Meadowview Acres (15 page)

Right after Hansen had called her a bitch, she saw Mr. Just get out of his Jeep. Thank goodness he was there. She knew Hansen wouldn’t be able to actually hurt her. Not with an adult present, but looking at his face, she hadn’t been so sure. Then, when Hunter came flying across the street, Clara had initially thought he was coming to save her, the Damsel in Distress thing. Turns out, he was bolting for the woods for some reason. That’s when Hansen had nabbed him. Clara had been surprised at how quick Hansen was when his arm shot out, and he snagged the backpack off of Hunter.

The rest she didn’t understand at all. Hunter was yelling about whatever it was in the backpack. He kept yelling to Hansen, “Give it back.” She wondered why. It turned out to be just some kind of rock. She didn’t get it. Then Hansen’s face started to get all red and puffy, and he started to scratch out his own throat. Clara shuddered at the memory.

The whole thing, it seemed to her, took less than a couple of minutes. Suddenly, Mr. Just was there trying to reach around Hansen to do the Heimlich but his arms hadn’t been long enough. Then he had gone racing back to his Jeep for his cell to call for an ambulance. That’s when she and Hunter had just stood there, frozen to the sidewalk and watched Hansen convulse and die.

Clara had never seen anyone die before, not even a pet. Mostly, she was grossed out at the color his face had turned. It was a very unnatural blue-ish.
Yuck
.

After that, she remembered that Hunter had puked. Surprisingly, Hunter was a little more freaked out than she was, and she was Hansen’s girlfriend after all – well, ex-girlfriend. Then Hunter had turned to her and said, “You never should have been with that guy, Clara.” He had grabbed his backpack and run back behind his house, and Clara hadn’t seen him again until in the hallway at Peaceful Hearts.

While all of that was going on with Hansen, Heather had already died. That one shocked Clara. She wondered how in the world that could have happened? Heather was so young and healthy, but then, so was Hansen.

She and Mr. Just had been waiting for the ambulance to come and were surprised when it turned into the Andrews’ driveway. One of the paramedics had gone into the Andrews’ house and the other had come over to where she stood with Mr. Just. The paramedic checked Hansen’s vital signs and then called the information in to the dispatcher. A deputy’s car had arrived soon after that, and Clara and Mr. Just had had to give statements. It was funny, but both of them had left out Hunter’s part altogether. They had just said that Clara and Hansen had been talking after Mr. Just had dropped them off. Then Hansen had started having some sort of reaction to something and couldn’t breathe. They both told of how Mr. Just had tried to administer help but couldn’t, and then Hansen had finally died.

Clara was so thankful to Mr. Just for helping her by driving them home and for staying until they took Hansen away. Her mom had been contacted at work in Glovercroft and was on her way home, but her dad was a pilot and not expected to fly back in until Friday. Mr. Just had been a comfort to her that day. She made a mental note to bake him some cookies and take them to him at school.

The neighborhood had been crazed that night. Everyone was out talking about not only Heather and Hansen, but Mr. Jackson, too. It was rare to have any unexpected deaths around their quiet town. To have three in the same town, let alone the same neighborhood, was unheard of. They had stayed outside in little clusters talking late into the night.

The next couple of days were like the ones after Mr. Jackson had died. Clara’s mom and Shasta’s mom had organized the same kind of food chain for the Andrews’ and the Reynolds’ families. Clara was happy to help. She hadn’t told her mother that she had just broken up with Hansen before he died. She hadn’t told anyone. She thought Mr. Just might have a clue, but he couldn’t have heard what she had said to Hansen. Clara just decided to keep that part to herself.

She had known that Hunter would be at the funeral home to support Eli and his mom. She had been looking for him all morning. Clara had been expected to get there early and portray the grieving girlfriend, and she didn’t mind doing that last thing for Hansen. Then, when she saw Bug and Bug asked her about Hunter being with her when Hansen died, Clara was thrown. It wasn’t like they had anything to hide, but something instinctual made Clara want to protect him. The only person who knew about Hunter was Mr. Just, and he didn’t mention it to anyone. How did Bug know? She guessed it didn’t really matter.

Finally, she had found Hunter in the hallway and been able to have a conversation. He looked really stressed out, and Clara felt sorry for him. She knew how close he was with Eli and the whole Andrews family.

“Hey, Hunter,” she said looking at him sadly.

“Hi,” Hunter responded tersely. Clara thought he seemed a little angry with her, and that confused her.

“Um, how’s Eli doing? I was in there earlier and didn’t really get a chance to talk to him.” She asked, trying to be sensitive.

“He’s pretty upset. We all are.” His answer was short and to the point. Now Clara was really confused.

“Well, I’m going over to their house later on with some casseroles and desserts and stuff. You know, so they don’t have to think about feeding themselves and all of their guests. My mom is organizing the food donations.”

“Seems to me you should be doing that for the Reynolds’ family,” he said sullenly.

Clara thought she might understand what was bothering him. “You know, Hunter. You didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Hansen. Mr. Just and I didn’t even mention your name to the deputy asking us questions. Hansen had been really upset with me right before you came running over. If anyone is responsible, it’s me.”

“You don’t get it, Clara. I was responsible. I can’t explain it, but he would still be alive if I hadn’t run over there.” He bowed his head and said softly, “Heather would still be alive too.”

Now Clara was really confused. Heather would be alive too? What did that mean? “Hunter, this is ridiculous. Hansen blew a gasket because I had just broken up with him. And not in a very nice way, I might add. I had just told him what a jerk he was and how I couldn’t stand him. He had gotten totally pissed at me and was about to hit me when you came over. You basically saved me. Thank you for that. There’s no reason for you to think you’re the cause of anything. You’re just upset.” Clara suddenly wanted to get out of there. “Do you want me to drive you home?” She asked.

He looked up at her through his wavy hair and said, “You don’t have to stay with Hansen’s family?”

She rolled her eyes. “No! I’ve done enough for him. I mean, I’m sorry he died and all, but he had been very mean to a lot of people for a very long time. Mr. Just called it Karma.” She looked behind her and the hallway was clear. It looked like a good time for a getaway. She took Hunter’s arm and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

Hunter texted his parents and Eli. He wrote that he needed to leave for a while and would be back soon. They were probably going to stay there with Lara and Eli for the rest of the afternoon since his dad wanted to keep an eye on Mr. Andrews.

They got to Clara’s VW, which had a brand new battery thanks to the automobile club, and climbed in. “Where to?” Clara asked Hunter.

“I don’t care. Let’s just drive.” Hunter was glad to be away from all of the crying and sad faces. He was also glad to be alone with Clara. When she had told him that she had broken up with Hansen and how she really felt about him, Hunter was elated. He had been waiting for Clara to see the light. He had really liked her since freshman year, but she never had given him the time of day. It was weird because they had been close while they were growing up in the neighborhood, and they had hung around together in middle school. She had always been one of Hunter’s favorite people. Once they hit high school, though, she just dumped all of her old friends and started hanging out with the popular crowd.

They drove toward the edge of town. The radio was on, and Clara had put the windows down. It was another beautiful day, and they were both feeling relieved to be away from everyone for a while.

They were heading east on Route 68. They passed by the entrance to Meadowview Acres and then drove past the construction site where the new housing development was supposed to be built. Clara noticed as Hunter looked out at the site and frowned deeply as they passed. She wondered what he could be thinking about and figured that he was probably remembering the terrible night when they found Mr. Jackson. What she didn’t know was that Hunter was remembering finding the box and unearthing it that night. He was thinking if they had only left the box there, Heather would be alive now – Hansen, too.

Clara drove past the “Thanks for Visiting Hallston” sign and kept going on Route 68. Except for woods, it was fairly empty from here until the town limits of Chester some twenty miles on down the road. She drove a little further then pulled over onto a gravel road that led into the woods. At the outskirts, she parked the VW and said, “Let’s just sit for a little bit. Then we’ll go back to Eli.”

“Sounds good,” said Hunter. They got out of the car and wandered out into the grass at the edge of the woods. It was so peaceful. Neither one wanted to ruin the quiet, so they sat down in the grass and turned their faces upward. They felt the warmth of the late October sun.

Clara was still processing everything that had happened the past week. Sometimes, she forgot that Hansen was dead. She felt like she had broken up with him, and he had just gone away. The feeling of freedom made her feel guilty. She was glad that she was free of him, but she had never wished him dead. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she was thankful for Hansen. By dating him for only four months, she had secured her place in the popular crowd. Now she was High School Royalty. Even more so now that she was seen by everyone (except Hunter and Mr. Just) as the grieving girlfriend left behind by his tragic death. She could call her own shots now, but was that what she wanted?

Clara felt a little ashamed when she thought about her old friends. The ones she had dumped in order to climb the ladder. What if she were to go back to them now? Would they accept her? She had felt so good these last couple of days without having to put on her popular girl smile and put up with the dingbats. It felt good to be Clara again. It especially felt nice with Hunter sitting next to her. She looked over at him and noticed that he was looking at her.

“Why did you date Hansen in the first place?” He asked. “He’s always been a world-class jerk.”

Clara thought for a moment, and answered, “I was trying really hard to be someone that I’m not. I thought it would make me happy to be popular, you know? Not to be picked on any more. But it didn’t make me happy, it made me tired. It was a lot of work.” She sighed and closed her eyes as she felt the warmth of the sun.

“Are you saying that you don’t want to hang out with your friends anymore now that Hansen’s gone?” He asked.

“I’m not even sure they are my friends. They’re fun and nice to me for the most part. But I don’t think they’d miss me if I were gone.” She turned then to face him.

“Hunter, do you think any of my old friends would want me around again? You know, like Shasta? Do you think she’d forgive me for the last few years?” The thought made Clara hopeful. She would love to have her old life back. Suddenly, the idea of Prom Queen had lost its appeal.

Hunter shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, probably. I mean, you two grew up together. We all did. We’re all kinda connected in a way. You should talk to her. She could probably use a friend right now.”

Clara nodded. “I’ve been pretty stupid, huh? I think I just lost track of important things like true friends and having self-esteem. The truth is, even though they let me into their group because of Hansen, I never really felt like I fit in. Something was missing.”

Hunter grinned at her and said, “Well, welcome back to mediocrity. We’ve missed you. I’ve missed you.”

Clara felt the butterflies again as she looked at Hunter’s smile. Then, she remembered something he had said at the funeral home.

“Hunter, what did you mean when you said that Heather and Hansen would be alive if it wasn’t for you?” She watched the smile fade.

“It’s complicated,” he answered. “It started the night we found Mr. Jackson in his bulldozer.”

Clara could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it, so she said, “Well, I’m here if you ever want to talk. But don’t be so hard on yourself, Hunter. I can’t imagine how any of this could be your fault.

A silent tear rolled down his perfect face. Alarmed, Clara scooted closer and put her arm around him. He leaned his head on her shoulder and stayed there; his tears wetting her green plaid blouse. “Something else is going on here,” Clara thought. “What else happened in those woods and why does he feel like Heather and Hansen are his fault?”

Whatever it was, Clara was determined to help him through. She leaned her head against his and let him cry.

CHAPTER 19

Shasta & Bug

I
t was Saturday before Shasta and Bug could get away to start their research. Both of the funerals had been held – Heather’s only that morning. Shasta picked Bug up around lunch time, and they headed for the Hut. Shasta didn’t have to work that day, but she had promised Bug that they could take their lunches with them and eat while they worked.

After ordering their standard number two meals with lemonades from the drive thru, they headed off to the offices of the Hallston Daily Journal. The paper itself had been in existence since the mid 1940’s, making it around sixty-seven years old. The neighboring towns of Shale and Glovercroft also had newspapers, and, since they were bigger towns, the Hallston Daily Journal would often pick up the top stories from those papers to run.

Shasta parked the Ranger in the deserted lot. There was a skeleton crew on the weekends covering anything newsworthy, but otherwise it was empty. Walking through the front door to the reception area, Bug mentally went over the plan that she and Shasta had put in place to get them through to the archive room. It wouldn’t be hard.