An Imperfect Miracle (15 page)

I decided to keep tailing him. If I couldn't prove that he'd burned Mary's house down, I might be able to show that he was a thief. Either way, Mary could rest easier knowing that Runyon was sitting in jail.

Runyon crossed over the railroad tracks and then headed straight for the old mill. Mom always told me never to go out there, because she said I'd step on something sharp and die of lockjaw or something. I didn't really see how, since Mom always made sure I was up to date on all my shots. But I could see why she was so uptight about it, what with all the jagged dirty fences and rusted out machines, and the sharp nails sticking up out of old rotten boards, and the blown-out tires piled up everywhere just waiting to catch on fire, and the glass lying around from broken beer bottles and such. Whenever me and Chewy snuck over there to play war games or something, I was always careful where I stepped. As I was walking along it hit me that the mill used to be the real center of town where all the jobs were and where even Dad and Runyon used to work. But now it seemed like the shrine had taken its place.

I followed Runyon all the way to this old brown warehouse that sat right next to the where the main part of the mill used to be before it burned down a few years back. Chewy spent the time running around sniffing at stuff, because there were plenty of strong smells over there. The warehouse had big jagged holes all over the roof, like it had gotten bombed out in a war or something, and the windows were all busted up too from kids throwing rocks through them. Runyon stopped in front of this huge, smashed-up window that was almost as tall as him, looked all around one more time, and then stepped right through it and disappeared inside. I ran up and peeked in and saw him strutting toward the end of the building, his legs bowing in and out like always. I waited until he was pretty far ahead of me and then I jumped in too, careful not to let any of the jagged glass stab me. After sniffing around for a few seconds Chewy hopped in after me real ginger, like she was worried about the glass snagging her too. Chewy could be such a dope at times.

It smelled like dead animals inside, and I had to hold my nose for a second to keep from gagging. Somebody must have been throwing beer parties in there too on account of all the broken bottles I had to step over. There was nobody else around though, and I didn't see any stray dogs either and whispered to Chewy to keep an eye out for them.

Runyon kept on walking until he got to this big room way on the end. I slid in behind a tall greasy machine with a lot of wires sticking out and then peeked around the side to see what he was up to. It must have been a meeting room once, because there was a huge round wooden table in the middle all covered with bird droppings and cobwebs.

Next to the table on the floor was a dirty orange tarp with a bulge in the middle. I suspected right away that the tarp might have been hiding a dead body, because the bulge looked to be about that size. The last time I'd seen a real dead body was at the funeral home where they'd laid out my grandma, and I almost started gagging again just thinking about it. She was my dad's mom and my only other relative, besides Uncle Carl and Aunt Helen, who wasn't dead by the time I was old enough to remember anything.

I thought about how grandma's hair was done up real fancy and the nice pink frilly dress she had on that Mom had helped her pick out when they'd gone down to Pittsburgh one day to go shopping in the big stores. Mom always said that Dad really started heading downhill right after his mom died. She said that with his mom still living in town, he would never have had the guts to ditch us the way he did.

I held my breath until the gagging feeling passed. Meanwhile, Runyon was trying to pull the tarp up, and it must have been heavy because he was fighting it a little. Then when he finally lifted it high enough, he slid the navigator underneath toward the bulge and dropped the tarp back over it all. I couldn't see what else was underneath because his bowed out legs were blocking my view. Then he whipped out his cell phone, punched a few buttons and held it up to his ear.

“I've got a bunch of good stuff all ready to unload,” Runyon said, and then listened for a while. He must have gotten teed off by something because all of a sudden he started rolling his eyes. “I can't wait that long. You're not the only game in town, you know. I just found me another source of income.” After waiting some more, he finally said, “See ya, Dave, and don't be late.”

When I heard him say Dave, my heart felt like it was about to explode right out of my chest, because that was my dad's name. Chewy must have been listening in too, because right away she said that there were tons of guys named Dave and it could be anybody. Then Runyon whirled around and strutted out of the warehouse the same cocky way he'd come in. He passed right by me too, not six feet away, and I held my breath as hard as I could until he'd climbed back out the window. Then I sat down on the floor panting for air and shaking all over, on account of how scared I was.

I waited awhile to make sure he wasn't coming back, and then after I'd calmed down a little I tiptoed into the room where the tarp was. It took me twice as long as him to get it off, but I finally folded it backwards enough to where I could see what was underneath.

“Wow, Chewy, do you believe that? Now I know where he got the money to buy all his new clothes.”

Jumbled up all together in this huge pile were toasters and a couple flat screen TVs and some shiny watches and necklaces and a few bright red pots and pans. Then I bent down closer and saw the really good stuff, the cell phones and laptop computers and some fancy cameras and even a few old DVD players. They looked like they'd just been dumped there on the floor, and I wondered if they still all worked. But with the tarp keeping off the rain from the leaky roof, most of it probably hadn't shorted out yet, although some of the computers looked pretty dinged up. I thought about grabbing a little blue Gameboy to replace mine, which was kind of old and wasn't set up for the best games. But then I decided I better not, since Mary probably wouldn't like me stealing stuff, not to mention what Mom would have done to me if she ever found out.

As I was looking the pile over, I had an idea. I grabbed the navigator that Runyon had just stolen and slipped it into my pocket. Then I pulled the tarp back over the pile and told Chewy that we had something important to do. Chewy had been sniffing all around the room and looked like she was ready to leave. We headed out of the warehouse through the broken window and back toward town, careful to make sure that Runyon wasn't hiding somewhere close by spying on us.

Chapter 11

I found Father Tom on the playground at St. Sebastian's shooting basketball with some big high school kids. Like usual Father Tom was missing most of his shots, so the kids on his team didn't mind when I went up and said that I had something important to show him. I'd picked him over Pastor Mike, because St. Sebastian's was way closer than my church, and because Father Tom was a better boxer. I wasn't sure if I could trust Pastor Mike to keep it a secret from Mom either, since he seemed to be working so hard to stay on her good side.

Father Tom asked me what I wanted to show him so bad that it couldn't wait until tomorrow, and I said I couldn't really tell him yet.

“What do you mean, you can't tell me?”

“You've gotta see it for yourself.”

“Does it have to be right now?”

“It's about Mary. I thought you'd want to know.”

His eyes lit up for a second.

“You mean the shrine? Is everything all right?”

“For now. But that's why I want to show you this thing I just found.”

His eyes clouded up again.

“How far is it? I'm kind of busy, Nate.”

“It's in walking distance.”

“And you can't tell me about it first.”

“Nope.”

“Not even a hint.”

“Nope.”

Father Tom sort of kicked at the pavement. It was the first time I'd ever seen him so touchy.

“Does Carlos know about it?”

I shook my head.

“Nobody knows about it except for me and one other person.” Then I remembered Dave, the guy Runyon had called up on the phone, and said, “Maybe two people.”

“And is one of those other people Chewy?”

“I'm not talking about Chewy, although she knows where it is too. But when you see it, you'll understand right away why I'm bugging you about it.”

“And you say it's important.”

“It's real important. Mary herself might be at stake.”

Father Tom gave out a long, groaning sigh and then told the high school kids that he'd be back in a few minutes. They told him not to rush, and we walked off together with Chewy way out in front of us. When we got to Main Street, Father Tom stopped to talk to the mayor and some of the town's other big shots who were hanging around watching them clean up Mary's lot. Then after they all finally left to go to some meeting, Carlos came by and griped that they must have lost twenty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise in the fire that wasn't covered by insurance.

“The important thing is that nobody got hurt,” Father Tom reminded him.

Carlos nodded, sort of worn out and droopy, and said that he was going to his room at the church to take a nap, but that he might be back later. I wondered if he was sick or something, because I'd never seen him so down in the mouth before. Then Father Tom told him to cheer up because the shrine would be up and running in no time and busier than ever. He said that all the publicity from the fire was whipping up more interest in Mary every day. He said that the church's web site was loaded with e-mails from people all around the world asking about her.

That sure perked Carlos up, and he started smiling again and said that maybe he wasn't so beat after all.

“Where are you two going in such a rush?”

Father Tom gave out another long sigh.

“It's a secret.”

“Secrets are good,” Carlos said, and then winked at me.

He tried winking at Chewy too, but he was pointed in the wrong direction. I didn't say anything about it though, because I didn't want to embarrass him in front of Father Tom.

Then Carlos went over to tell the construction guys how they should go about rebuilding the foundation for Mary's new house. The workers didn't seem too happy about Carlos horning in on their action, judging by how they were scowling and rolling their eyes. But the shrine seemed to be Carlos's whole life now, and I guessed he had the right to be a pain if he wanted to.

Father Tom looked down at me and asked again how long this was going to take. I said it wouldn't take long if he'd just quit stopping to talk to people. He patted me on the head and said we better get going then. He almost turned back at the railroad tracks, but I told him we were almost there and that he couldn't give up now. By the time we got to the warehouse, he was asking all sorts of questions. I finally got fed up trying to answer them all and pointed at the big busted out window.

“It's just inside there a little ways.”

Father Tom looked all around like he was worried somebody was about to start shooting at us.

“I think we're trespassing on private property. We shouldn't be out here.”

I told him that only drunks and stray dogs hung around at the mill anymore. He still didn't want to go inside the warehouse at first. But when I hopped through the window, he must have decided he couldn't leave me in there all alone. He had a hard time fitting through the window on account of how big he was, but eventually he squirmed his way inside without tearing up his clothes much. It was a good thing he wasn't wearing one of his fancy robes though. Then I led him back to the meeting room where the tarp was.

I hadn't shown him yet the navigator Runyon had swiped. I thought it would give him a bigger jolt if he saw all the stolen goods at once. I wasn't worried about Runyon showing his face either, what with Father Tom there to beat him up if he got too snooty. Everything looked just the same too, until we actually got inside the meeting room. I knew something was wrong right away because the tarp wasn't bulging out nearly as far as before. I ran over and tried to lift it up by myself, but it was slick and my hand kept slipping off. Then Father Tom came over and threw it back with one arm like it was nothing. I stared down at the bare grungy floor and couldn't believe my eyes.

“It was all piled up right here. He must have come back and moved the stuff somewhere else. Maybe he saw that the navigator was missing and figured somebody was on to him.”

“What navigator? What are you talking about, Nate? And who came back here? Were you out here before? Was anybody with you?”

I pulled the navigator out of my pocket and told him that I'd seen Runyon stealing it. I told him that this was where Runyon stashed all his loot.

“Or maybe he hauled it away to sell it to this Dave guy he was talking to on his cell phone. There must have been ten laptops in here, and you should have seen all the iPods and Gameboys.”

Father Tom snatched the navigator out of my hand kind of rough and asked me where I'd gotten it.

“I told you already. Swiping that navigator should still be enough to land him in jail, don't you think?”

Father Tom was busy twirling the gadget around in his big hand.

“Do you know who this belongs to?”

I told him again that Runyon had stolen it from some car. I said I didn't know who owned the car, but I could show him where it was parked easy enough. Then Father Tom bent down to where he was almost looking at me eye level. He laid his big hand on my arm, but real gentle though, and asked me if there was anything else I wanted to tell him. I said I'd told him everything.

“Are you sure?”

I stared into his face. It was streaked a little redder in the cheeks than usual, like someone with skinny fingers had just slapped him a good one. Then I felt my knees shaking a bit.

“Sure, I'm sure. You don't think I stole it, do you?”

“That's what I'm asking.”

I shook my head as hard as I could and felt my voice getting real breathy and wobbly.

“I saw Runyon yank it out of that car with my own eyes. You can even give me a lie detector test if you want.”

“Did anybody else see him take it?”

I glanced over at Chewy lying on the floor panting at me. I didn't want to drag poor Chewy into it, because if Mom ever found out she'd just get all riled up again. I doubted if even Father Tom would believe Chewy anyway, being that she was just a dog. He must have known how loyal she was to me too.

“Not really.”

“Remember what I told you about making false accusations?”

“I ain't lying.”

Father Tom kept staring at me for a while, I guess to see if he could break me down any. But I wasn't changing my story for nobody. It was the truth, after all. Then he stood up with a big grunting kind of groan and said that he'd see to it that the navigator was returned to its rightful owner. He said that he'd make up some story so as not to have to point the finger at me. I asked him if, being a priest and all, he was allowed to make up stories. He said he didn't like to, but sometimes he said it was the charitable thing to do.

“You won't tell Mom on me, will you? If she ever thought I stole something, she'd never let me out of the house by myself again.”

Father Tom finally smiled a little and right away I felt a lot better, like I wasn't headed for jail after all.

“I won't say a word. Just promise me that you won't get into any more mischief.”

“But that Runyon guy is the one you ought to be keeping your eye on. Mary's bringing the town back to life, and he don't like it one little bit. He likes it better when everything's dead, like it is out here in the mill. I know what I'm talking about too because my dad was the same way. You can ask my mom if you don't believe me.”

His voice was steady and strong, like a priest's voice ought to sound I guess.

“Our Blessed and Holy Mother can take care of herself just fine. But I'm sure she appreciates all your efforts on her behalf. You can stop now though.”

I offered again to show him the car with the busted window, but he said he had things to do in town. On our way out of the warehouse he said he knew of a nice little puppy that was up for adoption and that he could get her for me for free if I wanted. I told him thanks, but that dogs were way too much work, puppies especially.

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

“I won't be changing my mind,” I said, glancing over at Chewy wagging her tail at me real fierce and happy.

We walked all the way back to town together and hardly said anything, which I was glad about because I didn't want to slip up and land in any more trouble. When we reached the shrine I told Father Tom I had to get home before Mom found out I was gone and yelled at me. Father Tom said that he needed to stay at the shrine awhile with Carlos and their new little friend John to see how all the work was coming along. He said he'd see me later and that I shouldn't worry about a thing. Then all of a sudden he gave me the news, and I couldn't believe that he'd waited so long to tell me.

“The police arrested your English teacher, Mr. Grimes, last night and a few other rascals for arson in setting fire to the shrine. Apparently they had a little anti-religion cult group going, and decided to branch out into the terrorism business too. Grimes was apparently bragging about it over his e-mail, which was how they nabbed him. So you see, Nate, you can't always jump to conclusions about people.”

I didn't know what to say at first, but then I pulled myself together.

“Mr. Grimes must have gone nuts over Mary being so popular. I guess he just couldn't handle it.”

“It's sad, but it's over now, and Mary's safe. So you needn't worry about her anymore.”

On the way back up our street, I told Chewy that I couldn't understand why so many people wanted me to get a dog. Chewy said she didn't understand it either.

It was lucky for me that Mom had to work late. I sat on the living room floor watching TV and trying to figure out what I should say to her. I knew Father Tom wouldn't go back on his word, but I was a little worried that some nosy neighbor might have seen me sneaking out of the house and ratted on me. But if Father Tom was allowed to make up a story once in a while, I decided I could too.

Finally I heard Mom's car clanging up the street. I knew it was hers because it had a special sort of sound, like pots banging together in the sink when you're rinsing them. I opened the front door and waited out on the porch for her to drag herself up the steps like she usually did when she came home late from work. Runyon had left the flowers on the porch, and while I was checking them out I noticed that the little orange bug was all gone and that the spider was busy cleaning off its legs. Of course, by then the spider might have gobbled up some other bug for all I knew.

As soon as Mom got to the porch she picked up the flowers and looked to see who they were from. She was probably hoping they were from Pastor Mike, but Runyon must not have left a name tag because she asked me who'd brought them. Before I could answer she saw the spider and jumped a little and said how gross it was. Then she grabbed the broom next to the door and swept the spider and its web right off the porch into some evergreen bushes. I didn't know if the poor spider made it out alive or not, but I expected it did because spiders are generally pretty tough.

When she got inside she asked me straight out if Pastor Mike had brought her the flowers. I told her Pastor Mike wouldn't have given her such scraggly looking plants. Then I told her about Runyon banging on the door and snooping around the outside of the house. I made it sound a lot scarier even than it was. I figured if Mom got mad at Runyon, that would leave her less energy to stay mad at me. I told her that after he left I ran out of the house, because I didn't want to be trapped inside all alone if Runyon decided to come back. I said I went down to Main Street on account of all the people and waited at the shrine until I was sure the coast was clear.

“I just got back home a few minutes ago.”

Right away her forehead crinkled up and she got on the phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Mind your own business.”

I was pretty sure she was calling Pastor Mike so he could go looking for Runyon and beat him up. But while she was waiting for the other person to answer, she said she was calling up Marcie's dad for legal advice. They talked for nearly a half hour too. I stood right there listening to her but didn't understand much of it.