about arson.”
“So many stories!” Izzy said.
Siria leaned forward. “Tell one.”
Izzy smiled. “One summer there was a kitchen fire, a steaming hot day. It was so hot that it was hard to move in our turnout gear.” She shook herhead. “Neighbors blamed the man who lived in the house. They believed he set it.”
“He set fire to his own kitchen?”
“He’d left a row of glasses on the windowsill. The sun’s rays sent the heat up so high that the glasses exploded, one by one. It was your father who saw the char on the glasses, and the fire marks near them. So it wasn’t arson at all. Sometimes people jump to conclusions.”
Siria sat back. And sometimes people were right.
The bus slowed down. Almost as if she knew what Siria was thinking, Izzy tapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t forget Douglas.”
Siria answered carefully. “I’ll think about that.”
That Christmas long ago. Were they five that year? They might have been six. Douglas had made her a necklace out of strips of colored paper. She’d worn it every day until it had fallen apart. And even then she’d kept it in her dresser drawer.
She followed Izzy off the bus. She hoped Izzy wouldn’t notice the tears in her eyes.
CHAPTER 14
It was getting dark; silver-gray clouds covered the sky. Siria shrugged into her jacket. She’d meant what she’d said to Laila about Douglas. She’d follow him, watching.
But first, the dog. Had he made it back to the basement, or was he still out somewhere? Caught, or wandering around? Hungry?
“I’ll be back,” she called to Mimi, and went down to the third floor. Douglas’s brother Kevin was coming out, and she stood at the open elevator door. “Where’s Douglas?”
Kevin shrugged. “Watching TV.”
She tried to think of how to ask … what to say.
But Kevin didn’t get into the elevator with her. He took the stairs. “Ruined the kitchen,” she thought she heard him say.
The elevator door closed and she pressed the button for the basement, her mouth dry.
The dog wasn’t in the basement or outside in the alley.
So, Douglas.
She’d go back upstairs and sit on the fourth-floor landing, hidden, waiting for him to come out.
She sat there, halfway between Douglas’s floor and the fifth floor. Looking up, she could see that the door to the empty apartment was open. She’d take a quick look.
Someone had left a window open in the living room, and the wind had scattered swirls of snow on the floor and a piece of rug. An empty water bottle was on the sill. It reminded her of Izzy’s story about the glasses exploding on a hot summer day, and people believing the owner had set the fire.
She wandered through the rest of the apartment. The bedrooms were like hers and Pop’s. The bathroom tile was green instead of white, and there was a long crack in the mirror.
She was staring at her two half faces when she heard the outside door close. She tried not to breathe as she crept into the corner behind the open door, her hand to her mouth.
How could she explain if she was caught?
Above her head, the cracked mirror reflected the world outside. Everything was divided in half,the white hills, the frozen creek, someone running along the edge wearing a dark green jacket.
Had Douglas left his apartment? So quickly?
All was quiet now, no footsteps, not a sound. She pushed the bathroom door with one finger, waited, then ran through the apartment. Someone must have closed the door from the outside.
She’d go after Douglas. Now.
She opened the door again, not quite closing it, and skittered down the stairs and outside.
By the time she reached the creek, huge flakes were falling and it was almost dark. Was someone crying? She stood entirely still, listening, but the wind was strong and it was impossible to be sure.
The sound stopped. She walked along the edge of the creek, climbing over the slippery rocks, and heard a soft whine on the other side of the creek, close to the pipe. It was the dog.
“So many stories!” Izzy said.
Siria leaned forward. “Tell one.”
Izzy smiled. “One summer there was a kitchen fire, a steaming hot day. It was so hot that it was hard to move in our turnout gear.” She shook herhead. “Neighbors blamed the man who lived in the house. They believed he set it.”
“He set fire to his own kitchen?”
“He’d left a row of glasses on the windowsill. The sun’s rays sent the heat up so high that the glasses exploded, one by one. It was your father who saw the char on the glasses, and the fire marks near them. So it wasn’t arson at all. Sometimes people jump to conclusions.”
Siria sat back. And sometimes people were right.
The bus slowed down. Almost as if she knew what Siria was thinking, Izzy tapped her on the shoulder. “Don’t forget Douglas.”
Siria answered carefully. “I’ll think about that.”
That Christmas long ago. Were they five that year? They might have been six. Douglas had made her a necklace out of strips of colored paper. She’d worn it every day until it had fallen apart. And even then she’d kept it in her dresser drawer.
She followed Izzy off the bus. She hoped Izzy wouldn’t notice the tears in her eyes.
CHAPTER 14
It was getting dark; silver-gray clouds covered the sky. Siria shrugged into her jacket. She’d meant what she’d said to Laila about Douglas. She’d follow him, watching.
But first, the dog. Had he made it back to the basement, or was he still out somewhere? Caught, or wandering around? Hungry?
“I’ll be back,” she called to Mimi, and went down to the third floor. Douglas’s brother Kevin was coming out, and she stood at the open elevator door. “Where’s Douglas?”
Kevin shrugged. “Watching TV.”
She tried to think of how to ask … what to say.
But Kevin didn’t get into the elevator with her. He took the stairs. “Ruined the kitchen,” she thought she heard him say.
The elevator door closed and she pressed the button for the basement, her mouth dry.
The dog wasn’t in the basement or outside in the alley.
So, Douglas.
She’d go back upstairs and sit on the fourth-floor landing, hidden, waiting for him to come out.
She sat there, halfway between Douglas’s floor and the fifth floor. Looking up, she could see that the door to the empty apartment was open. She’d take a quick look.
Someone had left a window open in the living room, and the wind had scattered swirls of snow on the floor and a piece of rug. An empty water bottle was on the sill. It reminded her of Izzy’s story about the glasses exploding on a hot summer day, and people believing the owner had set the fire.
She wandered through the rest of the apartment. The bedrooms were like hers and Pop’s. The bathroom tile was green instead of white, and there was a long crack in the mirror.
She was staring at her two half faces when she heard the outside door close. She tried not to breathe as she crept into the corner behind the open door, her hand to her mouth.
How could she explain if she was caught?
Above her head, the cracked mirror reflected the world outside. Everything was divided in half,the white hills, the frozen creek, someone running along the edge wearing a dark green jacket.
Had Douglas left his apartment? So quickly?
All was quiet now, no footsteps, not a sound. She pushed the bathroom door with one finger, waited, then ran through the apartment. Someone must have closed the door from the outside.
She’d go after Douglas. Now.
She opened the door again, not quite closing it, and skittered down the stairs and outside.
By the time she reached the creek, huge flakes were falling and it was almost dark. Was someone crying? She stood entirely still, listening, but the wind was strong and it was impossible to be sure.
The sound stopped. She walked along the edge of the creek, climbing over the slippery rocks, and heard a soft whine on the other side of the creek, close to the pipe. It was the dog.
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