“It’s going to be okay,” Lorraine said, wrapping Summer up in her arms. Burying her face for a moment in her mother’s neck, she allowed her hair to be stroked and she breathed in that mama smell of comfort and soaped skin. Her mother was breathing hard as she touched Summer’s hair, like she was sighing with each breath.

“Lorraine.” Her mother’s hand froze at the sound of his voice, but then the stroking started again.

“I’m really proud of how brave you’re being,” she said into Summer’s hair. “Daddy would be proud, too.” She said that part softly, so Taured wouldn’t hear. Taured made it clear that anything her dad had said was influenced by the poison he had been taking; both Lorraine and Summer had taken to only talking about him privately, which was fine with Summer. She liked Taured, but the truth was, he hadn’t known her dad.

He was watching from the door and she was too embarrassed to let him see her cry, so Summer bit the inside of her cheeks and tried to think of something else as she let go of her lifeline and stepped away.

“I’ll see you at breakfast,” she said, lining her voice with a cheerfulness she didn’t feel. Lorraine nodded, tears edging her eyes.

“Take care of her?” Her eyebrows were drawn when she looked at Taured, who bopped his head at her request.

“You’ll see her in the morning, and you can confirm she was well fed and well taken care of, mama bear.”

The smile didn’t reach her mother’s eyes when she nodded, and then she turned away, facing her bed.

Taured led Summer to Kids’ Camp the same way he had earlier, but instead of coming inside with her, he stopped at the door. He knocked twice, and a woman Summer recognized as Marcy opened the door. Her smile was wide and her eyes were excited.

“Summer!” she said. “Everyone is waiting for you!” That sentence shot twin firecrackers of excitement and fear into her belly. She glanced back at Taured, who nodded at her. He was happy with her. Marcy reached for her hand and Summer allowed herself to be led inside.

Marcy took her to the dorms. At the back of the room was an empty bunk pushed against the wall. It was closest to the bathrooms, which would mean foot traffic and flushing toilets; she understood why it was the last one chosen. Marcy told her she could choose either top or bottom, since no one else had claimed it. A couple kids had trickled into the dorms after the movie and were pushing each other around and laughing. Summer stared at the bed, uncertain. She usually conferred with her mother about these things, but Taured had been insistent that she do this on her own. Lifting her chin, she said, too loudly, “I’ll take the bottom.”