“You need to tell an adult, Alan,” she said, wrapping his new little thumb in gauze she’d taken from her pocket.“My father knows. My mother knows.” He sat with his head between his knees, not daring to look at her, in his nook in the winter cave.She just looked at him, squinting.“They count,” he said. “They understand it.”She shook her head.“They understand it better than any adult you know would. This will get better on its own, Marci. Look.” He wiggled his thumb at her. It was now the size of the tip of his pinky, and had a well-formed nail and cuticle.“That’s not all that has to get better,” she said. “You can’t just let this fester. Your brother. Thatthingin the cave… ” She shook her head. “Someone needs to know about this. You’re not safe.”“Promise me you won’t tell anyone, Marci. This is important. No one except you knows, and that’s how it has to be. If you tell—”“What?” She got up and pulled her coat on. “What, Alan? If I tell and try to help you, what will you do to me?”“I don’t know,” he mumbled into his chest.“Well, you do whatever you have to do,” she said, and stomped out of the cave.
“You need to tell an adult, Alan,” she said, wrapping his new little thumb in gauze she’d taken from her pocket.
“My father knows. My mother knows.” He sat with his head between his knees, not daring to look at her, in his nook in the winter cave.
She just looked at him, squinting.
“They count,” he said. “They understand it.”
She shook her head.
“They understand it better than any adult you know would. This will get better on its own, Marci. Look.” He wiggled his thumb at her. It was now the size of the tip of his pinky, and had a well-formed nail and cuticle.
“That’s not all that has to get better,” she said. “You can’t just let this fester. Your brother. Thatthingin the cave… ” She shook her head. “Someone needs to know about this. You’re not safe.”
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone, Marci. This is important. No one except you knows, and that’s how it has to be. If you tell—”
“What?” She got up and pulled her coat on. “What, Alan? If I tell and try to help you, what will you do to me?”
“I don’t know,” he mumbled into his chest.
“Well, you do whatever you have to do,” she said, and stomped out of the cave.