“Hey, girls,” Carl called from the RV. “I, uh, got some leftover fudge in here! Don’t suppose you want any?”
“OH!” Cassie and Kinzie were out of their chairs like bullets, racing for the trailer door and laughing as Cassie stumbled. Sami and Cheyenne leapt up, not far behind.
I stayed put.
Sliding to a halt, Cheyenne stopped and stared over her shoulder at me. “Rose? Aren’t you coming?”
“No, no. I’m fine, I ate too much anyway. Go on!”
“You sure?”
“Totally. Go on! I’m, uh, I think I left something in the truck.” I threw a thumb over my shoulder and got to my feet. “I’ll be right back.”
“Oh. Ok. Hurry up!” She turned and trotted away.
Jittering, I headed for dad’s truck. Fear sure did weird things to people, me especially. It’s funny how I’d step in danger’s way just to see if there was danger in the first place. But I had to know. I would never admit that I was looking for Hayden, though I knew that was the truth. What if he really was a nutcase? What if he was hiding out, waiting for a chance to strike someone—someone I cared about? I couldn’t let that happen. You always hear those dreadful stories on the news channel about the guy that got shot by his coworker at a work party, or the girl who takes a vacation with her boyfriend and turns up dead two weeks later, knife-wounds across her chest.
I really didn’t want this to be another one of those NBC news stories. I didn’t want this to be another awful incident headlined: New employee wipes out family on camping trip.
My feet came to the outskirts of the circle. I was on full alert. In the firelight reflecting off the trucks, I could just make out our tent against the forest, dark and uninviting. Why the heck didn’t I move the tent closer to camp? At this point I preferred rocks in my feet over knifes in my back.
I pulled open the truck door. Digging around for my purse, I found my cell buried in the bottom. The screen was blank and straining for service, so I turned it off to save the battery. I had just stashed the bag back under the seat when I heard the unmistakable crunching of dried leaves.
I whirled around, clanging my head on the door frame.
The noise had come from behind the tent. In the woods… In the dark. I stared blindly into the shadows eating the trees. Something was there. Watching. I felt it—along with the sensation of my bra cutting into my chest. One hand on the door handle, I planned a quick escape: I would just jump inside the cab and throw all the locks down if something appeared.
The atmosphere was silent, and then—
Clink!
I squeaked as something fell out of the truck, rolled across the ground. “Oh— sheeze.” How embarrassing. It was just dad’s flashlight. Of course. Whoever was responsible for my karma lately just loved freaking me out. Bending down, I snatched it up, wondering why dad didn’t keep it in the glove box like a normal parent. I was about to toss it over to Joe’s side.
The crunching leaves returned.
Jamming the light on, I aimed it towards the woods like a sword. A flicker of black moved behind a cedar tree.
That did it. I threw myself into the front seat of the cab, grabbed the key in the ignition and jerked it back. The headlights came on, blasting the shadows right out of the forest. I could see every tree trunk, every branch, every leaf and twig on the ground behind our tent. There was still nothing lively.
It was hiding from me.
When my heart stopped racing, I flicked the truck off and burrowed through dad’s glove box. His old pocket knife resided in the bottom. I snatched it up and jumped out.
Moving swiftly towards the woodland entrance, I directed myself right for the cedar where I’d seen movement. “H—Hayden?” I stammered. No reply. “Dammit, Hayden! If that’s you I’m gonna beat the sh—”
Something had snapped below my foot. I looked down. “What… What the?”
It was a feather. A huge feather! If I had to estimate, I’d say it was two feet long. The barbs were all silver and shiny—could feathers be shiny?—but the spine was black.
I squinted. There was a strange, liquid substance staining the ground and part of the feather’s side. The substance was black, too, though in the right light it seemed almost dark red.
“Holy sheet dip,” as Dad would’ve said. I squatted for a closer look. The first thing I thought was, that’s an effing big bird. But how was that possible? Western birds were rarely larger than the bald eagle.
I reached out a hand, but before my fingers came close something nailed me right in the forehead. There was a second of seeing purple and green blurbs as I fell backward. An old pine cone bounced and rolled along the ground.
And the investigation was over. I leapt to my feet and bolted back to the campfire, never looking back…
*
The next morning was sluggish. Unlike the other girls in the tent, I didn’t succeed in getting a good night’s sleep. Every sound, every creak, click, rustle, or animal noise kept my senses on high alert. It was impossible to shake my sixth sense telling me there was something in the woods. It didn’t help that even when I finally did find an hour of sleep here and there, I was dreaming about that feather with the black sticky fluid. I’d never once in the years that I’d come to San Bernardino seen anything like it, and apparently some part of my brain felt it right to remind me of this fact over and over…
I staggered out towards camp, leaving the girls to sleep. The sun was playing peek-a-boo with the mountains, my breath hanging in the crisp air. I was up way early, which wasn’t like me on non school days. As I came around the corner of Todd’s trailer, I saw I wasn’t the only one awake.
Race and Preston were talking quietly in front of the fire, sipping white mugs. Race looked up as I plopped into the chair beside him. “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. And how was your night?”
“Can it, Rumple Stiltskin.” I rubbed my face, pushing my bangs off to the side where they belonged. Rolling around all night had worked my braids apart, so my mane of hair was everywhere.
The boys snorted.
“How’d sleeping in the same tent with you-know-who go?” I asked, trying not to smirk.
The smiles on their faces reversed. “The kid is a weirdo,” Preston declared in a whisper, like he expected Hayden to be listening. “Not that we didn’t already know that, but still.”
“He stayed up all night reading some book.” Race scuffed, then gave a humorless laugh. “What the hell kind of guy stays up all night reading a book?”
“Not me.” Preston got up and tossed another log on the fire. Tiny sparks swirled up into the air. “Unless there were naked chicks in it. Or if someone said, ‘here, read this. I’ll pay you a hundred bucks’. Then maybe I’d stay up all night reading. But even then…”
I found my mouth was hanging open, so I snapped it shut. He’s the reading type? The thought just wouldn’t process. Hayden, with the dreadlocks and the street-kid look, was the book sort? What kind of book was it?
“He read? All night?” I had to clarify.
They nodded. “We got in at about two and he was reading. I woke up at four and he was still reading!” Race shivered. “Ugh. It’s unnatural.”
“He’s unnatural.” Preston’s eyes widened before he took a drink from his cup. “In fact, so much so that we thought maybe it was just an act, like he was looking at a book but was really planning our homicide.”
I raised my eyebrows. I would’ve laughed if they hadn’t have looked so serious… or if I hadn’t have been thinking the same thing last night with the NBC news scenes running through my head.
“Yeah. So we took turns staying up to watch him. Don’t give me that look, Rose. He never saw us.” Race leaned back in his chair.
I scrunched up my face. “Yeah I hope he didn’t,” I snapped. If he was a crazy, there was no need to provoke him.
“Stop worrying, Rose.” Preston prodded at the fire with a stick. “There was no way he could’ve seen us. I promise.”
“Who?”
“Hayden!”
“Oh. Nope.” Race pointed towards the bike/quad oval. “He wasn’t around when we passed out early this morning. His bike’s gone.”
I glanced over my shoulder. The yellow and black bike had vanished from the herd. “I never heard him leave,” I realized aloud. Motorized vehicles weren’t exactly man’s quietest invention.
“We didn’t either.” Preston turned glum, the dark circles under his eyes visible. They really must’ve stayed up all night. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that kid was a ghost. One minute he’s here… the next minute he’s gone.”
“Without a trace,” Race added in a falsetto tone, making his best friend chuckle.
I stared at the fire. I didn’t like them calling Hayden such things. Not because I felt they were being offensive exactly, but because I worried that maybe…
What if they were on to something? I mean, he wasn’t a ghost—that much I knew. But he could definitely pass for the description of otherworldly. There was an aura that seemed to chill the air and send shivers up the spine when he entered a room or a space, a presence of the paranormal that inflicted most humans with fear; it was instinct to be afraid of the unknown.
“Race?” Speaking of otherworldly.
“Huh?”
“What kind of birds are around here?”
He threw me a funny look. “Hell, like I know. Why?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, it’s just… I saw this really weird feather in the
woods last night. There was something—or someone—there, but I didn’t catch them in time. All that was left was this huge, silver feather with this really weird reddish black gunk on it… I’ve never seen anything like that here before.”
They both gaped, probably thinking, Wtf?
“Yeah that’s weird,” Preston declared.
“It was just a feather?”
“Yeah. But it was like, two feet long!” I held up my hands like I was holding
an invisible box. “Have you ever seen a feather that big?”
They exchanged concerned looks.
“Are you sure you weren’t just a little… I don’t know… tired?” That was Race
Code for: what are you smoking?
“Yeah, Rose,” Preston agreed. “I don’t think such a feather exists. Not here at
least. Maybe if you live in Australia or something, but not here.”
I dropped my hands to my lap, feeling suddenly moody with the two of them.
Wrinkling my nose, I scuffed. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t listen.” “Well, Rose, what you’re saying is a little… whacked.” Which is Preston Code
for: you’re a psycho. “No offense.”
“Birds that size aren’t around here.”
Instantly I was out of my chair and marching away.
“Aw, Rose. Stop it!” Race called. “Come back here!”
I ignored them, kept walking. Now that there was light, my vision was much
clearer. I stomped straight over behind our tent into the woods. The trees really
weren’t so scary or dense during daylight hours, and I had no problem finding
that cedar tree.
Tilting my head back, I stared up into the branches. My eyes found nothing
but a morning chipmunk hovering over a pinecone. There were some broken
branches though—that was good evidence. My eyes drifted along the ground, but
there were only fallen pinecones and leaves. I searched the whole area below the
tree for signs of the feather, but it was nowhere to be seen. After kicking up a few
leaves, I was forced to surrender and face the fact.
The feather was gone…
Everyone was up and fed by eleven. Most were eager to get dressed in proper
gear and move out to the trails, especially all us girls. Me, personally, I wanted to
go just because I couldn’t sit still any longer.
Hayden showed up in time for breakfast that morning. When Race got up
the courage to ask him where he’d gone, he’d just shrugged and replied, “All over.” I couldn’t deny the fact that it irked me—how could Race ask him such a simple question and not receive an antagonistic reply? There wasn’t even any cruel sarcasm in his two simple words “all” and “over”! My irritation fueled my energy supply, however, and by the time noon rolled around, I was practically jumping out of my riding pants. Even my riding boots, which were designed to keep ankles in one place and made us walk like penguins, didn’t keep me from wandering until it was time to go.
9) Encounter
We left the camp in pairs, deciding it was an effective way of keeping dust to a minimum and to make sure no one got injured and left behind. The first pair to leave was Race and Preston, then Greg and his dad. I was paired with Kinzie near the front, and bringing up the rear was Patty, complete with her backpack of medical supplies, walky-talky, and orange helmet and goggles that made her look like something from Speed Racer. Bless her heart.
Carl and Hayden were the only two not coming. Surprising? No. I didn’t think so.
Our turn came, and Kinzie and I tore out of camp like dare devils. We’d purposely left several minutes after Sami and Cassie because we drove like maniacs. We’d catch up in no time. I was about to kick my clutch, make it to fifth gear when I saw a dust cloud hovering in front of us. I slowed down, catching Kinzie’s attention, and pointed my thumb towards the ground. We had to have code talk using our hands, since we couldn’t hear each other over the engines.
We followed behind Sami and Cassie most the way, keeping a good distance for safety. Kinzie and I took turns on who was in front. Some parts of the trail got narrow, so you had to travel in single file. The ride was fun and scary at the same time, like always. There were twists and curves and rocks that a driver must always be aware of. One slip of concentration in certain areas and you were a dead man—in my case, dead woman. I was so glad mom wasn’t here; every time I swerved a rut or got sucked into the rocks, I could hear her scream before passing out backwards, like one of those old TV sitcoms. She’d crap a brick if she saw me catching air off the little plateaus in the upper trails.
Kinzie sped off in front of me at one point. I was going around a steep corner when something caught my eye. You never take your eyes off the trail for longer than a second, so I threw a quick glance to the side.
I gasped and hit the brake. The quad jerked and died as I let go of the clutch.
Through the trees, a dark-skinned girl stood in a patch of sunlight. She blinked at me with large green eyes, hands folded against her sundress. She was barefoot.
I sat there on my quad, heart racing—partly from the adrenaline, and partly from the iffy feeling I was getting in my gut. A girl running around this place in a sundress? That was another thing I’d never seen here. This was no beachy vacation spot. Girls ran around in sweatpants and long-sleeved shirts.
She stared at me a moment longer, her glossed lips pulling down in a frown. Her feet made not a sound as she crossed over fallen leaves and branches. She disappeared into the woods…
By the time we got back into camp, the sun was setting and my whole lower body felt like cement. The girls and I went to dinner in our pajamas that night. They all chatted about how awesome their quads were on the trails, how Sammie got jerked by rocks over a plateau, and Kinzie caught air and jumped a fallen tree.
I had little to contribute. My mind was not on the trails, but what I’d seen off them. I’d been so busy riding that I’d sort of brushed the incident off, but now that I was sitting down, now that I could think about it…
It scared me.
Maybe I was overreacting and it was just some biker’s daughter running around in the woods, but it was too weird. It made me think o
f things like Ghost Whisperer and Monster Quest, though in the back of my head I was thinking, there is a logical explanation. Even if there wasn’t, it was done and over now.
I needed to drop it before I obsessed.
*
I was seven again. Running around our old yard with a Barbie tucked under my arm, kicking a magenta ball with a big yellow star across the grass. I prepared to kick it to momma, who still had really long blonde hair and that constant smile on her face.
She bent down a little. “Come on, Rosie! Come on, kick the ball to momma!”
I giggled, swinging my tiny foot and giving the ball my best shot.
Momma caught it without a problem. “Aw, good job!” She clapped for me, gently kicking it back.
“Momma, momma! I wanna play,” cried a tiny voice.
I looked across the yard at the front door. A little girl in pink cotton pants and a white, flowing shirt came wobbling down the porch steps. She smiled, revealing a missing front tooth.
“Ok, Rachel! Come on!” Momma held out a hand to the fragile girl as she came running across the yard, her caramel pony tails bouncing just like mine. She held momma’s hand, and they both waited for me to return the ball.
I was backing up to give it my best shot when a shrill ringing echoed through the screen door. Momma cocked her head. “Oh, shoot!” She let go of Rachel. “Here, keep playing I’ll be right back. Stay in the yard, girls!”
We watched her sprint to the front door, disappearing inside the house.
I turned back to Rachel. “You ready?!” I called.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!” She jumped up and down, excited.
I took a breath and stepped back a few more feet. This one would be a good kick. Like the ballplayers daddy sometimes watched on TV Friday nights. Racing forward, I smacked the magenta ball with all my might. It soared through the air, then landed. It bounced once, twice, then a third time, passing Rachel completely.
It rolled into the road…
We stood there staring at it, not really sure what to do. This had never happened before, and we were never allowed near the street. Momma said the cars going by were dangerous, that they drove too fast here.
A Taste of Silver Page 9