Just South of Home

by Karen Strong

  “Ellis, finish the grace with some sense,” Mama snapped.

  My brother slipped back into prayer mode. “Lord? Bless the humans and creatures at this table. In your name we pray. Amen.”

  I opened my eyes. Janie’s face was turning pink from holding in her laughter, but Mrs. Greene was not amused.

  “I hope there’s still some time left for this child to come out right.” Mrs. Greene frowned at Ellis, who returned the look with a big grin.

  Janie couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a snicker.

  “What’s so funny?” I quietly asked.

  “Ellis put Walter under the table,” she whispered in my ear, and then beamed as she cut her chicken into bite-size pieces.

  “How is the planning going with the Heritage Festival?” Daddy asked Mrs. Greene.

  “Everything is just fine,” she said. “All of our booths are filled.”

  “What did the board decide to do with Mrs. Whitney’s request?” Mama asked. “I heard she presented a different idea for her booth?”

  “Her request came in too late,” Mrs. Greene snipped.

  I could tell that Mama didn’t believe her. “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Robert, when are you going to open your own business?” Mrs. Greene said, completely changing the subject. “You need to have something that’s yours. Stop working for other folks.”

  Daddy worked as a civil engineer in Alton. Mrs. Greene wanted him to be a mortician like Granddaddy Greene, but Daddy didn’t have the stomach for it. He always said he would rather deal with bridges than with bodies.

  “I’m working on it, Mama,” he said. “Things are good right now.”

  “Delilah, have you divorced or sued anybody this week?” Mrs. Greene asked.

  “I haven’t yet, but it’s only Monday,” Mama replied.

  “Don’t understand why you insist on having that law office. My son can provide for this family. A Greene woman should focus on her children and her husband.”

  Mama paused, and then smiled sweetly. “I insist on using my law office to help our community. And as you can see, my children and my husband are perfectly fine.”

  Mrs. Greene huffed and took a sip of her sweet tea, but she didn’t say anything else.

  We ate the remainder of our meal in silence. We were almost finished eating when, to my horror, I saw Walter climbing the tablecloth. I nudged Janie with my foot. Ellis was too busy sucking the life out of his last chicken bone to even notice.

  Crash!

  Walter leaped on top of the table, knocking over a glass of sweet tea. Daddy screeched and jumped up from his chair, making it hit the hardwood floor with a loud plop. He tried to catch Walter, but the lizard slipped out of his grasp and raced straight across the table toward Mrs. Greene.

  “Run, Walter! Run!” Ellis yelled.

  The bearded dragon jumped and took a high dive right into our grandma’s lap.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh,” Mrs. Greene wailed.

  Mama dropped her fork with a loud clatter. Janie couldn’t contain her giggling and clutched her stomach, gasping for air. I sat frozen in my seat, unable to move.

  Mrs. Greene jumped up from her chair and continued to scream at the top of her lungs as Walter dropped to the floor. Ellis disappeared underneath the dining room table, searching for his pet lizard.

  Our grandma’s face was flushed; her glossy hair bounced with each heavy breath. She put her hand to her chest. “It tried to attack me,” she panted. “Some kind of heathen. A soldier of Lucifer.”

  “It’s okay.” Daddy rushed over to Mrs. Greene. “It’s just Walter. He doesn’t bite. He must have gotten out of his cage.”

  “Ellis!” Mama yelled, her voice laced with anger.

  My brother slowly came out from underneath the table, Walter in the crook of his arm.

  “What did I tell you about bringing that lizard to supper?” Mama asked.

  Mrs. Greene glared at Ellis. “This child is Satan’s seed! He needs the wrath of a switch!”

  Ellis moved quickly behind Mama. His eyes were wide and scared.

  Daddy rubbed Mrs. Greene’s shoulders. “Calm down. We’ll take care of him. Just take a deep breath.”

  Mrs. Greene picked up her handkerchief, and Daddy guided her out of the dining room. Mama grabbed Ellis by the elbow, and he yelped. “You are in big trouble, young man. To your room right now.”

  • • •

  When our grandma finally calmed down, she left grumbling and in a bad mood. Janie and I sat in the den while Mama and Daddy were upstairs with Ellis. No doubt he was getting a good long talk. My parents didn’t use switches, but Mama’s lashing words were just as rough.

  “I told Ellis to put Walter under the table,” Janie said.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked.

  “He was gonna snitch on us,” she said. “You should thank me.”

  “But now he’s in trouble,” I said.

  “Better him than us.”

  Even though I didn’t like her tactics, Janie had prevented Ellis from telling Mama that we went to Creek Church.

  Janie pulled out her phone. “I’m gonna call my mom.”

  Janie left to go out on the porch, so I went into Mama’s office and checked my e-mail. Nothing from Jovita. The disappointment I usually felt from my empty inbox had disappeared. My stomach didn’t fill like a bag of gravel. I was now numb to my best friend ignoring me. My mind was too filled up with questions from what I had seen today.

  After closing my e-mail, I typed Are ghosts real? into the search engine. Out of the millions of hits, I read the top result: No scientific evidence.

  • • •

  Later that night, Janie clicked on the nightstand lamp between us.

  “Sarah? Are you still awake?”

  “What do you want?”

  “Do you believe in that curse?” she asked.

  “I thought you didn’t believe it,” I said.

  “I didn’t say I did. But there was something odd about that boy. Do you think he was one of those haint things?”

  “Go to sleep, Janie.”

  She clicked off the lamp, leaving my spaceship clock to be the only source of weak light. I continued to stare at the ceiling, my mind racing with questions. Had I seen shadows in front of that dead oak tree? Were we now cursed? Was that strange boy a haint? Or something else? Anything could seem like magic until it was explained. I knew there had to be some kind of explanation, but right now I couldn’t think of a single one.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Cursed

  The next morning I left Janie in my room burrowed deep under the covers and had breakfast with my parents.

  “Get a good night’s sleep?” Mama asked.

  “I slept okay,” I said.

  Ellis hadn’t snitched on us, but I still felt guilty about going to Creek Church. I was worried about our little trip and Janie’s sticky fingers coming back to haunt us, literally.

  Daddy poured me a half cup of coffee. Mama wouldn’t let him give me a full cup yet. After adding hot water, a scoop of sugar, and a dollop of cream, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm rush. Even though it was watered down, I loved how coffee woke up my brain.

  “You’re still watching the History of the Solar System?” Daddy asked.

  “Yep,” I replied.

  “Excited about the science conference?” Mama gave me half of her bagel, and I let my spoonful of peanut butter ooze over the crunchy crust.

  “I can’t wait. I have so many questions,” I said.

  Daddy walked to the sink and washed out his coffee cup. “I need to confirm our reservation at the hotel. Looking forward to a weekend with my best girl.”

  “Hey, I thought I was your best girl?” Mama punched him playfully in the shoulder.

  “You’re the first lady in my life.” Daddy kissed Mama on the nose, and she giggled like a teenager.

  “Can we go to Alton on Saturday?” I asked. “Janie wants to buy more nail polish.”
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br />   “Sure,” Daddy said. “Maybe while we’re there we can catch that asteroid disaster movie your brother wants to see.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s a good choice,” Mama said.

  “Is Ellis on punishment?” I asked.

  “No,” Daddy said. “He now understands some pranks shouldn’t be played. Just keep an eye on him. I don’t want him getting into any more trouble.”

  I wanted to tell my parents it wasn’t Ellis they should be worried about. Janie was the one who was looking for trouble. I wondered if I should just tell them about what had happened. How Janie made me take her to Creek Church. I wanted to tell Mama about the strange boy, too. What if he was homeless and hungry? Mama would know how to help him. But then I would get in trouble, and Mama might reconsider having put me in charge. My summer would be spent at Mrs. Greene’s house, doing chores in the hot sun. No, I couldn’t tell them. I would just have to keep my cousin away from that place.

  “Sarah, you can do this, right?” Mama asked. “Watch over both Ellis and Janie?”

  “Yes, I can do it,” I said.

  After my parents left for work, I cleaned up the kitchen and then settled in to watch another History of the Solar System episode. I snuggled deep into the couch as I learned how the asteroid belt formed between Mars and Jupiter.

  Ellis bounded down the stairs and came into the den. I paused the TV. “Don’t ask me to fry an egg. Cereal is on the table for your convenience.”

  “I know,” he grumbled.

  My brother ate his breakfast and unpacked another model car set while I finished watching the History of the Solar System episode.

  I opened up my thick book about the Cassini spacecraft voyage to Saturn. Most people know about the rings, but the planet is so much more. Saturn was Earth’s protector, slinging asteroids away from our path and allowing life to evolve and thrive—well at least some life, since an asteroid did wipe out the dinosaurs. A season on Saturn lasts about seven Earth years. I imagined a seven-year summer filled with humid days and strawberry ice cream. It wouldn’t be a true summer since we would have to go to school, but I would enjoy the long hours filled with sunshine. But that would mean seven-year winters, too. Cold nights and bare trees. The average human would get to see each of our seasons maybe three times in their lifetime, if they were lucky.

  I flipped the pages to my favorite photo, where the Cassini spacecraft, almost nine hundred million miles away, was positioned under the rings of Saturn and showed Earth as a distant pale sphere, its moon only a faint shadow.

  The photo was titled The Day the Earth Smiled. It reminded me of a similar photo taken by another spacecraft, Voyager 1, right before it left our solar system at the request of astronomer Carl Sagan. Earth was barely visible, a small faded speck. Dr. Sagan had said that everyone we’ve ever loved, everyone we’ve ever known, all that we’ve ever been as a human species had lived on a pale blue dot in the vastness of space.

  Maybe one day we would find life on another planet or a moon. Maybe in our solar system or in another galaxy. Another intelligent species. We couldn’t be the only ones. I needed to believe we weren’t alone in the universe.

  I settled deeper into the couch and spent the next hour reading about Cassini’s discoveries of Saturn.

  • • •

  Ellis and I both jumped when we heard Janie’s screams.

  I knew this morning bliss wouldn’t last.

  I narrowed my eyes at Ellis. “I swear, if you put Walter in her bed, I’m calling Mama.”

  “I didn’t do nothing,” Ellis said. “Sounds like she’s having a nervous breakdown.”

  We scrambled up the stairs and found Janie still in her nightgown, gaping at the window. I hadn’t opened the curtains because I didn’t want the bright sunshine to disturb her. Now the curtains were wide open, and Ellis and I stared at the window.

  A message was scrawled across the pane in mud.

  TAKE IT BACK

  Janie’s face was scrunched up as if she had smelled the foulest rotten egg in history. I slowly moved toward the window, staring at the message. The words were written from the outside. Small block letters in reddish-brown mud made by a fingertip. How had someone gotten up to the second level of our house? I looked out the window but didn’t see anything suspicious. The hydrangea bushes looked fine, and the ivy trellis looked undisturbed.

  Janie stormed toward Ellis and dug her finger into his chest. “I know you’re trying to scare me about that stupid curse, but it won’t work!”

  The cameo. We had received a warning. Three simple words. Take it back. Or else.

  Ellis knew Janie had taken the cameo. Was this my brother’s idea of a prank? He was with us at supper and then in his room all night. Maybe he could have sneaked outside later, but that seemed doubtful. I couldn’t see Ellis pulling something like this off.

  “Where is the cameo?” I asked.

  “She probably put it with her secret stash.” Ellis looked under Janie’s bed and pulled out her pink backpack.

  Janie pushed Ellis, and my brother hit the floor with a loud thud. “Don’t touch my stuff!”

  I bent down beside him. “Are you okay?”

  He blinked several times. “She just tried to kill me!”

  “Serves you right,” Janie said. “You touch my stuff again, and you’ll be dead for real.”

  “Murder is a felony!” Ellis said. “I’m telling Mama!”

  “Stop it!” I yelled at both of them. “We need to figure this out.”

  Janie sat on the edge of her bed, gripping her backpack. Ellis stood up and rolled his shoulders, giving our cousin the stank eye.

  “Let me see the cameo,” I demanded.

  Janie frowned but unzipped the front pocket of her backpack and pulled it out. I took the cameo and examined it. There was nothing special or unusual about it. It was just a discarded, dirty piece of jewelry.

  I looked back up at the window. Who wrote that message? I thought of the strange boy we had seen at Creek Church, and a small, cold twinge traveled up my back.

  “I hate to break this to y’all, but I didn’t have anything to do with this,” Ellis said. “A haint wrote that message. You didn’t listen to me. I told you not to take anything. Now you’re cursed.”

  “I’m not cursed!” Janie yelled.

  “You better take that jewelry back before it gets worse,” Ellis said.

  “We don’t know who left that message, but there’s no way some haint wrote it. How can they write anything? They’re not alive,” I said.

  “Jasper believes this curse is the real deal,” Ellis said. “He’s seen too much working for that root witch at the Train Depot.”

  My brother’s words triggered something. Did Jasper know we had gone to Creek Church? If anyone wanted us to believe in the curse, then it would be him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Seed of Doubt

  Ellis went downstairs to call Jasper and ask him to come over. Janie left and went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

  I stood in the middle of my room and stared at the message on the window. Ellis believed ghosts had come to our house and written those words, but that was preposterous.

  Last summer, Daddy and I watched Contact, one of his favorite movies. It centered on a woman named Dr. Arroway, an astrophysicist who traveled through space and time to meet aliens. In one scene, Dr. Arroway talked about the basic scientific principle of Occam’s razor, which states the simplest explanation is usually the right one.

  A more simple explanation for the message was that Jasper had ridden over here on his bike, climbed up the ivy trellis, and written the message himself. Jasper was real. Haints were not.

  Although . . . the trellis was frail and probably couldn’t hold Jasper’s weight. And why didn’t we hear anything last night? Did Jasper even know we had gone to Creek Church? The simple explanation was getting more complicated.

  I was trying to convince myself that everything could be explai
ned, but deep down, there was still a tiny seed of doubt, and it was growing.

  In another scene from Contact, when Dr. Arroway returned from space, no one believed she had traveled across the galaxy and met another intelligent species. Even the principle of Occam’s razor made it seem like she was making it all up. Dr. Arroway couldn’t prove it or explain it, but she held fast to her belief. She had met the aliens, and they were real.

  I was so confused. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. Too many things were happening that I couldn’t easily clarify.

  When Janie came back into my bedroom, she had changed into a yellow halter top and cutoff jeans.

  “Sarah, I think you’re right,” she said. “Jasper may be behind all of this, but I still think Ellis had something to do with it too. He’s got a sneaky streak in him, and he wants revenge on me. This is why I hate boys.”

  I pulled out a T-shirt and khaki shorts from the dresser. “My brother doesn’t have enough imagination for this. I think Jasper is trying to prove a point.” I took off my housecoat and put on my bra. I was so wrapped up in theory, I didn’t care if Janie stared.

  “What about that boy we saw?” she asked. “Do you think we need to tell Jasper and Ellis about him?”

  “He was probably just some kid from the trailer park,” I said. “Creek Church isn’t that far from there.”

  “Maybe.” Janie pulled her braids over to one shoulder and studied the nail polish on her thumb. “I’m going downstairs to eat breakfast. Hurry up and fix your hair. We need to be ready when Jasper gets here, and he better be in the mood for talking.”

  When she left the room, I noticed the strap of Janie’s backpack peeking out from underneath the bed. I stared at it as I pulled on my shorts. It taunted me as I put my hair into two French braids.

  Who else would get a kick out of this whole thing?

  My cousin loved trouble. She had convinced Ellis to bring Walter to supper. She complained about being bored. Maybe she wrote the message? She could have easily snuck out of the house. She was definitely light enough to climb up the ivy trellis.