my direction, he lifts me bodily and deposits me on the soft seat of the car.
Chapter Nineteen
“Start talking,” Israel demands as we speed off down the dirt road. “Now.”
“Thank you for finding me, Is,” I whisper. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Oh no, you’re not. Talk! What is going on? What happened to you?”
In my head I explain it all coherently, Israel understands, and we go home. But I cannot seem to make my lips work properly or form articulate sentences. I mumble something but I am not even sure what language I speak it in, if it’s a language at all and not just gibberish. I think it may be Spanish. Israel glances over at me in alarm.
“Just hang on then,” he says. “We’ll be home soon. Everyone is out looking for you, even Matthias and Harry. We’re all going on too little sleep. Just hang on until we can all be together, Sonnet. Don’t sleep without us. Don’t travel without us.”
I nod in obedience but my eyes are already shut fast and it would take an act of God to open them.
********************
“She’s only been asleep for ten minutes,” I faintly hear Israel say. My body has been pulled out of the car with very little care and ceremony – if I ever wake up fully I plan to correct Israel’s manhandling and lack of gentleness – and I feel several hands on me. One on my cheek, another on my wrist, one feels like a complete set of arms around my waist, as I lay like a sack of bones in Israel’s arms.
“Ten minutes is all she’s getting,” I hear Prue’s bark. “Get her in the bathtub.”
“Bath would be nice, but later, please,” I mumble.
My requests are ignored and when we get to the top of the stairs and through the narrow squeeze of the bathroom door, I am dumped awkwardly in the hard, cold porcelain tub.
“Ouch!” I rub my shins and sit up.
My finally open eyes are met with five other pairs, all staring at me. Prue looks so angry she makes Is look like a teddy bear, Dad looks like he has been awake even longer than I have, Matthias and Harry have clearly been crying.
“I’m very glad to see you,” I say, and then I promptly burst into tears.
“You had me worn to the bone with worry and grief, child,” Prue turns on the water. It is frosty cold and I yelp. The iciness stops my crying. “What did you mean going off and with the car? We had no way of knowin’ where you went, when you’d be back. We’ve been up all night waiting for you!”
I consider pointing out that I’ve been up for two nights and then some, but I think better of it. I sit meekly, watching the tub fill up around me, the water turning warm, the edges of my nightgown darkening and billowing out in the tiny pool. The water is already turning grimy and dirty.
“I was looking for Rose,” I say, stealing a glance at Dad as I say it. He does not react. “She was here. I thought I knew where she might have gone, so I found the car keys and went after her. I went to an old house where I thought she was staying but I got locked in. I couldn’t find a way out until this morning and then I started walking. I got lost.” I am too tired, too confused, to say anymore.
Prue doesn’t even appear to be listening; she is scrubbing my hands and elbows with a bar of soap. She turns off the water, lets it drain, me a bedraggled soggy mess, and then fills it back up again. It will take more than one bath to get me clean again, especially wearing this nightgown.
“Israel came and got us when you went missing and we came straight away,” says Harry. His lip quivers like a small boy who is trying to be brave and not cry. “We didn’t know where to look so we went to the soup kitchen, checked with your friends at the coffee shop. Just got back here a bit ago to check in. So relieved you’re back, honey.”
“Thanks, Harry. I’m sorry I messed up your travel plans.”
“Aw, you didn’t mess anything up.”
I feel my eyes closing again, but Prue splashes water on my face.
Really, as far as a rescue and welcome home committee, my family is not the top of the line.