The Trip to Raptor Bluff by Annie O'Haegan Page B

She wasn’t overly worried about the safety of her own family; on a Saturday afternoon in early June, her sisters would be at cheerleading practice at Saint Mary’s and her parents would most likely be at home with her little brother.  All of them knew to run outdoors in the event of an earthquake, and both her home and the high school were out of the tsunami danger zone.  Still, sleep would not come to her.  She lay silent and helpless as Rick, Lucy, and Brenda, believing that the children were out cold, quietly cried themselves to sleep.

Chapter 5              The Plan
     
    When Brenda awoke at sunrise, Rick, Abby, Leanna, and Caleb were already gone.  She cried silently for a minute before she rose and tossed some sticks on the fire: a fire Rick had considerately built before he went in search of water.  She shivered in the chilly air and began to organize breakfast for the remaining three adults and eight children.  Rick and Caleb emerged from the woods on the south side of the picnic area with Abby and Leanna close behind as she was finishing up. Rick broke into a smile of triumph and gave her a thumbs-up gesture as she hurried towards him.
    “Caleb found a natural spring about half an hour south of here.  It’s small but it is good enough.”
    “Good boy, Caleb!”  Brenda bent to kiss the top of the panting dog’s head.  “You may be the only dog I’ve ever liked!”  Rick laughed until he saw a dark expression cross her face.  “Rick, we need to talk.”
    “Now is good.  Abby and Leanna are trustworthy.”
    “Someone is hoarding food and toilet paper.  Two rolls of toilet paper went missing last night, and when I uncovered the food this morning, a box of candy bars and a box of power bars were down to two bars each.  Both of those boxes were almost full when I finished passing out dinner last night.  Believe me; I am counting each food item so I’m not imagining things.”
    “Lucy stole the food and a roll of toilet paper, and Andrea stole the other roll of toilet paper.  Caleb was sleeping beside me and he woke me up when he heard them sneak over.  Lucy took her stuff right after everyone fell asleep.  Andrea took the toilet paper a couple of hours later.”
    “That does it!” cried Brenda with angry tears filling her eyes.  “Come with me, Rick.  It’s time we put an end to Lucy and Andrea acting like they and their children are the only people who count.  These kids are scared and hungry, and they are being such troopers!”
    Rick laid a calming hand on Brenda’s arm and said, “Abby told me about the thefts while we were on our hunt for water, and I’ve had plenty of time to think about it.  We are going to let Lucy and Andrea keep their loot so we don’t subject the kids to any more drama.  We just can’t afford another Andrea tantrum, and we definitely can’t put Lucy on the defensive.  She’ll pull her superiority crap and start making decisions that affect all of us.  You and I are going to keep the peace at all costs until everyone is safely at the spring.”
    “But Rick, it’s just so unfair and so… wrong.  It is just so wrong !”
    “It stops today.  It stops today because we are going to divide up the food, the drinks, and the toilet paper into equal portions.  We will do it right after breakfast and everyone will be responsible for carrying and watching their own stuff.  That will also free you up from having to monitor the food and organize meals for fourteen people.”
    “Can we at least take back the food that Lucy stole?”
    “Brenda, Lucy is going to choke on the memory of that stolen food for the rest of her life because when the time is right, we will confront her.  But now is not the time.  We have to let her keep it.  We just can’t afford to set her off.”
    “Can we trust the kids to manage their own food?  What are we going to do if one of them gorges on their stash and runs out?  Everyone is starving and we are