Good Guys Love Dogs (20 page)

Jefferson County High, al the kids
loved him. His wife,

Theresa, was just as cool. She went
with him on al the field

trips. Lena often thought if she had
a dad, she'd have liked

him to be like Mr. Bevson. The
Bevsons had the best

marriage she'd ever seen. Except for
Aunt Phoebe and Uncle

Frank, of course. Nobody had a
better marriage than theirs.

Lena sat at the edge of the campfire
and listened while

Mr. Bevson told them a story about a
boy paralyzed from

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the neck down after diving off the
high board at a swim

meet. The boy had pretty much given
up on life until, one

day, someone brought him a computer
he operated with his

voice. He began to write stories
with it and went on to write

a prize-winning novel cal ed
When
All Is Black.

Mr. Bevson's stories always had a
point. “Every one of

us has something in our lives that
would hold us back if we

let it, he said when he'd finished.
“The key is to deal with

it, then find a way around it.

Lena looked into the campfire flames
and thought of

the father she'd never met. Anger
smoldered inside her

when she let herself think about how
her mother had lied

to her. Could she ever find a way
around that? Could she

ever forgive her?

The group around the campfire began
to break up,

interrupting Lena's thoughts. They
didn't have to be in their

sleeping bags until midnight, so
when someone suggested

a walk, everyone agreed. For the
couples, it would be a

perfect opportunity to sneak off and
make out for an hour

or so. Sure enough, ten minutes into
the walk, both Mil ie

and her date disappeared. Lena
tagged along after the rest of

the group, feeling like a fifth
wheel. She might as wel go

back to the camp. She didn't want to
end up one of the few

geeks who didn't have a make-out
partner.

Just as she turned to head back, she
bumped into

someone. She looked up and found
herself staring into a

pair of narrowed blue eyes. Luke
McKinley's blue eyes.

“Hey, he said.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Hey, Luke. The
greeting sounded as if she'd just run

five miles.

“You headed back?

“Uh, I guess so.

“I'll go with
you.

“Sure. She
shrugged as though it didn't matter one

way or the other.

They turned and walked up the
moonlit pavement. The

rest of the group continued on,
their laughter fading in the

distance. They walked for a minute
or two without saying

anything. Final y unable to stand
the silence any longer,

Lena said, “I
didn't expect to see you here. I mean— She

gave herself a mental
thwap
and
then chastised herself.
Great,

Lena. Now he thinks you were
watching for him.

“I didn't expect
to come. Anderson said it would be a

good time. So far, it's seemed
pretty lame to me.

Lena immediately took offense. She
stopped in the

middle of the road. “I
suppose there's a lot more action

where you come from.

Luke stared down at her with his
seen-it-all eyes. “Yeah,

you could say that.

“So why'd you
come here?

He swung away from her and dropped
his head back

to stare up at the star-speckled
sky, his hands in his

pockets. “It
wasn't my idea.

“Your dad made
you?

He shrugged.

“Why didn't you
go live with your mother?

“I don't have a
mother.

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“Oh. Lena
considered that for a moment. “I don't

have a father.

“Aren't we the
pair of bookends?

He had a smart mouth. But she had a
feeling he did

that to cover up something. What,
though?

They continued up the hill, not
saying anything for a

couple of minutes. Lena stopped
again halfway up. “So why

did
he make you come here?

Luke hesitated, and then told her,
“Because he thinks

he can reform me.

The words were blunt and to the
point, as if he wanted

to shock her, or maybe scare her
away. Determined not to

let him, she kept her voice
nonchalant when she said, “For

what?

He looked down at the ground and
scuffed a

sneakered toe in the dirt. “I
got caught with some drugs at

a party.

“Were you using
them? she asked, somehow unable

to picture him as a druggie.

Luke looked at her for a long
minute, as if trying to

decide how to answer. “Would
you believe me if I said it

wasn't something I made a habit of?

She held his intense gaze,
considered the question and

then said, “Yeah,
I would.

“I don't know why
I just told you that. I haven't told

anybody else.

“Your secret's
safe with me. She tilted her head back

and said, “Do you
believe in haunted houses?

“No, he said,
looking surprised.

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INGLATH COOPER

“Wanna see one?

He shrugged. “Sure.
Why not?

Lena took off at a jog, cutting
through the cornfield to

their right. The moon slanted a path
of light across the rows

of corn stubs. She jumped each one
with ease. She

congratulated herself for not
looking back to see if he was

still fol owing her.

At the edge of the field, she slowed
to a stop.

“You run track or
something? he asked, coming up

behind her.

“As a matter of
fact, I do, she said, then took off

again.

“Wait!

She kept going until she reached the
fence surrounding

the property. Luke was right behind
her. They leaned

against the rickety railing, their
breathing short and raspy.

“This is the old
Hathaway place. Spooky, huh?

“Looks like a
house to me.

The brick two-story sat some one
hundred yards away,

eerie in the moonlight. One side of
the porch sagged like a

lopsided smile. The roof had holes
in it, and the breeze

brushed a tree limb back and forth
against a broken

windowpane, the sound almost
mournful.

Lena had a moment of doubt as to
whether they should

go farther, but squashed it at the
thought of Luke's earlier

statement about the campout being so
lame. She'd show him

lame. “Come on.
Let's go inside.

He looked at her as if he thought
she'd lost it. “Why?

“Why not?

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She hopped over the fence and
bounded across the yard

before she lost her nerve. She
stopped at the front steps.

They, too, were in terrible shape,
partly rotted on one side.

The moon shed little light on the
house. Lena tentatively

touched a foot to the bottom step,
then ventured up.

The door moaned as she gave it a
shove inward.

Adrenaline shot through her veins.
She was crazy to go

inside, after what she'd heard about
this place. None of the

kids she knew would come anywhere
near it. But the desire

to impress Luke prodded her on. She
glanced over her

shoulder. He was stil behind her.

She stopped inside the enormous hal
way. Moonlight

shone in from the windows, but it
was hard to see. To their

right stood a winding staircase. The
banister at the top hung

precariously loose above them.

Lena pointed at the doorway to their
left. “That's

where they used to lay people out.
It was called the

viewing room.

“What do you mean
‘lay people out'?

“They didn't have
funeral homes in those days, so

people came to the house for the
viewing.

Luke didn't say anything, but
shifted from one foot to

the other. His uneasiness gave her
courage. She ventured

forward. Boards creaked. From
somewhere above, a bird

flew out of its nesting place.

Lena stopped, hiding her own fright
with words. “This

used to be an old plantation. One of
the biggest around.

“What kind of
plantation?

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INGLATH COOPER

Lena shrugged. “I
dunno. Probably cotton or tobacco.

Later on, it became a boardinghouse,
but people eventual y

stopped staying here because of al
the things that kept

happening.

“Like what?

“Doors opening
and closing in the middle of the night.

There was this one chair that no
matter where it was moved

in the house, it always turned up in
front of the living room

window. No one could ever explain
how it got moved. But

it was rumored to be Mrs. Hathaway's
favorite spot to sit.

Luke snorted in disbelief. “Must
have been some

explanation.

Ignoring his skepticism, Lena said,
“They say she locked

him in the cel ar.

“Locked who in
the cel ar? Luke asked, his voice the

slightest bit rattled.

“Mr. Hathaway,
Lena said, enjoying herself. “The

story goes that he was in love with
a young woman who

worked for them. They'd planned to
run away together, but

Mrs. Hathaway found out and put an
end to it.

“She kil ed them?

“That's what they
say.

“What'd she do
with the bodies?

“Some people say
she buried them in the cornfield.

Others say she buried them in the
cel ar.

“Sounds like a
tall tale.

“Maybe. I don't
know. Lena shrugged and continued

down the hal way. It led into the
kitchen. Luke went over to

the old dry basin and worked the
pump handle. It squeaked

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in protest and shot out a puff of
dust. At the back of the

kitchen, a door stood ajar. Lena
pointed at it. “That must

be the cellar.

Luke went over and opened it
farther. The bottom

scraped against the floor. Lena
jumped. Luke stuck his head

through the doorway and peered down
the steps. “It's pitch

black down there.

“I think this is
as far as I'm going, she said.

He swung around and gave her a cocky
grin, the tables

suddenly turned. “Whatsa
matter? You scared?

“If I'd been
scared, I wouldn't have come in here in

the first place.

“No, I guess you
wouldn't have. I don't know any girls

who would come this far, he
admitted.

Almost a compliment. Lena's courage
reasserted itself.

She moved to the door and peered
down the steps. She

couldn't see a thing. A board
beneath her foot col apsed,

and she pitched forward.

A pair of hands grabbed her
shoulders and yanked her

back to safety against a solid
chest.

Lena's heart beat so fast she
thought it might actually

explode. Luke turned her around and
said, “You okay?

“Yeah. Thanks,
she said, her voice all breathy again.

She ridiculed herself for not being
a better actress.

They stared at each other while Lena
tried to regain

her bearings. Feelings of another
sort momentarily replaced

her fear. In the dimness, the planes
and angles of his good-

looking face were even more
compelling. His hands were

still on her shoulders. She didn't
want him to let go.

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INGLATH COOPER

How long they stood there, she
didn't know. Probably

only a few seconds, but it seemed
like forever. She didn't

think forever would be long enough.

“We'd better get
out of here, he said finally.

She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He led the way,

while she followed. They'd almost
made it back to the

front door when they heard a loud
noise from upstairs.

They turned around just as a piece
of the banister railing fel

from the stairway onto the hallway
floor.

Lena looked at Luke. He looked at
her. Without saying

a word, they tore out of the house
and ran for all they were

worth. Across the porch. Down the
steps. Flying through

the yard. They didn't stop until
they'd reached the edge of

the cornfield, where they collapsed
on the ground, their

backs to the fence. They were both
breathing as if they'd

run a marathon.

They were silent for a minute or
two, their rasping

breaths the only sound in the stil
ness. They turned to look

at each other. Smiles broke out on
their faces.

“Chicken, Lena
said.

“Like you
weren't, Luke said, grinning.

“It's not so lame
around here, after al , is it? she asked,

her own smile widening. If she had
planned this night from

the start, it never would have been
as good as this. Not in

her most outlandish imaginings would
she have come up

with the two of them ending up alone
in a haunted house.

Silence hung between them again, the
air full of

newfound attraction. And a tension
Lena had never before

experienced.

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