The Red

Chapter 11

If The Red didn't exist, my life would be so much easier right now.

After my ordeal with Stephano, I get about an hour of sleep. In the morning, I don't want to get up. I want to see Stephano less than ever.

I'm only pretending to sleep when Jill shakes my back.

"Natalie! Cathy told me to wake all of the girls! She wants us to go to the Dining Room! She says it's a surprise!"

I moan. Dining Room means Stephano.

"Come on, Nat! I wanna know what the surprise is!"

Fine, I think, and get out of bed.

We go downstairs in our pajamas, but so has everyone else.

In the Dining Room, Cathy stands at the front. A large, long object has been set on the counter, and it's covered in a sheet. An unfamiliar man stands in the corner of the room.

Stephano and Susan are in the back. I'm expecting them to wear cold, hard glares when I look at them. But instead I see...interest, and maybe even humor.

I direct my attention to Cathy, who has begun to speak.

"Kids! I have a very special surprise for you today! A local charity has given the orphanage a grant! And they told us to do something fun with the kids!"

The children wait for the surprise with sparkling eyes. I, however, wait with tired eyes.

"With the money," Cathy says, and she gestures to the mysterious object behind her, "I got us" - she pulls off the sheet - "a kayak!"

An orange kayak sits before us, complete with oars and a few life jackets. It's seemingly begging to be set on water.

The children cheer, and Jill pats my arm excitedly.

"We should go on it together!" she says.

I nod my head as I yawn.

I struggle to keep my burning eyes from closing as Cathy explains the plan for the day. We're heading to the lake before lunch, and by then we need to be in our bathing suits and ready to go. Jill can't stop smiling. She's been waiting for months to wear her red tankini.

The kids can hardly contain themselves as they eat breakfast and rush to get ready.

---------------------------------------------

My swimsuit is almost identical to Jill's, except it's a teal color. Together, with Preston's bright green trunks, we make a colorful team.

Cathy has us loaded into two small moving vans. The man who was standing in the corner of the Dining Room earlier drives one, and Cathy drives the other. I'm pretty sure driving orphans around in the back of a moving van would be illegal, but neither Cathy nor the man seem to mind.

For the whole drive, I'm fretting that someone will know there's no furniture in these vans, or find it strange that were parked by a lake with them. But no one does.

Soon the door to the van opens, and there is the driver man. He has short brown hair and a scruffy beard of the same length. So far, I haven't heard him speak.

Cathy steps up behind him, followed by the children from the other van.

"Guys," she says, "this is Rob." She looks me in the eye with a serious expression. I give her a confused look. "He was very kind to come help us get the boat on the water today."

The kids in the truck crawl out. The air is cool and breezy. I can see hills past the tall green trees of the woods which surround our city. The lake water is dark blue and it seemingly sparkles. It's beautiful, even with motor boats sprinkled across it.