When the Crickets Stopped Singing

by Marilyn Cram-Donahue

  Then I heard voices. I recognized Dodie’s right away. The other voice was deep, talking low. The sound of it made me feel like I had hives all over my body, not just my ankles.

  I came to the last row of trees and stepped out onto the bare dirt that stretched from the groves to the cliff. The sunlight blinded me for a second, and I put up my hands to shade my eyes.

  Mr. Clement stood with his back to the cliff’s edge. Dodie was facing him. They didn’t see me. I stood as still as I could, trying to look invisible while I listened to what they were saying. My knees started shaking. It made me sick to hear the way he talked to her … the things he said. She put both hands over her ears, like she wanted to stop the sound of his voice. When he reached out his hand toward her, she backed away so fast she almost fell down.

  “You leave me alone!” she yelled. Her voice was high and squeaky, like she was about to cry. “If you don’t, I’ll tell everybody what you’ve been trying to do to me.”

  She moved sideways away from him, toward the place where the rocky cliff path started down the bluff—where we had skidded down the day before. Yes! Dodie could get away by climbing down that path. She would be all right once she reached the canyon. That was her territory. She knew every rock and bush and all the places to hide.

  But I could see he didn’t mean to let her get away. He took a step toward the cliff, reaching out for her.

  “Dodie!” I shouted. “Look out, Dodie!”

  He snapped his head in my direction. When he saw I was alone, he said, “Get away from here, you meddlesome brat!”

  He turned, as if to come toward me, but one foot slipped in the loose dirt at the edge of the cliff. He would have fallen for sure if Dodie hadn’t reached out and grabbed his shirt. She pulled hard with both hands until he got his balance.

  I wished she hadn’t bothered.

  He steadied himself, then shook his fist in her face. “You stupid girl!” he yelled. “You almost made me fall!” Then he said a lot more. About how he didn’t know why he bothered with somebody like her. And how worthless she was. And he called her some names I hadn’t ever heard before.

  He took a step closer. My knees began to shake, and I had a crawly feeling at the back of my neck. I thought of the coyotes I had heard last night and the way they had cornered a rabbit and made it scream in terror. Coyotes weren’t the only predators. Jefferson Clement was a predator, too.

  He raised one hand and might have hit her, but she scooted away from him toward the cliff. “You come back here!” he shouted.

  “Come on, Dodie!” I yelled. “This way!”

  She took a few steps toward me, but he stuck out a foot and tripped her. She put out her arms to stop the fall and landed on her wrist. She cried out in pain, then staggered to her feet, holding her arm up close to her. She was right at the cliff’s edge.

  She had a confused look on her face. No wonder, after the way she had fallen. She didn’t seem to know which way to go. She started backing up—backing away from him. “Stop, Dodie!” I shouted. But she started teetering—back and forth, her feet stirring up loose dirt. Her arms flailed in the air. She looked for a moment like she was trying to fly.

  “Help her!” I yelled.

  But he didn’t move. And then she was gone. Her scream followed her, startling a hawk that rose, sending its shrill cry across the canyon. There was an empty place where she had stood. And Jefferson Clement was alone at the top of the cliff.

  I began to moan. “Nooo… Dodie … Nooo.” But it seemed like somebody else was saying the words.

  The sun went behind a cloud, and a warm breeze blew across the clearing, carrying the scent of orange blossoms. A few dried-up sycamore leaves blew round and round in a little circle at Mr. Clement’s feet. He didn’t move.

  I heard a sound from beyond the cliff, from down below. It was a whimper, a sound a hurt animal would make. Then there was nothing at all.

  Mr. Clement turned to look at me and I could hardly breathe.

  Then I heard Willie Jack’s voice. “I heard a lot of yelling,” he said. “What’s going on here?”

  I whirled toward him. “Dodie … Dodie …” I started crying and could barely get the words out. “D-Dodie fell. She’s down there at the bottom of the cliff. We have to help her!”

  Willie Jack looked beyond me toward the cliff’s edge. His eyes narrowed, and he said a word I’d heard before but wasn’t allowed to say. Then he put both hands on my shoulders and made me look at him. “Run. Fast as you can. Get Dr. Thomas. Hurry up now!”

  He turned me around so I was facing away from the cliff and toward the groves that led back to town. He gave me a little push to get me started on my way, but I turned and looked back over my shoulder.

  Jefferson Clement was climbing down over the edge, dirt and stones scrabbling around him as he struggled to get his footing on the steep, rocky path. He turned once and looked at me, before he disappeared over the side. He pointed at me, then put one finger over his lips. His message was clear. I shivered. Nobody had ever scared me with a look before.

  I knew Willie Jack hadn’t seen Mr. Clement’s threat. I started to tell him, but he gave me another little shove. “Go!” he said.

  My face was wet with tears. I could hardly see. But I ran faster than I had ever run before. Into the groves. Along the irrigation ditch. Through the park. I jumped over the eucalyptus roots where Dodie had built her little fort.

  When I reached Dr. Thomas’s house, my chest hurt, and I had a pain in my side. My breath came in quick little gasps that didn’t seem to let in any air at all. I put my finger on the doorbell and held it there, resting my head against the doorframe. I didn’t want to close my eyes because every time I did, I saw Jefferson Clement putting his finger against his lips.

  “What in the world?” It was Mrs. Dawson, her forehead all wrinkled up in little lines of concern.

  “Come in, child. Are you sick? Do you need the doctor?”

  I still couldn’t speak, so I nodded. Then I began to cry. The doctor came running. He put his arms around me and held me tight until my wails turned to hiccups.

  “Now then,” Dr. Thomas said. “You’d better tell me about it.”

  “It’s Dodie,” I said. “She … she fell … off the cliff.”

  He moved quickly, handing me over to Mrs. Dawson. “Take care of her,” he said, then grabbed his black bag and headed for the door. Mrs. Dawson made me sit down in Dr. Thomas’s comfortable chair and tucked a blanket around me because I was shivering so. Then she went out of the room, and I heard her talking on the telephone. In a minute she was back with a glass of cool water, and Miss Emma was with her.

  Mrs. Dawson kept saying shhh, shhh, and patting me on the back. I tried to drink some water, but my teeth chattered against the glass. Chills swept up my back and down my arms. I couldn’t seem to hold my legs still. I wrapped my arms around myself and held on tight. Miss Emma came right up and took hold of one of my hands with both of hers. She stayed that way until the doorbell rang.

  The door opened before Mrs. Dawson could get to it. Mama was there. She held out her arms, and I ran to her.

  “Dodie,” I said. “She f-fell …” I couldn’t say any more. I was afraid to say what really happened. I just hugged Mama like I couldn’t let go. Then there were four of us hugging. Five, if you counted Henry, who was on Miss Emma’s shoulder.

  “Poor little thing,” Miss Emma said. “Something frightened her.” Her eyes looked as big as saucers, and her lips trembled. She looked as frightened as I felt.

  “Help, help!” Henry squawked.

  Mama nodded her thanks at Mrs. Dawson. “We’ll be going now,” she said, and she pulled me to the door. When it was closed behind us, I could still hear Miss Emma and Henry.

  Poor little thing. Help, help. Poor little thing.

  When we got home, I crawled between the sheets with all my clothes on and pulled the covers over my head. I wanted to tell Mama everything, but I couldn’t seem to talk. Eve
ry time I started, I saw Jefferson Clement’s face in my mind, and my voice wouldn’t work. The words were stuck in my throat, and I couldn’t spit them out.

  Mama kept patting me. “Close your eyes and rest,” she said. But when I closed my eyes, I saw the way he had looked at me, and I was afraid all over again.

  After a while, Mama came in with a glass of warm milk. I hate warm milk, especially in the summer. But I pushed the covers back so I could sit up and drink it. Daddy had come home from work as soon as he heard. He came in and sat on a chair by my bed. He looked at me a minute, then reached for my hand and squeezed it.

  “Dr. Thomas is here,” he said. “Do you feel like talking to him?”

  I didn’t, but I nodded.

  Dr. Thomas sat on the edge of my bed like he always did. Only this time he didn’t have his stethoscope. He didn’t even have his black bag. He seemed like a different person without them.

  “D-Dodie,” I said. “How’s—”

  “Angie,” he said, “I have to tell you something sad. When Dodie fell, she must have hit her head on a big rock.” He took a deep breath. “She’s unconscious. I’m afraid she’s in a coma. That means … that means we … can’t wake her up.”

  “But I can wake her up. I know I can!” I pushed back the covers and sat up.

  Dr. Thomas shook his head. “Not now, Angie. Not now. We need to give Dodie a little time to heal. In a few days, you can see her. I’ll take you to the San Andreas Hospital myself. I promise.”

  I gulped to get my breath. The words finally came tumbling out. I looked at Dr. Thomas, then at Daddy. “I saw what happened. I saw how she …” I tried to swallow, but I didn’t have any spit. I tried again, but I couldn’t find the right words. They got all tangled in my head and wouldn’t come out right. Then I began to hiccup.

  “No need to say any more,” Dr. Thomas said. “Mr. Clement already told Constable Mullens what happened. Willie Jack is on his way to the jail.” His face had a tight, pinched look that told me he couldn’t believe what he had just said.

  “No … no … no!” I moaned. My heart gave a lurch, then began to pound. I could taste the salt from the tears that were running down my face.

  “Hush, child,” Dr. Thomas said. He held a glass to my lips. I was thirsty and drank it, even though it fizzled and had an odd taste. “Now you lie back in your bed,” he said. “That drink will help you sleep.”

  “But I have to tell you what happened.”

  He nodded. “Go ahead then.”

  I told him about how I went to find Dodie. “First, I went to the park. Then through the groves …”

  Dr. Thomas kept nodding. It was almost like the slow ticking of the mantle clock. Tick, tock. Nod, nod. I closed my eyes, but I kept talking.

  “Dodie was on the edge of the cliff. She was … she was …” I started to say she was arguing with Mr. Clement, but all I could do was hiccup. I remembered him putting his finger over his lips and the look in his eyes as he did it.

  “She lost her balance,” I said. Then I started to cry. I felt Daddy’s hand tighten around mine. I couldn’t get any more words to come out of my mouth.

  I opened my eyes and saw Daddy and Dr. Thomas looking at each other. Then Daddy bent over close and kissed me on the forehead. He had that serious look around his eyes, the way he always did when we talked about something important. He gave me a little nod, squeezed my hand, and stood up to go.

  Dr. Thomas said, “We’ll talk some more, my dear. As soon as you have rested.”

  The last sound I heard was the doctor’s voice. “The poor child is in shock,” he said. “She witnessed something horrible …” His voice drifted away, and I heard a click as my bedroom door closed.

  I needed to get out of bed, tell them what really happened. But I didn’t. I remembered the look on Miss Emma’s face when she looked out of her window. The way her eyes had grown so big, and her lips had trembled. That must be what I looked like now. Afraid. Just like Miss Emma.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  For the rest of the day and all into that night, I kept waking up and going right back to sleep. Sometimes, when I had my eyes open, I could see my room and my bed. Once Mama came in and helped me get out of my clothes and into pajamas. Then she left the door ajar so that the hall light could come in. Other times, I would think it was somebody else’s room, and somebody else’s soft pillow, and somebody else’s head lying on it.

  During my waking times, I kept thinking about Dodie. Walking up the street with Dodie. Jumping waves at the beach with Dodie. Looking at pearly pink sand crabs with Dodie. Wading up the creek with … Then I would drift off to sleep for a little while.

  I felt groggy in the morning, and I lay in my bed without moving until Buster put his wet nose in my hand and whimpered. Then I remembered every single thing that had happened the day before, and I began to whimper, too. High, wailing sounds came out of my throat and turned to sobs. I tried to stop but couldn’t.

  Mama came rushing in with Dr. Thomas right behind her. Eddie stood in the doorway. When he saw me, his face twisted up like he might start crying, too.

  I swallowed hard and took a deep, shuddering breath. “I-I’m … all r-right, Eddie,” I stammered.

  But I wasn’t all right. The world had turned upside down, and I had lost my balance. Dodie had lost her balance, too. She had stepped backward off the edge of the world … falling … falling …

  I sat up suddenly. “I need to talk to Dodie!”

  “Oh, Angie, honey,” Mama said. “Dodie is still unconscious. She can’t talk to you.” She sat on the edge of my bed and held my hands tightly in hers.

  “I know that!” I was shouting now. “But I can talk to her, and maybe she can hear me. Maybe she’ll know she’s not all by herself. Mama, I have to try.”

  I put my feet over the edge of the bed and started to get up, but Dr. Thomas put his hand on my shoulder. “Listen, Angie. We’re only letting Dodie’s mother and father visit her right now. But I promise you that I’ll tell you the minute you can go and see her.” He gently squeezed my shoulder. I wished he would sit down and pull me up on his lap, but I was too old for that.

  I looked at him and nodded. “I can sit with her even if she doesn’t know I’m there. She needs somebody to sit with her. If she wakes up alone, she’ll feel trapped in that hospital.”

  Trapped!

  Like those minnows in their shallow pond with no way to get back to safe water. I’d forgotten all about the fish, and now it might be too late.

  I wiped my nose. “I need to go back up the creek,” I said.

  “My dear, you’re spending the day in bed,” Dr. Thomas told me. He opened his black bag. “I’m going to give you another sleeping powder.”

  “I won’t drink it. I don’t need to be in bed, and I don’t need to sleep. I need to be up the creek. Dodie’s fish are going to die if somebody doesn’t save them.”

  Mama and Dr. Thomas exchanged a glance. I had been sassy and expected a talking-to, but I didn’t get it. “Eddie will go with me, won’t you, Eddie? He won’t let anything happen to me.”

  Dr. Thomas looked over at Eddie, who gave him a little nod. “I’ll make a bargain with you, Angie. You stay here and rest this morning. If you feel like getting dressed and taking a little walk this afternoon, I won’t stop you.”

  He stood up to go. “It might be just as well if we encourage her to get on with life,” he told Mama. “Moping around never cures anybody.” Then he patted me on the head, the same way he used to do when I was a little girl.

  “Take care, child,” he said. His eyes looked watery. He got out his handkerchief and blew his nose.

  Mama left to walk Dr. Thomas to the door. Eddie turned to go, too, but I called out to him. “Eddie, don’t go. I have to talk to you.” I motioned for him to come close to the bed. “I need you to go and tell Geraldine and Reba Lu to come over here. Get Charles, too. We’re all going up the creek as soon as I can get dressed and convince Mama. Hurry up, Ed
die. We don’t have a lot of time!”

  “But the doctor wants you to …”

  I tried to keep my voice low so that Mama wouldn’t hear us. “I don’t care what he said. I know what I have to do. Are you going to help me or not?”

  Eddie nodded. “I’m going,” he said, “but I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  As soon as he left, I got out of bed and pulled on some clean shorts and my new blouse that I had been saving for a special occasion. My knees felt wobbly, probably from whatever Dr. Thomas made me drink last night, but I felt stronger the more I moved around. I brushed my teeth and splashed my face with cold water. Then I combed my hair and fastened it back on one side with a barrette.

  The screen door banged, and the front room filled with voices. Good. Eddie had found Reba Lu and Geraldine. And he had found Charles, too.

  As soon as I went into the front room, they stopped talking. Reba Lu’s eyes were swollen, and Geraldine kept biting her lower lip to stop it from quivering. “Willie Jack’s been arrested,” Geraldine said.

  “I know.” I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling them the whole story.

  Reba Lu and Geraldine looked back and forth at each other in a way that said they had inside information. “He’s in the jail,” Reba Lu said.

  “I heard that,” I told her.

  “You were there. You must have seen the whole thing.” Geraldine sounded like she wished she had been there, too. “Angie, what really hap—”

  I was glad when Eddie interrupted her. “Mr. Clement is claiming he saw Willie Jack arguing with Dodie at the top of the cliff. He says Willie Jack lost his temper and pushed her. He’s telling that story all over town.”

  I looked at them—my friends and my brother—people I was pretty sure I could trust with a secret. But if I told what really happened, would one of them accidentally slip up and let somebody know what I had seen? And if Mr. Clement found out I was accusing him, what would he do? I couldn’t get that picture of him out of my mind: The way he had stared at me when Willie Jack’s back was turned. The way he had warned me with that look.