Snippet

She let the main door swing shut behind her and tested to knob to be sure it was still locked, then stood for a few seconds to allow her eyes to adjust. She closed them to help the process along some and let her mind conjure up what the place must have been like when it was truly a house and not eight tiny apartments crammed into a house.

Their hallway was the only place she knew of on the island that was dark. Sun and salt leeched and bleached everything else in sight, except for the alley-like sliver that led to their apartment.

It made perfect sense.

Rather than having the smell of freshly brushed teeth, the air here was full of old cooked cabbage and thick, burnt dust. She hated thinking about what scurried along with her that she couldn't see. Serena had no reason to suspect there were bugs or rodents. They had not seen any in the four months they'd been here. Still, her imagination demanded some leeway.

She slammed the apartment door closed and leaned back against it as though she'd just evaded a person in hot pursuit.

"Pearson!"

Serena slid her backpack from her shoulder and dropped in to the right of the door. She pulled her tam from her head and sent it sailing for the coach. By that time the tabby had made his way in from the bedroom and was about to twine through her legs when she picked him up and scratched under his chin. Together they went over to the green brocade drapes and with a single tug on the string, the material slid away from the window in its own cloud of dust and let the sunshine slant onto the honeyed hardwood floor.

"Let the sun shine in! How was your day?" The cat purred in response while she made her way to the kitchen to find her mother's usual note folded in half and standing like a simple white tent against the deep blue of the tablecloth. She put the cat down and reached for it, then decided to have a snack first. Too much pent-up frustration. She might just as soon tear the note up as read it. No sense in making a bad day worse.