while she was shunned as the outsider, the one to blame for everything.
"Look..." She struggled with trying to decide what to say and he nodded patiently, waiting for her to speak. "Look, don't take it personally. We've lost some people. People that..." She trailed off again as she felt her voice hitching in her throat. She bit her lower lip and turned away from them. Rowen put his hand on her shoulder and tried to take over the conversation.
"We've had a pretty rough go at it," he said. "I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is for us to meet so many people at one time like this and not see potential danger."
"Sure," Lot said. "And I won't be offended if the two of you, or the four of you decide to leave. But it wouldn't have been very Christian of me to not at least offer you a place here with us. I like to think that I have a good sense of people and you all seem pretty trustworthy. You're all welcome here." He nodded at the both of them before returning to the crowd.
"So what do we do?" Rowen asked. Sophie shook her head.
"I think they've pretty much made our minds up for us."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"So, we stay. We stay, and I guess we just hope that we don't end up regretting ever meeting these people."
-15-
Sophie winced at the feel of the cool metal of the RV against her back. There was an eruption of laughter again from around the campfire as she rubbed her arms, hoping that she didn't look as awkward as she felt. James finally stood up to walk away from the group and she jogged to catch up with him. She placed a hand on his arm and he jumped at the sensation, glancing back at the others as if afraid of being caught doing something wrong.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Daddy, I'm just trying to clear the air," Sophie said. Already she could see the annoyance on his face, the flickering of his eyes to the right and left, crossing his arms and shifting away from her slightly, as if he might bolt if she turned away. "We can't keep going on like this, I need things to be okay between all of us."
"You do?" he asked, finally making eye contact with her. "You want things to be okay between all of us? You know, we'd all like everything to be okay, too. The problem is that you can't just wave a wand and make it all better. It may be inconvenient, but you can't just make our problems go away."
"That's not what I'm saying. I just don't understand why the two of you are so hell bent on taking everything out on me. What was I supposed to do differently? What would you have done? Please, I want to know."
"You won't hear anything that I have to say."
"That's not fair."
" Nothing about what we are experiencing is fair. But it also isn't fair for you to ask us to shut down our feelings just because they make you sad or uncomfortable to be around. I can't fix that for you."
"Then what am I—"
"Just be patient, Sophie. You have to be patient. Surely we deserve at least that much?" He turned to leave before she could respond. Every time she tried to fix things, or smooth over the problems between them, it just seemed to make things worse. She was used to dealing with problems, seeing to it that things were fixed. She didn't know how to fix this. For the briefest moment, she thought about chasing him and carrying on, but she knew that he wasn't going to listen to anything she said.
From the corner of her eye, she saw two others standing over by the trees, carrying on in hushed conversation. It was the woman from earlier, the angry looking blond. She was in the middle of her own heated conversation with another younger woman. The fight looked like it was starting to escalate, and she felt heat rising up her neck as it occurred to her that the argument with her father probably had looked about the same as this. She was about to approach, when the blond yelled and stormed off, leaving the other behind.
"Blow it out your own prissy ass then, for all I care. I can't control what other people think about me!"
As she
"Look..." She struggled with trying to decide what to say and he nodded patiently, waiting for her to speak. "Look, don't take it personally. We've lost some people. People that..." She trailed off again as she felt her voice hitching in her throat. She bit her lower lip and turned away from them. Rowen put his hand on her shoulder and tried to take over the conversation.
"We've had a pretty rough go at it," he said. "I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is for us to meet so many people at one time like this and not see potential danger."
"Sure," Lot said. "And I won't be offended if the two of you, or the four of you decide to leave. But it wouldn't have been very Christian of me to not at least offer you a place here with us. I like to think that I have a good sense of people and you all seem pretty trustworthy. You're all welcome here." He nodded at the both of them before returning to the crowd.
"So what do we do?" Rowen asked. Sophie shook her head.
"I think they've pretty much made our minds up for us."
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"So, we stay. We stay, and I guess we just hope that we don't end up regretting ever meeting these people."
-15-
Sophie winced at the feel of the cool metal of the RV against her back. There was an eruption of laughter again from around the campfire as she rubbed her arms, hoping that she didn't look as awkward as she felt. James finally stood up to walk away from the group and she jogged to catch up with him. She placed a hand on his arm and he jumped at the sensation, glancing back at the others as if afraid of being caught doing something wrong.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Daddy, I'm just trying to clear the air," Sophie said. Already she could see the annoyance on his face, the flickering of his eyes to the right and left, crossing his arms and shifting away from her slightly, as if he might bolt if she turned away. "We can't keep going on like this, I need things to be okay between all of us."
"You do?" he asked, finally making eye contact with her. "You want things to be okay between all of us? You know, we'd all like everything to be okay, too. The problem is that you can't just wave a wand and make it all better. It may be inconvenient, but you can't just make our problems go away."
"That's not what I'm saying. I just don't understand why the two of you are so hell bent on taking everything out on me. What was I supposed to do differently? What would you have done? Please, I want to know."
"You won't hear anything that I have to say."
"That's not fair."
" Nothing about what we are experiencing is fair. But it also isn't fair for you to ask us to shut down our feelings just because they make you sad or uncomfortable to be around. I can't fix that for you."
"Then what am I—"
"Just be patient, Sophie. You have to be patient. Surely we deserve at least that much?" He turned to leave before she could respond. Every time she tried to fix things, or smooth over the problems between them, it just seemed to make things worse. She was used to dealing with problems, seeing to it that things were fixed. She didn't know how to fix this. For the briefest moment, she thought about chasing him and carrying on, but she knew that he wasn't going to listen to anything she said.
From the corner of her eye, she saw two others standing over by the trees, carrying on in hushed conversation. It was the woman from earlier, the angry looking blond. She was in the middle of her own heated conversation with another younger woman. The fight looked like it was starting to escalate, and she felt heat rising up her neck as it occurred to her that the argument with her father probably had looked about the same as this. She was about to approach, when the blond yelled and stormed off, leaving the other behind.
"Blow it out your own prissy ass then, for all I care. I can't control what other people think about me!"
As she
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