The remains

Chapter 72

We emerge from out of the house in the woods arm in arm.

I’m still crying. But Molly is not. I know she’s convinced that the monster is dead. Even I believe he’s dead.

Molly is a rock.

She shushes me, tells me it’s going to be okay. She leads me through the woods, to the sound of water running brusquely over rocks.

When we come to the stream bank, she sets me down. She makes like a cup with her right hand, reaches into the stream and brings a handful of the water to my mouth.

“ Drink,” she says.

I do as she tells me.

The crystal clear water is cold, life renewing. It tastes pure, sweet.

In my mind I see him, what he tried to do to us. I’m sure he’s dead, but I’m frightened he’ll come back for us. But I say nothing about it. So long as Molly is with me, I can bear anything.

“ Don’t worry,” she insists. “The monster is dead now.”

She tells me to lie back. She dips her hand in the water once more, then brings the wet hand to my face. I can smell her hands. She runs her fingers through my hair, over my eyes and lips. She washes my neck and arms. She touches me softly, bathes my body and my legs. Finally, she washes my feet with the cold stream water. When she is done, she sets her own feet into the stream and washes her own body. I watch her wash her hair with the water until it is dripping wet.

When we are washed we sit on the bank in silence, allowing ourselves to dry in the cool air. Although we are shivering from the cold we don’t feel it. We feel only the recent memory of that afternoon. We feel a pain like we have never felt before and never will again. We never talk about saying anything to our parents about the attacks. It’s already implied that we’ll remain silent about exploring dark woods our father forbade us to enter.

As the sun begins to set, Molly takes my hand and leads me to the place in the rocky stream where we can easily cross.

She kisses me on the forehead.

“ I am you,” she says. “And you are me.”

Together, we head for home through the trees.