Chapter 1 - The Slap
The rabbit tore with a soft ripping sound just as Sophie whispered, “It’s mine.”
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Sophie stared at the loosened seam beneath one of the white rabbit’s floppy ears, her small fingers locked around its worn body while three-year-old Lily still gripped one dangling leg.
Then Sophie pulled Bunny hard against her chest.
“Mom gave it to me,” she said, and the last word broke in her throat.
Margaret stood beside the cream sofa with her arms folded.
“Sophie. Give your sister the toy.”
“She’s not my sister.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“You know what I mean.”
Lily grabbed Bunny again. Sophie turned to shield it. Lily pulled with all her weight, slipped on the rug, and landed on her bottom.
Sophie immediately bent toward her.
“Are you okay?”
Margaret saw only Lily on the floor.
“You pushed her.”
“I didn’t.”
“You pushed a three-year-old over a stuffed animal.”
“I didn’t push her!”
Margaret crossed the room.
Her open hand struck Sophie across the cheek.
The sound was small.
That was what Rachel would remember later. Not a dramatic crack. Just a flat little sound in a beautiful room.
Sophie’s head turned. Her body followed half a step later.
She touched her cheek.
“I want my mom,” she whispered.
The front door opened.
Rachel entered carrying her laptop bag, keys, and a paper sack of blueberry muffins. Her client meeting had been canceled. She had come home early.
She stopped inside the doorway.
Sophie was holding her cheek.
Lily sat on the rug.
Bunny lay between them.
Margaret stood close enough that Rachel did not need anyone to explain the geometry of the room.
Her keys slipped from her hand.
“Sophie?”
“Mom.”
Rachel crossed the room and dropped to her knees. Sophie collided with her so hard Rachel nearly fell backward.
“Hey. I’ve got you.”
Rachel saw the red color rising along Sophie’s cheek.
“Sweetheart, who did this?”
Margaret spoke first.
“This has gotten completely out of proportion.”
Rachel looked at her.
“The girls were fighting.”
“I didn’t,” Sophie said into Rachel’s shoulder.
Margaret exhaled. “It was a toy.”
Sophie lifted her wet face.
“No, it wasn’t.”
Rachel wiped beneath her daughter’s eye.
“Did she hit you?”
Sophie glanced at Margaret.
“Yes.”
Rachel stood.
Her voice was quiet.
“Get out of my house.”
Margaret blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.”
Rachel bent to pick up Bunny.
The torn seam beneath its ear had opened wider.
Something hard pressed against the thin fabric from inside.
Rachel touched it.
Margaret’s face changed.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“Rachel,” she said quickly. “Give me the rabbit.”
Rachel slowly looked up.
“Why?”
Margaret took one step toward her.
And Rachel understood something far worse than the slap.
Margaret already knew there was something inside Bunny.
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