The shoe hung tight to his chest. The spiked heel had been driven all the way in. He gripped it in one hand and watched Autumn stumble to the front door, staggering on one shoe.
Daniel made a grab for her. Missed. She hurtled through the screen door and dove screaming into the street.
The screen door slammed behind her.
Daniel started to the door, then thought better of it, and turned back to his brother, Samuel on his knees on the carpet. Daniel’s eyes were wild. His whole body trembled.
“Sammy, what are we going to do? She got away.”
57
“No, she didn’t,” Samuel told his brother. “No one escapes me. She’s as good as dead, boyo.”
He saw the panic on his brother’s face. He knew he had to be brave, put on a good front. Daniel had never encountered failure. It frightened Samuel to think how his twin might handle such disappointment.
Samuel could still hear her screams out in the street. He motioned with his head to the shoe. “Help me.”
Daniel hesitated for a moment, his face locked in horror. Then he wrapped his hands around the heel of the shoe-and pulled it out of his twin’s chest.
It slid out easily, making a
Daniel tossed the shoe across the floor. Then he smoothed down the front of Samuel’s T-shirt. “Afraid you’ve got a hole in your shirt, bruvver.”
Samuel jumped to his feet. “Let’s go.”
“Whistle while we work,” Daniel said. He whistled a short tune.
They burst out through the screen door together. Jumped off the stoop. Samuel saw Daniel remove something from his jeans pocket and drop it beside the steps.
The morning sun was high over the shingled roofs of the little houses that lined the street. Houses not much bigger than cottages. Each with a trimmed square lawn. An SUV parked in the driveway.
Saturday morning and everyone must be sleeping in, for there was not a person in sight. Oh, yes. A man in khaki shorts watering his flower garden with a hose in the next block. A small brown dog sniffing around him.
Samuel saw Autumn pounding frantically on the front door of a small brick house down the block. No one answered. She leaped off the front stoop and, screaming all the way, fled into a sandy, pebbly alley lined by wooden fences that snaked behind the houses.
“Nice of Autumn to scream like that and let us know where she is going,” said Daniel, trotting beside his brother, eyes straight ahead.
“She’s a nice girl.” Samuel’s earnest reply.
They caught up with her behind a stack of blue and yellow boogie boards tilting against a wood picket fence. The boards formed a low tent. Autumn probably thought she would be hidden by them.
They found her huddled behind the boards, her body hunched and shaking, her breath coming in loud wheezes.
Samuel set his eyes to glowing. He felt anger now and new dedication to the task. No hesitation.
“Please. . Oh, please. . please. .” She was begging now. Actually wringing her hands in front of her. She climbed to her feet. “Please?”
Samuel trained his gaze on the white skin of her tummy between the top and her low-riding shorts.
She shrieked in shock and agonizing pain as he cut a long line across the bottom of her stomach. Reflexively, Autumn grabbed at the deep opening in her skin and spread both hands over it.
But she couldn’t keep her insides from spilling out.
The twins watched in intent silence, as if watching a medical demonstration, as her intestines came sliding out over her hands and poured like long pink sausage links to the ground.
She made a hoarse choking sound, grabbing frantically at the waterfall of shiny wet organs spilling out. Spilling out of the deep slit across her belly. A gusher of pink and yellow sausage oozing through her fingers.
She choked and gagged until her eyes rolled up and her knees folded and she slumped face forward with a loud
The twins gazed down at her in solemn silence.
Samuel waited for his eyes to cool. Then he stepped back, let out a sigh, and called down to her, “Oh, poor Autumn. Lassie, where are those beautiful new shoes now?”
Daniel laughed and gave him a shove. “You’re a poet.” He stared down at the young dead woman. His smile faded. “You know, bruvver, we don’t have to worry about Pa now.”
That made Samuel laugh. “I think Pa is deep in trouble,” he said softly. “Come on, bruvver. Let’s find our way back to the Harbor of Sag.”
“A poet,” Daniel murmured. “My bruvver is a poet.”
It was a beautiful morning, just starting to warm up, the air so fragrant and fresh. White butterflies danced over a flowering hedge. A soft breeze tickled his skin and cooled Samuel’s hot face.
It made him think of the island. The ocean breezes over Cape Le Chat Noir. The simple life. Waves splashing as he and Daniel and Ikey ran along the cool, wet sand.
“I think the bus stop is over here,” he told Daniel. “It’s such a pretty day. I know we’re going to have a nice ride.”
58
When Lea’s Skype bell rang on Saturday morning, she was tempted not to answer it. But when she saw it was Martha calling from Cape Le Chat Noir, her curiosity won out over her weariness.
She clicked to take the call, and a second later, Martha’s pale blue eyes gazed out at her from the laptop screen. Martha’s short blond hair was wrapped in a colorful kerchief, but her face appeared pale and lined, and she wasn’t smiling.
“Martha? What a surprise.” Lea adjusted the laptop to get her face in the frame.
“How are you, Lea? Is this too early?”
“Well, no. Actually, I’m still up from last night. Look at me. I’m still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. I. . didn’t get any sleep.”
“Well, I’m sorry to call so early.”
“That’s okay. Really. It’s nice to see you. We haven’t been in touch for a few weeks.”
“You look awful, Lea. What’s going on there? Why were you up all night? Is everything okay?”
Martha’s image froze on the screen. Her face didn’t move but her voice continued. Then the screen popped, and her mouth caught up with her words.
Lea sighed. She rubbed her eyes with her finger and thumb. “It’s a long story, Martha. What a horrible night.”
“Why? What on earth happened?”
“The kids are gone. I mean, disappeared.”
