It Started with a Whisper

by A W Hartoin

  “At least wash your hands,” she said.

  We collided with each other at the sink, spraying dirty water on the floor and ignoring the soap. My cousins ran back to the bread. I turned the hand towel, so Mom wouldn’t see the brown streaks our hands left after our so-called washing. I glanced up and found her looking at me, her mouth in a wry grin.

  The rest of The Pack ran in and we attacked the loaves with fury. Mom didn’t even bother to tell the others to wash. In mere minutes, a few forlorn crumbs were left on the cutting board. Luke and Caleb jostled at the fridge and argued about what to eat next. The girls sat at the table, eating apples and oranges. Drips of water ran down the legs of their chairs, forming small pools. Cole and Frank stole slices from them while tugging their hair for distraction.

  Aunt Calla walked in and shook her head in disbelief at the wet, dirty bottoms of her boys. “Get out of the fridge. You’re letting all the cold out.” Then she went to the sink and sniffed the contents. “Aw, gross. What is that?”

  We all stopped what we were doing and looked at her. I arranged my face into what I hoped was an innocent expression and cast a sidelong glance at Luke.

  “What?” asked Mom. Then she took a sniff herself. “Ick, it smells like rotten hamburger. What have you been doing with the tongs?”

  Aunt Calla shrieked and jumped away from the sink. “Are those maggots?”

  Dad came in and looked. “Yep. Looks like maggots to me. Puppy?”

  I don’t know why he asked me. Maybe he trusted me to tell the truth, which was a bad assumption on his part. I wasn’t married to the truth. I was a bad liar, and that wasn’t the same thing at all.

  I shuffled my feet, searching around my summer-addled brain for a plausible story, when Luke broke in. “We found a dead rabbit. We poked it.”

  “For God’s sake, why?” Mom wiped her hands on her shorts, even though she hadn’t touched anything.

  “We wanted to see if it was really dead,” said Caleb.

  “I think the maggots were your first clue,” said Dad.

  “Yeah, uh-huh, pretty stupid,” said Luke.

  “Totally dumb,” said Caleb.

  “We’re idiots,” I said.

  My dad looked at us with one eyebrow raised. “So what are you doing this afternoon?”

  “Nothing, I mean, baseball,” said Luke.

  Dad looked like he thought we were lying through our collective teeth. Like all parents before him, he didn’t know what we were up to, and he didn’t want to know. “Well, you better get to it before you make the kitchen any nastier.”

  The girls disappeared into a bathroom, saying they needed to clean up before making ice cream. Luke and Caleb went out the door, their dirt-encrusted feet scraping against the wide oak floor planks as they looked back over their shoulders at the refrigerator. Frank and Cole followed them. Frank’s shoulders were hunched in guilt, but Cole grinned as he sauntered out as if he had nothing to hide. I moved to follow them, but Dad stopped me.

  “Look at those tongs, boy,” he said.

  “What about them,” I said.

  “They’re bent. How big was that rabbit?”

  “Pretty big.”

  “That all you got?” Dad looked kind of disappointed. Luke would’ve come up with something better. “Go on. I guess you can’t get into too much trouble on Ernest’s land.”

  I ran out the door and spotted the rest of the guys heading to the woods. I looked back and saw Mom and Dad in the doorway, watching us. Mom made a little motion with her hand and the cats zipped out the door. They started trailing me like a couple of little dogs.

  When I caught up, Cole asked, “What’s up with your cats?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “They’ve been weird since we got here.”

  “Cats are always weird,” said Luke. “I’m more interested in that man you saw in the woods.”

  “Yeah. That rocks. Let’s go find him,” said Cole.

  I hadn’t heard an idea that bad since Luke and Caleb decided to explode a watermelon in the front seat of the van. It was the kind of idea that had no possibility of turning out well, but was also tantalizing in the extreme. This guy had come onto Ernest’s land with a gun and lived to tell about it. I had to know who he was. Sense didn’t factor into the equation. It should have.

  Chapter Twenty

  I STEPPED ONTO the path to the pond and heard someone shout out my name behind us. Shasta stood by the house. She waved and broke into a run down the hill. Girls like Shasta should run all the time. Everything bounced the right amount. I might’ve blacked out for a minute because one second she was at the house and the next she had stopped in front of me, all wind blown and breathless.

  “I wish I had a camera,” said Cole.

  Shasta shoved his shoulder. “Don’t be a sleaze.”

  “I’m not sleazy.” Cole grinned. “I’m like into art appreciation or something.”

  “Remind me to smack you later. So where are you guys going?” she asked.

  “Just a little foray into the darkness,” said Luke.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Puppy found a slaughtered deer on the property. We’re looking for some sign of the guy who did it.”

  “Some fool came onto Ernest’s land with a gun?”

  “Looks like it. Want to come?” asked Caleb.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Luke led the way and Shasta fell into step beside Caleb. Cole walked directly behind Shasta making panting faces until I smacked him upside the head. Shasta glanced over her shoulder and gave me a little smile. I think I blacked out again because we were suddenly at the pond.

  We walked around and stood at the edge of the woods. Luke stripped off his sopping wet shirt and flung it on a bush. The rest of us did the same, except for Frank, who wrung his out and put it back on.

  “You know they make swimming suits for a reason,” said Shasta.

  “Don’t make me take off my pants.” Luke grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her.

  “I can smack you, too, you know.”

  “You’re no fun.”

  “And don’t you forget it,” said Shasta. “Where are we going exactly?”

  “Puppy, you lead,” said Caleb. “Show us where you saw that hunter.”

  I paused, my abs flexing for Shasta’s benefit, and stuttered, “We don’t need to go there. Let’s just walk the perimeter. That’s how I found the deer.”

  “I want to know where he was heading.”

  A film of sweat formed on my upper lip. I hoped they’d think it was the heat. “I already told you he was going toward the Blounts.”

  “It won’t hurt to look,” said Caleb.

  I swallowed. “We don’t need to.”

  “You went off the property.” Luke smiled, somewhat bored with the whole revelation thing.

  “Dude,” said Cole. “You went off the property? How come you didn’t die?”

  “That’s just a story,” I said.

  “A pretty convincing one.” Caleb moved in closer to me. “Nothing happened? You didn’t see anything?”

  “Not really.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Frank, who’d gone paler than when he’d seen the deer.

  “It means I didn’t see anything.”

  “You swear?” asked Luke.

  “Yeah, I swear. I didn’t see anything.”

  Luke crossed his arms, contemplating me and my lie that wasn’t quite a lie. He wore the same expression that scared teachers like he was unraveling your DNA right in front of you. People seemed to think I was smart, but I don’t think I ever looked like that.

  “Show us where you crossed over,” he said.

  “Why? There’s nothing there.”

  “Because I want to see it.”

  Frank shook his head at me, but I couldn’t think of a reason not to do it. It couldn’t hurt and if I protested too much I’d look like a wuss in front of Shasta. It’s not like that guy would be standing there waiting f
or us. I shivered a little when I thought that and it made me feel stupid. I glanced at Shasta. She watched me intensely with her big brown eyes and I was sure she caught the shiver. I shook off my fear for her sake. That guy didn’t know I’d seen him. I shouldn’t be afraid.

  I led them down the trail I’d made when running from Beatrice. I remembered the way, needing only the occasional broken branch to remind me. We walked for forty-five minutes before I found the spot where I’d crossed the property line. I stopped and waited for everyone to catch up. Frank brought up the rear, dragging his feet and looking miserable but he didn’t complain.

  “This is it,” I said, pointing to the spot.

  “Shit,” said Cole. “There’s no blood or anything.”

  “Why would there be?” asked Caleb.

  “I thought Ernest would get him. He gets everybody else.”

  “Ernest is unpredictable. You never know who’s going to do what around Camp. There was that incident with those car thieves a few years ago.”

  “What happened?” asked Frank.

  Cole rubbed his hands together. “He zapped them.”

  “Yeah,” said Caleb. “They stole Great-Uncle Vaughn’s Aston Martin. Sheriff found the car parked at the Gardenway Motor Lodge. The thieves were out cold. Both got struck by lightning the second they stepped out of the car. Car was still mint condition.”

  “Did they live?” asked Frank.

  “Yep,” said Luke. “They went to prison though.”

  “That could be a coincidence,” I said. “People do get struck by lightning.”

  “Especially people who steal from us,” said Luke.

  “Can we go back now?” asked Frank.

  “We’re not going back. I say we go that way.” Luke pointed northeast.

  “Maybe we should split up.” I didn’t know why I said that. I didn’t want to split up anymore than Frank, who stared at me with his mouth hanging open in horror.

  “Sounds good to me,” said Shasta.

  “Yeah, yeah. We can cover more ground that way. Puppy, you come with me and Shasta,” said Luke. “We’ll go northeast. Caleb, you go southeast with Cole and Frank.”

  “But shouldn’t we stay together, in case something happens?” asked Frank.

  “Nothing’s going to happen,” said Luke. “You haven’t stolen anything, have you?”

  “Of course not,” said Frank, standing up straighter.

  Cole backed up a step. “I don’t know. Maybe we should go back.”

  “Jesus, Cole,” said Caleb. “Trying to kiss Ella doesn’t count.”

  “You tried to kiss Ella?” I asked. “Are you crazy?”

  “I thought she wanted me to.”

  “What’d she do?” asked Shasta.

  “She stomped on my foot and threatened to kill me.” Cole kept looking around like he expected Ernest to appear with a bolt of lightning with his name on it.

  “If Ernest wanted to kill you for that, he’d already have done it,” said Caleb.

  Cole didn’t look comforted. “I’m not going over the property line, just in case.”

  “Nobody is,” said Luke. “Let’s go.”

  “But what are we looking for?” asked Frank.

  “Any sign of that hunter. He might be camping out here and trespassing. If we find anything, we’ll tell Puppy’s dad,” said Caleb.

  I gasped at the thought of telling Dad. I’d kept the secret for so long. It was too late to go back. If they figured out that I’d been off the property, I was dead meat.

  “Don’t get all tweaked,” said Caleb. “We’ll just say we found him today. Nobody will know you saw him first.”

  Luke looked at us. “Right?”

  We all nodded and said, “Right.”

  Luke waved at me and Shasta to come on and stalked out of the area with big, confident strides, followed closely by the cats. I looked at Frank, who raised a limp hand in salute and then turned to follow Caleb.

  We walked single file, listening to Luke hum “The Pretender” when he veered left and crossed the property line, passing a No Trespassing sign without glancing at it. The cats stopped and sat by the sign, watching as Luke charged away through the woods.

  “Hey, wait!” I yelled.

  Luke didn’t hesitate. I looked at Shasta and she shrugged.

  “We’re supposed to go to the road, not off the property!”

  Luke kept on. He wasn’t known for having doubts, but I was filled with them. Maybe Ernest was real. Maybe he wasn’t. I didn’t know. Something could happen. I’d gotten away with it last time because it was an accident. Luke left on purpose.

  “You can stay here,” I said to Shasta.

  “No way!”

  I ran to catch up with Luke, but could barely keep him in sight. Finally, he slowed down and crouched behind an apple tree.

  Shasta and I came up behind him.

  “What are we doing?” I asked.

  “Get down. The Blount house is about fifty yards away. We have to be quiet,” Luke said.

  I squatted next to Luke and waited, for what I had no idea. I didn’t see any point in sneaking around the Blounts’ house. I doubted they were home, and if they were, the Blounts wouldn’t mind us walking up and making a racket.

  “Come on.” Luke took careful steps, making little noise as he went from tree to tree closer to the house. I followed making slightly more noise. Every crackle and snap of the dry leaves and twigs made Luke glare at me. I shrugged at him. I was doing the best I could. Shasta came behind me, totally silent. I don’t know how she did it.

  The apple trees thinned and Luke put out a hand to stop me. Down in a small hollow was a white frame house. It was a quarter the size of Ernest’s house and not nearly as well made. Its roof sagged and the foundation was cracked. One of the posts on the front porch was gone and the roof was partially caved in. I hadn’t been there in a while, but it’d been nice the last time I visited.

  It wasn’t closed for the summer as I’d expected either. A line of washing hung in a small patch of sun and it wasn’t the Blounts’. The jeans hanging on the line were huge, and the Blounts were tiny people. Next to the jeans were women’s panties. I’d never seen any of the Blount wives or daughters. They didn’t hunt and I doubted they’d come out there to live. If it hadn’t been for the apple trees, I’d have thought we had the wrong house.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Be quiet.” Luke settled in, ready for a long wait. I had no choice but to wait too, although I favored going back and telling the others what we’d found.

  Shasta crept up and grabbed my arm. She stared at the laundry line, her lips pressed into a thin line.

  “What?” I whispered.

  She mouthed to me, “We have to go.”

  Just then a woman walked out the side door, carrying a laundry basket. She walked to the clothesline and began hanging up shirts and socks. Her blond hair was pulled back into a greasy ponytail. She wore a dirty tee shirt with holes that hung to her knees and nothing else. Her bare feet kicked up little dirt puffs in the patch under the line and she seemed unaware that she was being watched.

  “What a skank,” whispered Luke. “Nice legs though.”

  I watched as the woman went to the other side of the clothesline. My mouth dropped open, and I fell onto my knees, crunching leaves.

  I couldn’t believe it. Miss Pritchett. How could she be there, not two miles from Camp? And what happened to her? The Miss Pritchett I knew abhorred dirt and disorder. She gave half my class detentions for being messy. I’d forgotten about that bit of nastiness. In the time I’d been at Camp, thoughts of Miss Pritchett leaked out of my head like snot out of a nose. She was just about as welcome. The very sight of her made me feel like I was getting a humongous case of the squirts, a feeling I’d had all school year and hadn’t missed.

  Shasta yanked on my arm and whispered in my ear. “Please. Let’s go.”

  I leaned in toward Shasta’s delicate ear with its sm
all gold hoop. I’d never been so close to her before. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Please.”

  I turned to Luke, who looked at Miss Pritchett without a touch of the horror I felt. A grin split his face with the evil, joyful look of a Halloween pumpkin. The corners of his mouth might actually have touched his ears.

  “We have to go,” I whispered.

  Luke shook his head, still smiling, and looked away. He stared at Miss Pritchett in her tee shirt and dirty feet. He vibrated and pulsed like the vein in my dad’s forehead when he got mad. Luke’s thoughts were that close to the surface and about as dangerous. Then Luke crept away from the house and took off in his loping run.

  Shasta dropped my arm and followed. I used every bit of speed and endurance I had to keep up with them, but they outpaced me easily.

  “Wait!”

  They didn’t wait. Luke ran back over the property line and straight up to the road with Shasta right behind. I yelled again when I saw Luke step onto the road. I didn’t want them to run all the way back to Camp, leaving me alone with thoughts of Miss Pritchett and Shasta’s frightened face racing around in my head.

  Luke stopped and put his hands on top of his head like he did after he won a race at a track meet. Shasta ran past him and loped down the road out of sight. I caught up with Luke, stumbled, and almost fell at his feet. We both sat and lay back on the hot blacktop.

  “Oh, crap. Did you see that? It was her,” I gasped.

  “Yeah, I saw her,” said Luke. “Bitch Pritchett in the flesh.”

  “I can’t believe it. Why the hell?”

  “Who gives a shit why? What do you want to do now?” Luke sat down next to me, his long arms dangling over his knees. It wasn’t really a question. It was more like a test. What are you going to do about it, little boy? Tell me.

  “There’s nothing to do. I think she lives there,” I said.

  “Of course she lives there, dumbass, but she doesn’t know where we live, does she?”

  “Oh hell, I don’t know. I guess not.” I sat up and flicked some pebbles off the road.

  “Think about it. It’s totally sweet. We know she’s here, but she doesn’t know we’re here. We can do all kinds of shit to her and she’ll never know who did it.” Luke slapped his hands together, stood up, and pulled me to my feet.