Deadly Designs (Design Series) by Dale Mayer Page B

and breathed a sigh of relief. There were no vehicles in sight.
    She headed to the kitchen. They might have lucked out this time, but her parents could return at any time. In the kitchen she tried to find food that she could grab easily and take to her hungry guests. She collected a box of granola bars, a pound of cheese and a loaf of bread. After further hunting, she found a package of ham, a bag of apples and a bag of mini carrots. There was also a full jug of orange juice. With her large haul, she raced back up to her bedroom.
    Just in time.
    A rising caterwaul shrieked through the bedroom door.
    "Eric. Open the door." It opened immediately, making her suspicious he'd been at the point of coming after her.
    His eyes lit up at the food. She came in and dumped the food on the bed. Immediately the rodent bounced to the middle of the pile sniffing the items.
    Eric raced over. "Oh no you don't." He tried to brush the animal back. The little girl, whose eyes had grown huge at the sight of the food, opened her mouth, her bottom lip trembling. "Uh, Storey. Over here, uh, like now."
    Storey walked over, smiled at the girl, and opened the loaf of bread, without any butter, she slapped some ham in between two slices of bread and handed it to the child. The girl took it, her eyes huge. She looked at the sandwich and then stared up at Storey.
    "I don't think she recognizes it as food."
    "I'm not sure I do either, but if you make one for me, I'll be happy to demonstrate."
    Storey slid him a quick look. "You don't have ham and bread in your dimension?"
    "Our bread isn't white. It's dark and full of seeds and grains. And ham, no, I don't know it." She made him one and handed it over. Eric held it up to catch the little girl's attention then took a big bite and chewed. Her face lit up and she tore into her sandwich.
    Storey made herself one. Looking around her bedroom, her gaze lit on the glass of water she kept beside her bed. Getting up, she dumped the contents in the sad looking plant pot. She brought the glass over and filled it with orange juice and handed it to the girl.
    "We need to find a name to call her," Storey mumbled around bites.
    "Tammy."
    Storey looked up at him in surprise. "Is that her name?"
    "Don't know. But she looks like a Tammy."
    "That's fine with me, but that doesn't mean she'll answer to it."
    "I think you need to show her what to do with that drink." Storey spun around to find Tammy had poked her finger into the juice.
    "Oh crap." Storey lifted the glass to Tammy's mouth. Automatically, Tammy opened up and took a drink. And coughed several times. So much for being quiet.
    Storey waited for a moment to make sure she was going to be fine, and held up the glass again. "Try it again."
    This time Tammy drank eagerly, downing half the glass in one gulp.
    "Any for me?"
    She answered, "We can drink from the bottle."
    Eric raised an eyebrow. He studied the bottle and lifted it to his own mouth. She watched the emotions play across his face as he tasted orange juice, and from the look on his face, maybe for the first time.
    His face scrunched up, making her laugh. "It's orange juice," she said. "Made from oranges."
    "Oranges?"
    Oh boy. This was going to be fun. And she so didn't have time. In between bites of her sandwich, she explained. When done eating, she walked through her room and collected several changes of clothing, stuffing things into a much larger backpack she dragged out of her closet. Then she added several sketchbooks and a zip up jacket. Turning around, she perused her room taking in the familiar items of her childhood. Every time she left, she wondered if she'd ever come home again. "Is it safe to leave you three alone for a few minutes while I go wash up?"
    Eric, in the middle of making a second sandwich, looked up guiltily. "Sure. We'll be fine." He slapped the second slice of bread onto the rest and Tammy snatched it out of his fingers. His look of astonishment had Storey laughing aloud.
    "Good. Make