Runaways (Orphans 5)

"There's this computer software program I used when I was doing a project for science class," she explained.

"School sure is different from when I went," he said.

"What time are we leaving tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Right after breakfast, I'm to take you girls to the sheriff's office in Gallup and the child welfare people from Albuquerque will take it from there," he said. "You're all great girls. I know you'll be fine," he said.

We were all silent.

"Well," he said, "I'm feeling tired. Around here, we're up with the sun. See you in the morning." "Good night, Tommy," I said.

We sat quietly for a while and then decided we were pretty tired too. We partnered up the way we usually did. The beds were very comfortable, the rooms all paneled yellow oak with southwestern style furnishings. The night air was cool and it made for pleasant sleeping, except none of us was able to put off our anxiety easily. Before Raven and I even tried to sleep, Crystal came in to tell us Butterfly was acting strange.

"She won't talk. She's curled up in her bed," Crystal said.

"We're all just tired," Raven told her. "You were right. It's exhausting to run away and too much for a fragile girl like Butterfly, especially if it's too much for us."

"Anita gave her a real Indian necklace. She's wearing it to sleep," Crystal said.

"That's nice," I said. "Anita's a lot, nicer than I first thought she would be."

"Everyone we meet seems wounded in some way or another," Crystal commented. It was one of those deeply philosophical statements she was capable of planting in my mind and then leaving to let it grow on its own.

She returned to her room. Raven and I were silent, not even saying good night to each other. She turned over and fell asleep before I did. I listened to the wind for a while, saw a small cloud touch the quarter moon and then I closed my eyes and finally drifted off, not waking until I felt my body being shaken vigorously. My eyes popped open. Crystal was standing there in a panic.

"She's catatonic, worse than I have ever seen her, Brooke! Hurry."

I jumped out of bed and we woke Raven. That was like waking the dead, but when she heard what was wrong, she moved faster and we gathered around Butterfly, who was, as Crystal had described, twisted tightly, her legs pulled up against her stomach, her arms turned in, the hands locked like claws, her eyes slammed shut and her lips glued together with just a line of drool trickling out of the right corner. She didn't even look like she was breathing. An electric surge of panic shot through my heart.

"Oh Crystal, I've never seen her this bad. Her face is so pale and her lips are turning blue." Crystal nodded.

"It's very bad," she agreed.

We joined hands and brought our heads down to Butterfly's. Crystal started the chant.

"We're sisters. We'll always be sisters. Nothing can hurt us as long as we're together."

Raven and I joined. Our voices grew more and more desperate as we finished a chorus and saw no change.

"Crystal!"

"Keep trying," she cried.

We chanted louder, the desperation building in our voices.

"What's going on in here?" Anita asked from the doorway.

We stopped. Butterfly was still catatonic. Anita came charging in and looked down at her.

"What's happening?" she demanded.

"She gets this way sometimes," Crystal said. "It's an emotional thing. We've always been able to help her by joining and reciting our chant. It usually brings her out of it, but it's not working."

"Oh, my God!" Anita cried. "She's stopping her own heart, her own breathing. Tommy! TOMMY!"

He came rushing into the room. The moment he saw Butterfly and heard the explanation, he scooped his hands under her and lifted her into his arms.

"We'll take her to the hospital," he said. "Hurry, Tommy," Anita ordered.