The Boney Hand
Page 17
When Frog stopped writing again, Charlie wrote, Rupert likes to brag about mean things he does. Why didn’t he just admit that he scared Miss Tweedy and Millie with his fake bony hand?
Maybe, Frog wrote, he didn’t brag about it because he didn’t do it.
If he didn’t do it, then who did? asked Charlie. Wendell did the knocking, but Wendell would never scare anyone, even if he did have the Boney Hand!
Wendell wouldn’t do that, agreed Frog. But there’s still another possibility. One that we considered at the beginning of our investigation.
It dawned on Charlie what Frog meant.
“You think the Boney Hand did it,” signed Charlie. “You think the Boney Hand got out of Wendell’s backpack and scared them.”
“I’m just saying we don’t know!” signed Frog before returning to her writing.
Charlie realized Frog didn’t want to know. She preferred that some things be left a mystery—like the Legend of the Boney Hand.
But now Charlie didn’t feel as relaxed as he had a minute ago. He scanned the graveyard with watchful eyes, making sure a hand wasn’t scuttling and scurrying around.
Frog finished her letter. She handed it to Charlie.
Dear Vince Vinelli,
This is Francine Castle, also known as Frog—that’s Frog, not Froggy. I wrote you a letter, which you read on your show. I told you that I want to become a detective, but I actually have already started my detective career. My partner and I have solved two cases so far. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss them. But even though no one else knows we solved these mysteries, we know we solved them.
Because sometimes what you know on the inside is more important than what others see on the outside.
Sincerely,
Frog Castle
“It’s a good letter,” signed Charlie as he handed it back to her.
Frog wrote one more thing at the bottom.
PS: I am not little or cute. If you need a word to describe me, you can call me—
“I don’t know what word to pick,” signed Frog.
Charlie remembered what Yvette had said about both of them.
He touched the front of his shoulders with both hands, and then drew his hands forward into fists facing his body.
Frog wrote the last word of her letter: strong.
Two bright yellow leaves fell off the branch above them and twirled in tandem side by side. Frog caught one leaf before it hit the ground. And Charlie caught the other.
Thank you to my editor, Tracey Keevan—it’s been such a joy working with you. I’ve learned so much from our collaboration. Thank you also to Esther Cajahuaringa, Marci Senders, Amy Goppert, Sara Liebling, Guy Cunningham, Jody Corbett, Chip Poakeart, Dina Sherman, Kelly Jean Clair, Allison Grow, Jose Sabatini, and everyone at Disney Hyperion who has been so helpful in this journey. Thank you to my agent, Jennifer Carlson, for finding a home for my books with these wonderful people.
Carlisle Robinson (carlisle-robinson.com), thank you for bringing Charlie and Frog to life through your artwork.
Thank you to Beth Bacon, Derrick Behm, Meghan Blackmon, Patrick Hulse, Leslie Hussey, Joshua Josa, Jackie Lightfoot, Glenn Lockhart, Diana Sea Markel, Carol McAfee, Kelsey Mitchell, Karen Levy Newnam, Diana Walsh O’Toole, and Vivienne Schroeder. Your feedback, comments, and insights were invaluable.
Thank you to Vivienne Schroeder for the story behind Charlie’s name sign, Glenn Lockhart for naming the Flying Hands Café, Janis Cole for answering my ASL questions, Janice and Bill Adams for our discussion about DeafBlind communication, Jason Cacioppo for information on time-lapse cameras, and Eaddy Holmes, Lucy Risher, and Iris V. Russell for their help with my sign descriptions.
Thank you to Diana and Shawn O’Toole for my Colorado visit and book tour, and to Lori Ann Johnson and Vicki Bond for making my visit to Arizona a successful one. Thank you to my great-niece Riley Mooney for coming all the way from Virginia Beach for my book launch party.
Hayley, thank you for your help with my website and social media. Isa, thank you for being one of my readers. I love you both, my strong, smart, kind daughters.
David, thank you for your editorial eye and for the myriad ways you support me and my writing. Your experience finding language and friendship in the Deaf community enriched and deepened this book. I love you.
Finally, thank you to the people within these communities who make up my community: the Washington, DC, and Gallaudet Deaf and interpreting communities, Vermont College of Fine Arts community, my classmates the Inkredibles, the Past Tense Yoga community, my Monroe Street neighbors, and, last but never least, my family and friends near and far. You mean more to me than you can possibly know.
path to Charlie & Frog led her from a small village near Rochester, New York, to the bustle of Washington, DC. The people she met along the way inspired her writing with their warmth and humor, especially those in the Deaf community. Karen graduated from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, Karen spends her days as a sign language interpreter at Gallaudet University or lost in the stacks of her local library. The Boney Hand is the second novel in the Charlie & Frog series. Visit her at karenkanebooks.com.