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come
home safe.”
    “So do I,” I said. I was shocked, listening
to her words. Would Uriah really try to hurt himself? He had always
been so strong. What had he been through in the past few days to
drive him to such a desperate point? Quaile undoubtedly had the
answers I wanted, but she had said I had to do this on my own. Even
still…I had tried calling her after dinner. It rang and rang with
no answer. The only other person who really knew what had happened
was Cole, and he wouldn’t be back until tomorrow night at the
earliest. Frustration welled inside me once again. The unanswered
questions were almost as bad as being trapped.
    Brushing her tears away, Lina attempted to
smile through her worries. “It will be good to have you here. We
can remind each other of Uriah and help one another through this.
Uriah thinks I’m stronger than he is, but I’m not strong enough to
go through this again. I’m glad you’re staying with me, because I
need someone to help me while he’s gone. I can’t bear to lose him
too.”
    Pulled from my seat, I rushed to her side. I
kneeled next to her. Lina wrapped me in her arms. We sat there,
crying for all the pain and confusion we could do nothing to solve.
Eventually the tears ran out. We sat together for a few more
minutes, neither of us wanting to be alone.
    The soft creak of the front door opening
pulled me out of Lina’s embrace. Rubbing my eyes, I stood, ignoring
the pain in my legs from kneeling so long. Uriah’s mother dried her
eyes as well. Her quiet smile was a little stronger now. “Thank
you,” she whispered. I could only nod. I needed her support even
more than she needed mine.
    “Lina Crowe, I told you to stay in bed,”
Sophia said. Her mouth turned down at the sight of us. “How is your
leg ever going to heal if you don’t sit down and rest once in a
while?”
    I couldn’t help but smile. Sophia could
always be counted on to offer her opinion. The problem was, she was
almost always right. “I’ll help you back to your bed, Mrs. Crowe,”
I said.
    “Claire, please don’t call me Mrs. Crowe.
I’ve told you a dozen times it makes me sound like an old lady,”
she complained.
    Uriah’s mother had been asking me to call her
Lina for the past year and a half. I felt strange talking to her
like a friend from school, but a friend was exactly what I needed.
What I really wanted to call her was “Mom,” and I held fast to the
hope that one day I would be part of her family. “I’ll try not to,”
I said.
    She was still sleeping in the living room.
She had stayed on the couch after she was injured so she could be
near the fire, and have easier access to the kitchen and bathroom.
Plus, I had the suspicion it made it easier for Sophia to keep an
eye on her. Lina’s walk was slow and shuffling, but she seemed
determined to make it back to the couch with as little help as
possible.
    “What are you two even doing up? It’s after
midnight,” Sophia said.
    I glanced at the clock on the fireplace
mantel and was surprised to see that she was right. I didn’t
realize how quickly time had passed. Suddenly, I did feel tired. I
wondered where Uriah was. Was he already asleep? Was he as scared
as I was? Even though I wanted him near me, I hoped he was safe,
and that whatever he was doing would bring him back to me.
    “Now where are you going to sleep? Sophia
asked me.
    “Oh, um, I don’t know,” I said. I knew where
I wanted to sleep, Uriah’s bed, but I was afraid to ask. Normally,
I wasn’t allowed to spend much time in Uriah’s room. I knew his
room, his bed, would hold his familiar scent, and I was aching to
be surrounded by it.
    “Why don’t you take Uriah’s room?” Lina said.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
    “Thank you,” I said with tears in my eyes.
Slipping into a pair of pajamas and crawling into Uriah’s bed was
exactly what I needed. I stepped away, eager to wrap myself in
Uriah’s scent. A sudden thought made me pause. “I don’t