red hill - jamie mcguire

sadness in her eyes. I wondered if she knew, but I wouldn’t ask. Maybe she was just missing her
mother.
I followed Skeeter into the sanctuary. It smelled like old people and mildew, and I began to
wonder why in the hell Skeeter had thought this rickety building was our best option. Two men were
working on opposite sides of the room, furiously nailing boards to the stained glass windows. There
were three on each wall, and they had only one on each side left to cover. A hand flattened against the
glass, making a clumsy attempt to get inside. I jumped, on edge from our desperate run to the church.
“They just started doing that,” Eric said, gesturing to the window. “It’s like they know we’re in
here.”
When he started hammering again, shadows of the people outside darkened the glass portraits of
Jesus and angels. They wanted to get inside, and I wondered how long it would be until they did.
“The noise is probably drawing them here,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. Aubrey
was always making snide comments about my shaggy hair and how bad I needed a haircut. I
wondered if the world would ever calm down long enough for me to miss her bitching.
“Don’t really have a choice. They’ll have that glass broke before long.” Skeeter walked over to
two frail-looking women sitting next to each other on a wooden pew. “You ladies still doin’ okay”
Skeeter said, putting a hand on the one woman’s shoulder. She reached up and patted his hand, but did
not stop her quiet prayer. Their mouths were moving, but I couldn’t hear them.
“You think you could send one up for Jill” Skeeter asked, his voice threatening to break.
One woman continued to pray as if she didn’t hear, the other looked up. “Is she okay”
“She’s hurt. She’s in the kitchen . . . all right for now.”
“Jesus will take care of her.”
I rolled my eyes. Jesus wasn’t taking care of much of anything at the moment.
Skeeter started to return to the kitchen, but I motioned for him to join me in the corner of the room,
away from listening ears.
“I know what you’re going to say,” he said. His eyebrows pulled together. “But don’t.”
I nodded, and then watched Skeeter return to his wife.