by Donna Cain
“Clara was just out here looking for Hunter. Is he coming?”
“Yeah, that’s why I came out. He just texted that he and his folks are on their way. I’m going to wait for them out here and give them the head’s up about Dad. Mr. Massey has been pretty mad at my dad since he left us, and I want to warn him.” He paused, then said, “Why does Clara want to see Hunter?”
“She didn’t say, but I think it’s because he was there with her when Hansen died. I don’t know for sure, though.”
“Huh,” said Eli.
“Can I ask you about something, Eli? Not about Heather or anything. About last Friday.”
“Sure, what is it?” Eli was happy to talk about anything other than Heather. He was fighting the guilty feeling that he had caused her death by having the box in their home. He had been struggling with that every moment since she died.
“What was in that silver box that you and Hunter had at the construction site?” Bug watched Eli’s reaction.
Eli’s head popped up with a look of shock and guilt on his face, and he stared right at Bug. “What do you mean? Why? Why do you want to know?” All of a sudden, Eli was on his feet and pacing the small foyer. “It was nothing. A toolbox. That’s what we keep our tools in.” He stopped pacing and looked at her.
Bug felt bad having caused him to get upset, especially today. She thought this could all wait a few days.
“Oh, okay,” she said. “I just thought it was something else. Oh, look! There’s Hunter.”
She had managed to divert his attention and calm him down at once. He still looked agitated, but she didn’t think he was angry anymore.
The Massey’s came in, and Eli hugged them all. He told them about his dad and let them know how his mom was doing. Mr. and Mrs. Massey went on into the room with Heather while Hunter stayed behind with Eli. They were a little farther down the hallway and Eli was talking in whispers. Bug saw Hunter’s eyes get big and he looked over at her. “Bingo”, she thought. “We have a super clue.”
Not long after, Hunter and Eli disappeared into Heather’s room. Bug was turning ideas over in her mind about what could be in the box when Shasta and Darren arrived at Peaceful Hearts. It was probably pretty tough on Darren since he was just there for his dad’s funeral Monday.
“There she is.” Shasta went directly to her little friend and gave her a big hug. “Waiting for your folks?”
“Yup,” replied Bug to Shasta. “Hey, Darren.” She looked at the big young man and smiled.
He returned the smile but didn’t say anything. Bug knew from Shasta that he was the strong, silent type. Bug was happy that they were together again. She had never seen Shasta so happy.
Shasta turned to Darren and said, “If you don’t mind going into the Reynolds’ room on your own, I’ll stay here with Bug. Then we can both go to see Eli.”
“That’s fine. I know there’s no love lost between you and Hansen. I need to say something to his parents, though. They’ve been helpful to Mom this week.” He gave her a quick kiss and left them.
Bug was happy to have Shasta to herself. Shasta was smart, too, and Bug thought that she might have some insight into the mystery.
Shasta sat in the puffy chair that Eli had vacated and looked at Bug. “I see those wheels turning,” she said. “What are you thinking about so hard?”
“I have a theory,” Bug started. “A theory about these deaths. I think they’re all connected.”
Shasta’s eyes narrowed as she said, “Bug, you have to be careful here. A lot of people are really upset right now. This might not be the best time to start on a conspiracy theory. We know for a fact what killed all three of them.”
“Do we?” Bug said. “I don’t. Take Mr. Jackson. He was a perfectly healthy man of fifty-one. I overheard my mom talking to Agnes Jackson when we took a cake over last Sunday. According to her, this was a surprise because he had no family history of stroke or any medical condition that could cause this. He wasn’t on medication for anything, either. There was no trauma, he was sitting in his bulldozer fine as could be, then WHAM! Out of nowhere! He’s dead. Also, the amount of blood at the scene was remarkable – it said that in the autopsy report.”
Bug looked over and could tell that she had gotten Shasta thinking. “Now look at Heather, a perfectly healthy girl of fifteen. According to my dad, she had an aneurysm. Once again, no family history or medical condition. She took no medications. There’s only a two to three percent chance of an adult female having an aneurysm, and she was too young to be in that category. There’s an even less chance than that in kids. She had none of the risk factors like hypertension or diabetes, and she didn’t have any symptoms. It happened fast, just like Mr. Jackson.”
Bug stopped again to let Shasta absorb the information, then continued, “Then there’s Hansen. He had an allergic reaction to something? What? He wasn’t eating or drinking anything. I saw him. I saw him reach into Hunter’s backpack and pull out a rock type thing. Can people be allergic to rocks? According to my research, it’s extremely rare. I know there’s more to this, Shasta. I’m going to find out what it is. And there’s one more thing. A big thing.”
Shasta listened to Bug and was curious in spite of herself. Bug had a way of making things sound so plausible. She made a lot of sense. “What big thing?” she asked.
“Eli and Hunter went into the woods that night with only a backpack on Hunter’s back. When I caught up to them in the clearing, they had a silver metal box with them. It had a bunch of chains around it with locks. I just asked Eli about it right before you got here, and he was super jumpy. Whatever is in that box has something to do with all of this.” Bug, feeling somewhat lighter now that someone else was burdened with this load, sat back in the puffy chair.
“Okay, Bug, you’ve sold me. But what do we do from here?” Shasta was reluctant to get involved with this, but the journalist inside of her was intrigued.
“Well, I think the first thing we need to do is more research. I think we should go to the newspaper offices and look through the archives.”
“And what exactly are we looking for?” Shasta asked.
“Any unexplained deaths that have occurred within the same type of time frame. You know? Super close together for no apparent reason. Sometimes, things like that get overlooked. We’ll start with the most newsworthy ones and go from there. Are you in?” Bug smiled at Shasta. She was eager to get started.
Shasta thought for a moment and decided it was worth looking into. Then she smiled back at Bug and said, “I’m in”.
CHAPTER 18
Clara
Clara hadn’t had to use her popular girl smile in days. It was so nice to just be Clara again – Clara without Hansen. She really felt badly about how that day had gone down with Hansen, though. She’d had no idea what would ultimately transpire once she had broken up with him. She remembered saying the words, “We’re over,” and watching his expression change from one of surprise to hatred. That’s when she had gotten scared.
Right after Hansen had called her a bitch, she saw Mr. Just get out of his Jeep. Thank goodness he was there. She knew Hansen wouldn’t be able to actually hurt her. Not with an adult present, but looking at his face, she hadn’t been so sure. Then, when Hunter came flying across the street, Clara had initially thought he was coming to save her, the Damsel in Distress thing. Turns out, he was bolting for the woods for some reason. That’s when Hansen had nabbed him. Clara had been surprised at how quick Hansen was when his arm shot out, and he snagged the backpack off of Hunter.
The rest she didn’t understand at all. Hunter was yelling about whatever it was in the backpack. He kept yelling to Hansen, “Give it back.” She wondered why. It turned out to be just some kind of rock. She didn’t get it. Then Hansen’s face started to get all red and puffy, and he started to scratch out his own throat. Clara shuddered at the memory.
The whole thing, it seemed to her, took less than a couple of minutes. Suddenly, Mr. Just was there trying to re
ach around Hansen to do the Heimlich but his arms hadn’t been long enough. Then he had gone racing back to his Jeep for his cell to call for an ambulance. That’s when she and Hunter had just stood there, frozen to the sidewalk and watched Hansen convulse and die.
Clara had never seen anyone die before, not even a pet. Mostly, she was grossed out at the color his face had turned. It was a very unnatural blue-ish. Yuck.
After that, she remembered that Hunter had puked. Surprisingly, Hunter was a little more freaked out than she was, and she was Hansen’s girlfriend after all – well, ex-girlfriend. Then Hunter had turned to her and said, “You never should have been with that guy, Clara.” He had grabbed his backpack and run back behind his house, and Clara hadn’t seen him again until in the hallway at Peaceful Hearts.
While all of that was going on with Hansen, Heather had already died. That one shocked Clara. She wondered how in the world that could have happened? Heather was so young and healthy, but then, so was Hansen.
She and Mr. Just had been waiting for the ambulance to come and were surprised when it turned into the Andrews’ driveway. One of the paramedics had gone into the Andrews’ house and the other had come over to where she stood with Mr. Just. The paramedic checked Hansen’s vital signs and then called the information in to the dispatcher. A deputy’s car had arrived soon after that, and Clara and Mr. Just had had to give statements. It was funny, but both of them had left out Hunter’s part altogether. They had just said that Clara and Hansen had been talking after Mr. Just had dropped them off. Then Hansen had started having some sort of reaction to something and couldn’t breathe. They both told of how Mr. Just had tried to administer help but couldn’t, and then Hansen had finally died.
Clara was so thankful to Mr. Just for helping her by driving them home and for staying until they took Hansen away. Her mom had been contacted at work in Glovercroft and was on her way home, but her dad was a pilot and not expected to fly back in until Friday. Mr. Just had been a comfort to her that day. She made a mental note to bake him some cookies and take them to him at school.
The neighborhood had been crazed that night. Everyone was out talking about not only Heather and Hansen, but Mr. Jackson, too. It was rare to have any unexpected deaths around their quiet town. To have three in the same town, let alone the same neighborhood, was unheard of. They had stayed outside in little clusters talking late into the night.
The next couple of days were like the ones after Mr. Jackson had died. Clara’s mom and Shasta’s mom had organized the same kind of food chain for the Andrews’ and the Reynolds’ families. Clara was happy to help. She hadn’t told her mother that she had just broken up with Hansen before he died. She hadn’t told anyone. She thought Mr. Just might have a clue, but he couldn’t have heard what she had said to Hansen. Clara just decided to keep that part to herself.
She had known that Hunter would be at the funeral home to support Eli and his mom. She had been looking for him all morning. Clara had been expected to get there early and portray the grieving girlfriend, and she didn’t mind doing that last thing for Hansen. Then, when she saw Bug and Bug asked her about Hunter being with her when Hansen died, Clara was thrown. It wasn’t like they had anything to hide, but something instinctual made Clara want to protect him. The only person who knew about Hunter was Mr. Just, and he didn’t mention it to anyone. How did Bug know? She guessed it didn’t really matter.
Finally, she had found Hunter in the hallway and been able to have a conversation. He looked really stressed out, and Clara felt sorry for him. She knew how close he was with Eli and the whole Andrews family.
“Hey, Hunter,” she said looking at him sadly.
“Hi,” Hunter responded tersely. Clara thought he seemed a little angry with her, and that confused her.
“Um, how’s Eli doing? I was in there earlier and didn’t really get a chance to talk to him.” She asked, trying to be sensitive.
“He’s pretty upset. We all are.” His answer was short and to the point. Now Clara was really confused.
“Well, I’m going over to their house later on with some casseroles and desserts and stuff. You know, so they don’t have to think about feeding themselves and all of their guests. My mom is organizing the food donations.”
“Seems to me you should be doing that for the Reynolds’ family,” he said sullenly.
Clara thought she might understand what was bothering him. “You know, Hunter. You didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Hansen. Mr. Just and I didn’t even mention your name to the deputy asking us questions. Hansen had been really upset with me right before you came running over. If anyone is responsible, it’s me.”
“You don’t get it, Clara. I was responsible. I can’t explain it, but he would still be alive if I hadn’t run over there.” He bowed his head and said softly, “Heather would still be alive too.”
Now Clara was really confused. Heather would be alive too? What did that mean? “Hunter, this is ridiculous. Hansen blew a gasket because I had just broken up with him. And not in a very nice way, I might add. I had just told him what a jerk he was and how I couldn’t stand him. He had gotten totally pissed at me and was about to hit me when you came over. You basically saved me. Thank you for that. There’s no reason for you to think you’re the cause of anything. You’re just upset.” Clara suddenly wanted to get out of there. “Do you want me to drive you home?” She asked.
He looked up at her through his wavy hair and said, “You don’t have to stay with Hansen’s family?”
She rolled her eyes. “No! I’ve done enough for him. I mean, I’m sorry he died and all, but he had been very mean to a lot of people for a very long time. Mr. Just called it Karma.” She looked behind her and the hallway was clear. It looked like a good time for a getaway. She took Hunter’s arm and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
Hunter texted his parents and Eli. He wrote that he needed to leave for a while and would be back soon. They were probably going to stay there with Lara and Eli for the rest of the afternoon since his dad wanted to keep an eye on Mr. Andrews.
They got to Clara’s VW, which had a brand new battery thanks to the automobile club, and climbed in. “Where to?” Clara asked Hunter.
“I don’t care. Let’s just drive.” Hunter was glad to be away from all of the crying and sad faces. He was also glad to be alone with Clara. When she had told him that she had broken up with Hansen and how she really felt about him, Hunter was elated. He had been waiting for Clara to see the light. He had really liked her since freshman year, but she never had given him the time of day. It was weird because they had been close while they were growing up in the neighborhood, and they had hung around together in middle school. She had always been one of Hunter’s favorite people. Once they hit high school, though, she just dumped all of her old friends and started hanging out with the popular crowd.
They drove toward the edge of town. The radio was on, and Clara had put the windows down. It was another beautiful day, and they were both feeling relieved to be away from everyone for a while.
They were heading east on Route 68. They passed by the entrance to Meadowview Acres and then drove past the construction site where the new housing development was supposed to be built. Clara noticed as Hunter looked out at the site and frowned deeply as they passed. She wondered what he could be thinking about and figured that he was probably remembering the terrible night when they found Mr. Jackson. What she didn’t know was that Hunter was remembering finding the box and unearthing it that night. He was thinking if they had only left the box there, Heather would be alive now – Hansen, too.
Clara drove past the “Thanks for Visiting Hallston” sign and kept going on Route 68. Except for woods, it was fairly empty from here until the town limits of Chester some twenty miles on down the road. She drove a little further then pulled over onto a gravel road that led into the woods. At the outskirts, she parked the VW and said, “Let’s just sit for a little bit. Then we’ll go back to Eli.”
“Sounds good,” said Hunter. They got out of the car and wandered out into the grass at the edge of the woods. It was so peaceful. Neither one wanted to ruin the quiet, so they sat down in the grass and turned their faces upward. They felt the warmth of the late October sun.
Clara was still processing everything that had happened the past week. Sometimes, she forgot that Hansen was dead. She felt like she had broken up with him, and he had just gone away. The feeling of freedom made her feel guilty. She was glad that she was free of him, but she had never wished him dead. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was thankful for Hansen. By dating him for only four months, she had secured her place in the popular crowd. Now she was High School Royalty. Even more so now that she was seen by everyone (except Hunter and Mr. Just) as the grieving girlfriend left behind by his tragic death. She could call her own shots now, but was that what she wanted?
Clara felt a little ashamed when she thought about her old friends. The ones she had dumped in order to climb the ladder. What if she were to go back to them now? Would they accept her? She had felt so good these last couple of days without having to put on her popular girl smile and put up with the dingbats. It felt good to be Clara again. It especially felt nice with Hunter sitting next to her. She looked over at him and noticed that he was looking at her.
“Why did you date Hansen in the first place?” He asked. “He’s always been a world-class jerk.”
Clara thought for a moment, and answered, “I was trying really hard to be someone that I’m not. I thought it would make me happy to be popular, you know? Not to be picked on any more. But it didn’t make me happy, it made me tired. It was a lot of work.” She sighed and closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the sun.
“Are you saying that you don’t want to hang out with your friends anymore now that Hansen’s gone?” He asked.