“Did you hear me?” she called out as she felt for the peg and hung the slicker. “I need batteries.”
There wasn’t any answer.
She trained the flashlight through the doorway to the living room and let it bounce around. It lit up only the first several feet of the room, and beyond that was only darkness.
“Rory,” Lake called again. “Where are you?” Maybe she can’t hear me from the kitchen, Lake thought. And yet something didn’t seem right.
She edged her way through the living room, her anxiety mounting. Finally she reached the kitchen. She ran the flashlight in an arc around the room. There was no one there.
From what she’d been able to see earlier, there were only two main rooms on the ground floor—the living room and the kitchen. But a doorway at the far end of the kitchen seemed to open onto some kind of mudroom. Lake walked toward it and pointed the flashlight into the space. It was actually more of a pantry than a mudroom, with shelves of canned and packaged foods—and a door to the outside. Had Rory fled the house in a panic? she wondered.
I’ve got to get out of here, she thought desperately. But first she had to find Rory. She turned and inched back into the kitchen. The light from the flashlight seemed even fainter now, and she knew it might be only seconds before it went out all together. She flicked the light toward the table. She could just make out the package of candles. It had been ripped open and one of the candles was missing.
Squeezing the flashlight in her armpit, Lake pulled out the other candle and then turned and squinted at the stove. To her relief she saw that it had gas burners. She fired up a burner and thrust the candle into the flame, lighting it. Suddenly there was a sound behind her. She spun around. Rory was standing there, a burning candle in one hand and a box of matches in the other.
“God, Rory, where were you?” Lake blurted out.
“I’m sorry. I went upstairs,” Rory said. “I thought I heard a noise up there.”
“What kind of noise?”
“It was this sort of knocking sound. It really scared me. It turned out to be just the drapes in the bedroom—they were flapping against the wall.”
“What do you mean?” Lake asked anxiously.
“The window was open a little. The wind was blowing them.”
“But I thought you said you’d locked all the windows,” Lake said. She could barely hide her irritation.
“I know—I thought I had. But I must not have noticed that one because the drapes were closed.”
“And you’re certain you’re the one who left it open?”
“Yes. But it’s closed now and locked.”
“Fine, okay, you’ve got to pack now. What do you need besides clothes and toiletries?”
“I take heparin for my pregnancy. I have to get that.”
Suddenly Lake felt overwhelmed by a wave of fatigue. She took a deep breath, trying to summon her strength. “It’s going to be tough for you to pack with a candle. Do you have any C batteries?”
“I’m not sure. But I remembered where my husband keeps the flashlights—in the basement.” As Rory spoke she cocked her head toward a wooden door across the kitchen that obviously led downstairs. “He’s got a workbench down there with flashlights in the drawer.”
“Good,” Lake said. “Take a seat at the table. I’ll get the flashlights and then I’ll help you pack your stuff. We can be out of here in ten minutes.”
“Okay,” Rory replied, but she stood motionless in the middle of the kitchen, staring at Lake.
“What’s the matter?” Lake said.
“Are you all right?” Rory asked. “You look funny all of a sudden.” Rory’s face was drawn with concern, her pale skin like a mask in the flickering glow of the candle flame.
“I’m—I’m just tired. And I just want to get out of here.”
“Me, too,” Rory said.
Lake crossed the kitchen. After opening the basement door, she instinctively felt for the light switch and flipped it up. Dumb, she thought. She stared below. With the light from the candle, the basement looked like an empty black pit that went on forever. At least there was a railing to grasp. With one hand sliding along it, Lake made her way tentatively down the wooden stairs.
As she reached the bottom step she saw that the basement was split in two by the stairs. To the right were a washer and dryer against the wall and