The Altar Girl: A Prequel

CHAPTER 26

Nadia’s father kept his palm on her forehead and studied her eyes. It would have been hot a couple of hours ago, she guessed, but thanks to Mrs. Chimchak’s aspirin it probably wasn’t that hot. She didn’t feel as though she was burning up inside anymore.

Marko stood beside him. The flames from the torch burning in his hand prevented Nadia from seeing his eyes. She wished the torch had died.

“Not that bad,” her father said. “A bit hot. Light fever. Not heavy fever. Not that bad. Is it, Nadia?”

Nadia shook her head right away. “Uh-uh. Not that bad. Not that bad at all.”

Her father patted her on the head. “That’s my girl.”

Marko cleared his throat. “Um, I’m not so sure about that. Looks pretty bad to me.”

Their father ripped Marko a new one with a single glance. “What do you know about the human body, slacker? Except how to abuse it with drugs and alcohol.”

An excruciating cramp wracked Nadia’s stomach. She hated it when her family didn’t get along. Hated it more than anything in the whole world. More than all the girls who picked on her at school and camp put together and multiplied by a hundred.

Her father turned back to her and smiled. “So do you want to stay here through the night and earn your merit badge, or do you want to go home?”

“I want to stay,” Nadia said, knowing this was what her father wanted to hear.

“Good girl,” he said, beaming at her.

Nadia was so happy he smiled at her she was prepared to stay in her lean-to alone for as many nights as necessary, even if it killed her.

Nadia’s father told her he was proud of her. He told her they’d be back to get her at 8:00 a.m., and until then, in accordance with survival test rules, she was on her own.

As they turned to leave, Nadia tried to make eye contact with her brother but it was impossible. She could tell he was looking at her, probably trying to encourage her somehow, but she couldn’t make out his face. Then he turned and followed their father into the woods, and for the first time in her life Nadia felt truly alone.

She crawled back into her sleeping bag and counted bobcats to fall asleep. By one hundred seventeen, a light rain started to fall. By two hundred ten, she drifted asleep. An hour later, she woke up covered in sweat. She felt delirious so she took two aspirin and washed them down with a fresh can of pineapple juice. She ate some Ritz Crackers, too. Ritz Crackers were some of the finest food known to mankind. They never failed to give her a boost and make her happy. But this time she couldn’t taste them. No matter how hard she focused, she couldn’t taste that sugar and salt combo she loved so much. She closed her eyes and counted imaginary bobcats again. They were cute, like kitties but with an extra edge. Her kind of edge…

The two aspirin did the trick. Nadia fell into a deep sleep. So complete was her slumber, she didn’t feel the rain when it fell in sheets from the sky and pelted her sleeping bag. Nor did she hear the crash of thunder, its echo among the trees, or hours later, the sound of unfamiliar footsteps approaching her camp.