Read Freeing Carter for Free Online Page A

long. "
    Yeah. Yesterday she looked like she belonged in the 60 ' s in a rainbow bus and with a name like Springwater , and today she ' s wearing a school girl outfit. Not that I noticed or anything.
    " Orange! " Sara claps , jumping up and down.  She ' s so happy I have to look around to make sure there ' s not a purple dinosaur here.
    " Orange? " I ask. Orange hair doesn ' t sound very appealing.
    " What ' s wrong with orange? " Kira counters.
    Oh , she wants to play this game , does she? I ' m in. " Nothing. But why stop with mixing in ? I ' m thinking you should go all orange. That would be pretty , wouldn ' t it , Sara? "
    Sara nods so hard I ' m worried her head might fall off .
    Kira doesn ' t flinch. " Orange it is. "
    The bell over the door rings. Mom slips around the counter. "I'm so glad your mom came today. I'm excited to have you on board, Kira. We ' ll see you soon. "
    Mom walks over to help the customer and Kira with her purple hair and school girl skirt is right behind her. " Catch ya later , Sleepy ," she tosses over her shoulder and just like last time , she ' s gone , leaving me with the want to catch up with her.
    ***
    " No! Mommy , Carter! Help! "
    I ' m already scrambling out of my bed , tripping over a shoe in the dark before Sara can yell again . I tear my door open and jog down the hall to her room. Mom ' s already there , rushing to Sara ' s side.
    " Mommy! Carter! " she yells again. I get a twinge in my chest , dropping to the floor by her bed. Mom has Sara pulled into her lap , shushing her , but I can ' t help but touch her hair too , just so she knows I ' m here. Even if she had her glasses on , her eyes are full of too many tears for her to see.
    " Hey , Twig. Shh , it ' s okay. I ' m here. "
    Sara's had bad nightmares like this her whole life. We ' re not sure why . T hey take a lot out of her. She wakes up scared something ' s after her ... or something ' s after me , and it always takes half the night for us to calm her down.
    " Closet. " She grabs Mom ' s neck tighter.
    " There ' s nothing in there , Twig. You ' re my little sister; no one will mess with you because they know I have your back. " Still , I get up to investigate the closet. Sara gets a little smile on her face , but has her death grip on Mom , who reaches for Sara ' s glasses and puts them on her.
    " Here , I better grab this just in case. " I grab a purple blow-up bat , holding it in one hand like it ' s a weapon , and then pulling the closet door open with the other. " See? Nothing there. "
    " In the back. "
    With my air-bat at arm ' s-length like I ' m scared to get too close , I push the clothes around. " Nope ... nothing there. "
    " Just a bad dream , baby girl ," Mom whispers against Sara ' s forehead.
    She makes me look under the bed and behind the curtains just in case. Once my hunt for bad guys is over , Mom says , " It ' s late , Carter. Why don ' t you go to bed? Sara , you want to sleep in Mommy ' s room with me? "
    Bed sound s better than anything right now .
    " No , no , no. Carter , Carter! " Sara says. I try not to groan because I really need a good night of sleep after the couple days I ' ve had.
    " You want me to sleep with you , Twig? "
    I get one of her big , head-fall-off-her-shoulder s nods.
    Her bed is a twin and it really sucks to try to share a twin bed with a little sister. " Scoot your butt over. "
    Mom looks up at me. " You can go to bed , Carter. We ' ll be okay. "
    I shake my head. Mom gets up , bringing Sara to the bathroom while I crawl into her bed and pull a Barney blanket over myself. After they ' re done , Mom tucks her into bed with me. " Straight to sleep , you two. There ' s school tomorrow. "   Sounds good to me.
    We ' re quiet for a few minutes and I hope this will be a rare night Sara falls asleep quickly. My eyes won ' t close though. I keep them on the door , seeing Mom in here with her . This is why Mom would never drink when Sara ' s home. She ' ll always be ready to take care of