Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt (9)

“Yeah, mom?” he called to the voice.

“Just wanted to know if it was you,” Mrs. Harris answered.

“Well, it’s me. I’m going to bed now,” Drew told her and then walked inside the room and closed the door behind him.

He carefully placed Jennifer on his bed. She curled herself up against one of the pillows.

“You can sleep on the floor,” Drew told them sheepishly.

He hadn’t really thought it through.

“I told you the car would be better,” Rebecca muttered as she rolled her eyes.

Drew walked over to his bed and picked up two extra pillows for them.

“Here,” he said as he threw one for Alex and one for Rebecca. “I’ll go get some blankets from the hallway closet.”

Once Drew returned with three blankets and another pillow, the three of them settled down on the floor. The room was dark, so they could barely see each other. Alex had fallen asleep at once, his phone clutched in his hand.

“What’s this about, Rebecca?” Drew questioned.

He knew she was awake. He could barely see her dark red eyes.

“I told you I’ll explain when everyone’s awake and we are somewhere private. I didn’t tell Jennifer or Alex either,” Rebecca told him quickly.

Honestly, she didn’t know what she would tell them yet. When she had left her aunt and uncle’s house, the only thing on her mind was to get them all together. It wasn’t until she had picked up Jennifer and she asked why she was there that Rebecca realized she needed to explain what happened.

She knew neither of the three really believed what she had told them about the book, and that they only came with her because they wanted to be free. She needed more time to get her thoughts together to make sure what came out of her mouth sounded somewhat sane.

Her thoughts were whirring with possibilities of their reactions when she told them all in the morning. She just hoped it would be a positive outcome.

****

The next morning, Drew went through his usual morning routine, trying to ignore the three sleeping people in his room. He walked out of his room, being careful to lock it, so they wouldn’t wander downstairs when they woke up.

He fixed his breakfast – a bowl of cereal – and sat down to eat. Soon after, Amy joined him by the table. Drew noticed that his hands were shaking slightly. He just hoped his parents wouldn’t notice his locked door.

Amy fixed him with a weird look in her eyes.

“What’s wrong with you today?” she asked, staring at his shaking hands.

“What do you mean? Nothing’s wrong,” Drew said.

“Is this about that Dinah chick? I’m sure if you just apologize to her, she will forgive you in a heartbeat,” Amy told him.

“It’s not about Dinah,” Drew muttered.

“Really? You’ve been acting like this ever since you threw her out,” Amy said.

Drew didn’t want to answer. Maybe he had been acting a little weird since then, but that was the same time Jennifer stopped talking to him, but he couldn’t really say that to his twelve year old sister.

Luckily for him, Mrs. Harris appeared in the doorway right then.

“Amy, it’s time to leave for school,” she said.