What are you doing here and what do you want?”
“I—I’m looking for my—I’m looking for Delta Dawn Barnes, sir. I’m not a thief—I swear.”
“Delta what? No one here by that name. Don’t make me show you what Lucifer does when he’s hungry.” The growling from the shadow grew even louder.
“Thirty-Nine—she’s supposed to be at Number Thirty-Nine Red Cedar Road.” My legs shook like dead leaves on a tree. I turned my eyes toward the voice. All I could see was shadow and shirtsleeve.
“Thirty-Nine? You mean Miss Dawna?” The dog was still growling, all low and mean, but now he was down on the ground. Lying there as if to say, Oh, I can leap up and kill you in about a second. I just want to rest for a bit. “Three doors down. I believe you best be going.”
I turned and stumbled back to the main path.
It wasn’t until I got to the tree with the house number on it that I knew I was breathing again. I looked up and saw that I had been at Number 36 with the 6 flipped upside down from being on a broken nail.
I sank down onto the ground by the road, my heart pounding, waiting for the mess in my head to start making sense again. I reached into my backpack and took out the pink water bottle that Mace had given me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had something to drink. To eat. I felt weak and empty. And walking from Number 36 to Number 39 suddenly seemed impossible.
As I sat there, I heard the sudden crunch of gravel. A pale-blue car pulled up and the front window went down. A woman peeked out and called, “You must be lost, baby girl, because I don’t remember you and I think I know just about everyone around here. Can I help you find someone?”
I made myself get up, brushed off my jeans, and went toward the car.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m looking for—”
DiDi was in the car.
And that was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.