Johnny shrugged.
“I’d like to help you out but… I don’t understand, miss… any of this…”
“Ee’d ee na poom Vaam. Na plesh!”
The Shadow Girl glanced back over her shoulder. Her wide silver eyes had a haunted look. Desperately she tried some kind of sign language. Johnny was mesmerized but didn’t get it.
All he could do was stare at her.
She seemed to be from another time and place, somewhere foreign to him, even alien — like in science fiction. Her skin was the first clue, a sort of dead giveaway. It had an almost vampire pallor. The color of twilight. Slightly bluish. But flawless, super natural. And her face… it could launch a thousand spaceships.
Her sleek black hair was pulled back and braided in three long tails that spilled down her spine. A thick one and one on either side. Each tail was woven a different way, though they all looked like silk against the leathery second skin she was wrapped up in. In fact it was closer to armor than clothing — a suit of weathered strips of hide that fit her body like a glove. It covered her from below the knees to her neck, around which she wore a pendant.
Johnny watched the Shadow Girl touch it, checking the rough cord where it hung.
He also noticed that something was wound around her leg, right over the thigh. Something living… at least pretty fleshy. Johnny could not quite make it out but he guessed, just like her, it was out of this world.
Her clear voice woke him from his daydream. “Oo’d oo na poom?” She pointed right at him. “Oo’d oo na poom?!” She pointed again.
“Me?”
“Na poom.”
He understood. “You want to know my name… It’s Johnny… Johnny…”
She frowned and listened harder.
“JOHN-NY…”
The third time was the charm.
“J’on nee.” She smiled at him, waving her hand. “J’on neeee,” she giggled. Then they both laughed.
But it wasn’t a laughing matter for long…
Grrrrrr-OWWW!
The beast was back again. And this time it was with a vengeance.
Grrrrrrrrr…
Poor Johnny looked scared to death. Whatever it was it was circling, stalking him. Hisss… He could hear its raspy breath.
“Since when are there monsters in Massachusetts?”
The kid spun his head all around like an owl, looking for any way out… an escape route… Nothing. And no place to hide.
The predator was closing in.
He turned his desperate eyes to the Shadow Girl. She looked strangely back at him. Then she tapped the top of her long right leg.
Johnny’s jaw dropped at what happened next.
The skinny thing wrapping the young woman’s hamstrings started to twitch, to undulate. Then it rolled out into a great big wing and hung there flapping in the air. It listened as she ordered something, answered “Awk awk!”, and took off like a shot. If not a bat out of you-know-where. Up it soared.
The thing was on a mission.
Johnny could hardly believe his eyes. “Miss, you sure are full of surprises…”
He watched the black wing wheel in the moonlight. Once. Twice. Three times it turned around and found its target below. Bingo.
It made like a Zero and went kamikaze.
Whoosh…
Rrr-OW!
It dive-bombed the night stalker, catching the creature cold, off guard. The beast unleashed a blood-chilling cry… the sound of fur flying… and then just a whimper.
Yelp!
It limped off into the darkness. They listened and heard a distant howl.
Johnny exhaled. He turned to the Shadow Girl. “Thanks.” His voice and legs were weak. She saw he was shaky and nodded knowingly, “Plesh…” then gently touched her heart.
“I didn’t know these woods were so wild,” Johnny sort of apologized. “Good thing for us you brought your… pet…” He flapped his arms. “Or whatever that was.”
She scanned the sky for it, calling out, “Og d’og…”
Then all of a sudden something startled her. Something out of the blue behind her. Over her shoulder. A face. A whisper.
There was terror in her eyes.
Johnny tried to ask, “What’s wrong?” The Shadow Girl had no time for talking.
She held up three fingers. “Ee v’oo J’on nee…” Then she simply disappeared.
Johnny did a double take. He looked kinda dizzy. A little sick. Sorta seasick from the wake of her time warp. The bend in the moonbeams where she’d been.
He called out. “Miss?!” But she was missing in action. Or maybe worse than that.
The last trace of blue faded into black.
Then out of the blackness he heard a faraway cry.
“Haylee… Hold on Sis! I’m coming…”
Chapter 3 ~ Fall Guys
Johnny slogged his way through the swamp and scrambled up the monster hill. He slipped and fell a bunch of times but climbed like he was on a mission.
He had to find Haylee. No matter what.
And quick.
Before that critter did.
The moon was higher overhead now. It was getting pretty late. “At least it’s… not a… school night…” he huffed, half sarcastically. “Umph.” He reached the top.
Then Johnny made tracks, retracing his route. Well, sort of. He ended up going in circles. He stopped in front of a fallen pine tree that he’d passed like twice already.
“Psst… hey Sis… you here?” he whispered. He didn’t dare yell and tip off the cops.
His words stirred action in the bushes. Johnny’s ears pricked up. “Hay?” But then his nose caught whiff of something skunky — “Pew!” — so he blew on by.
That’s when he heard a bark, the sound of growling. And a familiar voice.
“Helllp!”
The noise came from behind him, punctuated with a scream.
He did a one-eighty and made a beeline. He was there in no time at all. And good thing — it was an ugly scene…
Rusty’s dog Killer had flushed Haylee out of hiding and he had her trapped.
“Help me! Somebody!”
Ruff! Ruff ruff!
The pit bull snapped its jaw. It gnashed its teeth. It tried to bite the girl.
She held it off with a crooked stick. Just barely.
Johnny came to her rescue.
He picked up a rock and charged at Killer. “Get outta here! You dirty rat…” Then Johnny cocked his scrawny arm back.
“Scram!” And he pretended to throw.
Killer flinched. But only a second. He didn’t back off an inch.
Ruff! Rrruff!
He licked his chops at the two young kids. He foamed at the mouth. His yellow eyes glowed…
Then all of a sudden he turned tail and ran.
Johnny let go of the stone looking stunned but also kind of proud of himself. “Guess we showed him. You okay Sis?”
Haylee was shaking in her flip-flops. Tongue-tied. All she could do was gawk.
“Sis?”
He glanced back to see what she was staring at.
“Freeze!” barked a ticked-off cop.
The square-jawed policeman didn’t say much as he marched his two suspects out to the road. He herded them off toward another officer just returning to his squad car. That one looked fairly grim himself. He was older. On the heavy side.
“Any more out there, Deputy?”
“Negative. Just these two. The hill?”
“All clear. But someone was up there earlier. Footprints — three or four sets. Looked fresh. And this flashlight.”
He turned it on the kids.
“This yours?”
Johnny shook his head and squinted but kept his lips zipped.
“Can’t hear you son.”
“Uh… no sir.”
The cop frowned. “What’s your name?”
“Ummm…”
Haylee poked him.
“Johnny… John Cap.”
The deputy pulled out a pad and pen and started writing. “She your sister?”
“Yes sir.”
“And your name, miss…
“Miss?”
She made a sniffling noise and wiped her nose on the long, frayed sleeve of her sweatshirt.
Johnny had to translate. “Haylee.”
She was near tears.
The deputy noted.
The bigger officer sized up the situation and the pair of kids. He snorted. They could see his breath now.
“What are a couple of minors like you doing out at this hour? How old are you night owls?”
Haylee peeped something.
“Eleven,” said Johnny.
She poked him again.
“Going on eleven.”
The cop eyed Johnny more suspiciously. “Where are your folks? They know you’re out here?”
“Basically.”
“Don’t be a wise guy, kid.”
“I j-just mean we promised to stay in the ‘hood.”
“What’s your address?”
“Seventeen Lookout Road.”
The deputy glanced down the hill as Johnny added, “We were just headed home.”
But the kids weren’t out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot.
The cops pressed — “Home from what?”
“A walk.”
“In the dark?”
“With no flashlight?”
Johnny was speechless.
“Tell us about the hoax.”
He faked a deer-in-the-headlights look. “H-h-hoax?”
“You know what we’re talking about. Or your sister here does…”
But Haylee shrugged.
And Johnny played dumb as an ox, “Got me.”
Neither officer looked too happy. The deputy knuckled and quickly explained.
“Just about an hour ago, a couple reported picking up a pocketbook in this vicinity, outside of town near Farfield Farm. Someone’d rigged it to look like a time bomb. Scared the living daylights out of ‘em both. They dumped it. Drove straight to the station.”
“Ring a bell now?” growled the second cop.
Johnny looked worried that Haylee might talk. He spoke up.
“We were in the dark.”
The officer stepped a few feet closer and lit up Johnny’s muddy face. “Betcha were. How’d you get so dirty?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Don’t play games…”
The radio interrupted. He answered.
“Prank… Two punks on scene, we’re questioning… M.O. matches the Lookout Hill gang… Evidence? Negative. You won’t believe this — some dog snuck off with the bag…”
The radio crackled with laughter. He shook his head. “I won’t hear the end of that.”
Johnny and Haylee just looked at each other.
“What now Sarge?” the deputy asked.
“Take ‘em for a little ride,” he snarled. “I’m heading downtown… to get hounded.”
The sergeant got in his car and peeled out.
Then it was the deputy’s turn. He opened the back door of his cruiser. “Okay you two. Time to go.”
Johnny watched the lights fly by. Eastie’s, Broders’, the wicked small house. They sped downhill on Lookout Road. Haylee sat petrified by his side.
“It’ll be okay Sis,” he whispered. “See? He’s taking us home.”
Sure enough.
The squad car slowed to a crawl as the street turned flat and straight. They stopped at a mailbox.
17 Cap was stenciled on it.
The cop checked his notebook. He checked out the long, dark driveway. The warm, yellow glow at the end.
The kids looked like it called to them. Come home…
The car took off again.
Johnny’s heart sank. He sat back and slumped on the worn, sticky seat — the vinyl smelled criminal. Haylee curled up in a little ball and whimpered. “J-Johnny… are we arrrrested?”
Her question hung in the air for a mile.
Johnny foresaw himself in the pen. On trial. Sentenced. “Kinda, I guess…”
They passed the JFK, their grade school, then turned on Main toward the center of town. Nobody said a word but the radio. It squawked away. The kids hardly heard.
Especially Johnny. His mind was swamped.
Was she for real… the Shadow Girl? Did that really happen or was it a dream?
He played it over and over again…
He had to tell someone. “Hey Hay…”
They stopped.
The deputy turned the engine off and eyed the kids in his rear-view mirror. “Know where you are?”
They looked out the window. A neon blue sign blinked Hop woo Police.
The messed-up words struck Johnny funny. He giggled nervously.
Big mistake.
“This all a joke to you, Mr. Cap?”
“Oh, no sir. I just…”
“Better watch it.”
Just then a pair of Hulk-size officers hauled a handcuffed guy inside. A drunk. Some townie. The dude was pretty bloody.
“You wanna end up like that?”
The cop did some paperwork. He took his time. Then he turned and read them the riot act.
“You two heard of Juvenile Hall? That’s where kids like you get sent for pulling stunts like this. And it’s no picnic.” He let the thought sink in a sec. He checked his watch. “It’s time to start thinking. Are you gonna be just one of the gang? A fall guy? Wise up. You can do better…”
He looked each kid in the eye. “And you sure better. Or next time you’re inside.”
Both were numb by now. They had no answer. But he didn’t wait for one.
The deputy turned away and turned his key. They hit the road again.
Johnny let out a long, deep breath. “Hooo…” Just maybe they’d dodged a bullet. The cop was heading back the way they came. They seemed to be homeward bound.
Until the cruiser took a detour.
It was a road with great big speed bumps, one they’d never been down before. And Haylee noticed something odd about it. Ominous.
“Where are the houses?”
All that they passed was a ramshackle guard shack… Guard shack? She tried to slide closer to Johnny.
After a long stretch they came to a dead end — a circle by an iron gate. An old stone sign said Hopewood Asylum. A blue beam of moonlight lit it up.
But a fresh-painted board with floodlights on it read Farfork County Juvenile Hall. And two towers loomed above the fence and gray barbed wire.
They wheeled around.
“Warden’s got lots of bunks,” said the deputy. “Loves to get ‘punks and yoots like youse’ and fix ‘em good. Kids come out different. If they come out at all, that is.”
He suddenly flashed his high-beams at something.
“This used to be the county nut house. Folks still see some crazy stuff…”
Haylee clutched her brother’s arm. “I’ll never be bad again!” she swore and shut her eyes. She’d seen enough.
Out of sight, out of mind. It was worth a shot.
The towers were behind them now, fading from view in the car’s back window. Johnny watched and wondered under his breath, “So where did Hank end up?”
Home he hoped — except that would be no layup. Just the opposite. Not when Dad’s mad…
They made it to Main Street.
They took Lookout Road…
Knock knock!
“Who’s there?” called Mrs. Cap. She rushed to the front door and threw it open. “Johnny! Haylee! Where in the dickens…”
She noticed the cop and gasped.
“Evening ma’am.”
Haylee ran straight to her mother. She hugged her. “Honey, what is it? What’s going on?”
But the girl kept mum, except for sobbing, getting Mom’s spring-green dress all wet.
Johnny, for his part, was trying to hide his messed-up clothes. He sidestepped in.
His mother frowned at him.
“Where’s Hank?”
The back door slammed before he could say.
“Nora!”
“Here in the living room dear!”
“Couldn’t find ‘em anywhere…”
The kids got skittish. They knew that tone. Those work shoes on the linoleum.
Stomping…
A man in tan coveralls came from the kitchen.
His right breast pocket read Hopewood Fill-Up. An oval patch on the left said Karl. It was apparent that he meant business. “What the heck is this about?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Cap?” asked the deputy.
They both nodded.
“These your kids?”
“What have they done?” glared their father. “Officer…”
“Mack.” He waved his dog-eared notebook. “There was a bomb scare up the street. A prank with a pocketbook. And manure…”
“Pocketbook?” echoed Mr. Cap.
“That’s right sir. You know something about it?”
Johnny saw his father’s blue eyes bulge, his face turn dynamite red. It was all he could do to keep from exploding.
“Cow pies?”
“Smelled ‘em myself sir.”
“KIDS!”
Suddenly Mrs. Cap looked faint. She had to sit down. Her husband helped her.
“Here dear.”
“There must be some mistake,” she swooned.
The cop snapped, “Yeah — no kidding!”
Johnny saw an opportunity. “Isn’t it past our bedtime Mom?”
“Oh, yes…”
“Go wash up,” Dad commanded. “We’ll deal with you two tomorrow. Now scram!”
The cop didn’t stop them but spoke. “Remember our talk.”
They wished they could forget.
Haylee led Johnny down the hall where Biggie the cat sat like he’d been waiting. He rubbed their legs while they brushed their teeth and then settled back into sphinx position. “Purrr…” As if he were guarding them.
The clock struck eleven. The kids headed off to their rooms. Though Haylee was dead on her feet. She shuffled along like a zombie, sleepwalking…
“Happy dreams, Sis.”
She mumbled, “Good night.”
Johnny shut his bedroom door and flopped on the floor in a heap.
“Good night?”
The room was awash in moonshine and shadow. The lights were all off. Johnny liked it that way.
Lore of the Underlings: Kid of Lore Page 2