How to Get Dirt (15 page)

David walked over
to grab
her hand
. Slowly, Pickles
teetered to her feet. Once she was
sure she
was not going to
fall over, she took a step forward
. It was only as she came back to
reality she
realized she
smelled eggs and bacon. Her stomach rumbled loud
enough even
David heard it.

“
Hungry?
”
David asked.

“
I didn
'
t hav
e dinner yesterday,
”
she said
without thinking about it.

Heat filled her face and she clamped her mouth shut. David didn
'
t say anything
as he led
her down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom floor, she saw Miranda cooking eggs in a frying pan. When Miranda
saw Pickles, her eyes brightened. On the counter next to Miranda
stood
a glass of water
next to
a fat blue pill
.
They were waiting for me
, Pickles realized.

“
Sit down
.
I
'
ll get you your pill and a plate,
”
David said.

Pickles nodded
then
sat down at the table
cradling
her head. A moment later David
returned. A plate full of bacon and eggs steamed in one of his hands, smelling delicious even though
Pickles
'
felt her head might crack just like the egg in her breakfast
.
In his other hand, he held a glass of ice water. When David placed the plate down,
the
fat blue pill
had been moved to
the rim of her plate.
David then sat beside her with a
piece
of buttered toast with strawberry jelly.

“
So do you want the good news or bad news first?
”
David asked.

Suddenly, Pickles didn
'
t feel hungry anymore. After last night, it was
no surprise she would receive bad news
. They were going to send her back. She was so
sick she
couldn
'
t even feel her legs.

“
When should I pack my things?
”
Pickles asked.

David
'
s eyes widened
.
Then
he
reached out and
covered
Pickles
'
hand with his own.

“
The good news first,
”
Miranda said quickly from behind them.

With a bang,
Miranda
placed the skillet on the stove and then rounded the counter
. She
turned on her laptop. While she did this, David smiled at Pickles reassuringly.

“
The good news is way better than the bad news,
”
David said.

“
Alright,
”
Miranda said, grinning.
“
I got it. Pickles, I have something I want to show you.
”

Spinning the computer around, Miranda pointed at the screen. It took Pickles a moment to focus, but when she did, her heart
thudded hard
in excitement. On the computer
screen
were adoption papers
. Her adoption papers. They were dated two weeks
before
.

“
You
'
re going to adopt me?
”
Pickles asked.

She was so
happy tears
threatened to burst from her eyes.

“
I
'
m
sorry we
didn
'
t say anything to you,
”
Miranda said.
“
It takes so long for the paperwork to be finalized
and we didn
'
t want you to get your hopes up
.
Also,
with how much you sp
eak
with Mrs. Beazley, I thought she might have men
tioned
the
fact
we were
moving forward with the
process
to adopt you
. It was a bad mistake
to not tell you our decision, even if the papers aren
'
t through yet
. I shouldn
'
t have left you in such a state of confusion, especially after me
finding out I
'
m
preg
nant.
”

David grinned.
“
You
are our child, whether blood relation or not. I was the one
who
was uncertain at first. I wasn
'
t sure if I could love a child
who
wasn
'
t my own, but when I took you in to
work with me, I loved you then.
”

“
Even though
a
baby
is
coming?
”
she asked.
“
You still want me, even though you get to have a baby of your own?
”

“
Every baby needs a reliable older sibling,
”
David said, ruffling her hair.
“
I give that job to you.
”

Miranda grinned.
“
That
'
s right.
And… w
e were even thinking of
celebrating
your adoption day as your official birthday, since you said you couldn
'
t remember your real one.
”

Tears broke free. She wasn
'
t going to have to leave. She was going to get to stay with David and Miranda
. On
top of that, she was going to get to have a sibling too.

“
Thank you so much,
”
she said, shaking with joy.
“
A family. I have a real family.
”

With a grin, David leaned over and hugged her. Miranda wound around the table and hugged her too. She could have stayed with them that way for forever.

It was
then she
realized something.

“
Um, what
is
the bad news?
”
she asked, finding it hard to
imagine anything
could be truly bad, if she got to keep her family.

“
You broke the rules, so you
'
re grounded for two weeks,
”
David said.

“
Two weeks? With just you two?
”
Pickles grinned.
“
I think I can live with that.
”

Then Pickles threw back her head and laughed
. The Harrises
laughed with her. She knew at that moment that she was the happiest person on earth.

 

 

S.E. Campbell
had her first book publish
ed at the age of seventeen. Now, at twenty, she is still wacking away at her computer, one day at a time. When she isn't reading or writing, she likes to dance, take karate lessons, and run. After all, you never know when you're about to be sucked into another world.

 

 

 

Prologue

 

Osier Schmidt stood inside of a graveyard, his hand perched on his belly. There was a flask of liquor in his fat, clenched fist, and he gazed at a gravestone in front of him. It belonged to Eden Schmidt, his daughter. He gritted his teeth and then pivoted to peer at the headstone next to that. It belonged to Rebecca Schmidt, his wife.

He took another chug of his drink. It dulled the edges of his mind, causing everything to be a blur. The world became softe
r in this haze, and he preferred it that way. It wasn't like he had a job, or anything else, to be presentable for.
Alone. All alone.
He peered at the tombstones again. Chances were good it was entirely his fault his daughter had died.

The sound of voices in the distance caused him to turn around and look up at the rolling hills covered with gravestones. A massive crowd was forming at the top of the hill. Curiosity sparked inside of him as well as the feeling of intense loneliness. He peered down at himself and knew he was not presentable for such a gathering. Osier wore a white T-shirt stained with beer and a pair of loose shorts. Sweat ran down his back.

I'll just have a look.
He sighed and headed up the hill. Halfway up, his breathing became strained. He
could hardly breathe.

At the top of the hill, he spotted a beautiful brunette woman wearing all black clutching her face. Tears streamed down her cheek. He guessed she was a widow or a parent. At her side was a cold-eyed man. Osier made his way through the large crowd and stared down at a dark brown casket. There was a picture of the deceased person on a piece of board by the grave. To him, it appeared cruel to have a picture of such a young, beautiful girl displayed so prominently when everybody knew hers was a face they would never see again. But what did he know? At one time he'd thought he knew everything, but now he was well aware he didn't know anything at all. As he clenched his fists and continued to look at the picture, he sighed.

A collective gasp from the people who had gathered interrupted his thoughts. He spun around, frowning. Even the beautiful brunette woman had stopped weeping. A flash of white erupted from beyond the crowd.

What's going on?
He leaned forward, curious.

A girl stepped forward, through the throng. His breath caught in his throat as he saw who stood before him, shrouded in white, with long golden hair trickling down her back.

It was Eden, the daughter he had lost twenty years ago.

 

Chapter One

 

Twenty years earlier…

Sixteen-year-old Eden stared wide-eyed at their new house. It was beautiful, though a little run-down. It was painted ivy green, the roof was black, and there was a surfboard planted in the yellowing grass. She touched a part of the fence that surrounded the house and gasped when it toppled with a loud bang.

Shoot. Mom was going to kill her. She twisted around to check and see if her mom, Rebecca, had noticed what she'd done, but she hadn't. Rebecca was struggling out of the rental truck with her fat pink purse in hand, landing on her feet with a thump before wobbling dangerously on her high heels. She walked forward, stopped on the sidewalk, and peered at the house with her hand shading her eyes.

"Goodness. It's not much, is it?"

Eden shrugged. "I don't know. I think it has its charms."

Her mother shrugged and headed back to the moving van. When she reached the back door, she stared at the handle as if it were her enemy.

"Eden, would you mind opening the door for me? I just got my nails done. I don't want to chip them."

Eden shrugged and walked forward, seized the bottom of the door, and heaved it upward with a grunt. The physical effort it took to open the door made her pant. She only weighed a hundred pounds and was shocked the door hadn't taken her with it.