Where the Forest Meets the Stars(31)

While she and Ursa were out tending to the nests the next day, Jo decided she would be more forceful with Lacey that evening. They finished the fieldwork a little early and arrived on the Nash property about an hour before sunset. “This time we won’t take no for an answer, right?” Jo said.
“Right,” Ursa said.
Ursa knocked on the cabin door. Lacey opened the door, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “You really don’t give up, do you?”
“He’s our friend and we’re worried about him,” Jo said.
“How long will he be your friend when you leave at the end of the summer?”
Jo was too shocked to respond. But she wished she had when Lacey added, “Do him a favor and forget him now instead of later.” Gabe’s sister closed the door.
She apparently believed Jo and Gabe were in a relationship. And she had already concluded that Jo was going to dump him. Jo doubted Gabe had given her those ideas, and that had to mean Lacey had far overstepped the bounds of her sibling bond. Jo had heard of controlling sisters—the kind who disliked the women their brothers dated—but this was outrageous. Lacey was trying to sabotage a relationship that hadn’t even begun.
Jo didn’t notice Ursa was still on the porch until she got to the car. “Ursa, let’s go.”
Ursa came to the upper edge of the porch stairs. “You said we wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“That’s just a saying.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“He doesn’t want to see us.”
“Maybe he does and they won’t let him,” Ursa said.
“I know, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
“Yes, there is.”
“What?”
“She didn’t lock the door, and I know where his room is.”
“Oh my god! Ursa, get down here this instant!” Jo hissed.
“I don’t have to listen to you because I’m not from this planet. We have our own rules.” She scampered to the door.
“Ursa!”
Ursa pushed the inner door ajar and slid through the gap. Jo contemplated whether to follow and decided she couldn’t let a child deal with Lacey alone. She entered just in time to see Ursa disappear behind a log wall. Lacey was at the kitchen sink doing dishes, and Katherine sat at the table talking to her. Both had their backs to the front door, and their conversation, along with the running water, had prevented them from hearing Ursa walk in.
Jo crept across the living room, hunched over to keep a smaller profile. She slipped down the hallway and saw Ursa opening a door at the end of the corridor. “Knock first!” Jo whispered, but too late to stop her from entering unannounced.
Jo and Ursa stood in the doorway and surveyed Gabe. Dressed in gray pajama pants and a light-blue T-shirt, he was curled on his side in a log-frame bed with his back to them. Stacks of books were piled everywhere. The only decoration in the room was a star chart pinned to one of the walls.
“Gabe?” Ursa said. “Are you okay?”
He rolled onto his back, his puffy eyes bewildered. “Ursa?”
“Are you sick?” Ursa asked.
“Who told you that?”
“Your mean sister.”
He snorted a soft laugh and sat up, pushing strands of wavy hair off his face. His eyes focused into familiar blue sharpness when he looked at Jo. “She let you in?”
“Actually . . . no,” Jo said.
“My mother did?”
“It’s more of a search and rescue operation,” Jo said.
“You’re kidding?”
“I’m not.”
“They don’t know you’re here?”
Jo shook her head. “The alien made me do it.”
His grin was short-lived. “Jesus, I must look bad,” he said, running his hands over his beard and through his hair.
“You look good,” Ursa said. “You don’t look sick at all.”
“Yeah, well, there are different ways of being sick.” He dragged his legs over the edge of the bed, clearly unaccustomed to moving. His eyes settled on Jo’s. “What made you think I needed rescue?”
“They wouldn’t let us see you.”
“Why did you want to?”
“We need eggs.”
He smiled.
“You missed your egg morning out on the road. It’s caused a county-wide crisis.”
“Not a national emergency?”
“Your delusions are a bit far-reaching,” she said.
“Maybe they are.”
“Can I see the kittens?” Ursa asked.
He stood a little shakily. “Thou shall see the Shakespearean cats, my lady.”
“You don’t have to get up,” Jo said. “We only wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“I do have to get up. I have to see Lacey’s face when she gets you in her crosshairs.”
“I’m a little scared about that,” Jo said.
“I’ll run interference. But I warn you, she doesn’t take her cracked baby brother very seriously.”
“Cracked like an egg?” Ursa said.
“Hey, good analogy.” He slid his feet into old tan loafers. “Let’s go see those kittens.”
“Are their eyes open yet?” Ursa asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen them for a few days.” He led the way down the hallway. When they arrived in the open space between the kitchen and living room, he waved at his sister and mother. “Don’t mind us,” he said, “just passing through.”
“Gabe!” Lacey said.
“What?”