"Do you ever wonder what Randy Smith said to get him kicked out?" Ashe asked.
"Nobody will tell me," Sali said. "All I know is that Dad growls every time somebody mentions Randy's name."
"What would your dad do if Randy didn't say those things? What would happen if he really didn't write that letter to Mr. Harris?"
"But Mr. Harris got a letter from Randy," Sali stopped and stared at Ashe.
"What if Randy didn't send it?"
"Then who did? Ashe, that's BS and you know it. Randy broke the law and now he's dead meat."
"Like I'd be dead meat if I contacted you? Sali, listen to yourself."
"Dude, you're smarter than that." Sali started walking again. "Have you decided what you're going to write about for the end of school essay?" Sali asked when Ashe caught up with him. "I can't think of anything, and I really could use that money. Mom said that if I won the contest, I could get a cell phone."
Sali referred to the essay contest the community sponsored every year. The first-place winner received five hundred dollars. Second place was awarded three hundred and third place would get one hundred. Usually someone from the higher grades won. The subject had to be about some aspect of life in their paranormal community. The teachers got together and voted on the winners, who were announced at the end of the school year. The essays were always handwritten, so penmanship was under scrutiny as well.
"I hadn't thought about it yet," Ashe grumped. "Too many other things going on."
"Come on; Mr. Harris said last year that yours was noteworthy," Sali nudged Ashe with an elbow.
"But it didn't win anything."
"But seventh-graders hardly ever get any of the prizes," Sali pointed out. "You can check the list outside Billings' office. All the winners are posted there."
"I know." Ashe had walked past the list for seven years. Students' names were painstakingly engraved on shiny metal strips affixed to a polished wooden plaque, along with the year in which they won. Ashe had never paid much attention to it before. He decided to do that the following day.
"See ya, dude," Sali waved and took off toward his home. Ashe still had a ways to go.
* * *
"Mom, they won't hurt Cori, will they?" Ashe still worried about her, even if she had betrayed him. His father and Radomir left the house shortly after rising to question Cori under compulsion.
"She might be afraid at first, but they only want the truth. Besides, Marcus, Mr. Winkler and the werewolf physician are all going to be there, with Lavonna and Nathan. Nathan won't let anyone harm his girls." Adele placed leftovers inside the fridge before turning her gaze on Ashe.
"What are they going to ask her?"
"They won't pry into her private life. They only want to know the facts surrounding James's death. They'll ask her if she killed him. We know the answer to that already, but it has to be placed in the records that she said it under compulsion. And then they'll probably ask her how she found James. Where he was, what she saw, things like that."
Ashe nodded. If it were he, he'd be scared to death. It didn't matter how many times somebody said that no harm would come to him, compulsion or not. "I think I ought to go do my history homework." Ashe slid off the kitchen chair and walked toward the door leading downstairs. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Mom."
"I felt better the moment your father came home," Adele sighed. "Go do your homework. I know you're worried about Cori, so if I hear anything, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Mom." Ashe opened the door and clomped down the steps. He found out about Cori sooner than he imagined he might; her father, Nathan, brought her over after the questioning was done.
"She wanted to see you," Nathan said as Ashe stood inside the kitchen, staring openmouthed at Cori.
"I'm sorry I blabbed," Cori hugged Ashe tightly, crying on his shoulder.
"Blabbed?" Adele asked. Of course, Nathan was still listening, causing Ashe to flush to the roots of his hair.
"I told Mom and Dori that Ashe will be sent to Cordell Junior High in the fall because he can't turn," Cori wept, clinging to Ashe. Ashe stood, his arms limply at his side, unsure what to do with the moist affection.
"Ashe, young man, how did you find that out?" Adele now stared at her son, who was peering at his mother over Cori's shoulder. Cori still had a death grip on Ashe's slender body.
"Mom," Ashe disentangled Cori's arms and stepped away from her as she wiped her eyes and offered him a pitiful expression. "It wasn't hard to figure out, was it?" Ashe lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I mean, everybody was in an uproar over Randy Smith's letter, right after I got the note from Principal Billings. It didn't take a genius, Mom. I can add two and two, just like anybody else." Ashe's voice was grim as he grabbed a still-sniffling Cori's hand and led her to a chair at the kitchen table. After getting Cori seated, he sat in the chair next to hers.
"We're in the clear, everything was just as Cori described it," Nathan sighed, taking a seat across the table.
"Cori, can I get you a soda or something?" Ashe's mother asked.
"A soda would be nice. Do you have more orange?" Cori wiped the last of her tears with the heel of a hand.
"I do." Adele pulled two bottles from the fridge and handed one to Cori and the other to Ashe. "Ashe, you don't need to let this worry you. I think everything will be fine and you won't be sent off to that school." Ashe noticed his mother said that school with distaste.
"Mom, humans are okay. They're like us. Most good. A few not." Ashe twisted the cap off his bottle of orange soda and drank.
"That's an insightful opinion from a twelve-year-old," Nathan observed.
"He's twelve, going on forty," Adele laughed.
"I read books all the time—humans write them," Ashe pointed out. "They write about werewolves and vampires and witches and wizards. While most of their stuff isn't based in actual fact, there's one theme running through all of them." Cori was now staring at Ashe as he spoke.
"What's that?" she asked. Cori didn't like to read, much like Sali.
"That even though you're different, you don't have to mistreat other people because they have differences, too. The bad ones need to be removed from society, but that's true for every race and culture."
"He is forty," Nathan laughed. Ashe smiled. A laugh from a vampire was a rare occurrence, indeed.
* * *
Ashe knew something was wrong the moment he walked into the school building Tuesday morning. Teachers were lined up outside Principal Billings' office and whispering. They became quiet whenever a student walked past, but Ashe could hear them perfectly before and after he walked by. The whispers concerned Old Harold. He hadn't come to clean the school the night before.
Ashe knew nobody could check on the school janitor until after nightfall, unless his home had been broken into. Right then, Ashe was wishing for the cell phone his parents said he was too young to have. He wanted to call his mother and tell her. He desperately wanted to tell his dad so he wouldn't have to worry about the old vampire caretaker alone, but his father was asleep. Ashe began to notice the trashcans that needed emptying and shoe streaks on the tiled floor that hadn't been cleaned away. Old Harold never got sick and never shunned his duties. Ashe's worry ramped higher the more he thought about it.
"I already know," Ashe held up a hand to keep Sali from bursting with the news. Ashe dropped his book bag beside his desk and gave Sali a helpless look. "What if he's dead?" Ashe had to concentrate to keep his emotions under control. Old Harold had come to the house many times to talk with his dad. He'd always treated Ashe kindly. Ashe had also listened while three werewolves admitted that they thought Old Harold killed James. Had someone gone after him when they knew Radomir, Nathan Anderson and Aedan Evans would be elsewhere? Ashe didn't like where his thoughts were going.
"Oh, my gosh," Ashe stood up and then sat down again.
"What? What is it?" Sali was concerned, now.
"Old Harold. If he's dead, he could have died anytime during spri
ng break, after he cleaned the school the Friday before. Oh, my gosh." Ashe rubbed his forehead. He felt a headache coming on.
"Wait, didn't your dad and Radomir talk to him sometime last week?"
"They may have, but I didn't hear about it," Ashe muttered. There wasn't any way to question any of them until nightfall. Once again, Ashe felt out of his depth, with too many questions and too few answers.
"The autopsy is happening tonight, too," Sali said. "And that ties up the Enforcer and the investigator."
"Yeah. So if anybody goes to check on Old Harold, it'll be Dad and Nathan."
"Dude, won't he just be ash or something, if he is dead? I mean, there won't be a body to look over so we can figure out what happened, will there?" Sali was right, Ashe knew. When a vampire died, their bodies turned to a dusty ash. His father always said it was nature's protective measure, so the humans wouldn't have a vampire to dissect and prove they actually did exist.
"Pat Roberts has disappeared—Marcus can't find him anywhere," Ashe heard Mrs. Rocklin's voice from outside the classroom as clearly as if he'd been standing next to her. He didn't know to whom she spoke, but Ashe was now doubly worried. Pat Roberts certainly thought a vampire killed James. Did he kill Old Harold in retaliation and then run away?
"Dang," Ashe whispered.
"What is it?" Sali hissed.
"Shhh, Mrs. Rocklin's coming," Ashe warned. Most of the class heard and turned away from gossiping with their neighbors.
Class resumed once Mrs. Rocklin took her seat, but Ashe thought she looked pale and wasn't as attentive as usual during the transformations. She didn't call on Ashe, and he was fine with that. He just picked up clothing after the others.
"What are we going to do?" Cori was almost in tears at lunchtime. She'd sat next to Ashe, who noticed that her hands shook as she held her fork. The entire school had done nothing but gossip and speculate all morning about Old Harold.
"Cori, it'll be all right, just don't go out alone, okay?" Ashe was becoming very worried. Cori held secrets that would certainly result in punishment if they were discovered, and Ashe knew that was eating away at her. Radomir hadn't asked her anything about Randy Smith, and the werewolves would be furious if they found out what Cori knew.
"I don't think that's a problem, dude." Sali jerked his head toward the cafeteria door, where Denise DeLuca stood, keys in hand. Spotting Sali, she walked right over.
"I'll be taking you three home this afternoon, with Wynn and Dori," Mrs. DeLuca said.
"Mom, do they know anything yet?" Sali was about to burst from curiosity.
"Not yet. Your father went to Old Harold's house, but the place is still locked up so we won't know anything until sundown. He's tried to call Pat Roberts over and over again, and gets no answer. Micah and Mr. Winkler have gone to Pat's house, but they haven't found anything yet. Your dad is thinking about pulling Marco out of school to go sniff around with some of the others. Ashe, I've talked to your mother, and she says under no circumstances are you to go outside unless an adult is with you, and to call her the minute you get home."
"Okay." Ashe couldn't help it; he gripped Cori's hand under the table. Cori gave his fingers a grateful squeeze.
"I'll be waiting outside in the van when school lets out." Denise DeLuca rose from the bench beside Sali.
"Thank you, Mrs. DeLuca," Cori remembered her manners.
"Sweetie, it's no trouble." Mrs. DeLuca walked out of the cafeteria.
"Where are you going?" Sali asked when Ashe didn't walk directly to history class after finishing lunch. Cori separated from them, heading toward tenth-grade English with Mr. Harris.
"To check something," Ashe replied, heading directly for Mr. Billings' office. Principal Billings was standing outside his doorway, brown eyes watching intently as the students went this way and that, most focused on getting to their classrooms to talk for a while before the bell rang. Ashe ignored the deep frown Principal Billings cast in his direction as he looked over the list of essay contest winners. First, second and third place was listed on each strip of engraved metal, along with the year the students won.
Ashe found the one he wanted. There it was—it hadn't been altered. Seven years earlier, the winner had been Randy Smith, a seventh grader at the time. Barely three months later, Randy had been sent to a human school and shortly after that, he'd been banished for spilling secrets. Ashe wanted more than anything to read that essay—he just didn't know what happened to any of them after they were submitted. He knew he'd never gotten any of his back. Maybe they went into the recycle bin after the judging; he'd never thought to ask.
"What were you looking for?" Sali whispered on the way to history class.
"Just what I found," Ashe replied, making Sali snort.
After school let out, Denise DeLuca waited in the school parking lot as promised, but Ashe was shocked to see the number of other vehicles parked on the wide strip of gravel beside the school. Even Mr. Thompson, in buffalo form, was standing in a field nearby, keeping watch over the students. Every child had a ride, however. Ashe thought it safer, if he were honest, climbing into the third row of seats inside the van. DeLuca's Locksmith Services was painted in red on the outside of the white van and that meant Marcus DeLuca must be driving the Honda so Denise could drive the kids. Sali was already inside and scooting over to give Ashe room.
"Everybody in? Anybody forget anything?" Mrs. DeLuca asked. "Good," she said at the shaking heads. "Let's go. We'll drop Dori and Cori off first." She navigated around two other cars that were pulling closer to the school before going down the dusty dirt and gravel road that ran between fields in Cloud Chief.
"Anything new, Mrs. DeLuca?" Cori asked.
"No, sweetheart. And your mother said she'd be in from the fields early. She drove the tractor out to check on fences but she'll be back before dark," Denise kept her eyes on the gravel road as she answered Cori's question.
"Dad is supposed to do the plowing for the community vegetable garden tonight," Cori sighed.
"I'm sure someone will go out with him," Denise DeLuca reached over to pat Cori's hand. Cori sat in the front passenger seat; Dori had the middle section to herself since Sali didn't want to sit beside his nemesis, and Ashe had elected to sit beside his friend.
"Cori, call me if there's any problem," Ashe said as Cori and Dori climbed out of the van in front of their house. Like Ashe's home, most of it was below ground to benefit Nathan. Ashe had vague memories of when both homes were built; Aedan and Nathan had built them with help from Old Harold.
Like Aedan's private bunker, Nathan Anderson's was below the master bedroom floor. The rest of the house was quite different from the Evans’ home. The Anderson's kitchen was below ground and only the garden room and a sitting area were above. Ashe liked having the kitchen upstairs. He could watch sunsets while helping with dinner or the dishes.
"Why don't you boys move up here?" Denise suggested before putting the van in gear. Ashe and Sali moved forward. Sali got the front passenger seat; Ashe sat directly behind him. "Ashe, will you tell your father that Mr. DeLuca wants to talk with him and Mr. Radomir as soon as they rise?" Denise said as she drove toward Ashe's home.
"Sure, Mrs. DeLuca. I'll tell him."
"Good. This has all of us spooked, I'm afraid to say. I hope there's a good explanation for all of it, but right now we're in the dark."
Denise DeLuca waited until Ashe opened the garage door and closed it again before driving away. Ashe fumbled with the door code to get into the kitchen, finally getting it on the third try. He shut and locked the door behind him, breathing a relieved sigh.
"Mom, I'm home now, Sali's mom gave me a ride," Ashe said when his mother answered the phone with her usual "Cordell Feed and Seed."
"Honey, is the house locked up? Is the alarm on?"
Ashe knew his mother was frightened. "Yeah. Mom, I'm okay for now."
"I'll be there as soon as I can, but everybody wants everything today. I think I've filled up three truck
s with chicken feed."
"Good sales day," Ashe observed.
"It is, but I've got other things on my mind. Be safe, baby." Adele hung up the phone.
His mother must have made record time getting home; she was closing the door behind her at six-twenty. His father wouldn't be up until nearly eight. The days were getting longer and that meant less time to spend with his dad. "Mom, Mrs. DeLuca said that Mr. DeLuca wanted to talk to Dad and Radomir as soon as they were up," Ashe pulled the pizza pan out of the cabinet; they were having homemade pizza.
"I'll make sure they call," Adele sighed. Normally, Ashe enjoyed making pizza. His mother made up the dough and then spread it on the pan after letting it rise; and then they dropped the toppings they wanted on their half. Ashe dumped mozzarella over the tomato sauce before spreading pepperoni slices and black olives on his side. Neither he nor his mother talked much as they ate. Ashe felt hungry and nauseous at the same time. They'd know soon enough if Old Harold was home or not. He wondered, too, whether anyone had heard from Pat Roberts.
"They'll be up soon." Adele glanced at the kitchen clock. It was seven forty-five, the dishes were done and the kitchen cleaned. Neither Ashe nor his mother thought to do anything other than sit and wait at the kitchen table. Five minutes past eight Ashe heard his father's steps on the stairs, followed by Radomir's lighter footfall. They were in the kitchen quickly.
"I see something's wrong," Aedan said right away.
Chapter 8
"Aedan, Old Harold didn't clean the school last night. And Pat Roberts has disappeared." Adele gave the news straight away. "Marcus wants to speak with you, too. As soon as you were up, he said."
"I'll go outside and make the call," Ashe's father walked through the kitchen door, Radomir right behind him.
"I'll go do my homework," Ashe sighed and went toward the basement door.
"All right, honey." Adele was staring at the door to the outside and not at Ashe as he walked down the steps toward the lower level of the house.
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