Travis hesitated and then pulled away, his eyes troubled. “Evie, do you think we’re doing the right thing by leaving? Maybe . . . Maybe they do just want to help.”
“I want to believe that. But I can’t risk you and Cammie by trusting the wrong people. And while they may not be any danger themselves, we risk a lot by exposing ourselves to even more people here. The fewer people we gain the notice of, the safer we are.”
Travis nodded. “I understand. When do you want to leave?”
Eve glanced again to where Cammie was sleeping on the couch. “After it gets dark, I think.”
“There are some pretty dark clouds in the distance,” Travis said. “It’s completely black to the west. Maybe we should wait until whatever storm passes before we take Cammie out.”
Eve nodded her agreement. “Yes. We’ll pack what we can and let Cammie rest for as long as she’s able. After the storm passes, we’ll head out.”
“Have you given any thought to where?” Travis asked quietly.
Helplessness gripped Eve as she contemplated Travis’s question. “Yes and no,” she said honestly. “I thought perhaps we could head south. Or maybe west toward Jackson. With the money you’ve brought in here, it’s possible we could afford bus tickets to the next state at least, but I’ll need to see a schedule and prices. We could take the bus into Mississippi, to a larger town. I think that was our mistake here. We stopped in too small a town not to gain notice. In a larger city, we’d blend in better and maybe even be able to get a cheap hotel. I can pick up a waitressing job and you can stay at home with Cammie. Hopefully she’ll be better by then.”
“And if she’s not?” Travis asked fearfully.
Eve inhaled sharply. She wouldn’t contemplate that possibility. It did no good to borrow trouble.
“She will be,” Eve said in a determined voice.
“Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll get started,” Travis said.
“Get the two suitcases out of the closet and put in as much food as possible from the pantry, anything that’s nonperishable in one and pack what clothing will fit in the other. Cammie doesn’t need much. Just her nightclothes and a pair of shorts and a top. I’ll get one or two changes of clothing to put with whatever you pack of yours.”
Travis nodded and then walked quietly through the living room toward the bedroom where the suitcases were closeted. Eve followed behind and stopped at the rickety dresser and opened the top drawer to where her mother’s jewelry rested in a torn box.
Regret and sorrow tugged at her chest as she faced the inevitable. She hadn’t wanted to part with the only things she, Travis and Cammie had left of their mother. She’d wanted to keep them for Travis and Cammie to have. But they needed the money more than they needed the reminder. She hadn’t wanted to risk pawning it before now, saving it for a last resort. It was too risky. Pawnshops required ID. But time had run out, and this was her only option now.
The jewelry wouldn’t bring much, though it was fine quality and expensive when it had been purchased. But pawnshops didn’t pay even a fraction of retail value. The few hundred dollars she could hope to get from the sale would have to be stretched to provide a place for them to live. Hopefully the food that Donovan had brought earlier that day would last them for some time if they ate sparingly.
“She would want you to use it, Evie,” Travis said.
She turned to see Travis staring at her, at the box in her hand.
“I know,” she whispered. “But I had wanted to save this for you and Cammie. It’s all we have left of her.”
Travis shook his head. “No. We have our memories. Good memories. She was a great mom. You’re a lot like her, Evie. You look just like her and you have her same heart. She would be so proud of you for doing what you have to protect me and Cammie.”
Eve felt guilty for the brief surge of anger she had to battle back. She was in turns angry and sorrowful over her mother’s decision to remain with a husband she knew to be a danger to her children. Her mother knew, and yet she’d never tried to get out. To get Travis and Cammie out of his reach.
Eve had seen the truth about Walt, had known the kind of man he was, and she would have never had contact with her mother or Walt—Walt wouldn’t have allowed it—if it hadn’t been for Travis’s phone call to Eve. His plea for help and his suspicions concerning Walt and his intentions toward Cammie. Suspicions that Eve took very seriously, because she knew.
She should have taken more time to develop a plan, thought out their escape better. But she’d been too desperate to remove Cammie from a dangerous situation to take the time to formulate a better plan. And so they were still running.
“We’ll stop in Memphis long enough for me to pawn it,” she said. “Then we’ll take another bus into Mississippi. We’ll need a place to live. Somewhere that Cammie isn’t exposed like she is now. She needs to get better. Have good food to eat and a dry place to sleep.”
On cue, raindrops sounded on the tin roof and Eve glanced up, grimacing.
“I’ll finish packing, Trav. You go make sure Cammie stays dry, okay?”
Travis exited the tiny bedroom and went to see to his sister while Eve finished stuffing their belongings into the suitcase.
When she was done, she dragged the full suitcase into the living room and then took the empty one into the kitchen and began packing the food that Donovan had brought over. The roof had already started leaking and small puddles were forming on the floor. Hopefully the rain wouldn’t last long and they could leave as soon as possible.