Where the Forest Meets the Stars(69)

He kissed her. “Put a key in the usual place. You should keep your doors locked at night.”


29

Ursa wanted to sleep in Jo’s bed, but Jo couldn’t let her. She’d slept in Jo’s room only twice: the first night Gabe stayed over and when she injured her head. Jo had to be careful about keeping their beds separate, especially now that she might apply to become her foster parent. People might spin it wrong if she slept with Ursa. As it was, they would probably ask Ursa uncomfortable questions about her relationship with Jo.
After Ursa put on her Hello Kitty pajamas and brushed her teeth, Jo turned out all the lights except the one on the stove and tucked Ursa into the couch. She kissed Ursa’s cheek. “Sweet dreams, Big Bear.”
“Is Gabe coming over?”
“Probably not. He’s more tired than he realizes. We all are.”
“I wish he was here.”
Jo rose from the couch. “Go to sleep. We’ll get up later than usual because it’s so late.”
When Jo walked away, Ursa said, “Leave your door open.”
“Okay.”
“Can I please sleep with you?”
“You know the rules. Go to sleep.” Jo wished she could give in. She’d never seen Ursa afraid at bedtime, not even when she first arrived. Maybe it had something to do with the drawing of the alien with big teeth. Her mood had changed after she drew it.
The loud drone of the air conditioner put Jo to sleep quickly. But after only a few hours, Little Bear woke her. She looked at her cell phone. It was 2:10, too late for the dog to be greeting Gabe. He was probably barking at a raccoon or a deer. The air conditioner was in its off cycle, and Jo wished it would turn on to mask the noise.
Little Bear suddenly went berserk, his barks generated so fast he hardly took a breath between. He would wake Ursa, if he hadn’t already. Jo had to get up and quiet him.
She stopped cold in the entry to the living room. Ursa was standing next to the couch staring at her, her body unnaturally frozen. Her face appeared a ghostly blue cast by the fluorescent stove light, and her eyes looked like two black holes. She had become a changeling again.
“Jo . . . ,” she said.
Jo ignored the irrational pounding of her heart. “Get back in bed,” she said. “Maybe there’s a coyote out there. I’d better put him on the porch.”
When Jo moved toward the front door, Ursa ran to the door and threw her back against it with her arms spread open. “Don’t go out!”
“Why not?”
A sob caught in her throat. “The bad men! The bad men are here!”
Jo’s body went cold. “What bad men?”
She began crying. “I’m sorry! I should have told you! They’ll kill you, too! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
Little Bear had stopped barking for about ten seconds, but he started again, this time much closer to the house. Jo grabbed Ursa’s shoulders. “Stop crying and tell me what’s happening. Was it that man in the restaurant?”
“Yes! But it’s not him!”
“That makes no sense!” Jo gave her body a little jolt by the shoulders, trying to shake something clearer out of her. “Tell me what’s going on! I have to know!”
Two gunshots rang out, and Little Bear wailed a horrific sound.
“Little Bear!” Ursa screamed. “Little—”
Jo clamped her hand over her mouth. “Quiet!” she hissed.
Little Bear’s wailing yelps didn’t stop. Another shot fired and he went silent. Ursa nearly collapsed in gasping sobs. Jo put her hands on her cheeks to focus her attention. “How many men are there? Do you know?”
“I . . . think two. In that car. I don’t know for sure! They killed Little Bear!”
“That car followed us from Effingham?”
Ursa nodded, her body shuddering with heaving sobs.
“You have to stop crying! Please! If they hear you, they’ll know where we are!”
Ursa swallowed her crying in gulps, and the silence gave Jo a chance to concentrate. In the part of her brain that could function outside survival instinct, she comprehended that the men must have something to do with Ursa’s past. But she couldn’t think beyond that or her urge to keep Ursa safe. The men could shoot into the house any second. Connecting to 911 and describing their remote location would waste too much time. She hoped Gabe had heard the gunshots and called the police, but she had no guarantee that he had.
To get in, the men would have to use the front or rear wooden doors. The old house was raised up on cinder blocks, and the windows were located halfway up the wall, too high for easy access from the outside. Jo dragged Ursa away from the door, afraid a bullet might pierce through. She stood at the entrance to her bedroom, trying to think. The men would know their shots had awakened them. Little Bear had thwarted a surprise attack. Now the men were on the defensive. They would assume Gabe was still with them because they hadn’t seen Jo drop him off at his cabin. They would be afraid Gabe and Jo owned a gun.
But they would get bolder the longer there was silence in the house. They would know they had their quarry trapped and would kick in the doors. Jo and Ursa would have to go out through a window, but that would force them to run into the open area around the house before they could hide in the woods. The two bug bulbs on the porches would give the men plenty of light to see them and take aim.
A line from the Nirvana song Gabe had played on the jukebox ran through Jo’s mind. Darkness would be less dangerous. “Get down and stay here,” she whispered to Ursa. Ursa obeyed, crumpling to the floor in the doorway. Jo crept into the kitchen and quickly pushed the stove light button off. She crouched in the darkness, waiting to see if anything happened. Maybe they would worry when they saw the light go out. They would imagine someone lying in wait with a gun.