Banished

Rattler shook his head. “Men. It’s men in it.”

Gram reached for a fresh beer, untangling it from the plastic rings that held the six-pack together. Even that effort was almost too much for her. I was always amazed that as frail as she was, she could drink so much.

“You’re rusty,” Gram said. “Ain’t nothin’ happened around here in so long, you’re seeing things.”

Rattler shook his head impatiently and scowled. I shrank back into the hall-I couldn’t believe Gram wasn’t scared of him.

“I ain’t rusty, you damn woman.”

“Okay, then you’re just plum wrong. It happens.”

“It happens to the others, Alice-not me.”

Gram cackled, a sound I knew well. When she was drunk she thought plenty of things were funny.

I eased backward as quietly as I could, my heart pounding. In my room, Prairie was sitting on the floor, a quilt pulled up over her knees.

“Prairie, Rattler was talking to Gram. He says-”

But what had he said, exactly? Nothing specific, but I was thinking of the rumors, the women stumbling home barefoot in the chilly dawn.

“He’s just so creepy,” I whispered.

Prairie nodded. She didn’t seem surprised. “I don’t want you to worry about him. Let me worry about it. I’d lay odds that Dun’s passed out by now-is he?”

I nodded, my heart thudding in my throat. “I think so.”

“Okay, so one down, and Alice probably isn’t far behind. Rattler’s going to get bored sooner or later.”

“I wish he’d just leave.”

“I know,” she said. “Me too. But let me worry about them. You need to rest, if you can.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I lay down and Prairie turned the lights out, but there was enough moonlight coming in the window that I could still see her outline. She lay on her back and I could see her chest rise and fall steadily as she breathed.

“Good night, Hailey,” she said. “I’m glad we’re together.”

I didn’t answer at first. Her words had a strange effect on me-even though she’d brought even more chaos into my life, her voice was soothing, and there was a part of me that wanted very much to believe she’d come to help us. That I had some sort of family besides Gram-real family, the kind that cared about one another, like other people had.

“Good night,” I finally mumbled.

A little later, before I drifted off to sleep, I peeked at Prairie. She wasn’t lying on her back anymore. She was leaning on her side, up on her elbow, and staring at the doorknob. I closed my eyes again.

The next thing I knew, a scream tore through my dreams.

CHAPTER 11

IT WAS COMING from the other side of my bedroom door, and it sounded like Gram.

Prairie bolted to my side, clapping a hand over my mouth. Before I could protest she leaned in close and whispered, “Quiet. Take Chub in the closet and close the door and stay there. Don’t come out.”

“But-”

“Do it, Hailey. Please.”

Chub was a heavy sleeper-once he was out, he could sleep through anything. I picked him up, which took some effort because he’d gotten so big, and he snuggled in next to my neck, his skin hot and damp.

I glanced back, but Prairie was gone; the door to the room was open a few inches. My heart thudded as I went to the closet.

I yanked a bunch of clothes off their hangers, put them on the floor and laid Chub on them, covering him with a long sweater that I tucked in like a blanket. I kissed his cheek and then left the closet, closing the door almost all the way.

As I crossed my room, I heard a man yell, “Stop right there!” and a pair of sharp cracks and then Prairie’s voice, speaking softly, something I couldn’t make out. I had to find out what was happening. I wasn’t worried about Gram, exactly-but I had to know what kind of trouble Prairie had brought with her.

I tiptoed down the hall, flattening my back against the wall, and peeked around the corner so I had a view into the kitchen and the living room.

What I saw made me suck in my breath.

A man stood a few feet from the door, pointing a gun at Gram and Prairie. It was one of the men from the car I’d seen at the drugstore-I recognized his gray jacket and his blond buzz cut. Gram was sitting in her chair and I could tell from the drool trail that still shone wet on her cheek that she’d passed out, like she sometimes did. She was blinking fast and patting at her hair nervously. Prairie stood behind her, hands held out at her sides.

Dun was exactly where I’d last seen him, slumped over the table, except there was a leaking pool of red coming from his mouth.

Prairie looked furious. I wanted to signal to her somehow, but I knew I couldn’t do it without the guy with the gun seeing me.

“You,” the man said in a clipped, calm voice. “Old lady. Get down on the floor. Lie on your stomach with your hands straight out to the sides.”

“You ain’t supposed to-” Gram protested. I suddenly smelled urine sharp in the air and I knew she had peed her pants.

A movement in the corner of the kitchen caught my eye. As it flashed past I realized that Rattler must have hidden behind the refrigerator-but why? Was he helping the man with the gun somehow? Before I could even finish the thought Rattler’s arm came up and there was a flash of metal as he buried Gram’s chef’s knife deep below the man’s shoulder.

I screamed. I tried to scream, anyway, but what came out was more of a choked gasp.

“Get back, Hailey!” Prairie screamed at me.

Rattler let go of the knife handle. He didn’t wait for the man to fall but threw him onto the kitchen floor as he scrabbled at the knife sticking out of his shoulder. Then Rattler reached for Prairie.

“Get Chub,” Prairie yelled. “Now. Run!”

I turned and sprinted for my room. I got Chub from the closet-he didn’t even stir in his sleep. From the other room I heard a crash and glass breaking. I looked toward the window and considered jumping out with Chub-it was only a few feet to the ground, we’d be fine-but I realized that without Prairie, and the car, there was no chance we could get away. It was a long way across the yard to the woods, and we wouldn’t have any cover.

And-I didn’t want to leave Prairie.

As I ran down the hall there was another loud crack and then a man yelled, “Get back! ” I skidded to a stop just before the corner and looked around it again, shielding Chub in my arms.

Dun had slid out of his chair and onto the floor, leaving a smear of blood on the table. The guy with the knife in his shoulder sat next to him, making gasping sounds, his blood-covered hands around the knife handle. A second man stood in the doorway, pointing his gun at Rattler. It was the other man from the car, slightly shorter than his partner, with black hair and eyes and wearing a black track jacket. He stepped neatly over the pile of splintered wood and glass that had been our storm door, and placed himself squarely between Prairie and Rattler. For a second I had the crazy idea that he was protecting Prairie, that they had come here to save us from Dun and Rattler and Gram, but then the man spoke, never taking his eyes off Rattler, who slowly sank to his knees and raised his hands in the air, looking not so much afraid as amused.

“On your stomach, arms straight out, or I will shoot you,” the man barked, and Rattler complied. I saw Prairie’s hands scrambling on the counter behind her, knocking against a glass, a dirty plate, a box of Cheez-Its. The toaster was just beyond her reach. I wanted to scream at her to grab it and throw it at the guy, nail him in the head, but I couldn’t speak. I was clutching Chub so tightly that he was whimpering into my