Near the Bone by Christina Henry (ebook reader color screen txt) 📗

Mattie hadn’t seen money for a long time but as soon as she saw the tightly wrapped bills she recognized them for what they were. The bill on the outside had a “100” printed on it.

Her mouth went dry. She should give this to William the moment he came home. She was afraid to unroll the bills and see exactly how much was there but it appeared to be a great deal. He’d surely notice that it was missing. He might even have left it in his pocket to test her.

The idea made her heart gallop in her chest. Could William know—could he suspect that she wanted to leave him? He always seemed to know things about her, secret things that she tried to hide in her heart. Had he looked into her eyes yesterday morning, after she emerged from the outhouse where she’d hidden all night, and known that she was going to escape?

No, no. You’re being ridiculous. You’re crediting him with powers he doesn’t have. If William thought you were going to leave him, he never would have left you alone yesterday.

Mattie took a deep breath to calm herself. She needed to stop panicking, stop acting the way she used to act around William. If she was scared or if she acted like she was guilty, then he would know that she was up to something. It was so important that he not know. It was so important that he was perfectly happy with her right up until the moment she slipped out the door and into the night.

With money I could go far, far away. I could pay someone to take me far from this mountain and William would never find me no matter how hard he looked. I would change my name—

(change it back, change it back to Samantha)

—and he’d be furious but he wouldn’t be able to reach me.

But what to do with the money in the meantime? These were the pants William had worn the day before, so he’d simply forgotten about the roll of bills. But he wouldn’t forget forever.

Mattie’s hands were damp and the water from her fingers was seeping into the top layer. She put the roll down on the kitchen table and wiped her hands dry with a cloth.

What she needed to do was hide the money, but in such a way that it wouldn’t appear to be hidden in case William came across it. It had to look like the roll had accidentally dropped from his pocket.

It would be easier if Mattie knew exactly where he’d walked the night before, but she’d been asleep when he came home.

Asleep in front of the fire. William picked me up and carried me into the bed.

She grabbed the money and hurried over to the couch, kneeling down in front of it. There was a space of about two or three inches between the bottom of the couch and the floor. Mattie stuck her arm into that space up to her elbow. She felt the thick grime of dust there (I never clean underneath here, William would be so angry if he knew) and carefully placed the roll of bills about halfway under.

When she pulled her arm out it was covered in dust. Some of the dust emerged in balls, little tumbleweeds rolling, leaving evidence of her crime.

What if he sees?

“Stay calm, don’t panic. All you have to do is sweep it away and he’ll never know.”

She heard William whistling as he entered the clearing.

Mattie dashed to the broom, grabbed it, ran back to the dust on the floor, swept it into the dustpan and dumped the dustpan right into the washtub. Normally she would empty the dust outside but that was impossible with William nearly at the door. The whistling was right up to the porch.

She leaned the broom in its corner as he stomped across the porch. He kicked his boots against the doorframe to loosen the snow from the treads. She darted back to the washtub, submerging both arms in the water just as William opened the door. When he glanced at her, she was energetically scrubbing his pants along the washboard.

“It’s all set, Mattie my girl,” he said, stepping out of his boots and closing the door. “If that monster approaches from the river, he’ll regret it.”

“What if it doesn’t?” she asked.

Her voice was a little breathless, but she was washing the clothes so vigorously that surely he would only attribute it to work. Sweat trickled between her shoulder blades.

Stay calm, stay calm. If you act like something’s wrong, he’ll know something’s wrong.

“Oh, I’ve got plans for that demon,” William said. “Don’t you worry. If it doesn’t take the trap then I’ve got other ways of making it pay.”

Mattie thought then of Griffin and C.P. and their friend Jen, the one they were going to meet. What if they were still on the mountain? What if one of them got stuck in William’s monster trap?

You told them to leave. You warned them. If they don’t go, it’s not your responsibility.

It wasn’t her responsibility but she worried just the same. They were foolish, those boys—for that was what they were, for all that they looked like men. Tromping around in the woods looking for made-up creatures? They were like children searching for unicorns or fairies.

You have to make the house just right or the fairy won’t come live in it.

Heather’s voice. Heather’s hands, carefully arranging tiny pieces of twig and rock and leaf, building fairy houses in the backyard.

But how will we know if the fairy came to live here?

Her own voice—no, Samantha’s—tiny, childish, full of doubt.

The fairies will leave something for us—an acorn or something like that, so that we’ll know they used the house and want to say thank you.

And the next morning they’d gone out—still wearing their pajamas—and ran in their bare feet over the damp grass to the edge of their lawn. The lawn went right up to the woods—they didn’t have a fence, like