Leah?” I say. “That you understand why I told the police?”
“Nah.”
“I know you don’t like us being together,” I say. “But…would you tell her? Please?”
“I haven’t told her because she won’t speak to me.” There’s a pause. “She’s been
in her room crying her eyes out all night.”
“I never meant to hurt her.”
“Yeah, well. Me neither.”
“It’s not the same,” I say. “She’ll always be your sister. But I’ve wrecked the best
relationship I’ve ever had.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Seriously? You think she might still…”
“Leah is the most loyal person I’ve ever known. That’s why she defended me.” Jake
sighs into the phone. “And that, unfortunately, probably means she’s not done with
you.”
I don’t hear from Leah that night.
Or the next day. I pick up my phone every hour or so, think about sending her a text,
then put it back in my pocket.
I’m not sure if I’m just giving her space or if I’m scared to find out how she feels.
Uncertainty sucks—but maybe it’s better than knowing for sure that it’s over between
us.
After school I drive down to the Gibsons’. Buddy still needs me, even if Leah doesn’t.
I park my car, looking at the long line of trees that overhang the driveway and,
behind them, the horses in the field. Buddy’s out there, grazing beside Snow, his
blue blanket muddy from rolling on the rain-sodden ground.
I’ll have to move him somewhere else, I guess. Another stable.
Then the barn door opens and Leah steps out.
“You’re home already?” Then I notice she’s wearing jeans and a hoodie, not her uniform.
“I skipped school today,” she says. “I needed to think.”
I take a deep breath.
Wait.
Hope…
“I needed to think about us,” she says.
“Us?” I say. “You and me?”
Leah steps toward me. Holds out her hands. Smiles in that way that lifts the corners
of her lips and leaves deep dimples in her cheeks. “Yes,” she says. “You and me.”
Acknowledgments
Thanks as always to my wonderful and endlessly supportive family. Thanks also to
Alex Van Tol for coming up with the title, and to the fabulous team at Orca Book
Publishers.
Robin Stevenson is the award-winning author of numerous books for kids and teens. Under Threat is her fifth book in the Orca Soundings series, following Big Guy, In
the Woods, Outback and Damage . Her other novels for teens include The World Without
Us, Hummingbird Heart, Escape Velocity, Inferno , and the Governor Generals Literary
Award finalist A Thousand Shades of Blue . Robin lives in Victoria, BC.
Titles in the Series
o rca s o undings
B Negative
Vicki Grant
Back
Norah McClintock
Bang
Norah McClintock
Battle of the Bands
K.L. Denman
Big Guy
Robin Stevenson
Bike Thief
Rita Feutl
Blue Moon
Marilyn Halvorson
Breaking Point
Lesley Choyce
Breathing Fire
Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang
Breathless
Pam Withers
Bull Rider
Marilyn Halvorson
Bull’s Eye
Sarah N. Harvey
Cellular
Ellen Schwartz
Charmed
Carrie Mac
Chill
Colin Frizzell
Comeback
Vicki Grant
Coming Clean
Jeff Ross
Crash
Lesley Choyce
Crush
Carrie Mac
Cuts Like a Knife
Darlene Ryan
Damage
Robin Stevenson
The Darwin Expedition
Diane Tullson
Dead-End Job
Vicki Grant
Deadly
Sarah N. Harvey
Dead Run
Sean Rodman
Death Wind
William Bell
Down
Norah McClintock
Exit Point
Laura Langston
Exposure
Patricia Murdoch
Fallout
Nikki Tate
Fastback Beach
Shirlee Smith Matheson
Final Crossing
Sean Rodman
First Time
Meg Tilly
Foolproof
Diane Tullson
Grind
Eric Walters
Hannah’s Touch
Laura Langston
The Hemingway Tradition
Kristin Butcher
Hit Squad
James Heneghan
Homecoming
Diane Dakers
Home Invasion
Monique Polak
House Party
Eric Walters
I.D.
Vicki Grant
Impact
James C. Dekker
In the Woods
Robin Stevenson
Infiltration
Sean Rodman
Jacked
Carrie Mac
Juice
Eric Walters
Kicked Out
Beth Goobie
Knifepoint
Alex Van Tol
Last Ride
Laura
Deborah Coonts
Naguib Mahfouz
Nic Saint
Honor James
Lynn Red
Erin M. Leaf
Hector Macdonald
Nadia Gould
Valerie Martin
Edmund Morris