red hill - jamie mcguire

Scarlet cast a curious glance in my direction.
“The picture on the wall.”
“Just the two,” she said with a guarded smile. “Jenna is thirteen.” I laughed once, and Scarlet
nodded. “Boy, is she ever.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“You will,” she said. Her smile faded. “They were supposed to meet me here if something
happened. They were with their father when . . . I couldn’t get to them.”
“They know their way”
She nodded. “Halle made up a song. She makes up a song for everything. It used to drive me crazy.
I try to remember some of them, but I can’t,” she whispered the last bit. “Having all of Halle’s
artwork from school all over my Suburban was maddening. I remember getting on her case for it so
many times. I wish to God I had just one piece of that now. That picture is all I have of them.”
Her blue eyes glistened, and I fought the urge to wrap my arms around her. Before that thought was
complete, her soft, red hair was under my chin, and her hands were interlocked at the small of my
back. It took me a moment to realize what was happening, but then I rested my cheek against her hair
and squeezed her tight. She wept quietly in my arms, and I waited patiently until she stopped shaking.
She let go first, and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. That was probably a weird thing to do.”
“Nothing is weird anymore,” I said with a half-smile.
She laughed, for maybe the first time since this all started. It sounded like music and sunshine.
“That’s true.” Her eyes wandered back to the crest of the hill, and we waited in silence for a while
until Zoe called for me. I left her alone to tend to my daughter. After an hour, Zoe tugged on my
slacks.
“Is she going to stay out there all day”
“I don’t know,” I said. Scarlet hadn’t moved. She watched the road like she was expecting her
children to come over the hill at any moment.
Minutes later, Scarlet tore herself away and came back in, immediately checking the nails in the
slats, and then finding things to organize or clean.
Miranda and Bryce emerged from their bedroom. Miranda’s eyes were swollen. It looked like
she’d been crying again. Bryce was holding her hand, and squeezed it once before letting go to make
them some breakfast.
“We should be careful what we consume,” Joey said. “We’ll probably have to go back to Shallot
eventually for supplies.”
“Not for a while,” Bryce said, opening the cabinet. It was stocked full. “There is a pantry, too. A
big one.”
“What about the water situation” Joey asked.
“Well,” Ashley said, following Cooper out of her room. They were more affectionate toward one
another than Bryce and Miranda. They reached out to touch each other recurrently, like a dolphin
rising to the surface for air.
“Well what” Joey said.
Ashley smiled. “Water well.”