The Sisters

by Rosalind Noonan

  The tunnel of light seemed to follow him as he took one, two, three long strides toward her. “You think you’re smart?”

  She held her breath as he swooped over her, grabbed her by the shoulders. “Leave me alone,” she squealed.

  He dragged her over to the fireplace, her feet barely sweeping the floor as he moved her like a rag doll. It was like a dream, being dragged and tossed without control. Luna knew she couldn’t stop that, but she couldn’t let him get inside. She squeezed her eyes shut, wincing to keep him from cracking her invisible shell as he pressed her to the brick, his breath hot on her cheek.

  She escaped in her mind, summoning Annabelle, who had fought him up here. She called for Mama, who had warned Luna about him. She imagined Annabelle and Mama floating around her like angels, coaxing her to look away, hold her breath, brace herself, and it would pass. “Mama, Mama,” she whispered. She pretended it was the angels who were holding her up in the dark.

  With all her focus on shutting her eyes tight as a fist, Luna wasn’t aware of what came over Leo as he suddenly let her go and stepped back.

  He stared at her, still angry. “You’re going to need a lot of work. A lot. But you’ll come around.”

  She cringed when he stepped toward her again, but this time he was bending down to pick something up—one of her books. He straightened as he glared at it. As if the book were all wrong.

  In a flash of motion he flung the book across the dim room. Shards of glass sprayed onto the floor as it hit the window.

  His eyes flared with satisfaction.

  Luna remained frozen in place, waiting for the next attack. But he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

  * * *

  The next morning, Georgina was her first visitor in the attic. She set down a bowl of oatmeal and an apple on a box and clapped her hands softly. “Wake up, wake up.”

  “You’ll never believe what Leo did last night,” Luna said, nodding toward the window. “He actually broke the glass.”

  Georgina’s face fell at the sparkling disarray of glass on the floor. “A mess. Leo’s bad temper.”

  “If you bring up a dustpan and broom, I’ll sweep up,” Luna said.

  “Mm.” Georgina looked down at her watch. “Maybe quickly. Off to work.”

  “Or maybe Sienna can bring it up,” Luna said. “Have you talked to her? Is she still mad at me? She was so angry last night, but it wasn’t my fault.”

  She shook her head, her graying brows moving toward each other. “Sienna won’t come.” Shoulders hunched, she went to the door.

  “Tell her it’s not my fault!” Luna called after her, though she knew Georgina probably would not find the words and even if she did Sienna wouldn’t listen.

  The oatmeal was still warm, and Luna tried to eat it, knowing that she’d be hungry later. When someone came up the stairs a few minutes later, she didn’t know what to expect. Georgina paused, leaning a broom against the wall and holding up a cardboard box and tape. “For the window. Cover.”

  Luna nodded. “I’ll cover it later. Thank you. But I kind of don’t mind the fresh air right now.”

  “Cold will come in,” Georgina said, patting her arms. “And bugs and birds. Flying everywhere.” She shook her head. “No . . . no bats in the belfry!” For some reason Georgina found that incredibly funny.

  But Luna didn’t laugh. She didn’t think she would ever laugh again. Sienna had been her new friend, but Leo had ruined that, just like he’d taken Hazel from her.

  He wouldn’t let her have a friend. He wanted her to himself.

  She couldn’t let that day come.

  After she was sure the van of women had departed, Luna took the cell phone from her hiding place in the sleeping bag. She’d been waiting to dial the number. Now, finally, she took a deep breath and gave it a try.

  * * *

  The blast of cold air that had moved into the Northwest had brought a dry spell that meant Ruby and Maxi’s aerobics class could go outside and walk the paths that ran through the park next to the school. The chilly air smacked their bare legs, but Maxi contended that they’d be fine once they started moving.

  As they walked together and Maxi talked about a quiz they had taken that morning in Ms. Pfenning’s algebra class, Ruby’s mind fell back to the day before. To the meeting that had left a sour taste in the back of her throat all night. She had never met anyone with that blend of charisma and menace.

  The woman next door to the sisters, Nicole Hanson, had painted a picture of a cruel, possessive man. “I’m trying not to upset you,” Nicole had said, “but when it comes to a man like Leo, a healthy amount of fear is a good thing. I can tell you that Luna always had to sneak over here because she was not allowed to leave her yard. She says she’s homeschooled, and as far as I can see, she never leaves that place. I doubt she’s been to a doctor or dentist. The few times I saw Leo, he told demeaning lies about Luna and ordered her around like a servant. And recently, when I offered to help get her into the local school, he punished our family by breaking the window of our family room and tossing debris onto our furniture.”

  Ruby’s chest muscles clenched. “Did you see him do it?”

  “He did it while we were out of the house, but my neighbor Molly witnessed it.”

  “And the police didn’t do anything about it?”

  “The police weren’t notified. Molly and her husband are elderly. They’re afraid of what Leo might do to them, and I can’t blame them. Everyone in the neighborhood steers clear of him.”

  She shook her head. “My daughter’s heartbroken, but she knows she can’t have Luna over anymore. We can’t predict what Leo might do to us.”

  Even after Ruby had left that neighborhood she’d been scared of what Leo might do if he figured out who she was. It made her feel sorry for Glory, living under his power all those years.

  “Hello? Have you heard anything I’ve said?” Maxi prodded her. “How’d you do on the quiz?”

  “Okay, I guess.” She hadn’t been listening. “Radical expressions are fine if you remember to keep the sign positive.”

  “Exactly,” Maxi said as they started up the hill path that led to the tennis courts.

  Just then Ruby’s phone buzzed in her pocket—the long buzz of a call. It had to be a solicitor, since anyone who knew her would text during the school day. She looked around to make sure no teachers were watching, and then took it out.

  The caller’s name on the screen brought her a stab of fear.

  Glory.

  “Oh, shit. Oh, shit, oh shit.”

  “What? Who is it?” Maxi demanded, and when Ruby showed her the phone her mouth dropped open. “Is that some sick joke? I mean, are you afraid it’s really her?”

  “Of course not. But it’s creepy.”

  “Are you going to answer it?”

  Ruby stared at it, then looked at her friend and shook her head. She could only guess who had gotten Glory’s phone, and it chilled her to the bone to get this call now, the day after her visit.

  It was him. Trying to rattle her.

  When it finally stopped ringing, Ruby scowled and texted back: Who is this?

  She sent the text, but nothing came back immediately. As the girls walked on, Ruby wished she could tell Maxi what she’d done yesterday. About how creepy that Leo guy had been. How he was terrorizing the neighborhood. And the mystery girl. The neighbor had shown her a photo of Luna, describing her as a good kid. She was the one who needed saving in the center of this dysfunction.

  Luna was the one. But no one could get close to her, because of Leo.

  And now Ruby was just another useless bystander, aware that something was wrong, but unable to fix things.

  CHAPTER 44

  That day there was no lunch at eleven or twelve and Luna went back to her apple core from breakfast and nibbled every last bit, except the stem. She knew it was okay to eat the entire apple, but there was something about eating the seeds that made her imagine an apple tree taking
root in her stomach and eventually poking twigs out her ears, nose, and fingertips. It wouldn’t be terrible to be a tree girl. She could stand in the yard and let birds land on her.

  She stood at the window, peering out through the square of missing glass. The cold, damp breeze on her face made her feel closer to the outside world. As if she were part of it, instead of just someone watching from the outside.

  She didn’t expect any visits until the sisters got back from the hotel. Sienna was mad at Luna, and Leo always refused to bring food or water or lug the bucket, saying he was no one’s servant. But at one forty-three—Luna knew the time because she was snapping the cell phone open and closed—there were footsteps on the stairs. Luna buried her phone as the door locks clicked. It opened to Sienna.

  “Hi!” Luna jumped up. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

  Sienna put a plastic cup of water down on one of the boxes, then flung something at Luna. A banana! Luna caught it, then ducked as a bagged sandwich whizzed past her.

  “Hey! Don’t do that. It wasn’t my fault.”

  “I’m not speaking to you,” Sienna said. “I only came up because he made me. He wants to fatten you up, so he can push you in the oven and roast you!”

  Luna stared at her in horror. “What?”

  “That’s right, you little butterball.” Sienna rolled her eyes. “Jesus, you are so naïve.”

  So that meant she was lying. Luna understood the meaning of “naïve.” But it was a nasty joke. Who was she supposed to believe now? Without Mama, there was no one she could trust.

  Sienna left just as quickly as she’d breezed in, leaving Luna to gulp down the water and feast on her food. The sandwich was peanut butter, one of the frozen ones that was made every Friday and stacked into the freezer for the sisters to take to work. It was still frozen, but Luna savored it, licking it like an ice pop.

  As she nibbled, Luna wondered what was going to happen to her. She didn’t mind doing Sienna’s extra chores, and she could even put up with the sisters until she was old enough to go work at the hotel. Then, once she got out and got a look at the world, maybe she would escape, like Mama had wanted.

  But that was years away, and right now she had a problem with Leo. She didn’t ever want last night to happen again. To wake up and find him close, touching her.

  Never again.

  She mulled over the torn book Hazel had loaned her. The orphans didn’t give up. It was up to her to try. She dug her cell phone out from its hiding place in a box of Bubble-Wrapped cups and called Ruby a second time.

  * * *

  The buzzing phone in Ruby’s pocket pulled her attention away from a lecture on Odysseus that grabbed her interest a lot more than the actual passages. Normally she would have dismissed the call without looking, but after she’d heard from Glory she’d been on edge.

  She flashed a look.

  Glory.

  Her whole spirit sank.

  But this time, she wanted to know.

  Slipping quietly from her desk, she grabbed a bathroom pass, went into the hall, and took the call.

  “Who is this?” she snapped.

  “My name is Luna.” The voice was young, almost chirpy. “I’m Glory’s daughter. I’m locked in the attic, and I’m afraid of what Leo is going to do to me.”

  * * *

  Ruby left school as soon as English ended, which wasn’t an easy task. She had to print a fake excusal note on one of the library computers, then forge her mother’s signature. Even then, Ms. Gina, the office monitor, was annoyed at the late notice.

  “Ruby, you know we need excusal notices at the beginning of the day.”

  “Sorry,” Ruby said, spreading a lie on top of another lie. “Dental emergency.”

  Begrudgingly, the administrator handed her an exit pass. The sick feeling of dread that had clung to her since Glory’s death began to lift as Ruby steered her VW out of the school parking lot and headed toward Portland. This was crazy, but at least she was doing something. About to break the deadlock.

  It had been almost ten years since she had been to her aunt’s office. The GPS directions took her through unfamiliar neighborhoods in Portland, but when the low-slung, square building housing the Department of Social Services came into view, she remembered it.

  The rows of windows and the long hallways, like her preschool.

  The smell of cleaner on the shiny floors.

  And cubicles of desks in rows. As a little kid, Ruby had wondered why a place that was supposed to help children had so many desks. Children didn’t need desks. And the building didn’t have televisions to watch or cribs for babies like Aurora.

  She laughed. Back then, she used to think that all the foster mothers and fathers were stored in one big room, like bars of soap ready to come racing out on a conveyor belt. She’d learned a few things since then.

  The woman at the front desk seemed determined to send her packing until she learned that Ruby was family. Then she sent her down to room 132.

  The open door led to a room that housed five cubicles with desks and computers. Four of them were occupied at the moment. Aunt Kaysandra recognized Ruby first.

  “Ruby McCullum, is that you?” Kaysandra rose from her desk and drew Ruby into a big hug, then pointed at her. “Hey, guys, this is my niece Ruby. My brother Pete’s daughter.”

  Ruby turned awkwardly, nodding to the other people in the room, two women and a man with a black-on-black shirt and vest who reached out to shake her hand. “Wassup, Ruby. Are you a crazy Seahawks fan like your aunt?”

  “I haven’t really gotten into football yet.”

  “But you will. Can’t avoid it when you’re a McCullum.” Kaysandra used two fingers to bend the curl of hair at her chin. She looked young in a short, straight bob that curled in at the bottom. Probably a hairpiece, Ruby realized, but it looked really nice. “What are you doing here, child?”

  “I wanted to talk to you. In person.”

  “Well, okay, sure.” Kaysandra squinted at her, sensing that something was up. “Come on over to the conference room. You want a soda or water or something?”

  “I’m good.”

  They walked down the hall to a room with a large table and enough chairs for ten people. “So sit yourself down and tell me what brings you here. ’Cause it makes me nervous not knowing what the hell is going on with you. Is this about your mother’s cancer?”

  “Mom’s doing well with the chemo,” Ruby said, rolling her chair in under the table. “I’m here about someone else’s problem. Someone you’ve never met. Sort of a friend of a friend.”

  Kaysandra tapped a scarlet fingernail on her chin. “Um-hum. Tell me about it.”

  “It’s about a little girl whose mom died. And the girl is still living with friends of her mom. But I think they’re neglecting her. Maybe abusing her.”

  “Really? And who’s got custody?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone does.”

  “Somebody has to have custody. Usually it’s a parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle. Unless she’s been in the foster-care system.”

  “This kid isn’t on the Social Services radar. I think she’s an anomaly. She was born in the house, so she has no birth certificate, and they’ve never let her out. So she’s, like, off the grid.”

  “That’s impossible. How old is this kid?”

  “Nine or ten.”

  “How would she get her shots and medical care? Parents want their kids to have education and social development.”

  “Not this kid. She was homeschooled, at least, but she’s been living in the dark. And now she’s afraid to come out. Not that the people keeping her captive are going to let her out.”

  “Okay.” Kaysandra took a notepad from the stack at the center of the table and slid it over to Ruby. “You need to give me her name and address, and I’ll run her information. If I come up empty, I’ll do a welfare check on her.”

  “How does that work?” Ruby asked as she wrote down Luna’s name and the
address she had memorized.

  “We call the police and ask for a welfare check. Anyone can call, and the police are compelled to come out. They visit the house and check on the child. When it’s my case, I always go out there.”

  “But what if the police have been called, a few times, and they never found anything?”

  “Child, are you talking about a real case or an episode of Grey’s Anatomy?”

  “She’s real. I’ve talked to her.”

  “This friend of a friend. Well, I hope you didn’t promise her anything, because she might be yanking your chain, you know? It might not even be a little girl that you talked to. There are a lot of weirdos out there. Did you happen to meet this person online?”

  “No, it’s not like that.” Ruby longed to open the floodgates and let the circuitous, complicated story of her reunion with her birth mother, her discovery of Luna, and her scary brush with Leo pour out. She needed Kaysandra to know that this was real, but she wasn’t ready to confess her part in it. “This is a real kid. I’ve talked to her neighbors, and they’re worried about her, too.”

  “Really? Okay, then.” Kaysandra tore the top sheet from the pad. “You want me to step in and check on the kid?”

  “That would be great, except I don’t think you’d find her. The police have been to their house more than once, and the child is always hidden away. They lock her up.”

  “Ha. You’ve never seen me do a search. No stone left unturned.”

  “So can I go with you?” Ruby asked.

  “Sorry. That would be so unprofessional of me, my ass would be fried. But I’ll let you know how it works out.”

  “I wish I could go,” Ruby said. “I’m done with my classes for the day.” Another lie, but she was in too thick to count at this point.

  “Today? Oh, honey, I can’t squeeze in any more fieldwork this week. Maybe next week. I’d have to check my calendar.”

  Ruby closed her eyes as she saw herself tumbling back to the bottom of the mountain. This couldn’t wait. That was clear from Luna’s call. “But what if it’s an emergency?”

  “From what you tell me, this thing is so far from the norm that it’s probably all trumped up. I’ll reach out to this girl, but chances are, it’s just a ruse. But you did your part, honey. You done good, girl. Go home, and let me take it from here.”