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Chapter One

Kendra stared out the sideof the SUV, watching foliage blur past When the flurry of aze on a particular tree, following it as it slowly approached, streaked past, and then gradually receded behind her

Was life like that? You could look ahead to the future or back at the past, but the present moved too quickly to absorb Maybe so an endless two-lane highway through the forested hills of Connecticut

Why didn’t you tell us Grandpa Sorenson lived in India? Seth co into sixth grade

He had groeary of his handheld video game - - evidence that they were on a truly epic drive

Moer Enjoy the scenery

I’h a grocery bag full of snack food Peanut butter and crackers?

Seth reached forward for the crackers Dad, driving, asked for some Almond Roca Last Christmas he had decided that Almond Roca was his favorite candy and that he should have so Nearly sixhis resolution

Do you want anything, Kendra?

I’m fine

Kendra returned her attention to the frantic parade of trees Her parents were leaving on a seventeen-day Scandinavian cruise with all the aunts and uncles on herfor free Not because they’d won a contest They were going on a cruise because Kendra’s grandparents had asphyxiated

Grand relatives in South Carolina The relatives lived in a trailer The trailer had soas leak, and they all died in their sleep Long ago, Grandma and Grandpa Larsen had specified that when they died, all their children and their spouses were to use an allocated surandchildren were not invited

Won’t you get bored stuck on a boat for seventeen days? Kendra asked

Dad glanced at her in the rearview gs, the works

We’re not all that thrilled about the trip, Morandparents envisioned an accidental death when they made this request But we’ll make the best of it

The ship stops in ports as you go, Dad said, deliberately redirecting the conversation You get to diseoing to last seventeen days? Seth asked

We’re nearly there, Dad said

Do we have to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson? asked Kendra

It’ll be fun, Dad said You should feel honored They almost never invite anyone to stay with them

Exactly We barely know them They’re hermits

Well, they were my parents, Dad said Soh forested hills as it passed through a town They idled at a stoplight, and Kendra stared at an overweight wo up her minivan The front windshield of the minivan was dirty, but the wo it

Kendra glanced up front The windshield of the SUV was filthy, seed it when they last stopped to refuel They had driven all the way from Rochester today

Kendra knew that Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson had not invited them to stay She had overheard when Mo the kids stay with him It was at the funeral

The memory of the funeral made Kendra shiver There was a wake beforehand, where Grand caskets Kendra did not like seeing Grandpa Larsen wearing makeup What lunatic had decided that when people died you should hire a taxidermist to fix them up for one final look? She would rotesque display in their Sunday best The Larsens were the grandparents who had been part of her life They had sharedvisits

Kendra could hardly re time with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson They had inherited some estate in Connecticut around the time her parents were married The Sorensons had never invited them to visit, and rarely enerally one or the other They had only coether twice The Sorensons were nice, but their visits had been too infrequent and brief for real bonding to occur Kendra knew that Grande, and that Grandpa had traveled a lot, running a s business That was about it

Everyone was surprised when Grandpa Sorenson showed up at the funeral It had been hteen months since either of the Sorensons had visited He had apologized that his wife could not attend because she was feeling ill There always seemed to be an excuse

Sometimes Kendra wondered if they were secretly divorced

Toward the end of the wake, Kendra overheard Mo Grandpa Sorenson to watch the kids They were in a hallway around a corner fro before she reached the corner, and paused to eavesdrop

Why can’t they stay with Marci?

Nor on the cruise

Kendra peeked around the corner Grandpa Sorenson earing a brown jacket with patches on the elbows and a bow tie

Where are Marci’s kids going?

To her in-laws

What about a baby-sitter?

Two and a half weeks is a long ti them over sometime

Yes, I recall Does it have to be late June? Why not July?

The cruise is on a tiet extra busy around then I don’t know, Kate

I’m out of practice with children

Stan, I don’t want to go on this cruise It was i I don’t e of tears

Grandpa Sorenson sighed I suppose we could find a place to lock them up

Kendra moved away from the hall at that point She had quietly worried about staying with Grandpa Sorenson ever since

Having left the town behind, the SUV cliot lost a low, forested hills Every so often they passed a h the trees; so driveway

They turned onto a narrower road and kept driving

Kendra leaned forward and checked the gas gauge Dad, you’re under a quarter of a tank, she said

We’re almost there We’ll fill up after we drop you kids off

Can’t we come on the cruise? Seth asked We could hide in the lifeboats You could sneak us food

You kids will have much more fun with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson, Mom said Just you wait Give it a chance

Here we are, Dad said

They pulled off the road onto a gravel driveway

Kendra could see no sign of a house, only the driveway angling out of sight into the trees

Tires crunching over the gravel, they passed several signs advertising that they were on private property Other signs warded off trespassers They ca open but could be shut to prevent access