Read Online A Thread Unbroken by Kay Bratt - Free Book Online Page B

him, palms up in a peace stance.
    “That fat toad? Do they really think I would marry
him
?”
    Behind her Josi let out a quiet giggle.
    “I don’t know; don’t be mad at me.” He lowered his voice even more. “I’ll give you a piece of advice. When my brother gets mouthy with you, don’t respond. Just ignore it. Trying to spar with him is like poking a caged tiger. He’s mean. And he’ll find a way every time to make you regret messing with him.”
    Chai crossed her arms, shaking her head. “I’m not afraid of your brother. He’d better stay away from me and Josi.”
    “Please just trust me—don’t push him too far. But listen,” he looked over toward Josi. “If she’s afraid of the dark and you don’t want to waste the kerosene in your lantern, I can fix the roof so you can see the moon.” His voice was hopeful, and he waited for her to respond.
    “How are you going to do that? And without waking your parents?”
    “I helped put this room together. Some of the metal didn’t match up, so we tied a tarp on top to keep the rain out. I can flip the corner of the tarp up where the hole is. Wait here.” He got up and went outside.
    The girls heard a few creaks and shuffles, then a beam of moonlight shone down from a place in the roof. They looked up to see Tao peeking in, smiling down at them, his face eerie in the dim light.
    “See. I told you.” Then he disappeared from view and in a second appeared in their doorway again.
    Josi looked up at the small piece of sky and smiled at the moon and stars surrounding it.
    “
Aiyo.
Wow,” Tao said, letting out a low whistle.
    “What?”
    “She sure is pretty when she smiles.” He blushed and turned around, going out the door. He closed it behind him, and they heard the lock click into place.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
    T he woman dumped another bucket of cold water over Josi’s head.
    “I told you
I
can wash her hair.” Chai stood behind her, hands on her hips, furious at the woman’s callous treatment of her best friend.
    “And I told you that I’m going to make sure you girls don’t bring anything into my home. My boys have never had head bugs or any other filthy disease, and I have no idea where you came from or what either of you are carrying.”
    Josi stayed still, bent over the side of the deck, with her hair dripping into the water. Chai could see by the way Josi was standing that she was embarrassed and just wanted it to be over.
    “Well, I’m going to wash my own hair. You can stand over there and watch me.” As soon as the woman released Josi, Chai reached for the bucket and went to the hose and filled it up. She first dunked her head down into the bucket to wet it and then lathered it up using the shampoo the woman had brought out with her.
    Josi stood beside her, picking through her hair with her fingers, trying to pull out the tangles without the benefit of a combor brush. She wasn’t given a towel to soak up the water, so she used her hands to wring it out over and over until it stopped dripping.
    “Get closer to your neckline.” The woman stood over Chai.
    “I will! Give me a minute,” Chai challenged back, her voice muffled as she bent over the side and scrubbed her head. “And if you want us to be presentable, give us back our brush.”
    Their bags of supplies that had been with them during the first part of their unwanted trip had disappeared, and the girls weren’t sure who had taken them.
    The woman stomped into the house and returned with a small plastic comb. “I don’t have your brush, but here’s a comb. Don’t lose it, because you won’t get another one.” She handed the comb to Josi.
    “That’s so nice of you,” Chai said.
    “Don’t get sassy with me, girl. Next is bath time. Do I need to watch over you as you bathe?”
    Chai turned her head to the side, peeking out at the woman through her long, wet hair to see if she was serious.
    The woman chuckled at her expression then winked at her. “I’m going to give