“Did you know my uncle?” Mom asked Gale.
“As much as anyone could have known Silas,” she said. “I grew up in Hounds Hollow, lived my whole life hearing stories about Silas Sweetwater and his manor. Half were just stories, but some were true. He’s a local legend, so you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in town who didn’t know him.”
“What was he like?” Lucas asked.
“He kept to himself mostly,” said Gale. “Not much of a people person, but he loved animals.”
“Really?” Mom chimed back in. “Wow. What kind of animals? Horses? Birds? Deer?”
“All kinds of animals is what I heard,” Gale said. “But he had a special place in his heart for dogs.”
“Huh.” Mrs. Trainer nodded quietly. “It’s so interesting to hear about Silas as a regular person. My family, we didn’t know him that well.”
“You knew him well enough for Silas to leave you his house.” The sharpness of her comment caught Lucas and his mom off guard. Gale turned around immediately and her stance softened. “Oh my, that came out wrong. I’m sorry. I’m on edge with this barbecue coming up. I promised to help organize the event this year, but if it’s not one thing, then it’s another. Vern called today about one of my mustard bottles exploding. Well, I didn’t pack the mustard, Vern, I told him—”
“No. It’s okay,” said Mom, cutting Gale off before she pulled them both into a conversation storm of epic small-town proportions. “We were surprised about the house, too.”
“Of course, I was sad to hear of Silas’s passing,” Gale added. “We all were. Felt like we lost a part of the town’s history.”
They stopped in front of a section that reeked of detergent and cleaners. Lucas had to walk away from the aisle because the smell was so strong, it was about to send him into a coughing fit—and he was not about to let that happen. Gale did the same, leaving Lucas’s mom to find what she needed.
Back at the front desk, Lucas watched out the windows as approximately zero cars drove by or left their parking spaces. The town was so still, for a moment he thought he was looking at a painting.
On a shelf by the door was a stack of newspapers, the Hounds Hollow Gazette. The main headline read “End-of-Summer Festival Is Heating Up.” Lucas picked up a copy and flipped it open to see what else was newsworthy in his new home. The paper was thin, only four pages long. Most of the articles were about local news, as if the outside world wasn’t even there.
At the top of the second page, Lucas found the police blotter that listed all the police reports in the area. Mr. Marcotsis’s garbage cans had been knocked over, probably due to a curious critter. Mrs. Sloan’s prizewinning petunia garden had been dug up, probably due to a curious critter. But hidden in between the spicy tuna roll that caused Mr. Potter’s allergic reaction and Ms. Blythe’s heated debate over property lines with her neighbor (who was also her mother), Lucas found two lines that made him stop cold.
New resident William Turnkey still missing after three weeks. As yet no sign of foul play.
Tourist Shannon Bly still missing after five weeks. As yet no sign of foul play.
“Oh, you found the Gazette.” Gale sounded proud as she rearranged the mustard bottles. “Go ahead and take one if you want. They’re free for the locals. All the articles are written by the good people of Hounds Hollow.”
Lucas nodded. “Thanks. Um, Mrs. Gale?”
“Just Gale, honey,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, um, Gale.” Lucas felt so strange calling adults by their first names. He held up the paper. “Did you know this Mr. Turnkey?”
Gale’s smile fell. “I did and, oh, what a shame. I hope they find him soon.”
“And this tourist, too? She went missing?” Lucas asked.
Gale shook her head and clicked her tongue three times. “Tsk-tsk-tsk, I tell you, Lucas. I never met that poor girl, but if you ask me, I’d wager anything that she was just traveling through. She’s probably in Texas by now for all I know. But if you’re interested in those types of police reports, check out the Hounds Hollow Update Wall at the Gazette sometime. You look like a little Sherlock Holmes. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“No, ma’am. Not really.” Lucas folded the paper and placed it back on the stack. “But you said that once you come here, you’re home. What about these missing people?”
“Oh, that was just a kind phrase, honey. It’s not like everyone stays in Hounds Hollow forever like Silas or his family. Speaking of … ,” said Gale as she went behind the counter and flipped through a notebook. “Well, I’ll be. Says here that I’m actually holding on to a package for y’all.”
“For us?” asked Lucas.
“It was for Silas,” admitted Gale. “So it’s for you now. He ordered it last month. Just came in today. Must’ve been held up somewhere.”
Lucas was uneasy. “What is it? It’s not, like, a coffin, right?”
“Ha!” Gale’s strong laugh boomed through the store. “Coffin, that’s a good one. Wait while I grab the box from the back.”
As she left for the rear storeroom, Lucas’s mom came up front with an armful of cleaners, brooms, mops, and dusters. “Where’s Gale going?”
“Silas ordered something before …” Lucas paused. “It just came in, so she’s giving it to us.”
“What are we going to do with it?” Mom dropped everything onto the counter and went to grab paper towels.
“I don’t know,” Lucas said loudly while his mom searched the back of the room. “But I think we should take it.”
“Mmm-hmm.” His mother was balancing several paper towels and rolls of toilet paper in her arms and using her chin to stabilize the haul.
“Did you need some help?” he asked.
“Not anymore,” she told him. “You can bring everything into the house. Deal?”
The squeak of an old wooden cart rang out as Gale returned pushing a large brown box on it.
“Wow, that’s, um … that’s going to take up a lot of space in the car,” said Mom. “Good thing we unpacked.”
“Yep, Silas and his dog food,” said Gale. Then she smiled at Lucas. “You must be in puppy dog heaven with all those furry rascals.”
“Excuse me?” asked his mother. “Dog food? For what?”
“Well, for his dogs, I’d assumed.” Gale set the box down with a clunk. “He’s been ordering this brand of dog food ever since I was a little girl and my parents ran the shop.”
“There aren’t any dogs,” Mom said uncertainly. “At least I hope there aren’t any dogs.”
Gale threw up her arms, motioning toward the store. “Well, listen. It’s a special order and Silas has paid up through the next few years, so as long as the kibble gets delivered, I’ll need you to take it off my hands. I don’t have room for it here.”
An uncomfortable silence settled into the room, but Lucas broke the spell. “We’ll take it. If that’s what Silas wanted, then we’ll take it. Right, Mom?”
His mom’s worried smile crept back over her face as she nodded. The box was coming home with them.
After paying, Mom and Lucas filled the car with their supplies plus the extra surprise for Silas Sweetwater. It took Lucas several trips to carry everything out from the store, and on his last trip, he stopped in his tracks. Tied to the horse post in front of the bookstore was … a horse. The gray-speckled creature stared back at him and snuffed through its nose. Lucas searched up and down the street to find who the horse belonged to, but no one was there.
“Mom! A horse!” Lucas said as he ran to the car and climbed in.
“Well, look at that,” she said. “A one-horse town.”
She started the car and pulled back out onto the main road. Lucas kept looking at the horse and was surprised when a kid with a camera draped around his neck walked out of the bookstore. He seemed to be Lucas’s age but slightly smaller. As Lucas rode past him, the kid lifted the camera and took a picture of their car. Then he ran over to the post and unlatched the horse. L
ucas’s head swiveled around to see the kid hop on the horse and gallop off in the other direction.
Boxes of dog food, end-of-summer barbecues, and horseback paparazzi. Laying low wasn’t going to be easy in a place like this.
As Lucas’s mother drove along, the trees inched closer to the road. “Are you sure you know the way home, Mom?” he asked.
“Eartha gave me directions.” Mom held up a sheet of paper like it was a hard-earned diploma. “Don’t worry—we are not getting lost again.”
Forty-five minutes and two three-point turns later, they were still looking for the house. His mother had given the directions to Lucas, but he couldn’t help. “Turn right on Broucksou Lane,” he said. “Okay, that would be easy to do … if there were street signs.”
“I think we’ve passed that tree before.” His mother pointed out the window. “Right?”
“I can’t tell trees apart,” said Lucas. “Maybe we could head back to town and get directions from Gale?”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this from your father,” Mom said with a laugh. “He still talks about that time I tore our bumper off while trying to parallel park.”
“I won’t tell him,” said Lucas.
“I’m not worried about you, I’m worried about gabby Gale telling the entire planet.” Mom giggled at her own joke, which made Lucas snort. Then they both broke out into a laughing fit. Getting lost in Hounds Hollow was apparently easy, but escaping the ever-watching eyes of their neighbors would probably be impossible.
Even though it was almost one o’clock in the afternoon, the sunlight around the car dimmed as they drove. Lucas rolled down his window and checked out the sky. It was dotted with dark, gray clouds. A storm was coming soon. As they rounded a corner, his mom’s cell phone rang. It was so unexpected that they nearly swerved off the road.
“That thing hasn’t worked for so long, I thought it was broken!” Mom pressed the hands-free setting on the car. “Hello?”
Airy buzzing erupted over the car’s speakers, followed by a man’s voice. “Mrs. Trainer?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Who is this?”
“This is the moving company, ma’am,” the man said. “We’ve been calling you all morning. I’m glad we finally got through.”
“Oh gosh, are you at the house already?” Mom asked. “I didn’t think you were coming until tomorrow.”
Static clicked through the line. “Bad … trying … accident …”
“What? I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up,” Mom called out. Lucas saw her eyes flicker into the rearview mirror to meet his.
That’s when he saw a shadow dart into the road. The world broke around them, starting with their car jolting backward and to the left. Lucas’s head smacked hard against his window. His mother screamed and turned the wheel forcefully, spinning the car while she slammed on the brakes. A ringing sound filled Lucas’s head as the car bounced slightly after the abrupt stop. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the shadow was gone and the world became normal again.
The man on the phone clipped through like an angel. “Hello? Mrs. Trainer? Are you okay?”
Her white knuckles gripped the steering wheel, but Lucas’s mom sat at an odd angle, looking straight at him. “Lucas? Lucas?”
“I’m okay, Mom. I’m okay,” he said through heavy breaths. The seat belt had snatched his chest tightly, knocking the wind out of him. “Are you?”
She shook her head. “No … I think I hit something.” Then his mother lowered her chin to her chest and started sobbing. “I can’t—I can’t look, Lucas. I don’t want to look. You shouldn’t look, either.”
Too late. In the middle of the road, Lucas saw a black lump. It was hard to make out, since the storm clouds had rolled in and cast a gloom over the forest. Was it an opossum? A skunk? Whatever it was, the car had mangled it into an unrecognizable shape.
The hiss from the cell phone started up again. Inside the car, a heat began to bloom. Lucas wiped his brow as sweat dripped in his eyes. Whatever was in the road lay motionless. Then the black shape started to shudder. Lucas couldn’t turn away; he was hypnotized by the shape’s disjointed movements. As if it were made of clay, the mangled body began to adjust itself. Above the hissing, Lucas could hear the sounds of muscle and bone resetting like ringing out a wet towel in the sink. Hollow drips and cracks popped through the speakers, and as quickly as the animal had been dead in the middle of the road, it sprang to life and leapt back into the forest.
Meanwhile, the heat in the car boiled, fogging up the windows. Lucas felt his throat close up in the muggy air. He clicked open his inhaler and took a long, slow breath. Then he coughed, “It ran off, Mom. It’s alive.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Mom whispered to someone. Lucas was pretty sure it wasn’t meant for him because then she yelled, “Lucas Trainer, you weren’t supposed to look! It could have been gruesome.”
“Yeah,” Lucas agreed. He was ashen and sick to his stomach. “It could have been.”
“Mrs. Trainer!” The now frantic man on the cell phone cut through the static and hissing.
“Yes, sorry, we had a little accident,” she told the mover as she leaned back in her seat. “My husband should be at the house to meet you.”
“That’s the thing, Mrs. Trainer,” the man said. “We’re not at the house. There’s a slight problem. We won’t be able to deliver your furniture for another week.”
There was a long pause as Lucas and his mother expected the mysterious man to explain himself further. But he didn’t.
“Hello?” Mom asked.
“Yes, ma’am, I’m still here,” the man said. “We’ll be in touch as soon as we know more.”
Lucas’s mom let out a deep sigh. “Okay.” Then she ended the connection before the man could say another word.
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Lucas wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but he felt like it needed to be said, that his mom needed to hear that from somebody right now.
“Not your fault, little man,” she said. “Now, let’s go look at that damage to our car.”
They clicked out of their seat belts and opened the doors slowly. The day was sweltering with an ugly heat and thick with humidity. Walking to the front of the car, Lucas could see a dent in the right side of the bumper. White cracks and crinkles spiderwebbed out on the plastic from where they had struck the animal. Even the metal hood bulged upward, creating a ripple in the frame.
“What did we hit?” asked his mom. “This is too much damage for most animals to walk away unharmed.”
Lucas shrugged. “Maybe it was a moose? It was hard to say.” He wasn’t lying. In fact, it was as close to the truth as he wanted to tell his mom. Any more truth and she’d take him to the nearest hospital for another round of tests. If he had to guess what the animal was, it looked sort of like a dog or wolf, but bigger. Way bigger and way creepier.
A ragged flash of lightning streaked overhead, followed immediately by a clap of thunder so loud and close that it caused a gust of wind to hit Lucas. Big drops of rain pelted the ground. Slowly at first, the shower speckled the gray pavement darker, and then it turned into a downpour. Lucas and his mother rushed back to the car, but they were soaked by the time they got inside. The storm pounded on their roof and blurred the windows with fog and buckets of water.
“Well, champ, it can only get better from here,” Mom said as she started the car. Miraculously, it came to life, despite the damage. “See!”
Then she flicked on the headlights and shifted the windshield wipers on high. The black, skinny arms whipped back and forth trying to push the rain aside, but it was coming down sideways now. Lucas realized that they’d been stopped in the middle of the road for a long time without anyone else driving by. At least in the city, people gathered around an accident. Out here, help wasn’t always around the corner. As his mother shifted the car forward, the headlights spotted a small wooden sign that had been hidden by branches until the storm had pushed th
em aside. It read BROUCKSOU LANE.
Lucas cheered. “Mom, look!”
“Ha! It seems we’re heading in the right direction after all. Now let’s get home before anything else crazy happens.” His mother turned onto the road and deeper into the woods.
The car whimpered as they drove, no doubt from the wreck. Lucas looked back to where they had been in the accident. Through the wash of rain he could make out two red lights glowing at the intersection like brake lights from another car. Lucas wondered if someone had driven by as soon as they left, but then the red lights flashed. No, thought Lucas, that wasn’t what they did. The lights didn’t flash—they blinked.
And then they were gone.
Walking into Silas Sweetwater’s house—no, his house—for the second time took Lucas by surprise. It was exactly as big as he remembered it. Never before in his life had this happened. Usually the first time he visited a place—school, a library, a doctor’s office—everything felt larger-than-life. But by the second visit, he knew what to expect, there were no more surprises. And knowing what to expect made everything feel smaller. After living in his room at their old apartment, Lucas couldn’t imagine going back to a place so cramped and tiny.
His new house, on the other hand, seemed every bit as gigantic and overwhelming as it had the first time he stepped foot inside. The massive cathedral ceilings were enormous, and the oddly shaped furniture sat like wild animals watching him. And even with the dark storm overhead, the stained-glass windows glowed and spun color around the room with each lightning strike. This house was filled with surprises. And Lucas suddenly had an itch to uncover them.
But first he needed to change. He was soaked to the bone from helping Mom carry in the groceries. Wet paper bags of cleaning supplies and food sat in the entryway.
“That’s the last of it,” Dad said as he clunked down the oversized box that Silas had ordered. “What’s in here, anyway?”
“Dog food,” said Lucas.
“Of course, it’s so obvious,” Dad joked. “But remind me why we need so much dog food when we don’t have any dogs?”
The Haunting of Hounds Hollow Page 8
