A loud boom sounded, shaking the entire trailer. Cammie let out a startled shriek and Eve flinched. Her gaze flew to where Travis was holding Cammie on the couch, his arms wrapped around her to shield her from the leaks. Two more lightning flashes illuminated the dark interior of the trailer before the thunder sounded again, right on their heels.
“I’m scared, Evie,” Cammie said in a faltering voice.
Her thumb slid into her mouth as Travis comforted her.
“It will be all right, darling,” Eve said with a smile. “Trav won’t let anything hurt you.”
Thunderstorms certainly weren’t anything new. The entire two weeks they’d lived here, they’d had many afternoon storms. By the time the trailer dried out from one storm, another would roll through, making the interior musty and dank from mold and mildew.
They had to find a better place to live. For Cammie’s sake. She’d never get well in these living conditions. It only hardened Eve’s resolve to pawn her mother’s jewelry so they could afford better accommodations. It was what she should have done from the beginning. Only fear of discovery had prevented her from the desperate act.
But now she realized she should have pawned it much earlier. When they were still on the West Coast. That way there would be nothing pointing Walt—or the police—in their direction. Live and learn. It wasn’t as if she was an expert on being a fugitive. She’d pawn it in Memphis and then relocate to Mississippi as fast as possible and as far away as possible from Tennessee.
She finished packing the food, cramming everything possible inside the suitcase. Then she took one of the bottles of Pedialyte and one of the snacks she’d left out for Cammie over to the couch.
She sat next to Travis, who had Cammie perched on his lap and nestled against his chest.
“Are you hungry?” Eve asked. “You should probably try to get some fluids down and maybe something to eat before we leave.”
Cammie’s thumb slid farther into her mouth and she stared at Eve with wide eyes. “Where are we going, Evie?”
Eve slid a reassuring hand down Cammie’s leg as she extended the bottle. Travis snagged it from Eve’s grasp and put it to Cammie’s lips for her to drink.
“I think toward Jackson. It may take us a few days to get there, but once there, we can buy bus tickets to Memphis. When we get to Memphis, I’ll sell Mom’s jewelry so we can afford a nicer place to live and bus tickets to the next place. The next few days will be the hardest, but if we stick together, we can do anything.”
Travis smiled at Eve’s statement, and even Cammie nodded solemnly. Eve smiled back and then extended her hand, palm down, in front of Travis and Cammie. Travis slid his hand over Eve’s and then Cammie put her free hand on top. Then Eve put her hand over Cammie’s, sandwiching hers and Travis’s between Eve’s. It was a gesture of solidarity that had become familiar to them over the last while. Eve had begun it as a way to reassure Cammie that they were family and that Eve would never leave them.
“Together,” Travis said quietly.
“Together,” Cammie said in a fervent voice. “We’ll always be together, won’t we, Evie?”
Eve reached for Cammie, pulling her warm body into her arms. She hugged her close, giving her a squeeze. “Yes, darling. We’ll always be together. I promise you that.”
It was hard to promise her younger sister something Eve had no way of controlling. But if intent counted for anything, then they’d be together forever. Safe. Away from their father.
“I want you to promise me something,” Eve said in a serious voice. She stared over at Travis and then down at Cammie. “I want you both to promise me.”
“Anything,” Travis said.
Cammie nodded her agreement.
The words knotted in Eve’s throat. She didn’t even want to contemplate what she was about to say, but it had to be considered. And she wanted to make certain that Travis and Cammie knew what to do if the worst happened.
“If something happens to me . . .”
Cammie immediately went rigid in Eve’s arms, and Eve closed her eyes in regret over upsetting her baby sister. But she couldn’t afford not to prepare for the worst-case scenario. Travis’s and Cammie’s lives depended on it.
“Listen to me, darling. If something happens to me. If the police find me or if your father discovers us, you have to promise me that you’ll go with Travis and do what he tells you to.”
Her gaze lifted to Travis to see the torment in his eyes. The reality that what she was saying could very well come true.
“If something happens to me, you take Cammie and you run. Stay on the move. Do not worry about me.”
“I can’t do that, Evie,” Travis said hoarsely. “You’d never leave us. We can’t leave you.”
Eve shook her head emphatically. “Promise me, Trav. You have to protect Cammie. And yourself. That means you keep her away from Walt. Whatever it takes, you keep her safe and keep running.”
Travis closed his eyes and bowed his head in resignation. “I promise.”
Feeling only marginally better now that she had his promise, she shifted Cammie in her arms and took the drink from Travis’s hand to make Cammie sip more.
“You should eat something too,” she said quietly to Travis. “I left enough out on the counter to make sandwiches. There’s even pop in the refrigerator, thanks to Donovan. Eat now while we have time. We may not have that luxury over the next few days.”