PART 4
The director didn’t answer.
“Rebecca,” she said quietly, “your daughter has been asking the same question for three weeks.”
“What question?”
“Who was the sixth child?”
I looked at Mia.
She was no longer pretending not to listen.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
I walked toward her.
“Mia.”
She looked down.
“Mom…”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her lower lip trembled.
“Because I thought you would make me leave.”
I knelt in front of her.
“Leave the camp?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t want to go home.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised him.”
My heart stopped.
“Promised who?”
Mia looked toward the old photograph.
Then she whispered:
“The boy in the picture.”
I stood slowly.
“What boy?”
Mia reached into her backpack.
She pulled out a small envelope.
It was old.
Yellowed.
The edges were torn.
She handed it to me.
“I found this underneath the floorboard in Cabin Seven.”
My hands shook as I opened it.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
I unfolded it carefully.
There were only two sentences.
If anyone ever finds this, don’t trust the story they tell you about what happened to me.
And underneath:
Daniel knows the truth.
My entire body went cold.
Daniel.
My husband.
The director stepped closer.
“That letter is why I asked you to stay.”
I looked at her.
“You knew about this?”
“No.”
“Then why did you say you didn’t want children like my daughter here?”
The director’s expression changed.
For the first time, she looked ashamed.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
She looked toward Cabin Seven.
“Because your daughter found something we have spent seventeen years trying to forget.”
Silence fell between us.
I turned toward Mia.
“What happened in Cabin Seven?”
Mia wiped her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you promise someone?”
She hesitated.
“Because I met him.”
My heart pounded.
“You met who?”
“The boy.”
“The boy from the photograph?”
Mia nodded.
“But Mom…”
She looked terrified.
“He wasn’t a boy anymore.”
The director stepped backward.
“What did you say?”
Mia looked directly at her.
“He was an old man.”
The director’s face went completely pale.
Mia continued.
“He found me near the lake on my second week here.”
I grabbed her hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he told me not to.”
“Why?”
“He said the camp would make me leave if they knew.”
The director whispered, “Where did you meet him?”
Mia pointed toward the woods.
“Behind Cabin Seven.”
The director immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Mia looked at her.
“He said his name was Thomas.”
The director froze.
I watched her face.
She knew that name.
“Who is Thomas?” I asked.
The director didn’t answer.
“Who is Thomas?”
Finally, she whispered:
“Thomas was one of the campers in that photograph.”
I looked at the photograph again.
Five boys.
One face scratched out.
Daniel.
And Thomas.
The director took the photograph from my hand.
“Thomas disappeared in 2009.”
Mia’s eyes widened.
“He didn’t disappear.”
The director stared at her.
“What?”
“He’s alive.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Mia reached into her backpack again.
This time she pulled out a small metal key.
She placed it in my palm.
“He gave me this.”
The director stared at the key.
Her face changed instantly.
“Where did she get that?”
“Thomas gave it to me,” Mia said.
“What does it open?”
The director took a step toward us.
But before she could reach the key, a loud sound came from the direction of Cabin Seven.
Bang.
All three of us turned.
Another sound followed.
Bang.
Then silence.
Mia squeezed my hand.
“That’s where he told me to go.”
I looked at the director.
She looked terrified.
“What is inside Cabin Seven?” I asked.
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she whispered:
“Nothing.”
Mia shook her head.
“That’s not true.”
The director looked at her.
Mia’s voice became steady.
“There is a room underneath it.”
The director’s face drained of color.
I looked from my daughter to the cabin.
“A room underneath the cabin?”
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