After another revolution, she was back on the lumpy side of the couch. Ginger sat in the worry chair facing the window. Her arms were crossed as she stared out into the dark hours of early morning.
Molly swung her feet to the floor and stretched. “You can’t sleep either, huh?”
Ginger’s head turned around and her tired eyes glanced Molly’s way. She didn’t smile like usual. Instead, Ginger sighed and pulled at the large sweater she wore. Her hair showed no signs of mangled sleep the way Molly knew hers did after all her spinning on the couch. Molly reached up and tried to smooth the rat’s nest into place.
“I gave up,” Ginger said, “I keep tossing. I didn’t want to worry Jimmy anymore tonight, so I thought I’d sit out here and wait for Scout and Raven to come back.”
“Job’s taken,” Molly said, bringing the hoped for result; a tiny smile cracked through Ginger’s restlessness. Molly could appreciate those tender smiles a lot more now.
She walked over to the window for a look. The stars were much closer here and filled the sky. Jimmy said it was because of Denver’s high elevation.
A series of loud noises rumbled from one of the bedrooms and reverberated through the house. Molly smiled, and shook her head.
“Does Hunter always snore that loud?” Ginger asked.
“Always.”
“How do you sleep at night?”
Molly shrugged. “You get used to it. Luis said he might be able to remove Hunter’s tonsils and adenoids in a couple of years.”
“What’s an adenoid?”
“You got me, but it sure sounds loud.”
“I bet Catherine could fix him.”
Molly flinched at the word “fix.” She experienced one of those “miracle fixes” that Catherine performed in her short time with them. Fixing Hunter’s broken arm and stopping Vanessa from bleeding to death were medical fixes, physical healings. But Molly’s so-called healing still left a bad taste in her mouth. She knew now that she’d been screwed up. At least she thought she did. Her memories were fuzzy around the edges, like a dream that quickly fades when your head leaves the pillow. She remembered being angry all the time. And normal people usually don’t burn down houses. But since Catherine did whatever she did, Molly just wanted what was best for everyone else. Was that her cure? She didn’t know. All she knew was she was happy now, people included her in things and she counted a lot of them as her friends. The best part was Hunter being there for her after everything she had put him through.
Besides all that, she’d patched up things with Ginger. Ginger was easy and that wasn’t an insult. She was truly easy because she was so open and friendly and accepting of others. Molly was lucky. She almost made a real mess of things before the “fix.”
She thought about this stuff a lot now, especially therapy and how she might be able to help others. She had found her true calling without realizing she needed one.
“Are you okay?” Ginger asked.
Molly looked at Ginger huddled in her sweater and smiled. “I’m good. You?”
“I don’t know. I can’t quit thinking about that boy last night. Maybe you were right when you said I wasn’t tough enough for the real world.”
Molly struggled to remember saying something like that to Ginger and then waved a hand at her. “I must have said that when I was evil Molly. I didn’t really believe you weren’t tough enough. You’ve made it this far, haven’t you? That counts for something. You made it this far on your own.”
Ginger nodded. “I did go through a lot on my own. But now I have others to help me.”
“You got more than that.” Molly spread her arms wide and Ginger smiled as she stood and walked over for a hug.
Ginger laid her head on Molly’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
Molly sighed. “Thank you, for never giving up on me.”
They were startled by a sudden crash on the porch. Scout burst through the front door, his breathing hard and ragged. The cold followed him before he slammed the door shut by leaning back against it. His face washed with grief, he slid to the floor, his muddy boots splaying out in front of him.
“They got her!” he cried, pounding the floor. “They got Raven and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it!”
Molly knelt beside him, gripping his arm. “Who got her? What happened?”
Rapidly, Scout relayed the details about Raven’s capture. “I followed them,” he added, “and I know where Chase is. I know where they all are and they have Raven. She looked so scared, but I couldn’t get to her—not alone.”
“Did you see Catherine?” Ginger asked.
“No. But if they have her, she’s there.”
Hunter wandered into the room half-asleep, rubbing the stubble on his head with one hand and carrying his boots in the other. He blinked as he spotted Scout on the floor. “What’s with all the noise?”
Before Molly could respond, Scout pushed himself up. “They got her, man. We got to rescue her now. I need your help.”
“Slow down,” Hunter said. “What happened?”
As Scout retold his story, Molly looked at Ginger. “Go get Jimmy.”
Jimmy was out in under a minute, pulling his sweater down and throwing his hat on. Ginger followed him with water and flatbread for Scout. Scout ate and talked at the same time, eyes wide, describing everything with big gestures.
“They took her to this mansion on a hill by a golf course. I peeked in the windows and saw Chase and Patrick with two other kids just as Kessie led Raven into the room. Chase sent the two kids outside and I had to move because they started looking all over the place. They never saw me.”
“Are you sure?” Jimmy asked.
“I swear they didn’t.” Scout looked from face to face and Molly felt a pang of sorrow when his pleading eyes found hers. She gave him an encouraging nod, and he looked back to Jimmy. “We have to help her.”
Jimmy frowned. “Why did she have to talk to Kessie?”
“Kessie was her best friend. I don’t think she believed Kessie would ever betray her. But Kessie told Raven something bad about Chase that I didn’t hear. She said Chase told everyone if Raven returned she couldn’t be trusted. That’s when they jumped her.”
No one else spoke. The air hummed with tension as they all considered what should happen next. Molly wished she could think of something clever to say, just to relieve some of the stress, but figured the timing would be inappropriate.
“I was about to save her, but Raven looked me off and I hid instead, like a little coward.” Scout’s face turned into a mask of anguish. “I hid behind a bush as they dragged her away.” Scout covered his face with his hands as though he were close to ripping the flesh from his skull.
Molly sat next to him, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing. His body tensed, refusing to be consoled.
Jimmy paced to the window and back. “We have to move to a new hideout,” he said. “Everybody, round up your stuff. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
“What about Raven?”
“We’ll get her. You know where she is. We can get her—and Catherine—tonight.”
“Tonight!” Scout exclaimed. “We can’t wait that long. That dude Chase is evil. He’ll hurt her or worse. She was so scared, Jimmy. Please, we got to help her now.”
“It’s almost daylight now,” Hunter said. “We’ll never get out alive if we mess with these people during the daytime.”
“I’m sorry, Scout,” Jimmy said. “We were going to use surprise as our advantage. We didn’t bring enough people to take them head on. We have to do what’s best for the group.”
“You mean we have to do what’s best for you.” Scout leapt up and headed to the hallway.
“Scout,” Jimmy said. “Going at night is the only way we’ll be able to save them both.”
“I know. I’m going to get our stuff.” He disappeared around the corner.
