Sunday morning, a persistent tapping on my shoulder arrived a lot earlier than I was ready to deal with, so I swatted it away and drifted in the haze of sleep, but the dang tapping started again. Mindful of the little person burrowed against my back, I turned my head and pried an eye open and found Peg standing by the bed beckoning with a hand for me to get up.

“Pa?” I whispered.

Peg shook his head.

I scanned the bedroom and counted off the sleeping bodies piled along the floor. Raleigh and Boss were near the door. Charlotte was curled up on the rug to the left of the bed, and the younger twins were snuggled underneath the covers on either side of me. All were accounted for, so I started to roll over and resume catching up on some sleep.

“No, Ox.” Peg yanked on my shoulder. “We got another problem.”

He’d have the entire room woke up if he kept on, so I climbed over Knox and made my way into the hallway. I closed the door once Peg joined me and asked him, “What is it?”

“Everybody showed up for church.”

I lifted my hand to comb the hair out of my eyes and winced. Parts of me hurt that I didn’t even realize had been involved in Friday night’s battle. “Why didn’t you tell them to go home?”

Peg sighed heavily and rubbed his puffy eyes with the heels of his hands. “I did, but they said they needed to see you.”

“For what?”

“I dunno.” He stood staring at me just like all the others always did. It was a look of expectancy. A look that said to please handle it.

I was so sick of handling it, yet I shouldered past him to go handle it. Whatever it was. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed Vance sleeping on the couch, so I lightened my steps to the door. I glanced over my shoulder, wishing I could climb underneath that afghan with him and hide for a little while longer. But hiding had never worked for me, so I eased the door open as quietly as I could. The steady drumming of heavy rain on the roof made me pause long enough to shove on a pair of rubber boots and snatch an umbrella off the hook by the door. I traipsed down the muddy driveway, amazed at how quickly the barren summer had turned into a sloshy wet mess.

As I neared the chapel, a car drove by on the highway. The thought of flagging them down and begging whoever was inside to help me escape had my fingers twitching, but I managed to keep them balled by my side. Running away had never been an option for me either.