***
“But, you don’t understand, Jeanetta! Shane is in trouble and Ashlee is in danger.” Amber banged on the aluminum door of the Macdonald family home, my dad and brother Adam in tow.
“What the hell kind of stunt do you think you’re pulling, little missy?” Jeanetta Macdonald pushed Amber back as her boyfriend lurked in the background. She wore what we often call a wife-beater underneath her uniform kaki shirt and she still had her polyester ranger’s pants on and her black polished shoes.
Amber wasn’t the type to be hysterical, but she sure was doing a bang-up job this evening.
“Just tell me where she is. Tell me where Shane is. I know he was planning something outrageous, but you’ve got to believe me. Something is wrong! Something bad is going to happen!”
“Oh my God! Listen to yourself!” Jeanetta screeched, her nose reddening with anger. “First you go out with my brother twice, and then you don’t even have the courtesy of extending him the Third Date Termination Clause.”
“What’s the Third Date Termination Clause?” my dad asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Adam told him.
“And then you pawn your sister off onto him like sloppy seconds and now you want to interrupt his date because you had a bad dream?” Jeanetta ranted. “You are in serious need of professional help.”
“Good one, Jen,” Sean the loser boyfriend murmured from the background.
“Miss Macdonald,” my Dad reasoned. “If you could just tell us where they are…”
“Ranger Macdonald,” my brother interjected. “Jeanetta.” His voice softened, slipping past her defenses. “I’d really appreciate it if you could help me make sure that Ashlee is safe. I know she can be a pain in the ass, but…she’s still my sister.”
Adam doesn’t assert himself very often, but when he wants to, he can really command attention and response. Jeanetta looked at him like an aberration, then her brow furrowed as if she seemed confused, which was when she shifted to acquiescence and let out a huge sigh.
My brother has this weird effect on people. It’s almost like he can convince you of anything. One Halloween, when we were ten, and he was like, thirteen, as we were dividing up the stash, he convinced me that I loved tootsie rolls. By the time the night was through, he had all the chocolate, and I had…tootsie rolls. It’s a great story, but I rarely eat tootsie rolls anymore.
“Fine. They’re up at the overlook. But you better just do a drive-by. I was gonna run up there in a couple of hours myself. Make sure the kids aren’t trashing the place. So, why don’t you just give me a call so I don’t have to waste a trip,” she called as my family rushed back to the car.
“Crazy townies,” Jeanetta muttered as she watched us hurry away and then shut the door.
I felt cool hands on the back of my neck and a whisper of night breezes down my naked skin as I vomited up copious amounts of blood. Bits of flesh surrounded me, and a haze of insects sucked the moisture out of the air as it evaporated from my skin.
My poor dear, I heard. My mother’s voice echoed in my head as soft hands petted the pelt of my hair. My throat felt raw from the acid bile, my head in shock, my heart in anguish.
“I think I killed something,” I croaked.
I know dear. My mother’s arms held me and rocked away my horror till I fell asleep.
My family found me naked and sound asleep in a pool of Shane’s blood. And though I know what must have happened, because I’ve turned every full moon since that time, the sheriff’s office, unequipped to deal with the supernatural, named it a tragedy of nature and they even brought back the carcass of a mountain lion to prove it.
Jeanetta Macdonald said she forgave me for “dragging my brother out there.” After all, the investigation showed she had allowed Shane to use the camping trailer parked on public land in violation of policy. She tried to claim it was for her own use and that her brother had brought me up there without telling her, but the remains of the feast made it pretty clear what was going on, and with Amber’s testimony about what Shane had claimed, Jeanetta was forced to accept at least some responsibility. I heard later she got a bad performance report and was denied a promotion she wanted.
You know what was weird? It seemed like she was more upset over the mountain lion than about her brother.
And now you know what really happened.
MoonRise Page 15
