Before Alex could answer she dashed upstairs and returned with an eye mask. I tried to remember, back on my first day of work, if she’d been wearing one when I walked in on her sleeping. It made the moment the night before—her eyes darting around the room of her dream—feel more intimate. Maybe even James had never seen her quite like that.

Lonnie dangled the mask in front of Alex.

He raised his eyebrows, but he was smiling. “What are you going to do?” he said.

“We’re going to lead you on a walk through the woods,” she said. “When you make it back to the porch you’ll know you can trust us.”

“Should we leave William?” I asked.

“He’ll be fine,” she said. “He’s sound asleep.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

I thought the blindfold seemed unnecessary, not just because the woods were pitch-black at night, but because it was already obvious this boy would’ve let Lonnie lead him off a cliff, even if he could see where he was going. Nevertheless, I found myself excited by the game, excited to be in on the secret of where we were going with Lonnie.

Alex let Lonnie guide the sleep mask over his head and tighten the Velcro closure in the back. She had to stand a little between his legs, leaning over.

“It’s not good enough,” she said, looking at me, thinking. Then she ran to the kitchen and returned holding up a roll of duct tape.

“Isn’t that mean?” I said.

Alex quickly lifted up the mask, but Lonnie slapped his hand away. “It falls off. Just a little insurance. Don’t worry, I won’t get any in his hair.”

She ripped a few small strips off the roll with her teeth and placed them around the mask, under his eyes, along the bridge of his nose, and on his forehead. She gave his cheek a little pat. “There,” she said.

The three of us made our way outside, Lonnie grasping Alex’s hand, and Alex slow and unsteady on his feet, reaching out with his free arm, feeling for obstacles.

The moon was a shard in the sky, hardly illuminating our path. “Pick up your feet,” Lonnie said. “You can’t trip if you pick up your feet.”

We marched through the woods surrounding the house, Lonnie holding on to Alex’s hand. I was relieved that she didn’t take us too far away from the cabin—I could still see the lights on the main level. I tried to focus on our distance from them, always keeping track of how to find my way back. We circled around the house and then Lonnie positioned Alex right on the edge of the dock. “You feel the wood boards under your feet?” she said. “You’re back on the porch.”