Chapter 44
Packing a bag doesn’t take long. Sadie stuffs T-shirts, shorts and toiletries into her backpack and zips it up. Then she makes sure Zelda is safe in her box and sits on the end of her bed.
She checks her phone. There’s a message from Ellis. She must have forgotten to take the phone off silent after the cinema.
Ok? frankie’s stuff safe?
Sadie thinks about her talk with Dad. She feels guilty, like she has betrayed Ellis and her friends.
But what were they going to do? If something properly bad is going on here, they can’t deal with it on their own.
They need to talk to someone in authority (or even her dad). But she can’t tell Ellis that yet.
She replies: Yep, all good. Then adds: getting out of here for a few days.
She waits. There’s a ping, and Ellis replies with a series of exploding-head emojis along with several weeping faces. Why?
Sadie types: Just stuff. Talk later, k?
Ellis responds with a thumbs-up. Sadie sighs.
She’s restless. Like there’s something else she should do.
Or rather, something she hasn’t done. She stands and walks to the window, staring across at Home and Spry.
It’s weird. She has this sensation, like the house is calling to her.
Like it has been all along. She thinks about the card left with the balloons:
Why did the mascot cross the road?
Well, obviously, to get to the other side. Is that what the message meant – is it something to do with Home and Spry? If so, what about the numbers? Dad said they were a biblical reference, but is that all? Why did Larry Broom write them on the flyer?
She walks back across the room and yanks open the drawer in her bedside table. It’s where she shoved the flyer, along with the ‘missing’ leaflet. Now she takes it out.
Nothing bad ever happens in Serenity.
Not by accident. 61322.
Could the numbers also mean something else? A phone number? A PIN? An entry code? She chews on her lip.
Why did the mascot cross the road?
I mean, she tried crossing the road and looking around the house, but it didn’t achieve very much. The house was locked up. No way in … Wait. She has an idea. It’s a crazy idea. Totally nuts. But could that be it?
She jogs downstairs and opens the front door.
Home and Spry gleams brightly in the sunshine opposite.
She pauses. Maybe she should wait till her dad gets back.
But then, he’d probably tell her not to do this.
She debates with herself. She’ll just check and see if she’s right.
She won’t go in. She’s just testing a theory, solving a puzzle.
And what has she got to lose? They’re leaving anyway, at least for a while.
She shuts the door and crosses the road.
Mid-afternoon, and the heat is as thick as syrup, sticky and warm.
The street, as ever, is quiet. If they have neighbours, real live ones, Sadie has yet to see them.
I mean, there are cars parked on driveways so she presumes there must be people in the houses, but despite the whole neighbourly facade, no one has bothered to come over and introduce themselves or say hi. Like everything else, it feels fake.
She reaches the gate to Home and Spry and pushes it open. Then she jogs up the short path, to the front door. She stares at the key safe. It’s probably a waste of time, but it’s worth a go. She presses the numbers – 61322 – into the keypad. There’s a click and the safe opens.
Holy shit. Sadie reaches inside and takes out, yes, a key. She really hadn’t thought this would work. But here it is.
She slips the key into the lock. Even now, she’s half expecting it to stick or jam.
But it turns smoothly, and the door clicks open.
Sadie hesitates. She told herself she would just see if it worked.
She should leave it. She’s trespassing. She could get into real trouble.
But now she’s here, her curiosity is outweighing her caution. She pushes the door and steps inside.