“What,” Henry asked, responding to her thoughtful hmm.
“Oh,” Raven said, pulling her brain back to reality. She had begun to muse about the odd nature of life. Just yesterday she was planning a camping trip with her friends and today she was evaluating a cabin for its unbreachable fortitude. “I was just thinking that it’s weird and helpful that the cabin doesn’t have any window on the bottom floor.”
“Yeah,” Henry responded, pulling the truck to a stop and cutting the engine. “That was part of what made me think of this place.” His expression closed down and Raven was sure he was thinking of Sarah. She wasn’t about to ask.
“Why would someone build a cabin with no windows?” Raven asked, wanting to distract her brother from his maudlin thoughts. She knew that men could be diverted with questions about building or weapons. It had certainly worked with her father. Whenever he was pissed about something, Raven would ask him to explain to her the mechanical nature of anything nearby. She hadn’t really cared about the information but it sure worked to calm her father down.
“I’m not really sure,” Henry responded. “I think it has something to do with how much it snows here in the winter. The bottom windows would be weak points where the pressure from the snow could break the glass. I don’t know if that actually happens.” He shrugged. “Whatever the reason, I’m grateful for it.”
The truck filled with silence and the sound of Rocky’s panting. Raven looked at the sky, finding, to her chagrin, that it looked even darker and more forbidding. Heavy rain clouds continued to dump water from the heavens in sheets.
At least it isn’t January, she thought, imagining how cold and snowy it got. It never snowed in Hallows Point, too close to the ocean.
“Do you think anyone’s in there?” Raven asked, thinking that Sarah might have family that shared her brother’s great idea. The cabin looked unoccupied but without bottom windows, she couldn’t be sure. Hell, without going inside they couldn’t be sure.
“I doubt it,” Henry responded. “I only met her father and he died, leaving her this cabin. She has no other family that I’m aware of.” His expression darkened again.
The windows in the truck were starting to fog with the warmth of their breathing. Henry wiped the glass with his sleeve, clearing it. The rain continued to pound.
“Let’s go,” Raven said, unable to sit still any longer.
“Okay,” Henry answered. “There’s a front door and a back door. Do you want to split up?”
“No!” Raven spoke, more forcefully than she’d intended.
Henry smirked. “Okay, fine,” he said, laughter riding his voice. “We’ll both go in the front. I don’t know what key goes to the back door anyways.” He pulled out a set of keys that must’ve belonged to Sarah. They had a pink rubber flower as a keychain and sported a multitude of gold and silver keys.
“That’s a lot of keys,” Raven said, smiling. She wondered what they all went to. “Which one opens the front door?”
Henry frowned and sorted through them. They jingled gently against each other. “This one, I think,” Henry answered, pulling out a large silver key with rounded edges.
“Okay,” Raven said, heartbeat speeding. “Let’s do this.”
She got out of the truck and Rocky followed. “Stay by me,” she spoke to the dog. He was really good about listening most of the time. He looked scared right now so she thought he’d heed her all right.
Holding her axe tightly in her right hand, Raven approached the cabin, listening hard for any sounds of rustling brush or cracking branches. Henry followed closely behind her, knife in one hand and keys in the other. Rocky stuck by her side, ears twitching.
The cabin was in the center of a small clearing. Late blooming flowers decorated the ground in bright swatches of blue, yellow and purple. The dirt was packed down and Raven didn’t see any recent footprints.
“I don’t think anyone’s been here in a while,” she whispered, stepping carefully over a fallen branch.
“Probably not,” Henry answered, matching her quiet tone. “It’s been a few months since I was here last.”
Months? Raven thought. Her brother had been in a committed relationship for months and she’d had no idea. She chastised herself for her lack of attention. Henry was a fairly private person, quite the opposite of her, but still she should have known. Well, she thought ruefully. We’ll have plenty of time together now. Raven wished it were under better circumstances.
They reached the door, made of darkly stained wood with a brass knob, and Henry inserted the key. It turned easily in the lock. He glanced at her.
Raven stood to one side of the door so she would not be silhouetted when it opened. She motioned for Rocky to get behind her and nodded at Henry.
He pushed the door open and stood to the opposite side. It swung in with a creak, letting out a gust of musty smelling air. Henry eased himself around the door jam, peering in, knife held ready.
“It looks clear,” he murmured. “I’ll go first.”
He stepped inside, pausing to let his eyes adjust and motioned for Raven to follow. Rocky nosed past her, sniffing the ground with interest.
“Don’t wander off,” Raven whispered, touching the dog’s head.
She walked inside and shut the door quietly behind her. The interior was very dark. Raven fumbled with her hand along the wall and found a switch.
“I’m turning on the light,” she said, not wanting to surprise her brother.
“Go ahead,” Henry answered. “I can’t see shit in here.”
Raven did. An overhead light came on, revealing the quaint and
