“Julia, you’re okay, I promise,” the voice was saying. She turned her head to see a nice-looking man, also dressed all in black, kneeling behind her. “We got him. There’s nothing else to be scared of. Are you all right?”
He had very pretty eyes, and he was looking at her like they were old friends, like he’d always been there to protect her. Her heart was still pounding, but she managed to ask, “Who… who are you?”
“We’re the good guys,” the lady was saying. She was next to her now as well. “Hold still, sweetheart. You have a little bit of glass in your hair.” And then she slowly began to pick pieces of glass out of Julia’s long blond tresses. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked as she took out the last piece.
Julia couldn’t answer, but she nodded a sharp yes.
“Good. Why don’t you have a seat on the couch, and I’ll get you a glass of water. Your mom will be home in just a minute,” the woman was saying as she stood and crossed to the kitchen.
Julia looked at the man, and he smiled softly at her, handing her phone to her. “Don’t worry. We won’t leave you alone until she gets here. Okay?”
“Okay,” Julia agreed. With his help, she pulled herself to her feet and managed to step over to the couch. He pulled the throw blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around her. Julia realized she was still shaking. As the woman offered her the glass of water, she did her best to steady her hand, but it was useless. With the woman’s help, she was finally able to get the glass to her lips.
“I’ll get the Extracto,” Aaron said quietly as Cadence sat down next to Julia on the couch. She was slowly rubbing the young girl’s back. Julia’s eyes followed as he unlocked the front door and stepped out onto the porch. The glass in the top of the door was almost completely gone, the wind whipping in, but very little of the rain thanks to the overhang.
He was only gone for a moment, and then he returned with what looked like a Dustbuster in his hand. “Julia, this is going to be a little loud, but it will only be on for a second, okay? You might want to cover your ears.”
It wasn’t particularly loud, but under the circumstances, Julia’s nerves were shot, and as he turned on the device, her hands flew to her ears. The woman still sat next to her, her arm around Julia’s shoulders protectively.
When he was done, Cadence asked, “What’s the plan?”
“I saw a piece of plywood leaning against the garage we can use to cover the door, but as for the explanation, I’m not sure. We could maybe call in a local,” Aaron replied.
“What about…” Cadence asked, nodding her head in the direction of the porch.
“Do you think?” Aaron asked.
“Worth a try,” Cadence replied.
Aaron seemed to consider the idea for a moment before shrugging and going back out the front door, Extracto in hand. In a moment, he returned, and this time he wasn’t alone. There was another man with him. This one looked younger--and maybe a little frightened himself. “Hey, Julia! I’m Brandon” he said quietly, gently. “How are you?”
Cadence kept her arm around the girl, and Aaron went out to get the plywood and begin to patch the door. Julia’s eyes shifted from one face to the other. “I’m… scared,” Julia replied. “What was that thing?”
“That thing?” the boy asked. “Oh, no! Has someone been watching too many Halloween movies?” he asked as he sat down next to her on the couch.
Julia’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?” she asked, turning to face him.
“The glass in your door was broken by all that hail that was falling a few minutes ago. You came down to see what was happening, and it broke right in front of you. That must have been really scary! But that’s all that happened. And then, we stopped by to help you. We live in the neighborhood, and we just wanted to check and make sure you were okay.”
Julia was puzzled. She looked at the door. The glass was broken, but now that man--her neighbor--was fixing it. He was nailing a piece of plywood over the hole. The hole that was made by… by… hail. Right, it was made by hail. And this lady--she was Julia’s neighbor. She had just stopped by to check on her. How nice. “Oh, right,” Julia said quietly. “Hail broke the door.”
Cadence’s eyes widened. It was working--it was actually working! Behind Julia’s back, she smiled at Brandon. “That’s right,” she agreed. “Hail broke the window. But everything’s okay now.”
There was a noise in the driveway, the flash of headlights, and the slam of a car door. The rain was dying down now, but the footsteps to the back door were still hasty. The key in the lock caused all three of them to turn their heads. “Julia?” her mother yelled. “Whose car is that out there?”
This would be the true test. With a hard swallow, Brandon stood. “Hello, Ms., uh….”
“Cannon,” Cadence offered.
“Cannon,” Brandon repeated. “We are your neighbors. The… Steins. I’m Brandon. This is my sister, Cadence, and her husband Aaron is currently fixing your back glass.”
“What the hell is going on?” Ms. Cannon asked, tossing her purse down on the kitchen table and rushing into the living room. The power was still out, and she could use only the fading lightning to ascertain who was in her living room.
“We were driving by and noticed that the hail broke the glass in your front door,” he continued. “So, we decided to stop and see if everything was okay. Julia was here alone, and she was scared. So, my sister decided to come in and make sure she was okay. You remember us. We live in the … white house...down the street. We met at the school picnic last year.”
Cadence held her breath. This seemed like a huge stretch--he was offering too much information.
