Chapter 2 - June

June thought that she would never feel lonelier than she did the day of her mother's funeral, the day they said goodbye-for-now.

She was wrong.

The loneliest part was after. They had moved a bunch of times since the funeral, never staying in one place long enough to make friends. June changed schools every few months.

Sometimes, renovations would take longer. The third house, that one took almost six months to finish. Her father wasn't happy. Said something about the construction crews taking too long.

Lottie hated the construction crews. They made a lot of noise. In fact, she hated the car, too, so these last two years had been hard on her.

The family car, a beat-up old minivan, screeched to a stop in front of the house. Or, rather, in front of a dirt road that was too narrow to traverse by car.

June jumped out of the car, pulling Lottie with her. "Do we have to walk from here?"

Her father sighed. "I suppose so, kiddos."

It couldn't have been even a quarter-mile, but it seemed to take hours. The summer sun was hot, and there was no shade in sight, either.

As it turned out, the house was an old farmhouse, apparently built in 1875, and remodeled after. It looked angular, with a large roof that came to a sharp point, and a porch that wrapped all the way around the house.

June had to admit, it was one of the better places they had stayed in.

"There's a barn, too;" her father said, as if reading her mind.

Sure enough, June turned to see the barn, big and red and nestled into the hillside, across the big, open field behind the house.

"This one's supposed to be haunted, too;" her father said jokingly. June smiled. It wasn't often that the dad she remembered resurfaced. It seemed to be happening more now, which June took as a good sign.

Maybe the country is exactly what I need for the summer, she thought, a sentiment she would quickly take back as the weather proved to be unbearably hot.

Lottie, however, was in her element, already jumping around. "Let's go play!" she begged, tugging on June's arm.

June sighed, seeing her father's pleading look. "I'll take you. Let's go."

She put her suitcase back in the car, and the two of them ran around to the back of the house, jumping and laughing. The day was just warm and breezy enough to be excellent playing weather.

She didn't feel like herself, but at this point, she wondered, was it a bad thing?

June was so lost in thought that she didn't see which way Lottie was going, until she heard her scream.