“We need to go.” I rushed over and began collecting the things I’d brought him the day before, which were now strewn about.

“Where are we going?”

“To some abandoned buildings east of town,” I said in a rush. “They’ve been searched and cleared. The search parties are headed this way. We have to move!”

“Okay.” No concern marked his voice. But I didn’t have time to consider whether it was his naïveté or his way of deception. We were going, and that was that.

He reached for the backpack and held it open so I could shove things inside. Soon we were packed up and he’d strapped the bag to his back. I nodded for him to follow and, as he always did, he moved without questioning me. This was another peculiar aspect of the boy, but not something I had time to dwell on. I dropped from the train car and turned back to help Eli down. I placed a finger over my lips, and he nodded.

I knew the abandoned buildings left by the mining company were marked as cleared, because Jamie had given my mother and me a full report after yesterday’s search had come up empty. They’d placed yellow tape on all the outbuildings that had been cleared. Sure, they would probably return to search them again in the coming days, but for now, it was the safest place I could think of. And closer to me if I needed to reach Eli.

I had no plan beyond moving Eli, but that was enough for me now.

“Ready?” I whispered. “As fast as we can.”

“Ready,” he said.

And then we were off, he following close behind as I raced back the way I had come.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

WE REACHED THE ABANDONED BUILDINGS WITHOUT being seen except by the birds in the trees. Tucked out of sight along the tree line, I pulled up, breathing heavily. Eli stopped beside me and looked at the scene.

Tall weeds and dying grass covered the ground. The back of the building—either an old house or a store—was falling apart. The wooden planks, once white and clean, were gray and rotting. All the windows were boarded up. Where there should be three steps that led up to the back door, there were only two. But the yellow tape over the door was all I cared about right now. The words “Keep Out” were printed in black along the two-inch-wide strip.

But I was going in.

I motioned for Eli to follow and crossed through the tall grass to the stairs. “Watch yourself,” I cautioned as I straddled the missing first step to the creaking second and then the third. The porch held my weight easily enough. Ducking under the tape, I pushed the back door open and stepped into the house.