After the Fire Read Online Free

at a small cabin made of weathered gray boards. It was their first proper view of the lake and Sharlene slowed the truck so they could have a good look. In front of the cabin the water was a dark emerald green, but farther out it was speckled with bright sunlight.
    They passed two more cabins. One was tall and thin with an upper story, and the other had a shiny tin roof. The road veered away from the lake for a few minutes and then turned back toward the water, coming to a sudden end at a grassy clearing beside a log cabin.
    â€œThis must be it,” said Sharlene. She pulled up beside a tree and turned off the truck. “Okay, everybody out!”
    They climbed stiffly out of the truck. Sharlene gave a huge stretch. Melissa’s heart thudded as she looked around. They were going to spend a whole month here?
    The cabin was long and narrow. Tall pine trees sheltered the back and sides. At the front was a porch and below that an expanse of dry brown grass that sloped right to the edge of the lake. A dock jutted out into the water, with an overturned red canoe resting on the end. Straight across from them on the other side of the lake, the sun blazed low in the sky, ready to dip behind a steep forested hillside. Melissa used her hands to shade her eyes from the glare on the water. A little way down the lake, she could see a small island covered in trees.
    A squirrel chattered shrilly in the branches above her, making her jump. She hugged her arms to her chest while Sharlene opened the screen door on the side of the cabin and fiddled with a key. Silently she followed Sharlene and Cody inside.
    Melissa had a first impression of dark log walls, a big black woodstove that she had to step around and a thick musty smell. Then Sharlene pulled back the curtains on the two big front windows and opened a door in between that led out to the porch. The setting sun streamed in.
    The room was filled with furniture: a kitchen table with chairs, an old saggy couch with a plaid blanket draped over the back, a rocking chair and a couple of armchairs. There was a brown counter with wooden cupboards above and below. Assorted raincoats and thick fleeces hung on hooks beside the door. In one corner there was a rubber mat with a pair of boots on it, and under the windows were shelves with rows of paperback books, board games and jigsaw puzzles. At the end were two small bedrooms, their doors open. Melissa spotted bunk beds in one and a double bed in the other.
    â€œIt smells in here,” said Cody. His face puckered in a frown.
    â€œI don’t think so,” said Sharlene.
    â€œYes, it does,” said Cody. “It stinks.”
    Sharlene gave an exaggerated sniff. “Oh, that. That’s cabin smell. All cabins smell like this. My grandpa’s cabin in Ontario smelled just the same.”
    Cody stuck his thumb in his mouth. Sharlene surveyed the room calmly. “The windows have screens, thank goodness. Let’s get some air in here. It’s like an oven.”
    Melissa watched while Sharlene opened windows. She felt stuck to the floor, unable to move. The cabin was even smaller than their apartment. They would be living on top of each other.
    Sharlene had disappeared into one of the bedrooms. “I haven’t slept in a bunk bed since Grandpa’s,” she called out. “If you don’t mind, Mel, Cody and I will take this room.”
    For a second, Melissa thought she hadn’t heard right. Cody was going to share with their mother? Ever since he was two, he had slept in Melissa’s room.
    â€œYou can think about fixing up your room tomorrow,” said Sharlene.
    â€œFix it up with what?” said Melissa. She tried to wrap her mind around the amazing news that she had her very own room.
    â€œMaybe some of your drawings. You’re the artist— Oh!” Sharlene said suddenly.
    â€œWhat is it?” said Melissa. She stood in the doorway.
    â€œThere’s a broken window in here.