Carlson asked, “But... will Jean agree to it?”
"Roseanne and her friends aren''t from around here, so he won''t be afraid of offending Fabian and Jay. If there''s money to be made, Jean will do it."
"Okay."
Roseanne, Mamie, and Scales exchanged a look. "...Ma''am, we''re not nning on leaving."
"No!" Mr. Smith interjected, his voice louder than he intended. He sat back down, embarrassed. "You have to go. Fabian and Jay areing back tomorrow. Those two are like rabid dogs; they''ll do anything!"
To be safe, they shouldn''t just leave, but leave before dawn.
Carlson nodded in agreement. “It''s too dangerous here. You should go back to
Lumina. Arkle is still in the hospital, and I don''t want anything to happen to you all..."
Knowing they wouldn''t be convinced, the three of them dropped the subject.
In Gail''s room-
Carlson had cleaned everything meticulously.
Ms. Smith brought fresh sheets and nkets from the linen closet for him to put on the bed.
"...There. You two get some rest. I''ll wake you up in the morning."
Roseanne and Mamiey down.
In the dead of night, all was quiet.
In the darkness, Mamie tossed and turned for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Roseanne..." she finally whispered.
"Yeah? What''s wrong?"
"Are you... cold?"
Roseanne admitted, "A little."
Mamie''s teeth were chattering. "I don''t get it. How can it be so much colder here than back home?"
She suddenly found herself missing the dingy little motel from the night before.
Roseanne took her hands and rubbed them. "It probably just takes a while for the bed to warm up. It''ll be better soon."
Mamie pouted. "It''s been so long, and I''m still freezing..."
Just as Roseanne was about to reply, she heard a faint voice from outside the door.
It was Ms. Smith.
"Gail, honey...e take these two nkets to the room for the girls."
Gail replied, "Should I ask brother to help carry one?"
"It''s not proper for your brother to go in there. Can you manage it in two trips?" "Okay."
The sound of footsteps grew closer, followed by a soft knock.
"Roseanne, Mamie? Are you asleep? I''m here to bring you some nkets. May Ie in?"
Roseanne quickly got up to open the door.
"Roseanne, my mom thought you might not be used to the weather here. It gets much colder at night. These two quilts were just made this you''re cold, you can use them."
year and haven''t been used: If
"Thank you, Gail."
"You''re wee."
She put down one quilt and went back for the other.
Roseanne and Mamie each added another nket and finally started to warm up.
"Roseanne, are we really leaving tomorrow?" Mamie whispered.
"We can''t. If we leave, Carlson''s family is done for."
"Yeah! I think so too!"
Remembering the day''s events,
Mamie''s mood suddenly soured et
"...Thinking back on it, I was so reckless. What if those two
were really dangerous? Then we..."
She thought that in the age of social media, all she had to do was pull out her phone
and threaten to post the video, and they would back down.
She''d forgotten that when you corner a desperate dog, it''s bound to bite back.
Her impulsiveness today had nearly gotten Roseanne and Scales hurt, and it had put the Smith family in even more danger.
Carlson''s family was already in such a difficult situation. She thought she wasing to help, but she''d only made things worse.
"Don''t think like that. You were very brave, being the first to stand up to those two bullies. But next time, you need
Do be more careful and not put
yourself in danger."
fo
"I know, Roseanne. Those two areing back tomorrow. What are we going to
do?"
"If we can''t fight them, there''s only one thing to do..."
"What?"
"Call for backup."
In Lumina City, the moon hung high in the sky.
Owen Reynolds had just gotten home. As he switched on the lights, he saw the
stack of documents on his table.