Watery Graves by Kelli Bradicich

I’m ahead by 73 points.”
    “We’ll make sure we come back to the game later then,” Maya said, patting the bed. “Sit down for a moment, Em.” Maya looked up at Kristian and Ingrid, then indicated the end of the bed where they’d been for the card game. The two of them looked at each other but obeyed her silent instruction.
    Emmy placed the notebook on the bedside table. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at Ingrid but getting nothing from her mother’s confused expression.
    “Is this a discussion you want the kids here for?” Kristian asked.
    “Of course,” Maya said, reaching out for Sebastian and Emmy’s hands.
    Her hands were cold and bony. Emmy stroked her papery skin with a thumb.
    “You don’t need to say anything Maya. We’re here for you,” Ingrid said.
    Maya shook her head . “I just want to talk about something. About the kids. I’ve been watching them. I think it’s time we let them hang out more in Mercy Falls, maybe without us.”
    “I did that the other day,” Kristian said. “I left them working the markets while I delivered some wine.”
    “But they were stuck together behind a stall with other people watching over them.”
    “It’s not the time to talk about that,” Kristian said. “They want to be here with you.”
    Emmy saw a look pass between Sebastian and Maya, a look that made her stomach surge. It meant they had been talking and planning.
    “They’ve got everything they need here,” Ingrid added. “Look at them. Pink cheeks. Dimples in the right places.”
    Emmy couldn’t help but glance in the mirror and stroke her cheek.
    “I don’t think we’ve done the right thing by keeping the kids holed up here with us,” Maya said.
    “But we’ve all decided on letting the kids work the Sunday markets. They’ve done that a few times now,” Kristian said. “It’s a great way for them to pitch in, too. Right now we need it.”
    “It’s a good start but they need something more,” Maya argued.
    “Emmy hates working the markets,” Sebastian said.
    “See? Emmy hates it,” Ingrid said.
    “She hates it because she can’t handle people,” Sebastian added.
    “See? This is what I’m saying. She needs to know how,” Maya said.
    Kristian and Ingrid stole one of those secret looks, and Emmy’s stomach surged again. Alliances were forming. The people she knew and loved were beginning to see things differently. The last thing she wanted was fights and disagreements. “You can leave me out of it. I’m happy here,” she said.
    Ingrid reached forward and rubbed Emmy’s leg. “It’s okay, Em. If you don’t want to go out there, you don’t have to.”
    Maya coughed, drawing Sebastian’s hand up to her chest, tapping it, and clearing her throat. “We can’t keep running away from everything.”
    “I’ve never run away from anything,” Ingrid protested. “I’ve dealt with death many times before. I’m here because I choose to live in a peaceful place.”
    “Ingrid, it’s a peaceful place to hide,” Kristian said.
    Emmy felt her mother’s hand squeeze her leg. Kristian had changed sides, leaving Emmy and Ingrid to draw closer together with their argument.
    “My brother died in a flood. My boyfriend drowned in the river in a car.  My father died in a fishing accident and my mother was in so much grief she drank herself stupid and drowned. I’ve lost four people to that river.” Ingrid jabbed her finger at the view of the river beyond the open window.
    Emmy held her breath. It was like her mother’s mantra. Emmy no longer listened to it and she could tell that the others felt the same. It was not going to be enough to win this argument anymore.
    Ingrid swallowed, resting her chin on her chest, dark waves of hair falling over her face. Emmy broke away from Maya, edging down the bed to wrap her arms around her mother’s waist. She rested her head in her lap. It was a comfort to Emmy to feel her mother’s breath on her face and to have her hair