by Pat Hancock
Watching them climb the stairs, Joey felt a pang of guilt. Once again, though, he hid behind his silence. Why, he wondered, do I let Mario drag me into stuff like this? Because Mario rules, that’s why. What he says, goes.
The principal showed up later that morning with Lilith Carsons in tow. When he invited her to introduce herself to the class, a stony silence greeted her.
Nervously, Lilith began to explain that her family had come from New Mexico, that she loved reading and animals, and that her parents had been hired by an Oakley heir to spend the next year repairing and restoring the old house. Her eyes lit up when she described how wonderful it would look.
As she spoke, some of the kids began directing skeptical glances at Mario. By the time she finished, he’d lost a few believers. His description just didn’t match the person standing before them.
But this didn’t stop him. In fact, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. There was no way Mario was going to let the truth get in the way of a great story.
“Who ever heard of a name like Lilith?” he asked in a stage whisper as she passed his desk.
The giggles that followed ended abruptly when she turned, looked him straight in the eye, and said simply, “My mother and father. That’s two. And now you make three.”
Mario blinked and turned away instantly, as if a flashbulb had just popped in his face.
But as Lilith continued walking, he recovered. Determined not to give up his advantage, he grabbed his head and rolled noisily out of his chair, groaning, “The evil eye. She got me with the evil eye.”
Over the next few days, Mario escalated his campaign of lies. When Lilith carefully picked up a small spider in the lunchroom and put it gently out the window, he told everyone within earshot that he’d seen a huge, hairy black one poking out of her bag.
“She collects them for spells,” he declared. When she rescued an injured field mouse from the ditch near the school one afternoon and started home with it, Mario pointed out to anyone who would listen that she was taking it home to feed the bats.
“What bats? Where?” Paula squirmed.
“The ones she keeps in the shed,” Mario ad libbed.
“No kidding,” Gordon Petrie piped up.
“Mario,” Joey finally spoke up, “you’re nuts.”
Mario’s eyes flashed. He grabbed Joey by the arm and pulled him to one side. “What do you think you’re doing, Joey?”
“Mario, you know you’re spreading garbage.”
“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure, Joey?”
“Mario, I was there that first day, remember. I know what really happened.”
“So?”
“So, if you don’t stop, I’m going to tell everybody the truth — that we took off because we saw a skunk and …” Joey stopped short, suddenly realizing what he was doing. He waited for Mario’s counterattack, but it didn’t come.
Mario just stared. “I don’t believe this. She’s got just about everybody fooled — including you.” He turned abruptly and stormed away.
“I’m right about her. You’ll see,” he shouted over his shoulder.
Joey was confused. Mario might be pushy sometimes — well, actually, most of the time — but he isn’t stupid, he thought. He’s sure acting stupid about Lilith, though. People are starting to laugh at him, not her.
She’s definitely getting to Mario. But, he admitted, maybe she’s getting to me, too. Isn’t it because of her that I finally stood up to Mario?
Joey frowned. Could there really be something different … something strange … about Lilith? He shook his head, banishing the thought.
But the next day, thoughts of spells and spooks and goblins were on everyone’s mind, Joey’s included. It was Halloween and, around town, the excitement was building. In an attempt to patch things up with Mario, Joey called him to see if they’d be trick-or-treating together as usual. Mario turned him down flat, saying he had better things to do that night.
Joey didn’t like the sound of this. What’s Mario up to? he wondered. Halloween could be the perfect camouflage for someone looking for trouble. And if Mario was planning something nasty, Lilith was probably his target.
Joey made a quick decision. When dusk fell and the orange pumpkins began to flicker and glow, he was already in place. He was wearing his old glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume, but he’d draped himself in a dark blue sheet so no one would notice him. From his hiding spot across the street at the bottom of the Oakley lane, he watched as a solitary jack-o-lantern, glowing brightly, was perched on the gatepost. He felt sure its invitation would be ignored. No one was likely to test the theory that the house was haunted, especially not on Halloween.
But Joey did see Lilith come down the lane. Once again, she was wearing the flowing black skirt covered in stars. A mask of feathers hid her face and a shimmering, web-like shawl covered her shoulders.
Joey also saw the werewolf, which had been lurking in the shelter of some bushes, slip out of the darkness and start to follow her. Mario had worn the same werewolf costume last year and the year before.
I was right, Joey thought, as the two figures passed him. He’s after her. But what is he going to do? Grabbing the hem of his makeshift cloak, he fell into step a safe distance behind them.
The strange, silent parade of three wound up and down the dimly lit streets. Lilith’s bag grew heavier at each stop, but Mario’s and Joey’s stayed empty. Neither wanted to lose track of his quarry.
Just before Lilith turned back onto Main Street, Mario made his move. He increased his pace and caught up to Lilith in the shadows behind the Burger Barn. He ran up behind her, growling and snarling, and snatched her bag. Then he disappeared around the corner.
Joey was too far behind to do anything. He tried to catch up, but his legs tangled in the sheet. When he finally staggered up to Lilith, she was just standing there slipping the ends of her filmy shawl through her fingers.
“It’s me — Joey,” he blurted. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“I’ll get it back,” he offered, still struggling with his costume. “Hold this.” He thrust his bag into Lilith’s startled hands. “I’ll be right back.”
“Joey, you don’t have to …” Lilith began, but Joey was already turning the corner. He heard Mario before he saw him. His strangled scream pierced the night air.
Mario had pulled off his mask and was standing beside the bench in front of the post office. Lilith’s bag lay in a crumpled heap at his feet. His face was contorted in horror and, suddenly, he started flailing wildly at his costume.
Joey stopped dead, then jumped back. The bench — and the pavement beneath it — was covered with every creepy-crawly imaginable. Snakes slithered, spiders scuttled, and bugs scattered in all directions, some of them clinging to the fur of Mario’s costume. Out of the darkness, bats suddenly swooped around his head. Trying to duck and brush away the creatures at the same time, Mario looked like he was doing some kind of crazy dance.
Lilith slipped through the small crowd that had gathered to witness the scene and stood next to Joey. When Mario saw her, he froze.
“Get her away from me,” he shouted frantically. “She did it. She did it.”
“Did what?” Joey asked. “Let you steal her bag, then pretend this stuff was in it?”
“How do you know that I stole …?” Mario stopped. “But wait, that means you saw. You saw what happened. You know what she did.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joey said, walking away.
He felt the tug on his arm halfway up the street. It was Lilith. She’d taken off her mask. It was dangling on her wrist from a thin white elastic. As the feathers moved, they looked like a strange bird getting ready to take flight.
“You forgot these,” Lilith said, holding out the sheet and his loot bag. The bag was full.
Joey started to reach for it, then pulled back his hand. He looked uncomfortably at Lilith, remembering what had ha
ppened to Mario.
“Don’t worry. It’s okay,” she smiled knowingly.
Joey took the bag. Carefully, he opened it and reached in. Nothing crawled up his arm. Nothing slithered through his fingers. In fact, the bag was full of familiar shapes.
Joey pulled out two peanut butter cups. “Want one?” he asked.
“Thanks,” she said, taking one. “They’re my favourites.”
“Mine too.”
“I know,” Lilith said quietly.
LIFE GUARD
Raymond Fortuna held his little sister Angelina’s hand as they walked up from the lake. They’d been watching a loon diving for fish and counting how long it could stay underwater before popping up for air.
“Ray Ray,” Angelina said when they reached the weather-beaten cabin tucked under the pines. “It’s still smelly in here.”
“But it’s not so bad now,” Raymond said, taking a sniff as he held open the screen door. “See, Dad was right. It just needed some fresh air.”
“Like us,” his father had pointed out when they’d unpacked that morning. “Fresh air, lots and lots of fresh air. So much better than at the apartment. And it’s free,” Mr. Fortuna had sung out, scooping up Angelina and spinning her around.
“But it still smells a little bit, doesn’t it?” Angelina asked as they went into the kitchen.
“You’re right. But it’s not gross or anything. Just a little musty. So let’s not complain to Dad again, okay? He’s so happy that he can give us a little holiday at a cottage.”
“Okay,” Angelina agreed. “Then can we make peanut butter sandwiches now? I want to bring Daddy his lunch in that,” she added, pointing to a lime green fruit basket on a shelf beside the fridge.
“Good idea,” Raymond said, putting a loaf of sliced bread and two jars on the table. Then he spent the next ten minutes helping Angelina make four very sticky sandwiches, one each for him and her, and the two thickest ones with red jam oozing out the sides for their dad.
“Here,” he said, handing her some paper towels. “Wipe your hands with the damp one, and line the basket with the others before you put Dad’s sandwiches in it. I’ll carry ours and three plates on this tray. And how about some juice boxes?”
“Then it’ll be a real picnic. Let’s go.” Angelina scampered out the door, swinging the basket beside her.
“Daddy, Daddy. Stop working now. We have to have a picnic on this picnic table.”
“All right, Angel,” Mr. Fortuna said, putting down the circular saw he’d just unloaded from the trunk of the car. “Picnic time it is.”
When they finished eating, Raymond and Angelina stayed at the table for a while, watching as their dad lined up, measured and sawed pieces of lumber that had been stored in a shed closer to the water.
“It’s like a miracle,” Raymond remembered his dad saying a week earlier. “I was asking my boss last night if I could stay home next week because your mother has to go to Montreal when Grandma has her operation and he came up with this great idea. He offered to pay me for the week if I fix up some things at a cottage he has on Pine Lake, and he says the three of us can stay there and have a little vacation at the same time too. Won’t that be fun? And he’ll even pay for the gas to drive there and back. So I said yes, Raymond. But I’ll need your help keeping an eye on Angelina when I’m busy. Okay?” And even though he wasn’t thrilled about babysitting for a week, Raymond had said that would be fine.
And now, one week later, he was sitting with his sister by a sparkling lake on a sunny day, a gentle breeze brushing his cheek and, at least so far, everything was fine.
Later that afternoon, while Angelina tracked down ants and dropped them into a jar, Raymond held side posts in place as his dad replaced wobbly parts of the deck railing. When he was no longer needed, he went inside to change into his swimming shorts and get his book. Then he called Angelina in to change too so they’d be ready to go in the water when his dad quit working.
“I unpacked your bag and put your clothes in the drawers,” he told her when she came in, “but I left your bathing suit out on the bed.”
“Okay, Ray Ray. I’ll be right back,” she answered as she pushed open the door to her bedroom.
But when she came back out a few minutes later, she still had her shorts and T-shirt on.
“Why didn’t you change?” Raymond asked.
“Because the lady with the yellow hair was watching.”
“What lady? Where?”
“The lady at the window. In there.” Angelina pointed to her room.
Raymond went into the bedroom and looked around. “There’s no one here. Come and see.”
Angelina went in and stopped near the bed. “Did you look out the window?”
“Yes. Nobody’s there. Don’t be scared. You were just imagining things. Here,” he added, handing her her suit.
“Okay. But I wasn’t scared. I was just shy, that’s all. Do you miss Mommy? I do. I hope we have hot dogs for dinner. Daddy said he could use the barbeque.”
Angelina babbled on and on as she changed, then reached up to Raymond. “Carry me, Ray Ray? I’m not too heavy. I’m still just four and you’re ten. Ten is big and you’re strong.”
Bending down, Raymond told her, “Hop on my back. I’ll give you a piggy-back ride. But don’t choke me, okay?”
Laughing, Angelina agreed. “I won’t. I promise. Let’s go.”
The rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by. While waiting for their dad to finish up, Raymond helped Angelina build sandcastles. He scooped out deep moats that she kept trying to fill with water and showed her how to build bridges across them with small twigs and leaves. When their dad finally joined them, he did so without warning, suddenly racing past them into the water, clothes and all.
“Yikes, that’s a little chilly,” he said as he sloshed back to the beach, dripping wet and grinning like a kid from ear to ear. “But I was so sweaty and covered in sawdust that I figured I might as well just jump right in and wash my clothes at the same time.” Angelina giggled when she heard this and Raymond gave his dad a thumbs up.
“It’s been a long time since Dad looked so happy,” he thought as he ran back up to the cottage to get him a towel. “Maybe this week won’t be too bad after all.”
After time playing in the lake and a dinner of barbequed hot dogs and two-bite brownies, Raymond found himself feeling a little pooped, so he wasn’t surprised to see Angelina rubbing her eyes and yawning a lot. And when their dad finally convinced her that his phone wasn’t working, she stopped chanting, “I want to talk to Mommy,” and agreed to get ready for bed without putting up a fuss.
“She was asleep before I got to page four of The Mole Sisters,” Mr. Fortuna whispered as he tiptoed back into the kitchen. “And just as well too. I nearly nodded off myself. Will you be all right here for a few minutes while I walk up toward the main road to see if I can get a strong enough signal to phone your mother?”
“Sure,” Raymond answered.
“While I’m gone why don’t you see if you can find checkers in the top drawer of that old cupboard? I’m thinking we could play a few games on the board painted here,” he added, pointing to the black and red squares painted on the wooden kitchen table.
Raymond had dug out all twenty-four checkers and was placing them on the board when he heard the sounds — like very low, muffled words — coming from Angelina’s room. He walked quietly down the hall, pushed opened the door and tiptoed toward her bed. In the twilight he could see her curled up on her side, her right arm around her teddy bear, Buttercrunch. She was breathing softly, and she was sound asleep.
I must be hearing things, Raymond thought, looking down at her. Either that or you were talking in your sleep.
But just as he turned to leave, he thought he heard a rustling sound outside the window. He walked over and peered out, but in the greying dusk he saw nothing. And I must be imagining things now too, he told himself as he left the room.
Not wanting to wor
ry his dad, Raymond didn’t mention what had happened when he returned. After all, Raymond figured, there really wasn’t anything to tell. So he just listened as his dad started talking about the call he had managed to make to Montreal.
“The signal faded in and out a bit, but it wasn’t too bad.”
“That’s good. What did Mom say?”
“She says she misses you a lot and hopes you and Angelina are having fun. And Grandma’s going to be fine. The operation went so well they’re going to let her leave the hospital tomorrow. And since Auntie Rosa will be back from San Salvador on Thursday, Mom could be back home by the weekend.”
“And now,” he teased as he sat down at the table, “it’s time for less talk and more action. Are you ready to take on the checkers champion of the world?”
But just three games later, Raymond’s dad stopped playing.
“Son, I know it’s not too late and I should give you another chance to beat me, but I can barely keep my eyes open. All this fresh air must be getting to me,” he added, standing up. “Here, give me a hug. I’m off now. But you can stay up and read if you like.”
Raymond read for another twenty minutes before he too headed off to bed. Half asleep already, he crawled under the top sheet without changing into his pyjamas, reaching out to switch off the light on the night table just before sleep closed in on him.
The birds woke him up the next morning. He’d never heard so many chirping all at once like that at the apartment, he thought, opening his eyes to see how bright it was outside. And lying there beside him, wide awake and watching him, was Angelina.
“What are you doing here?” he whispered. “I don’t think it’s time to get up yet.”
“I’ve been here a long time, Ray Ray,” she whispered back. “I came here when it was nighttime to tell you the lady was at the window again and she made me a little scared because she wanted to talk to me. But you were so sleepy you didn’t wake up when I poked you and I didn’t want to wake up Daddy, so I just stayed here and slept with you. That’s okay, isn’t it?”
