“Uh, guys. I don’t think this is such a good idea -” Zac began.
“Get the door,” Taylor said, ignoring his younger brother’s protests.
With a small sigh, Zac did as his brother had indicated and watched as Ike and Taylor laid a strange girl on their couch. She was probably about as tall as Tay standing up, Zac decided, and that was probably why his brothers were having so much trouble carrying her. She was in a pair of short jean shorts and an oversized white tank top. Hiking shoes covered her feet.
Zac shrugged. Taylor was pretty reasonable. If he was dragging some strange girl into their living room, there had to be a good reason for it. Hadn’t there?
“All right, Tay,” Isaac said when the girl was finally propped safely on the couch, “would you mind telling me why we just carried this girl into our house?”
Tucking his hair behind his ears with his pointer fingers, Taylor fixed his gaze into the corner. “I . . . She . . .”
“Taylor,” Isaac began.
“Ike, she passed out! What were we supposed to do? Leave her out there?” The thought was reasonable, and he hoped the words had come out likewise.
The oldest boy let out a sigh. “Taylor,” he breathed.
Zac didn’t like the sound of this. The last thing he needed was a stranger in the house and his brothers going spaztic on each other. “Uh, shouldn’t we, like, try and wake her up or something?” he suggested quickly.
Taylor nodded at his little brother. “Yeah, Zac, that’s a good idea. Maybe we should . . . I dunno -”
“Splash water on her face?” the youngest boy suggested eagerly.
“Zac,” Isaac began reasonably.
Taylor ignored his brothers. All he could concentrate on was the girl. The cheek bones, the way her hair fell around her face, her eye lashes - everything. But it can’t be, Taylor thought rationally.
“Who is she, anyway?” Zac asked, as if reading Taylor’s thoughts.
“I don’t know,” Tay said too quickly. “Zac, where’s that water?” he added, trying to change the subject.
“That won’t work,” Isaac sighed. “This isn’t TV.”
“Then what do we do?” Taylor demanded.
“Does she have a pulse?” Isaac asked slowly. Tay checked and nodded. “Is she breathing?” Again, Taylor checked and nodded. “Then she’ll live.”
Taylor rolled his eyes. “Yeah, real compassionate, Ike.”
Isaac threw his hands up. “What do you want from me?” he asked. “I can’t do much, all right? I’m sorry.”
Taylor sighed. “I know.”
“She’s awake!” Zac called from the living room.
In an instant, Taylor was in the room. He watched as the girl opened her eyes and looked around, bewildered. Finally, her eyes landed on Tay and Zac and she sat up abruptly.
“Where am I?” she demanded.
Taylor took a step toward her. “Well, I kind of figured you might know since you were looking in my bedroom window,” he said slowly.
“I . . . I thought that . . . I was looking for . . .” the girl stuttered.
Just then, Isaac walked into the room. “Oh, she’s awake,” he said obviously. “So, have you figured out who she is yet?”
Zac turned to the girl on the couch and asked, “Yeah, who are you, anyway?”
The girl looked at Zac as if he were speaking a foreign language. She then looked from his face to Isaac’s and finally to Taylor’s. After staring blankly at him for a moment, she muttered something inaudible.
“What?” Zac asked eagerly. “We couldn’t hear you.”
“Zac,” Taylor whispered harshly. Zac just looked at his brother, held his hands out, and shrugged.
“Missy. My name is Missy Sheffield,” the girl repeated.
Taylor gave her an odd look. “Missy Sheffield?” he asked.
The girl - Missy - gave Taylor an odd look in return. “Yes. Missy Sheffield. Were you expecting someone else?” she asked.
“I . . .” the middle boy began. “Um, I . . . No. I just . . .”
Isaac cleared his throat. “Um, Missy? Would you mind telling us what you were doing in our back yard?”
Missy looked around awkwardly. “I’m kind of lost,” she said finally. “I thought this was someone else’s house.”
“Who were you looking for?” Zac asked. Ever the tactful one, Taylor thought with an inward smile.
Missy didn’t seem to notice. Instead, she gave a little smile toward the youngest boy. “My sister,” she said simply.
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