Free Rae of Hope (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) by W.J. May Page A

on my back.”
    Maybe having my own room would be nice . “Do you know what time it is?”
    “About two a.m., but I swear I felt something and want to see if anything’s there. Come on. I’ll do it for you…”
    Rae sighed. Way too early. She groaned when she heard Molly flip on the light and felt the thump of Molly’s pillow on top of her own.
    “All right. I’m up, I’m up.” She rolled out of bed, rubbing her eyes at the brightness. She stumbled over to Molly’s bed and with one eye open, lifted the back of Molly’s nightshirt to peek at her lower back.
    “What do you see? What is it? Ohhh…I can’t look myself. I’m so excited! It’s there, isn’t it? What is it?”
    “Nope. Nothing there but your pale white skin. No tatù, no ink, nothing. It’s too early. Too early for the tatù and too early for me.” Rae yawned and flipped the lights back off. Dropping onto bed she pulled the duvet over her head. “Go back to sleep and don’t call me until it’s at least seven. I like my sleep, or the little I can get.”
    “Fine. I’ll try to keep quiet, but I’m positive I felt something. I’m just having a hard time sleeping. My dad told me if I get something really cool, he’ll buy me a car. They don’t allow them until our senior year, but maybe the headmaster or the dean would let me have one here this year. What kind of car do you think I should get? Hey, are you awake? Rae? Oh man, you’re asleep again! Damn English-American!”
    Rae rolled over and drilled Molly’s pillow back at her. The thud muffled Molly’s voice, but only for a few seconds. Exhaling a long, silent breath, she blocked out the noise and went back to sleep.

     
    At half past seven, Rae drifted back to consciousness. Sleep tempted her, but as she cracked her eyes open, she noticed Molly dead to the world, facing the wall, her pj top slightly lifted. Curiosity made her crawl out of her bed to get a closer look.
    There, right along Molly’s spine, rested a unique tatù. No swelling or redness around the ink that hadn’t been there hours before. It seemed like it had always been there, like a birthmark. Fascinated, she got closer and could see a bolt of lightning, along with something else. She couldn’t make out the circle ink and didn’t want to touch Molly’s shirt to see it better. Straightening, she debated waking Molly but had a feeling her roomie probably hadn’t been sleeping very long.
    Crawling out of bed, she slipped out the door and headed down the stairs. At least marble didn’t creak like the wooden stairs back home. Speaking of home… She checked her watch. It was pretty early in New York. She picked up the pay phone and then hung up. Her hand hung midair, debating if she should call Uncle Argyle.
    Screw it. He owed her an explanation. Swiping the phone card with more force than was needed, she grabbed the head piece and punched the numbers into the phone. She tucked the phone under her chin and leaned against the wall. Out of habit, she tapped her bare toe against the heel of her other foot.
    Nine…Ten…Eleven…Twelve…No one picked up. Middle of the night and no answer? Either they were out at some bed and breakfast or they had turned the ringer off at for the night. She’d try again later. She trudged back up the stairs and quietly slipped back into her room.
    Now what? She stood in the center of the room, not quite sure what to do. Seeing her desk, she went and sat down at it. Gingerly, she opened the drawer, trying to avoid the squeak. She pulled out a sheet of stationary and a pen. At least if she wrote a letter, she could get some of her thoughts organized. There was no sense in e-mailing Uncle Argyle. He wasn’t computer literate. Rae toyed with the pen before putting it to paper.

     
Dear Uncle Argyle,
Why didn’t you tell me? About you, or Mom? Or any of this? I had a right to know before coming back to England. It’s pretty crappy of you not to tell me.
I want to know more about my