Mercifully, this box only contained a few items,and he quickly shuffled through the old school books and opened one ofthem, carefully peeling back its...orange cover to reveal enthusiastichandwriting that had been faded by age. He went to put it back, and as hedid so a picture fell out from the centre pages, loosened with time.He sat down again, and carefully opened the folded page to reveal achildishly drawn picture of three people standing in front of a house. Itwas this house, he could tell. Dad dying when he was little. A new homeacross the country. He's had a lot on his plate."She couldn't help but think what Nicholas might be thinking when she wentupstairs to get the children for dinner. She peaked in first and listenedas they talked and played.She smiled as she heard him make car noises as he pushed the car with hisBarbie and the girls' Barbies as they pretended to go to the movies."Well, I hate to break up the fun, but supper's ready," she said.She marched them downstairs. She. As we approached her, but before we could say a word to Carol, dad said, "Come on, girls. Let's go."He and mom went out the door. Carol looked at us and shrugged in response to our unspoken questions. She only said, "I got your message last night. I almost freaked out when your mom called and told me how she wanted me to dress today. What the hell is going on?!"Lisa and I could only shrug and tell her we have no idea.As we turned to follow my parents outside, Carol asked, "Are we in trouble?"I. She called me out onto the balcony. Stephanie stood against the balcony rail taking in the view. Our room looks out over a garden, onto scrub land and then onto mountains that run from the south coast, West of Marbella, into the Cadiz nature reserve. Even after midnight there was a gray half light in the sky heavy with rain clouds. In the distance, a few cars wound along on the narrow roads, their lights bright against the black of the mountains. They were so far away that no engine noise.