Hearing the sound of him returning to the front of the plane, she couldn’t help reaching out for Trudy’s hand again.
“Evangeline?”
It took her a second to answer, not sure she wouldn’t break into frightened tears. She wanted to be brave for Trudy and show her that she could keep her promises, because she needed her sister to keep hers.
“Yes?” she finally managed to croak out.
“Promise that you won’t hate me when you miss me?”
“Okay.” She sniffled. “I won’t.”
“Clearwater! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! I’ve lost power! I’m going to crash!”
Her mind filled with terror, she gripped Trudy’s hand tighter, all the promises she made forgotten when panic and fear of the plane crashing became real and not just something that her sister said would happen in the game she had been talked into playing. Deep down in her mind, she thought it was just an imaginary game that would end when they were back home on the island with their parents.
Evangeline cried harder when she heard the shout from the front of the plane. How was she supposed to hold her breath the way Trudy had taught her when her nose was stuffed up from crying?
“Now! Now!”
Terror had her wanting to raise her head to scream at her sister to make it stop. Turning her head to the side, she opened her eyes to see Trudy’s eyes opened and staring back at her with her head on her lap. The emotion she saw there gave her the courage to stop crying. It was her fault that Trudy had to come up with the game that she didn’t want to play either.
Instead of screaming like she wanted to, she started singing the first song Trudy had taught her. “Yes, Jesus loves me, for the Bible told me so.”
Trudy started singing the next part with tears sliding down to her lap. “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
Before Evangeline could take her turn to sing, the life she knew ended with the sound of the plane crashing, into the ocean that she had learned to swim in before she could walk.
As the water rushed her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the ocean swallow her into a sightless void.
Feeling Trudy’s hand let go of hers, she wildly flayed out, searching. Terrified, she opened her mouth to scream for Trudy, but instead of water rushing into her mouth, she breathed in air as a mask was abruptly pushed against her face.
The more she breathed in, the sleepier she became. Drowsily, she squeezed her eyes shut tighter, afraid of what she would see if she opened them.
Falling limp, she felt her body gliding effortlessly through the water, clutched in someone’s strong arms. Instinctively she wanted to struggle away, but then she remembered her promise to Trudy. She had to be brave until Trudy could make her own escape from the king and queen. Her sister had told her that the man who would get her off the plane would protect her and make sure no rotten apples would ever get near her.
“Promise me that you’ll do everything he tells you to.”
Evangeline solemnly nodded, feeling how important the promise was to Trudy.
“No matter how unhappy, or how much you miss me.”
Evangeline reached out and wiped away the tears sliding down her sister’s cheeks. “I promise, sissy.”
The memory broke when the mask was taken off. She was lying on a small boat with a stranger next to her who was wrapping a blanket around her.
Evangeline recognized the man from the picture Trudy showed her before she had torn it up. He was the one Trudy had said would protect her until she would be able to do so herself. In his picture, he looked a little mean, but close up, he seemed kind of nice. He looked at her the way Manny did.
“You okay, kid?”
Shakily nodding her head, she started to rise up to see if Trudy was on the small boat, even though her sister had told her she wouldn’t be. She was glad he held her back down as the bottom of the speeding boat hit the water. It was going so fast that she was afraid she would go flying off.
“I’m Hammer.” The man didn’t give her a friendly smile like most adults usually did when they looked at her.
Swallowing hard, she stared up at the darkening sky. “I’m Ginny.”
The game had begun, whether she wanted it to or not.
Chapter One
Evangeline reached into the popcorn bowl, watching a cartoon on the television in front of the small bed she was sitting on. Chewing on the mouthful of buttery goodness, she felt guilty enjoying it without her sister to share it with. Thinking about her sister made it hard to swallow and not start crying again.
Curling into a ball, she pulled the bowl of popcorn into the curve of her waist, closing her eyes after losing interest in the cartoon that Hammer had turned on for her to watch before he went into the bathroom.