by Donna Cain
Then, she told him about watching Hansen die. He knew about this, of course, because she had called him when it was happening, and he had come straight home. They had learned of Heather together later on that day.
She came to the day of the funerals. To Bug, that’s when it all started. Sitting in the puffy chair in the foyer of Peaceful Hearts, she had started to put things together. She told her dad of the feeling she’d had that the deaths were somehow connected. She started to tell him the commonalities of the deaths and their circumstances. As she spoke, the newspaperman in Mark Hamilton perked up. He could see her line of thinking and was intrigued.
“So then I told Shasta. At first she didn’t believe me, but she was curious enough to help me research.”
“Don’t tell me,” Mark interjected. “That’s why you two spent so much time at the newspaper on Saturday. Mrs. Walton called to tell me that you and Shasta had been there for quite a while. I told her no worries. Is that what the two of you were doing?”
“Yes, but we didn’t make a mess; we put everything back where we found it. We made four copies and I left forty cents on the copier with a note for Mrs. Shelbourne. But, Dad! We found something. We found a connection.” She was excited about the mystery; her fear and stress forgotten. “Way back in nineteen sixty-eight, a series of deaths occurred that are very similar to the ones that just happened. They were from Glovercroft to Hallston. They happened all in one twenty-four hour period and we were able to trace them all back to one man.” Here she jumped off the loveseat and ran from the room.
Mark waited and tried to absorb the information that his twelve year old had just presented him with.
Bug jogged back into the room with her bag and sat back down. She opened her bag and pulled out what Mark recognized as some photocopies of articles from his newspaper. Handing them to him one at a time, she started with the vagrant on the outskirts of Hallston.
“This one was a thief who tried to rob the man.” She handed him another. “This was Gerald Bell. He came into contact with the man at the bus station.” She handed him the next. “This lady was at a bus stop in Glovercroft with him.” Finally, she showed him the last clipping. “And this Donny guy helped him with his luggage at the docks.” She waited a couple of minutes for her dad to skim through the articles.
“Okay, I see that there could be a connection with how these people died and the ways that our three people died. But who is this man and how did he cause their deaths?” Mark was still intrigued, but he couldn’t see how those deaths from so long ago could have anything to do with what had happened in Meadowview Acres.
“The man had just disembarked from a ship. The ship had lost seventeen people to a strange virus on their journey. This man is the key. Shasta and I found this article next.” She handed him the article on Professor Preston Monroe.
Mark’s eyes narrowed as he read the article. Still trying to find the connection, he said, “What had this professor been working on?”
Bug smiled. He was following the same logic that they had. She handed him the last photocopy. It had the excerpt from his book, The Curse of the Varuupian Tribe and its Ties to Our Culture.
Bug watched as understanding registered on her dad’s face. “So what you believe is that this curse is somehow at play here?”
“Dad, I watched Hansen take the rock out of Hunter’s backpack. The backpack with the rock in it had been in Heather’s kitchen just minutes before. And the rock had been dug up by Mr. Jackson at the construction site. When I was around the metal box that Hunter had, I was really sick, so were he and Eli. Even the deputy was. But I haven’t told you the rest.”
Mark looked at his daughter and steeled himself for what was to come.
“Shasta and I went to Shale this morning and talked to Professor Monroe in person.”
Mark Hamilton’s eyes flew wide open. “You? And Shasta? You went to Shale? Bug, you should have told me. If you wanted to talk to this man, I should have taken you. That wasn’t safe. You should know better!” Even while admonishing her, he was too curious to be angry. “Well, what did he say?”
Bug recited almost word for word the story that Professor Monroe had told her and Shasta that morning. Mark listened in silence as all the pieces fell into place. When she finished, he said, “That is some story! And you say he’s blind now? And has been since the night he buried the box with the artifact?”
Bug nodded. “So there’s more. When we came home this afternoon, we met with the boys. They do have the box with the rock and they showed us the envelope that the Professor had put inside. It had two hundred dollars in cash, a map showing the island of Shaali and an explanation of what the rock is, and what it’s capable of doing. The only thing not in there is what to do about it. We don’t know how to get rid of it.”
She stopped there and watched as her father got up from the loveseat and started to pace the room. She could hear him mumbling to himself.
“Okay, so we’ve got the artifact that’s cursed. No one needs to be around it. Need to tell Sheriff Buchanon ASAP. Boys are okay, Bug’s alright, anyone else touch it? No, okay.” She heard him mumble some more but couldn’t really make out what he was saying. Finally he stopped and said, “I need to talk to this professor. I’ll go first thing in the morning. He’ll be the one to tell us how to rid ourselves of the thing.”
He crossed the room, took her by her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “Buggie, I’m really proud of you for piecing all of this together, but you took some risks here, you know? You and Shasta should not have gone to Shale without me or another adult. That professor could have been a crazy person. You could have been in danger. Now, from now on, you don’t go anywhere near the boys or that box. If you see it, you go the opposite direction. Do you hear me?”
She nodded her head and promised that she would stay away. “What are you going to do?”
“First thing in the morning, I’m calling Sheriff Buchanon. I’ll take him to Shale with me and tell him the story on the way. Together, maybe we can get some information out of this guy. Where did you say the rock is now?”
“Well, Hunter and Eli are going to ask their chemistry teacher, Mr. Just, if there is any way to disintegrate rock. They’re going to see if they can dissolve it and the curse along with it. Right now, it’s either in Hunter’s shed out back or Eli’s trunk.”
Mark thought that over for a moment. “Mr. Just. Phillip Just. Yeah, I know him. I had to talk to him a few months ago for some facts about an article we were running. Real smart guy. Okay, we’ll let that stand for now. But as soon as the sheriff and I get back from Shale tomorrow, we’ll have an answer.”
“Thanks, Dad. I feel better now that you know. I was super stressed out.” She went to him and put her spindly little arms around his middle. He hugged her back, still amazed at the brain inside of her small head.
“You go to bed now, Bug. You’ve had a rough week. I have to go to the office and sign off on tomorrow’s paper before they send it to print. I’ll see you first thing.” He squeezed her one last time and kissed the top of her black hair. “I love you, Baby.”
“Love you, too, Dad.” She smiled and left the room.
It seemed to Bug that she had only just put her head down on the pillow when she was startled awake. She opened her groggy eyes and, through the dim light, she made out the shape of her father sitting on her bed.
“Bug!” He half-whispered. “Bug! Wake up!”
She rose up on one arm and rubbed her eyes. “What? What is it, Dad?”
“I’ve just come from the newspaper. I was looking it over before sending it to print and I saw something on the Obit page. Honey, Professor Monroe died today. It says that he passed away earlier this afternoon from natural causes.”
CHAPTER 26
Hunter & Eli
Even with all of the precautions that he and Eli had taken, Hunter was still nervous. Eli had retrieved the rock from the storage shed and put it back into its box. Then he h
ad put the box in the backpack, and put the backpack inside a suitcase. After a little more thought, he had put that smaller suitcase into a larger one. That suitcase was now secured in the trunk of the Flaming Tomato. All together, the rock was five levels of material away from them as they drove to school that Monday morning. Even so, Hunter was nervous, and queasy. He didn’t know if the nerves were messing with his stomach, or if it was the rock. It was probably a combination of both. He had skipped breakfast that morning in anticipation of puking on the way to school. So far, so good.
Hunter looked over at Eli behind the wheel. He was very quiet this morning. Hunter knew that his friend had been under tremendous pressure, but there was something else. Hunter had noticed that Eli looked older somehow. There was something in his face that hadn’t been there before. He knew that Eli was still grieving and feeling guilty about Heather. Hunter felt guilty as well. But Eli had a strange look to him. He looked haunted.
Hunter looked out the window and decided to try to lighten the mood. “I’m feeling good today, Eli. I’ve got a good feeling about this plan. Mr. Just has an awesome, scientific brain. I’m sure he’ll be able to do something. Then all of this crap will be over. Hey, my stomach’s not even upset!” He lied.
Eli just nodded and kept his eyes on the road. After a few minutes of driving in silence, he said, “I hope so, Hunter. I really do. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Hunter felt the sting of guilt as he remembered bringing the box over to Eli’s house that day. If only they had decided to take it back to the woods and bury it.
They pulled into the student lot and decided not to park in their usual place on the third row. The seniors were allotted the first two rows of prime parking spaces, followed by the juniors with the last two rows. Today, though, they needed to park as far away as possible. They couldn’t risk the rock affecting anyone walking too close to the car. Eli found a good spot on the far end of the visitor’s lot. After turning off the engine, Eli sat still, not making a move to get out of the car. Hunter just waited to give his friend some time.
“This is going to be the longest day of school ever,” Hunter said after a few minutes. “But let’s get going. The sooner it starts, the sooner it’s over, and we can talk to Just.”
Eli nodded again and got out of the car. Hunter followed and soon they were in their first period classes. Hunter worried about how Eli would manage his day. He guessed that his odd behavior would be attributed to Heather’s death, but Hunter wished that he could keep a better eye on him. When the bell rang for lunch after third period, Hunter waited beside his locker as he usually did. He was starving, having skipped breakfast, but he was anxious to see how Eli was holding up. After some time had passed, he finally saw Eli walking slowly toward him.
“Dude, you look terrible,” he said as Eli caught up to him. “Do you need to go home or something? I can take care of business this afternoon on my own.”
“No, I’m fine, really. I just have a huge headache. I need to be here, Hunter. Let’s go eat something, maybe that’ll help.”
Hunter made Eli stop at the nurse’s desk on the way to the cafeteria. Without any questions, she gave him two tablets for his headache. All she needed to do was look at him. She tried to get him to lie down for a while, but he said he wanted to eat something. Satisfied that the food and medication would help him to feel better, she had let him go.
The cafeteria wasn’t as noisy as it usually was. Hunter knew immediately that it was the absence of Hansen that made the difference. The table where he usually held court was filled with the same kids, Clark, Jacob, Jeff and Alan, but they didn’t seem to be making any trouble for anyone. Hunter thought without Hansen, those guys might actually be cool.
He scanned the other end of the table and saw Emily, Destiny, Trish and Clara. Clara was looking at him when he found her. She smiled her bright, beautiful smile and Hunter felt warm. The day that she had driven him out to the field by the woods had been so nice. She was Clara again – sweet, down to earth, no one to impress Clara. He smiled back and grabbed a tray to follow Eli down the lunch line.
The food and medicine did help Eli. His color came back a little, and he was a little more talkative, too. They discussed ways to break the news to Mr. Just. They were divided in their ideas with Hunter wanting to tell him just the bare bones and Eli wanting to spill the whole story. They decided to go with telling him as much as possible without all the details.
The bell rang, and lunch was over. Eli told Hunter that he would see him in chemistry class sixth period and left. Hunter took the chance to walk over to where Clara was still sitting. He was half expecting her to act like she didn’t know him, like she had for the past three years, but she didn’t.
“I was hoping you’d come say hi,” she smiled her dazzling smile at him, and her friends all looked at him and smiled, too. “You guys, this is Hunter Massey. We’re old friends.”
The girls all said hello and, leaving Clara behind with Hunter, gathered their things to walk to fourth period.
“It’s funny that I’ve gone to school with them for years, and this is the first time they’ve ever acknowledged me,” Hunter said to her.
“I know,” replied Clara. “Popular girls, what’re you gonna do with ‘em?” She rolled her eyes dramatically, and Hunter laughed.
“Yeah, right!” He said and Clara laughed back.
As he walked her to class, she asked him how Eli was doing.
“He’s pretty stressed out and upset right now. I think it’ll just take time. His mom offered for him to stay out of school this whole week, even Principal Harrison said it was fine, but he wanted to come.”
“I hope they’ll be okay. I really like Mrs. Andrews and Eli, too,” Clara said sadly.
They made it to Clara’s class with time to spare so Hunter hung out and talked for a few more minutes before going on to his own class. The next two classes were the longest Hunter had ever experienced. When the bell rang for sixth, he all but ran from the room.
Eli was already talking to Mr. Just when Hunter made it to the classroom. He walked to where the two were talking and heard the tail end of Eli’s sentence. “… that we could really use your help with.”
“Sure thing, Man, what’s up?” Mr. Just said. He was easy going and unperturbed as usual.
Eli looked at Hunter and continued, “It’s really important and can’t wait. Can we talk after school today?”
“Well, yeah, Man. Hey, you dudes aren’t in any trouble, are you?” He gave Hunter and Eli the once over and looked back to Eli.
“No, we aren’t in trouble. It’s just very important that we talk as soon as possible.” Hunter spoke for Eli, knowing what Eli was thinking. Of course he was in trouble. They were all in trouble.
“No sweat, guys. Right after school I have about ten minutes until detention starts.”
“This will take longer than ten minutes,” Eli said.
Mr. Just had a quizzical look on his face. He was also full of compassion when he said, “I’ve got all the time you need. Let’s talk before detention and then you can come back when it’s over for as long as you need.”
Hunter and Eli went to their seats in the back of the room as Mr. Just started talking about how an oxide is formed. As he spoke of oxides having an oxygen atom as well as another element, neither of the boys listened. Eli put his head down on the desk and was asleep within minutes. Hunter saw Mr. Just notice Eli sleeping. He paused his lecture for just a moment before continuing. He knew something was up with them and was giving Eli a pass. “I sure hope he can help,” Hunter thought to himself.
After what seemed to Hunter like a million years, the bell rang and most of the class headed for the door. Eli had woken up, looking surprised at where he was, halfway through the class.
Monitoring the halls, Mr. Just was standing right outside his doorway when the boys came out behind the rest of the class. Mr. Just saw them and smiled.
“I’ve got to stay
here while the halls are full to keep an eye out for any hooligans, but we’re free to talk.” He waited as they looked at each other, trying to decide how to start.
Hunter plunged in. “We know you’re a scientist and all, but do you believe in things like curses?”
Mr. Just raised his eyebrows as he considered. He was very open-minded. There wasn’t a lot that he didn’t believe or accept, but he had never thought much about curses.
“You know, Man, I’ve never thought about it much. I don’t suppose I should say that I don’t believe in them, since I haven’t fully researched them. So yeah, sure I believe there are things out there that are unexplainable. I like for things to be proven and concrete. But I accept the fact that some things just aren’t.”
Eli took it from there. The fact that there was very little time made him more blunt than he would have liked. Students, showing up for detention, filed into the room past him, making him speak very quietly.
“We have a strong reason to believe that we are in possession of a relic that has been cursed. We can show you documentation if you need it, but time is really short right now. This thing – it’s a rock. It’s the reason behind the deaths. Mr. Jackson, Hansen Reynolds and my sister. It affects people in different ways, so we don’t know if we can protect you. We have to destroy it. Hunter and I can be around it for short periods of time, but we have to do this as soon as possible. Do you have anything that can dissolve a rock?”
Mr. Just involuntarily took a step backward. He wasn’t afraid, just a little freaked out. Either this kid is on the list for Sister Mary’s House of Crazy, or he’s still in shock from his sister’s death.
“Whoa, Man, take it easy there, Eli. Now I know a lot has happened in the last few days, hell, you shouldn’t even be at school. But everything you just spewed on me is really out there.” He looked at Hunter. “You on board with all this, Cowboy?”