Run to Ground(24)

“Jules,” Dee breathed, her face glowing. “There’s another upstairs. And you know how you get there?”

“How?”

“A secret staircase!” Her dramatic whisper increased to a shriek by the end. Grabbing Jules’s hand, Dee hauled her to what appeared to be a linen closet. When Dee yanked open the door, an impossibly narrow stairway was revealed. “See?”

“I see.” Jules peered through the gloom that covered all but the bottom few steps. A shiver ran through her as she thought of all the things that could be lurking in the ancient attic—mice and bats and skeletons. Possibly serial killers. She fumbled just inside the doorframe. “Is there a light switch?” If not, there was no way she was squeezing herself into that narrow, dark space.

“Is there electricity?” Tio’s voice asked from behind them.

Jules turned to look at him. “Do you mean ‘is the electricity turned on’ or ‘is there any electrical wiring in this house’?”

“There’s electricity,” Dee answered for him as she reached to where Jules had been fumbling before. “See? It’s buttons, though, not switches.” The skinny staircase was illuminated by the harsh yet dim glare of a bare bulb. Jules exhaled with relief. At least there was power in this old wreck of a house. Dennis must be paying the bill. Would he expect her to change the bill over to her name? If so, it’d be the first test of her fake identity. Her throat felt like it was closing. Reaching up, she tugged at the V-neck of her shirt and coughed, trying to clear the imaginary impediment.

“W-what’s wr-wr-wr…” Sam’s huff of an exhale was short and impatient. “W-what’s the matter?”

Too late, she dropped her hand to her side. “Nothing.”

He just gave her a look and waited silently. Ty joined them, and all her siblings grew solemn as they watched her.

“Nothing,” she said with more force. “I’m just thinking of everything we need to do to make this place livable.”

“Beds,” Ty said. Jules held back a cringe. She hadn’t even thought about that.

“A TV.” That was Dee’s contribution.

“D-dishes.”

“A computer. Oh, and Internet.”

That’d be another test of her identity—and more monthly bills.

“Food.” Ty’s voice held the same longing that Tio’s had when he’d mentioned the computer. “Soon, please. I’m starving.”

“A horse.”

She rolled her eyes at the last offering, trying to fight down her panic. After paying for their new identities, Jules had very limited funds to set up a household of five—four of whom were still growing out of their clothes. Her initial impression of the house was that it would take an enormous influx of cash just to keep it from falling down on top of them.

As if to underscore her growing anxiety, a heavy rumble of thunder echoed through the house. Jules shot a nervous look at the ceiling. If the roof was weather-worthy, she’d be shocked.

“C’mon, Jules,” Dee urged, tugging on her hand. “Let’s look upstairs.”

Deciding that whatever lurked in the attic couldn’t be worse than the worries that were multiplying in her mind, she allowed her sister to pull her up the narrow stairs. Each one creaked worse than the one before, and Jules’s stomach lurched with every step. She expected to fall through the ancient treads at any second, and she clutched Dee’s hand a little harder. The heavy clomping of the boys’ feet behind them made her cringe.

As they passed through a door at the top of the stairs, she exhaled for the first time since they’d started ascending. Her relief at not falling to her death made her slow to take in her surroundings at first. When she finally looked around, Jules blinked in surprise.

She’d been expecting an unfinished, dirty attic, but the room—although definitely needing a good cleaning—reminded her more of an artist’s studio than a storage space. A stained-glass window set in the triangular east wall lit the space with muted colors.

“Wow.”

“I know!” Dee was practically dancing in excitement. “Isn’t it the best? If I hadn’t already picked the elf room, I’d totally want this room.”

“Hey, there’s stuff over here,” Ty called from across the space. He’d opened a short door set in the wall and was pulling things out of the storage space. Dee ran over, and Tio joined them more leisurely.

“Elf room?” Jules repeated absently, watching Ty drag out an antique-looking trunk and a globe. She wondered how out-of-date it was, with no-longer-existing country borders and names. It might be a good history lesson, at least.