by Dayle Gaetz
11
“Let’s get out of here,” Rusty whispered. His face turned so pale the sprinkling of freckles across his nose and cheeks stood out in pink blotches.
“Why? We aren’t doing anything wrong.”
Katie stepped sideways to place herself between the rapidly approaching man and her cousin. “Don’t let him see the cell phone,” she whispered over her shoulder. “Stick it in your pocket.”
“I don’t have a pocket!”
“Then clip it to your belt. Face it away; hide it behind your hands.”
“What belt?”
“Rusty!”
“Okay, okay. But I don’t know why. I still say we should run.”
“Too late.”
Cliff’s heavy workboots sent up little puffs of dust with every step. His face looked tight and angry. He didn’t slow down until the toes of his boots almost touched Katie’s sandals. She curled her toes and refused to step back.
Cliff towered over the two kids. “What are you doing here?” he repeated, more quietly this time.
“Walking,” Katie said. “We were way full from pigging out on birthday cake and we needed some exercise.”“So we can eat more cake later,” Rusty added.
“Then what are you doing with that wire?” he nodded suspiciously at Katie’s hand.
Katie glanced down, surprised to see she was still holding the chunk of chicken wire. “Nothing,” she said. “I found it down there,” she pointed toward the slough, “and we kind of wondered how it got there.”
The anger faded from his eyes. “Sorry, kids. When I saw you with that wire in your hands, I thought you were putting it here.”
“Why would we do that?”
A sheepish smile played around the corners of his mouth. “You’re right: I wasn’t thinking. It’s just that so many odd things have happened around here lately, I guess I’m on edge.” Cliff took several steps toward the slough and then stopped and glanced around, hands on his hips. The curved red handles of a small tool protruded from the back pocket of his jeans. “Where exactly did you find it?” he asked.
“Down there. See? Where the grass is disturbed.” Before Cliff could ask any more questions, Katie asked one of her own. “Why are you out here anyhow? I thought you had work to do.”
“I have stacks of work,” he said impatiently. “But first I needed to check on the stock, so I went to the pasture to be sure the cows were all right. After I saw Scott lurking in the area I wanted to be sure he hadn’t left the gates open again.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
“I know he did it once before. That kid’s a troublemaker. I said so from the beginning, but no one would believe me.”
“How did you know it was him?”
“How come you ask so many questions?” Cliff asked, but his broad smile took away any sting from his words. He glanced sympathetically from Katie to Rusty. “I guess it must be kind of boring around here for you two kids. Maybe I can find something to keep you busy.”
“No thanks!” Rusty said. “That’s what my dad says when he wants me to do chores. Trust me, we aren’t that bored.”
Cliff threw his head back and laughed. “Fair enough. But now, I really must get to work. Why don’t you two run along to the house? There are a couple of things I need to do here before heading back.” Suddenly the air was filled with the quick raucous notes of a song.
“What’s that?” Cliff glanced around. “Where’s it coming from?”
“I think it’s my cell,” Katie pulled the phone from her pocket and moved closer to Rusty.
The loud music blared out again.
“It’s not yours.” Cliff moved toward Rusty. “What’s that clipped to your waistband?”
Rusty glanced down. “Oh!” he said. “I forgot I had my cell with me.” He tried to pull it free of his black shorts, but it seemed stuck there. The music blared out again.
“Unclip it,” Katie said. “Hurry up and answer. I bet it’s your mom.”
“Don’t you know how to use your own phone?”
Cliff’s eyes narrowed and he moved closer. “Are you sure it’s even yours?”
“Here, let me help.” Katie stepped between Rusty and Cliff.
“I’m okay,” Rusty said. He wrenched the phone free, flipped it open, ran his finger over the buttons and finally pushed one.
“Mom?” he said.
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Just talking to Cliff.”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
“Sure. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
He closed the cell. “Our moms want us to come back now.”
Cliff eyed him suspiciously. “That phone looks exactly like Megan’s. And it plays the same tune.”
“Yeah? Then, I guess we share the same good taste.”
“Must be because they’re cousins,” Katie said. “Did you notice they both like to wear black?”
As the kids walked away, side by side, Katie felt Cliff’s eyes boring into her back, but she didn’t dare look until they reached the driveway. Cliff hadn’t moved. Arms folded across his chest, he kept a wary eye on them, as if he suspected they were up to no good. She leaned toward Rusty. “Who was on the phone?”
“Don’t know. Some guy, probably Scott.”
Katie walked a few more steps, expecting Rusty to fill in the details, but he said nothing. “So?” she asked. “What did he say?”
Rusty stopped. “Uh, let me think…”
“Can’t you think and walk at the same time? Cliff’s watching us.”
Rusty started walking, more slowly than before. He gazed up at the huge dome of sky. “Okay, here’s how it went down.”
Went down, Katie repeated to herself, pleased to hear Rusty using some detective-type talk.
“When I answered the phone, I said, ‘Mom?’
Because, you said it must be Mom, so I pretended it was.”
Katie nodded.
“So, anyway, the voice sounded surprised. He said, ‘Megan, you okay? You sound real weird. Sorry for using your cell, but I was worried.’ ”
“So, I said, ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’ ”
“Then the voice got mad. ‘Where’s Megan?’ he asked.”
“‘Just talking to Cliff,’ I told him.”
“The voice stopped being mad and sounded all worried instead. ‘Is she okay? When will she be back?
Why didn’t she take her phone?’ ”
“He asked those three questions so fast I didn’t know what to say, so I just said, ‘Uh, I don’t know.’ ”
“That’s perfect; it answers all three questions at once. Then what?”
“Uh, I can’t remember. What else did I say?”
Being an accomplished eavesdropper, Katie was proud of her excellent memory. “You said, ‘Sure. Be there in a few minutes.’ ”
“Oh yeah. Cliff was starting to look kinda mad.
I don’t think he believed us about the phone, so I wanted him to think our moms were waiting for us.
When the voice said, ‘You must be one of Megan’s cousins. Tell her I’ll talk to her later,’ I improvised.”
“Hey, Rusty,” Katie slapped her cousin on the back, “you did great!”
Rusty grinned.
“I’ll make a good assistant out of you yet,” she added.
For a second Rusty looked crushed; then his grin returned. “Partner is more like it.”
They were almost at the house by then, but there was something Katie needed to do before they went inside.
“Okay, partner, what do you suggest we do next?”
“I don’t know. Go inside and give Megan’s phone back? We need to tell her Scott took it and dumped it by his truck.”
“What if it wasn’t him?”
“Of course it was him. We saw him drive away from there, didn’t we? Besides, he said he used it, I just told you that.”
Katie nodded. “He meant that he was sorry for calling Megan’s cell because he’s not supposed to.
“Uh, to make it look good when someone else found it and checked the incoming calls?”
“Maybe, but that seems kinda dumb. If Scott didn’t want to get caught, why not toss it into the slough where no one would ever find it?”
Rusty thought for a minute. “I know! Because he likes Megan and he doesn’t want to wreck her cell phone?”
Katie wrinkled her forehead—she’d never thought of that. “I’m still not sure it was Scott, because why would he take it in the first place?”
Rusty bit his lip, thinking, and then his face lit up.
“Okay, then. You think Megan’s so spaced out she dropped it herself and forgot she even had it with her?”
Katie shrugged. “Could be. Or…”
“Or what?”
“If you were my partner I wouldn’t have to tell you, you’d know.”
“Uh-uh. Partners share their ideas.”
Katie smiled. “All right then. We’ll share later. But before we go inside we need to check Megan’s cell phone and see what other calls have been made this evening.”
Katie glanced over her shoulder. Cliff was starting up the driveway. “Let’s go into the trailer.”
Katie closed the trailer door, and Rusty opened the cell phone. He found the Menu button and then the number of the call he had answered.
Katie jotted the number in her notebook. “We’ll check the phone book and see if it was Scott.”
Then they looked through the outgoing calls. The last number seemed familiar somehow, and Katie jotted it down too. “I think it might be Aunt Margaret’s number. I’ll check when we go in.”
“Or we could hit Redial.”
Katie frowned. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
They leaned their heads close over the phone, listening as it rang once, twice, three times. Then someone picked up. After a long silence, a barely audible voice whispered, “Yes?”
“Is it Aunt Margaret?” Rusty whispered.
Katie nodded. “I think so.”
“What do you want from me?” the voice asked, and Katie was sure then that it was Aunt Margaret. “Do you think I can’t hear you whispering? Why don’t you just leave me alone? It’s hard enough trying to get by without you constantly harassing me. If you want something, why don’t you come right out and tell me instead of making these constant calls and ridiculous accusations?”
Rusty put his finger over the key to disconnect, but Katie pushed his hand away. “Not yet,” she whispered.“It’s not going to work,” Aunt Margaret said. “I’ve had enough. If you’re planning to blackmail me, good luck! I haven’t got a penny.”
She paused. “So now you’re just going to breathe into the phone like a pervert?” The phone slammed down hard.
“Ouch!” Rusty pulled the phone away from his ear.
“So,” Katie said, “we know where that call to Aunt Margaret came from earlier.”
“Right,” Rusty agreed. “Megan’s cell. And we know who made it. What I don’t get is why? I mean, maybe Scott’s out to get revenge, but this is a really dumb way to get it if you ask me. What good does it do him?”
“Actually, we need to be sure of the who before we can figure out the why,” Katie said. She peeked through the half-closed blinds toward the house, half expecting to see Cliff waiting for them near the screen door. But there was no sign of him. “Let’s go inside,” she said. “But don’t tell anyone about the phone, not until we talk to Megan. Turn it off so it won’t ring.”
“But, they’ll see it when we go in.”
“Then grab some clothes or something to take with you.”
“I don’t need anything.”
“I know that, Rusty. But you can wrap the phone up so no one sees it. Besides, if anyone saw us come in here, they’ll want to know why. So we’ll both take something with us, okay?” Katie pulled open her drawer and grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.
Rusty grabbed some clothes too.
“Let’s go,” Katie said. She pushed open the trailer door, stuck her head out and looked both ways before stepping outside. She had a terrible feeling that Cliff was lurking nearby, somewhere just out of sight. It seemed that nothing happened on this farm without Cliff knowing about it, and as long as they had Megan’s cell phone, he would be watching them. Did he think they stole it from the office? Or, was he somehow involved?
12
Katie stopped behind the trailer where she had a good view of the driveway. “Wait,” she whispered, “stay close.”
“Why?” Rusty kept walking.
“Because I think Cliff is waiting for us.”
“Well, that doesn’t take a whole lot of detective power to figure out.”
Katie followed his gaze toward the house. Like an apparition, Cliff stood just inside the screen door.
Only the pale skin of his face showed through the gray veil of the screen, and his white arms were folded across his chest.
Cliff pushed open the door, his lips curled in a crooked smile. “Hi kids,” he said, his voice friendly and welcoming. “Come on in real quick and leave those darned mosquitoes outside where they belong.”
He held the door for them. Rusty squeezed quickly past, and then it was Katie’s turn. She avoided Cliff’s eyes and ducked under his arm. He must have been telling the truth earlier, she thought, he really must have been in the cow pasture because he smelled like a warm cow flop. She held her breath and hurried toward a friendly murmur of voices in the kitchen.
The room fell silent as the kids entered. GJ, Gram, Katie’s mom and her two aunts each had a tea mug in front of them on the table. Each face looked up with an identical expression, all of them wrinkled with worry. But Aunt Margaret was the only one whose eyes were red and watery.
“What’s up?” Katie asked.
“Nothing,” her mom said. “We’re just talking.
Catching up on each other’s lives.”
“But,” Katie persisted, “it looks like something’s wrong.”
Aunt Margaret stood and walked to the sink. She grabbed a tissue, leaned against the counter and gazed out the window. She blew her nose with a great, loud honk. “I must have a touch of hay fever,” she said.
“Where have you kids been?” Aunt Sarah asked. “We were about to call you.”
Katie was distracted by a distinct cow smell that floated around her nostrils. The warm sharp scent of manure and sweat and straw came from directly behind her. This could be trouble, she realized. She sidled closer to the table, thinking quickly. “We walked to the road,” she said vaguely, “and that’s where we talked to Cliff. Then, on the way back, we went into the trailer to get some clothes.”
When in doubt, tell the truth. But would it be enough to satisfy Cliff?
Rusty’s mom nodded. “Don’t wander off too far,” she said. “You don’t know your way around here, and we wouldn’t want you to get lost.”
“How could we get lost when we can see every little bump in the ground for a hundred miles?” Rusty asked.
His mom laughed and pushed her chair back.
“How about you and I go for a walk together?” she said. “I need some time to visit with my son.”
Rusty grinned. “Sure, Mom. Then, when we get back, I’ll be ready for more cake.”
Katie relaxed. Everything was going to be fine.
Behind her, Cliff cleared his throat. “Even if Rusty did manage to get lost,” he said. “He can always use his cell phone to call for help, so there’s really no need to worry.”
Aunt Sarah glanced up at Cliff in surprise. “Katie has a cell phone,” she explained. “She just got it for her birthday. But Rusty doesn’t, not yet, although I have to admit it seems like a good idea. These two are forever getting themselves into trouble.”
“If he doesn’t have a cell,” Cliff sounded puzzled, “how did you just talk to him?”
Aunt Sarah frowned. �
�What do you mean?”
“I mean, a few minutes ago when I ran into the kids by the road. Rusty had a cell clipped to his shorts.
After it rang and he talked, he told me it was you.”
Aunt Sarah walked over to her son. “What’s he talking about, Rusty?”
Clutching his little bundle of clothes against his stomach, Rusty stared at the floor. He shifted from one foot to the other.
Aunt Sarah looked over his shoulder. “Cliff?”
“You know, I thought that phone looked like Megan’s. It played the same so-called music too. But Rusty said the phone belonged to him.”
“Rusty, let me see what you have there.” Aunt Sarah held out her hands.
Rusty glanced down at the crumpled bundle in his hands and then at Katie. He handed over the clothes to his mom.
She carefully unwrapped the cell phone and stared at it in surprise. “Russell,” she said, “it’s time to start explaining. And I need to hear the truth.”
Katie started for the stairs, hoping no one would notice.
“Katie!” her mom called. “We need you here for this.”
She stopped. Turned around. Opened her mouth.
“No,” her mom said. “You be the silent partner this time.”
Rusty licked his lips. “Okay. I admit it, we found the cell phone. It was lying in the grass by the road.” He nodded in that direction. “Up near those trees. “Or maybe Megan had it and dropped it by mistake,” Katie added.
Anyhow, we figured Scott had parked his truck there and maybe he took the phone, like Cliff said, and then tossed it away.”
“Let Rusty finish,” Katie’s mom said sharply.
“So then, uh…,” Rusty paused. “Then I picked it up and I was going to bring it back to Megan. But suddenly Cliff showed up and…” He glanced at Katie.
“I’m not sure what happened after that.”
Every eye turned to Katie. Her mind whirled.
There had to be a logical explanation.
“Katie?” her mom asked.
“Oh. Am I allowed to talk now?”
“Please do.”
“Okay then. Well—here’s the thing.” She took a deep breath and let her eyes roam slowly from face to face. “Uh—like Rusty said, we found the phone in the grass.” When in doubt, tell the truth. “So then I dialed Megan’s number, on my phone, to see if it would ring. Turned out it did, so we were going to bring it back. Then Cliff came charging up and yelled at us. He looked real mad, and we got kind of, you know, scared.”