Unhooking the Moon by Gregory Hughes

you get in and sleep for a while?’ She crawled into her sleeping bag and curled up without a word. I undid my sleeping bag and did the same. ‘We’ll try again in the morning,’ I told her.
    I was shivering, the ground was damp with dew, but it wasn’t so much the cold as fatigue. I wanted to sleep but I couldn’t. I just lay there wishing I was in a warm bed in Winnipeg. Me and the Rat had never been so lost. We were in a dark place in the middle of nowhere and there was no one to call for help.
    I remember a dark winter’s night when we had ridden home from town. The wind blasted frosty snow into our eyes all the way. When we reached the house the Rat dropped her bike and ran inside, but I didn’t. I looked through the kitchen window, where the snow had stuck like an arc, and I watched the Old Man take bread from the oven. Then he attached a toy snowman to the kitchen cupboard and standing back he looked at it. The Rat came in and, taking off her coat, she talked about her day. It was such apicture. It was bitterly cold but I didn’t care because I knew I could be in that warmth when I wanted.
    I was desperate for that warmth now. And for the first time I thought about going to the cops and giving ourselves up. It’s not like we had done anything wrong, but I felt we were on the run from the proper authorities, those people who would put us in a home without a moment’s hesitation.
    But maybe they wouldn’t be so bad. They might find us somewhere nice to live. I turned to ask the Rat what she thought. Her eyes were closed and she looked so drained, just like she did on that winter’s night. The Rat would never think about giving herself up, no matter how bad things got. And when I thought about it, neither would I. If they wanted us they’d have to come and get us. And who said we’d stay where they put us.
    Suddenly a car screeched to a stop below us. Another one followed. The Rat was already out of her sleeping bag and sneaking behind a bush. The car doors slammed shut and two men came towards each other. One was young and slim. The other man was large and he had the stump of an unlit cigar in his mouth.
    â€˜Joey. How’s New York treating you?’ asked the large man.
    â€˜Badly as usual. You got the merchandise?’
    â€˜I’m afraid not. I couldn’t get it.’
    â€˜What!’
    The larger man laughed. ‘I’m just kidding.’ He opened the trunk and they looked inside.
    â€˜OK let’s make this quick,’ said the younger man.
    They started to move packages from one car to the other. But they never went into the trunk of the second car, they went under the back seat.
    â€˜They’re drug dealers!’ whispered the Rat.
    â€˜Shush.’
    After they were done the younger man handed the larger man an envelope and he scanned the contents. ‘Always a pleasure, Joey.’ He shook hands and, getting in his car, he drove away. The younger man put a blanket over the back seat and, closing the door, he looked around him. Then getting in the car he started the engine. It turned over and over but it wouldn’t start. He began to swear and bang on the steering wheel with his fist. That’s when I saw the Rat rolling down the hill on her bike.
    â€˜What’s wrong, mister?’ She pulled up at the side of the car. ‘Won’t it start?’
    The look he gave her was more than cold. He got out the car slowly and looked around him. ‘Wheredid you come from? What are you doing out here?’
    I was down there as quick as I could. ‘She don’t mean nothing, mister.’
    He looked even angrier when he saw me.
    â€˜We’re searching for our uncle,’ said the Rat. ‘He’s a drug dealer too.’
    â€˜Get lost, kid!’
    â€˜Come away,’ I told her.
    â€˜There’s no need to be mean,’ said the Rat. ‘We we’re just being friendly. We only wanted