Chapter 7 - The Steeple Light Past the Snow
I stood on the sidewalk with Lily's hand in mine and tried to pick somewhere. Houses went both ways and every porch looked far. The sky had gone flatter and grayer and the snow didn't sparkle anymore.
Dad drove us past the church on Sundays sometimes when Mom was working. I remembered the parking lot because it was big and empty and he let me count the white lines. He'd said if we ever got lost, head for the steeple. I could see it now over the roofs, a white point with a light on it.
"We're going to the church," I said. I tugged her glove a little. "It's this way. You remember the parking lot?"
Lily shook her head. Her pom hat slipped down and I pushed it back up. Her cheeks were red in a way that didn't look good.
We started walking again. I kept my eyes on the steeple and kept us moving toward it. The sidewalk was wet under the snow and my boots slipped. I held Lily closer so she wouldn't slide into the street. Cars went past with their headlights on now. Nobody slowed down.
"You see the light?" I said. "We just walk to the light."
She nodded against my arm. Her bunny dragged in the snow and she lifted it up slow, like her arm was heavy. I kept talking because when I talked she kept her eyes open.
"Dad said you can see it from real far," I said. "He said count the lines in the lot. Remember? One, two, three."
Lily whispered, "One," but didn't say two.
The houses thinned out and then there was the brick wall and the sign. The parking lot opened up wide and black with snow pushed to the sides. One tall light buzzed over the empty spaces. At the far end the church doors sat under a small yellow light. Everything else was dark.
Lily stopped at the edge where the sidewalk met the lot. "Emma," she said. She sounded scared of the big open blacktop.
"It's okay," I said. "Hold my hand tighter. We'll walk around the edge where it's not icy."
We stepped off the sidewalk onto the lot. The snow crunched louder there. The wind hit harder with no houses to block it. Lily pulled her chin down into her snowsuit and hunched her shoulders. I tried to walk faster but she couldn't.
Halfway across she caught her boot on a frozen rut. She went forward hard and I grabbed for her coat. We both went to our knees. She cried out, more surprised than hurt, and her bunny slipped out of her mitten and landed in the slush.
I got it before she could even reach. I wiped the snow off with my glove and checked its ears and face. The tan fur was wet and darker on one side. I tucked it back into her arms and held her mittens around it.
"Got it," I said. My breath shook. "See? I got Bunny. He's okay."
She pressed her face into it and cried a little. I stayed kneeled with her until she stopped. My pants got wet through at the knees and the cold bit in fast.
"Up," I said. "Come on, Lily. We're almost to the light."
I pulled her up and we went the rest of the way slow. The yellow light over the doors got bigger. I could see the wreath on one of the doors and the handles and the little sign with service times. The windows were dark inside. The office window on the side was dark too.
I tried the middle door anyway. I reached up and pulled. Locked. I tried the one next to it. Locked. I knocked and waited, but nothing moved inside. No footsteps. No light clicked on.
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Lily leaned against my leg and held Bunny up to her cheek. The lot was empty all around us except for our footprints coming back across it.
"We're here," I said, quiet, because I didn't know what else to say. I looked from the dark doors to the buzzing parking light to her face. "Stay by me, okay?"
