.
     
    Truth be told, it was kind of freaky being alone in a dark cabin on the edge of the woods at night. No streetlights or neon signs. No music. Too bad I didn’t have my iPod with me. Wouldn’t Josie freak out if she saw that?
     
    I smiled at the thought of her cute little upturned nose and bright eyes. Not to mention her curvy body. Even that nightgown she wore all day couldn’t hide it.
     
    I shucked in under my blankets and then remembered I should blow out the candle. Last thing I needed was to burn down the cabin and me with it.
     
    Too bad Casey wasn’t here. As super annoying as she was, I wouldn’t have minded her company right now. I didn’t like how the blanket that hung in the middle of the room moved like there was someone behind it.
     
    I lit the candle again, and tore it down, throwing it onto Casey’s bed.
     
    That was better.
     
    I tossed and turned, miffed that the cot was so hard. How was a guy supposed to sleep?
     
    Finally I dozed off, and it felt like I’d slept all of ten minutes. Next thing I knew, the sun shone brightly through the window and I heard the rooster crow. I covered my head with my pillow and rolled over.
     
    Then a knock on the door with Duncan’s voice coming from behind. “Timothy, are you in there? Pa is getting antsy.”
     
    I forced my eyes to open and pushed myself into a standing position. Last thing I needed was to get booted off the farm. What would I do if I couldn’t stay here?
     
    I dressed quickly and ran across the yard, trying to make up for lost time. Sara confronted me at the kitchen door way, her red hair pulled back tightly with two ropes of braids running down her back. Someone should tell her that wasn’t an attractive look.
     
    “Where’s Cassandra?” she asked. “Is she still ill?”
     
    Man. I should’ve spent some time working on an excuse. Being sick wasn’t going to account for her being missing.
     
    “She’s better now, but she had to go.”
     
    “She had to go?”
     
    “Um...”
     
    “Was there another family crisis?”
     
    I stared at my boots.“Uh, yeah, I guess so.”
     
    “And