I bolted up in bed. The tiger was gone. 

I flipped on the light, forcing the darkness away and sat there coughing hard to free the puke clogging my throat. Aunty’s roast was dumped all over me. The smell wrenched up my stomach and I cleared it right then and there, but I couldn’t stop heaving, even when it was all out. My sides ached when I tried to breathe. My shirt was soaked with sweat and my supper.

I looked around for Hoover but he was gone. He usually started out the night sleeping with me, but by the time the dream took hold, Hoover went in search of a quieter place to sleep... usually on Joe’s bed.

It took a while for my breathing to slow down and my heart to stop thudding in my head. My throat hurt sorely. I needed a glass of water to wash it all down and get rid of the rotten metal taste in my mouth. 

I went to my dresser after another shirt, but my luck, all my shirts were in the dirty clothes downstairs. My nightshirts were down there, too. I was going through them pretty quick, come lately.

I started gagging, so I decided to try for a shirt later, maybe Joe would loan me one of his. I went to the bathroom instead, thinking I could get a glass of water and maybe get the chewed up meat out of my hair. The glass was gone from where it was supposed to be, so I rinsed out my hair as best I could in the sink.

After shaking it dry and scrubbing it down with a towel, I made my way to the stairs. The lights were still burnig in the den, and I heard Chief and Aunty talking. I knew they’d be sore that I was still awake, but I really needed to get a glass. I set about going down the stairs as quiet as I could, making sure to miss the fifth step from the bottom. Then I walked careful-like down the hall, staying close to the wall so’s Chief and Aunty wouldn’t see me. The slate floor was cold on my bare feet. I felt my toes getting numb and it reminded me, a little too much, of the nightmare. In the dark the striped wallpaper looked creepy, like the stripes moved and jumped when you tried to pin them down with your eyes. Much the way the trees did in the dream.

I made it to the kitchen without any trouble and peeked around the corner. Chief was at the window staring out. Aunty sat on the couch. She was turned away from the door, facing him. They were both real quiet for a spell. Then Chief faced her. He looked to be real tired, and fed up. I could see things were wearing him down.

“There’s something I’d like to ask you, Martha.” His words were so quiet I scarcely hear d them.

“What is it?”

“I’d like for you to take Kelly back with you to Four Oaks after the wedding.”

I couldn’t believe it. He was going to send me away. I felt the beating of my heart again in my ears, starting my head to ache all over again. How could he? Didn’t he know? She couldn’t stop the tiger... not even with her purse.

I watched Aunty get real quiet. I hoped she’d say ‘no’– that I was too much trouble. But all she said was, “That would devastated the child, Robert.”

I bit my lip and waited in the kitchen shadows. They were too busy with each other to notice me.

“In Four Oaks she’ll be safe. He won’t know how to find her. She'll be able to play outside.” With who? Nothing but old people lived in Four Oaks. “She’ll be able to vent, Martha.”

“Do you realize how long I’ve wanted to get my hands on that child?”x

I took a deep breath. I'd purely heard enough. My eyes were watering and I forced the tears to quit, but that only pushed them down my throat.

“This must be difficult for you,” Aunty went on. I moved away from the door and into the kitchen. The tears were pouring salt down the raw part of my throat and it felt like it was lit on fire. I had a hard time breathing. He was going to send me away. Away from him and Joe and Maggy. Send me away with her.  If that happened, it was over. Why couldn’t he see that?

In the dark I climbed the counter so's I could reach the glasses on the shelves next to the kitchen window, just left of the stove. I got to them without a hint of noise. After wrapping my fingers solidly around one, I lowered myself to the floor, sliding off the counter instead of jumping. The action left me dizzy and I had to stop again to catch hold of my breath. I felt like I was already sinking in the bloody mud of the Dead Place. After I got my wind back I turned to go upstairs but hit the handle of Aunty’s teakettle that sat on the stove and knocked it to the floor. Randy Cramer’s new brass trumpet wasn’t half so loud as that rickety piece of tin!

“Kelly?” Chief said from the back room. “Is that you?”

How did they always know it was me?

I went to the corner of the room and peeked through the kitchen door into the den.

“You’re supposed to be in bed.”

“I needed a glass for my water, Chief.”

“Get it and go."

“Yes sir.... I mean, I got it, so I guess I’ll go.”

I started towards the stairs, but couldn’t make my feet move. I looked back at Chief who was staring at me, his eyes sharp and fierce.

“Chief, don’t make me go with her. I don’t want to leave you and Joe and Maggy. And who’ll feed Hoover?”

Chief sighed deeply. “Kelly, we’ll discuss it in the morning. Now march upstairs.” When I didn’t move right off he added another, “Now,” to his speech.

“But Chief–”

“No ‘buts’ Kelly.”

“I don’t want to. There’s nothin’ but old people there… it’s boring!” I informed him, then I added for good measure, “I’m not going with her!”

“You are and that’s final. I’m not going to argue with you. Now do as I say and go back to bed.”  He’d made up his mind and he wasn’t going to change it.

I felt the tears coming and tried to put them back down. He didn’t know.

“Chie-”

“Kelly I mean it!” His voice grated, his jaw was set.

“But she can’t stop the tiger, Chief! Not even with her purse!”

He looked at me and his eyes lost their fire. “Kelly, don’t make this harder than it already is. I don’t like it any more than you do.”

“Then don’t make me go.”

He stared at me from the wall in the back room. Then he pulled himself free of it and started off in my direction, moving slowly, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Kelly, listen to me,” he said when he got close enough to talk in a whisper. “You will be safe in Four Oaks with your aunt. Don’t you see that your safety is all that matters? It will only be for a few days.”

“But–”

“No buts, Kelly. I’ve already made up my mind.” There was a wet shine to his eyes, like maybe he was holding back his own tears. “Give me a hug and then go back to bed.”

I pulled loose from the shadows and went to him. He took one look at my shirt and his eyes flipped from sadness to concern.

“What happened to you?”

“I threw up.”

“Aren’t you feeling well?” He knelt down to look at me square and put the back of his hand to my forehead. “Your stomach hurt?”

I shook my head. “I feel fine.”

He stared at me a little longer. Then his eyes softened. “Let’s go upstairs and get you cleaned up. Okay, pumpkin?”

Chief took my hand and we headed for the stairs with Aunty following. Once upstairs she let Chief know she’d change my bedding and then ducked into my room.

Chief led me down the hall and into the bathroom. I watched him turn on the faucet and fill the tub. When it was full enough he told me to get in, taking my shirt as I went.

“Kelly, you have it all in your hair,” he said picking through my hair. “We’ll have to wash it again,” he added, rolling up his sleeves.

He put his hand under my head. “Lean back, I got you.” His hand kept me under the faucet, but the water just hit my hair, not going near my face.

“All right, pumpkin, sit up”

I did so and he poured out some shampoo and rubbed it between his hands until it was good and sudsy. Then he rubbed his hands into my hair. Not a single sud got into my eyes.

“You do that better than Aunty. I guess its cuz she doesn’t have any kids and never learned to do it proper. She gets the soap all in my eyes.”

“I don’t think she means it, honey. Lean back." 

The water from the faucet rinsed the soap out until my hair was again squeaking. And again no soap made it into my eyes.

“You know you hurt her feelings when you say things like that,” Chief said once I sat back up. “Your aunt loves you very much. She tries real hard to let you know that. She’s good by you, Kelly. You’re very lucky to have an aunt like yours. You shouldn’t be so hard on her.”

“I never meant to be, Chief.”

“She’s the only aunt you have, Kelly. I should think you’d be more careful in the way you treat her feelings.”

I, all a sudden, felt really bad for the way I’d treated Aunty. I hated even more for Chief to be disappointed in me. “I’ll tell her I’m sorry, Chief.”

He smiled at me, but his smile didn’t have much juice and didn't last long. He nodded and stood up to get a towel. He pulled one loose and noticed the puke left from my earlier efforts. He tossed it on the floor and pulled a clean one free from the cupboard.

“All right, stand up,” he said and when I did he wrapped the towel around me and dried me off.

There was a knock on the door and Chief said, “Come in.”

Aunty peeked into the room. “I’ve soaked the bedding in the utility sink in the cellar. However the mattress is saturated and smells most unpleasant. I suggest we air it out tomorrow. I also shut everything off downstairs. You needn’t worry about a thing, Robert.”

“Thank you, Martha.” Chief turned to me. “Looks like you’ll be bunking with me tonight, pumpkin.”

“Is there anything else I can do?” Aunty asked.

“As a matter of fact, if you don’t mind, could you please get Kelly a clean nightshirt?”

“I’m fresh out, Aunty,” I let her know before she left.

“I saw some downstairs in the utility room, I guess Maggy didn’t have time today to bring up the laundry.”

“There’s no need to run all the way down to the cellar, Martha,” Chief told her. “There’s some cotton t-shirts in my bureau, second drawer from the right. Could you bring one of them?”

She nodded and backed out of the room. Chief finished scrubbing my hair dry as Aunty came back in. She handed over the shirt.

“Arms up,” Chief said. I threw my arms in the air and he dropped the shirt over my head and pushed my arms through the armholes. The shirt came clear below my knees, inches from my ankles. The sleeves went past my elbow almost to my wrists.

I looked up at Aunty.

She smiled. “Good night, dear,” she told me and turned to leave.

“Aunty,” I said, shooting a glance at Chief. She turned and I went to her. “Good night.”

I reached to give her a hug. She leaned down so’s I could reach, and I put my arms around her neck and kissed her on the cheek. She kissed me back and gave back the hug. “I’m sorry I was neglectful of your feelings, Aunty. I won’t do it again.”

She gave me a smile. “It’s all right, dear. You’ve been under a horrible strain lately. It’s understandable.”

“I love you, Aunty.”  

When she turned her eyes to mine I saw the look there. Then suddenly I saw the tiger ripping open her face. I felt the hot tears streak my cheek.

“There, there,” she whispered. She hugged me again harder this time. “It’s all right, honey. Everything’s going to be just fine.” After a moment she pulled away. “Are you going to be all right now?”

I nodded, though I didn’t mean it. I just wanted to get away.

“Kelly,” Chief said behind me. “Go get into bed.”

“You comin’?”

“I'll be there shortly.”

I left the room as Chief and Aunty talked quietly behind me.

Chief’s room was dark when I got there. The light from the hall spilled in and only lit up part of the floor and the very end of the bed. I crawled under the sheets. They were cold and smelled of the outside where Maggy had them hanging half the day. I closed my eyes and waited.

Chief came in shortly after. I heard him slide his drawer open, then go to his bathroom where he changed and brushed his teeth. Soon the bed was sinking from his weight.

I rolled over to face him. “Chief?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I’m scared.” Ever since knowing he was sending me off, the fear crept in. It was like something real heavy sitting on my ribs. I couldn’t breathe regular.

“I know you are.” Chief pulled me closer and wrapped his arm around me. I leaned into him and felt his closeness. I let the dream go. I felt safe and warm. “I won’t let anything hurt you, pumpkin. It’s all going to be all right. Please, believe me.”

“I do, Chief.” I closed my eyes and felt myself drift off to sleep and prayed again for the dreams to stay away, hoping this time Jesus was paying attention.

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