Wylie turned back toward the house. She had to hurry.
9
August 2000
Josie lay in the dark, her muscles tense, waiting for the next outburst of anger between her parents and Ethan. Instead came the usual sounds of the house at bedtime—the groan of pipes and running water, the flush of a toilet, the squeak of bedsprings. And finally, silence.
“Are you awake?” Becky whispered.
“Yeah,” Josie answered. She lifted her head and looked at the clock on the bedside table. 12:07. “I can’t sleep,” she said. The argument between her brother and parents made her feel sick. More so than usual. Her stomach swayed.
“Come on,” Becky whispered, getting to her feet.
“Where are we going?” Josie asked.
“Shhh,” Becky answered. She slowly opened the bedroom door and peered into the darkened hallway. All was quiet. The girls tiptoed to the staircase, covering their mouths to stifle any laughter.
This would be the most difficult part of sneaking out. The maneuvering down the stairs without alerting the entire house of their antics. Each step had its own tone and timbre when touched—a squeak, a sigh, a groan. Finally, they just held their breath and scurried down the steps. At the bottom, Josie and Becky stood, hearts racing, waiting for someone to come to the top of the stairs and order them back to bed.
The remainder of their escape was easy—through the kitchen, into the mudroom and out the back door. The Doyles never bothered to lock their doors. Why would they? They knew their neighbors, were miles from town, and had nothing of real value to steal.
The wind had died down, and while still hot, the air smelled sweetly of clover. The sky was brightly lit by the moon and from stars set deep into the black sky.
“What are we doing?” Becky whispered as Josie led her to the trampoline and together they scrambled up. They held hands, the ones they scored with a paring knife when they were ten so they could be blood sisters, and began to bounce.
“Sisters forever,” Josie called out as they jumped higher and higher until the rest of the world fell away. The air was humid and velvety against their skin. Sweat slid down their temples and into their eyes, but still they jumped, the rhythmic thump, thump of their feet hitting the rubber of the trampoline filled their ears like a heartbeat.
“I can almost grab them,” Becky cried, lifting her free hand toward the sky.
Josie pressed her lips together to keep her laughter inside, but she’d never felt so free as she did in that moment, soaring into the air, the fingers of her left hand interlocked with her best friend’s, the fingers of her right hand extended to the sky. The stars felt so close. Like a pile of jacks to be scooped up in her palm. A fistful of stars. In that moment, such a thing didn’t seem impossible.
Josie and Becky leaped and snatched at the sky until their breath came in hitches and they could no longer keep the laughter tucked inside. They collapsed to the floor of the trampoline and lay on their backs sweaty and out of breath until the world stopped swaying. “How many did you get?” Josie asked, glancing at Becky’s left hand still clasped tightly shut.
She brought her fist to her eye as if peeking inside. “A million,” she whispered. “How about you?”
“A million and one,” Josie said because she always had to win. It was as if they were little again when nothing mattered except for that very moment when being with your best friend was enough. There were no worries about boys and family arguments and growing up. Josie smiled and let the easiness of it all flow over her.
A popping sound interrupted their stargazing and Becky sat up on one elbow. “What’s that?” Becky asked.
“I’m not sure,” Josie said uneasily. They scanned the farmyard. Everything was still. The goats were snug within the confines of the barn, the hens perched inside their coop.
“Probably just a truck backfiring.” Josie brushed away her concern and lay back down.
Another pop rang out and this time, Josie recognized it. Living out in the country, living with hunters, Josie knew the sound intimately. Gunfire.
This was the only thing that made sense to Josie, so instead of running away from the noise, she was drawn toward it. She crawled over the side of the trampoline and dropped to the earth below. “What’s going on?” Becky asked, following close behind. A cloud eased in front of the moon and the light curdled behind it leaving the girls in darkness.
“Maybe someone is shooting at a fox or coyote,” Josie said, but even as the words left her mouth, she knew that wasn’t likely. An uneasiness settled into her chest. Her dad wouldn’t shoot blindly into the dark like that. Besides, the blast sounded a little muffled, too far away. Maybe it was the neighbor a mile down the road. Sound carried out in the country.