The Watchers

by Lynnie Purcell

  “A man was torn apart. I would expect anyone venturing out into those woods would be in danger.”

  “But it’s just so weird! Everything is just…weird. That poor woman! I hope she didn’t encounter whatever is out there.”

  I started writing at super-sonic speed as a rash plan formed in my head. Where the woman had disappeared, where she had tracked whatever was killing people, it was too close to Daniel’s house. I knew what he was capable of. I knew if he felt his family was being threatened he would do what it took to protect them. I had to know if he was behind it, if the reason he hadn’t shown up at my house this morning was because he was adding another victim to his list.

  “Clare?”

  I turned my thoughts to the present. This time, Alex wasn’t testing me. “Yeah?”

  “Are you going to come back to school with me, or should I drop you off at home?”

  I thought about it. “Could you drop me off at your dad’s office?”

  “Sure, it’s not that far from here. Why?”

  “I need to talk to Ellen,” I replied, having no intention of involving Alex in my plan. It was too dangerous.

  She looked at my statement and my increasingly messy handwriting. “Are you finished?”

  With a flourish, I signed my name at the bottom of the page. “Yep.”

  Everyone was gathered around the sheriff when we let ourselves out into the main office. Sheriff Cobb was an older man, so thin and stooped he looked ready to blow away. His silver hair was neatly combed, his uniform wrinkle-free, and I knew he was fastidious about appearance. He was dividing the searchers into groups based on talents. Despite his age, his eyes were sharp, and I sensed a keen intellect. His voice was strong and certain as he talked to the room; a contradiction to his weak appearance. Chuck respectfully hovered at his side, listening in mute support.

  I went over to Chuck’s desk to set my statement down for him to find later, my mind on what I was planning and how I would get Ellen to let me borrow the car. As I did, the door opened and a cool wind swirled through the office. The sheriff stopped talking at the sight of the person who entered the room.

  Daniel’s friend, Margaret, walked in, a serious smile on her perfect face. She was wearing a heavy leather jacket and tight blue jeans. Under her arm, she carried a heavy helmet with a face shield. She stepped through the room, parting the crowd like they were the Red Sea. Her satisfied smile developed into a smile I knew too well as the men moved out of her way. It was the smile Daniel used when he was trying to charm people. She stopped in front of Chuck. As she started speaking, I heard a crush of thoughts from the male population I would have given anything not to hear.

  “Daniel had to go on an emergency trip out of town with his parents and couldn’t come in to give his statement.” She held up a piece of paper. “But he wrote everything down for you, just as it happened, and signed it. Will that be okay?”

  She turned the full force of her smile on Chuck, and I almost felt sorry for the man. Her eyes flicked to mine for an instant, but she didn’t say anything or draw attention to me. I was grateful. I didn’t want any more attention from the crowd. I was certain the added thoughts would kill me. Too, she was intimidating. I shivered as her cold stare from yesterday rose in my mind. It was so different from her expression now, but I couldn’t forget.

  Chuck stammered an answer, “T-t-this is fine, thank you.” He paused. “I just tried to call his parents actually, but no one picked up. You say they’re out of town?

  “Yes. They left yesterday to go to Boston. What did you need Deputy? Maybe I can help.”

  He puffed his chest out, liking how she had called him ‘Deputy’. Most people just called him ‘Chuck’. “We just wanted to ask if it was okay to come onto their property and search for a missing Forest Ranger. The last time she was seen was near Route Seven in the area of the old well house.”

  “Oh, goodness! I know they won’t care if you search their property, not if it meant saving someone’s life.”

  “Thank you. Tell the Adamses I said, ‘hi,’ when you talk to them.”

  “Of course.”

  “It’s good to see you back in town,” he stammered.

  Her eyes played havoc on his senses as her smile turned coy. I crossed my arms, annoyed. Daniel’s tactics weren’t just his. But had she learned such tactics from him or vice versa?

  Her violet gaze turned to me, and I knew all at once that she wanted me to follow her outside. She nodded once and walked towards the door, parting the crowd again, before disappearing with another blast of chilly mountain air.

  Chapter 10

  “Come on,” I told Alex.

  “Where are we going?” Alex asked dreamily. Even Alex looked a little frazzled.

  “Outside,” I answered.

  I shoved the door open with more force than necessary, questioning everything. Margaret stood next to that same black motorcycle of the day prior. It was parked so it blocked Alex’s Jeep, an obvious attempt to make me talk to her. Not that I would have left without speaking to her – I wanted answers. She didn’t smile when she saw me nor did she frown. She simply looked. It was like looking at a lioness who was trying to decide if it was hungry enough to eat you. I tried to mimic her stare, my irritation making me fearless. We stared at each other for a moment, assessing.

  “Where’s Daniel at?” I asked.

  She raised her hand to me and didn’t reply. I hesitated, not willing to look into her past like I had with Daniel. It was too personal. Her violet eyes were insistent, though. I pressed my palm against hers, cringing at the electricity she was generating.

  Her thoughts were immediate. Daniel cares about you very much, but if you hurt him, I will break every bone in your body. Then I’ll make you really suffer.

  I have no intention of hurting him, I replied.

  Intention! Do you know how much trouble you’ve brought?

  The pressure of her thoughts was unbearable. It took all my willpower to stay on my feet under the power of her mind and her irrepressible anger.

  What trouble?

  The only kind there is. He wants to explain. I’ll let him, because the two of you shared the joining, but don’t think that won’t stop me from hurting you if dies because of you.

  I ignored the threat. Joining?

  Why did I suddenly feel uneasy?

  It is how we find the people we are destined to share our days with. It only happens once.

  I don’t understand! Please, can you tell me anything? At least, where Daniel is.

  Her eyes moved to the sheriff’s office. He’s dealing with a problem. Remember what I said.

  Yeah, yeah. Break every bone in my body. I got it

  Margaret dropped her hand and turned away. The crush of her thoughts lifted, but her words lingered. She got on her bike, and it roared to life. I didn’t know which noise was worse; the bike or the thoughts surging out of the building. In seconds, she was gone.

  “That was weird,” Alex said, opening her door with a forceful jerk.

  “Yep,” I agreed walking around to the other side.

  “You’re not going to explain why you just played ‘whose hand is longer and paler?’ You’re just going to leave it like that?”

  “Yep,” I said calmly. I buckled my seat belt and waited for her to do the same.

  “And I’m supposed to be okay with that?” She buckled her own belt with a snap.

  “Yep. Are you still willing to drive me over to the office? I really do need to talk to Ellen.”

  “I ought to leave you here,” she fumed.

  “I’m okay with walking.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. She backed out of the too-small parking space before I could get out.

  As she drove, I faced new questions. Who was Margaret to threaten me? How did Daniel know her? Where was Daniel? Why would she lie for him? What the heck was happening?

  After a moment of fighting against the questions, I asked Alex the question I
could ask aloud, “Do you know Margaret?”

  Alex glared at me before answering, but she still answered. “Not really. I just know she knows Daniel’s parents somehow. Her and Jackson don’t come into town very often. I think they live somewhere else…New York or something. Everyone knows of them, but nobody really knows them. The gossip still floats around town sometimes. When there’s nothing else to talk about.”

  “What does the gossip say?”

  “Nothing good. You know how gossip is,” she replied.

  “Yes, I do.”

  I studied the passing farmhouses and wondered why he wouldn’t tell me about his friends. Why the secrecy? Were they like us? Did they know about me? To get the frustrating repetition of unanswered questions out of my head, I changed the subject. “I wanted to ask you about something else…if you’re not too mad,” I said over the hum of the tires.

  “What?”

  “How would you feel about asking Amanda to do something with us?”

  Alex’s glare faded and she bit her lip. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” she answered uneasily.

  “Why?”

  Because I don’t want to make her situation worse. “Her dad gets mad when she goes out with people. He gets mad when she does anything really. Their neighbors can hear him screaming from a mile away sometimes.”

  “If people know he acts like that, why hasn’t child services, or someone, been called in?” I asked indignantly.

  “You really don’t get the mentality of a small town, do you?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “People around here let family sort things out. They might ask how everything is, and make you a million casseroles, or apple pies, but they don’t call in the authority types unless it’s absolutely necessary. If they do call in someone, it’s usually the sheriff, because people trust him. And he usually just talks people into resolving their differences. We all have to get along around here and calling in outsiders for everything is no way to do that.”

  “But gossip, back stabbing, and otherwise being catty is okay?”

  Alex shrugged. “Those are all accepted mores.”

  “Ugh! I hate psychology. It tries to explain the unexplainable. People can’t be quantified or broken down. They’re too messy for that.”

  “You’re saying that to the person in the car who wants to be the psychologist,” she pointed out. “You do realize that, right?”

  “Oh. Sorry. Well, I want to do something to help Amanda out. I don’t really know if talking to her is going to do any good…not that she really talks to me.”

  Alex turned onto a different road then said, “I’ll see what we can do. But if she doesn’t want our friendship, there’s not a lot that can be done. You can only help people who want to be helped.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  She pumped the brakes, causing the Jeep to careen to a stop next to Sam’s silver Mercedes. I threw my hand out to stop from hitting the dashboard.

  “Tell Dad, ‘hi.’”

  “Aren’t you coming in?” I asked, wondering what had happened to skipping school.

  “Nah. I only had the okay to miss my first two classes. If I miss history again, Mrs. Dunn will probably give me detention…or something worse, like having to brush her hair for her.” Mrs. Dunn had a hairdo that could only be considered a curly afro.

  I laughed. “All right. Thanks for the ride.”

  “Sure.”

  I got out and shut the door, contemplating my plan of attack for getting Ellen to agree to what I was about to ask her. Alex peeled out of the spot without looking back. The music, which she had turned up, lingered for a few seconds more. I shook my head at her musical taste and let myself into the office. Before I could get down the short hall that was the entrance, I heard a phone ring and Ellen answer in her cheerful voice. Pausing in the hallway, I listened in.

  “Lawson Law, how can I help you? No, Mrs. Gudger. Yes, I’m pretty certain that poisoning your husband with eye drops is illegal. It doesn’t matter if it only makes him sick. Yes, it’s still illegal. No, Mrs. Gudger. You, too. All right. Bye.”

  “One of these days, she’s really going to poison that poor man. I think we should schedule an intervention,” Sam said from somewhere in the office.

  Ellen laughed. “My money is that he gets her first. He may seem like a doddering old fool, but I bet he’s crafty.”

  “You could be right.” Sam paused then added, “Behind that beautiful smile, I bet you have a cunning nature.”

  I stepped further down the hall to spy on them. Sam was leaning on Ellen’s desk as they talked. They were leaning toward each other in a way that was familiar; familiar because Daniel and I did it all the time. Ellen looked up at him with a mischievous smile, her eyes dancing with laughter. “You’ll never know just how much.”

  They shared a moment, and I got a lot of images I really didn’t want or need. I cleared my throat loudly to keep the images from going further. Sam popped off of the desk with a funny little jerk at the sound. He spun to face me, his surprised expression priceless. “Clare! It’s nice to see you again.”

  His short hair was arranged carefully, not a hair out of place. He was wearing an expensive looking suit I knew he hated wearing – he preferred blue jeans and hiking boots. He smiled warmly when he saw me then held out one large hand for me to take. I shook it, impressed again by the calluses, knowing they bespoke of years of outdoor activity and a strong desire to work with his hands. His hands said more about him than his suit and his hair.

  “Hey, Sam…Mom. I’m not interrupting anything am I?” I smirked at her, and she started blushing.

  She looks different today. I wonder what happened to make her so bright all of a sudden? Let me think...she kissed a boy and tried to pretend like she didn’t? Oh, look at her blushing. Did I embarrass you, sweetie? She smirked back at me.

  “No, not at all,” Sam said a little too quickly.

  “Alex said ‘hi,’” I said. “She had to run to class.”

  “It’s nice of you to pass that along, thanks.” There was an awkward moment of silence. “I’m going to go…make a phone call.”

  He pointed vaguely at his office and hurried away. I knew he was embarrassed that I had caught them flirting. I looked after him as he retreated, my smirk growing into a full-fledged smile. Parents…

  “What?” Ellen demanded as soon as we were alone.

  “Nothing. Can I borrow the car?”

  “What for?”

  “A Ranger went missing. I’m going to help the search party, since you most graciously gave me the day off of school.”

  “I heard. Sam’s going to go a little later to help…once he gets a couple of cases settled. Are you sure you’re not meeting someone?” she demanded, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

  “Define ‘sure’.”

  “That boy you won’t let me meet, you’re not hooking up are you?”

  “Don’t say, ‘hooking up,’ and no. I’m really going to go help search for the Ranger.” I raised my hand in a pledge. “I swear.”

  But you want to see him. “I don’t know, sweetie. I don’t know if I want you wandering around in the woods where all those attacks are happening.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You know me, right?”

  “I like to think I do,” she said with a small smile.

  “Well, knowing me like you do what do you think I would do if I couldn’t borrow your car?”

  Ugh. “You’ll either find another ride, possibly with this mysterious friend, who’s not a boyfriend, but is a boy, or you’ll walk, or hitch a ride, which I wouldn’t want you to do. Long story short…you’ll end up where you want to be.”

  “Exactly. So, wouldn’t it just be easier to let me borrow the car? I promise I’ll be back in time to pick you up.”

  She hesitated. “If anything happens to you…”

  “I know, I know, you’ll ground me until I’m thirty.”

  “No. I would die
from a broken heart, because I would miss you so much. And I know you would hate to do that to me.”

  I leaned forward and touched her face. “You’d have Sam,” I teased. I picked the keys up off her desk as she stuck her tongue out at me, another blush heating her face. “But I promise to be careful.”

  “Bye,” she huffed.

  “Bye. Bye Sam!” I yelled as I ran toward the door.

  “Bye!” Sam called just as I shut the door.

  I let the car warm up for a minute, knowing how temperamental it could be in cold weather, and contemplated what I was about to do. It was a bit rash, and I was possibly searching for answers in the wrong place, but I didn’t really care. What I was searching for didn’t matter. What mattered was that I was accomplishing something. I needed purpose.

  I inched the car back then pulled out onto the highway, grateful there weren’t any cars coming. It always took the wagon a moment to get up to speed. It rumbled and grumbled, but didn’t give out on me like normal. Sputtering, I headed towards the location I had heard in dozens of people’s thoughts while in the station.

  I was excited yet nervous at the prospect that my search for answers might lead me in the direction of the Adams’ house. Despite the numerous friends Daniel had, no one from school had ever been out there. I knew it had to be on purpose. I wanted to be invited, but he never asked me, and I wasn’t brash enough to invite myself. Now, I might get a fleeting look at the place, as long as it was near where I thought the Forest Ranger had disappeared. I didn’t know what I would do if I found out Daniel was responsible for her disappearance. I wouldn’t think about that…unless I had to.

  I drove for a good fifteen minutes, following the directions I’d heard, until I saw the swarm of cars pulled to the side of the road. I drove past them and around a curve in the road, not wanting anyone to recognize our car and come looking for me.

  I got out, tugging my leather jacket tight around me, wondering how anyone who was missing could survive a night in this cold. Zipping up the creaking leather, I stuck my hands in my pockets and did some serious thinking. From the thoughts I had picked up at the station, everyone was headed in a southwest course. I wasn’t an experienced hiker, but it didn’t make sense that a trained Forest Ranger would head deeper into bear territory. I leaned on the car and tried to put the pieces together in my mind.