Meadowview Acres (34 page)

Hugging her back warmly he said, “How’s my Ladybug?”

“I’m fine, just waiting for Clara to take me to see Shasta. What happened this morning?” She could barely contain herself.

Mark knew the feeling. He and Bill had been so thrilled to have found the perfect spot that they had tripped over themselves trying to tell the sheriff and Darren. He decided not to make his daughter wait.

“Well, we found the perfect spot,” He said as she followed him through the side door to the kitchen. Loosening his tie, he put his briefcase down on the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs. Bug’s eyes were wide as she sat across from him. She was eager for news.

“It’s almost to the cliffs, so there’s no chance anyone will want to build there in the future. It’s halfway in between here and Chester and the best part is there’s already a big slab of concrete that we can use to top it off with.” He was still so proud of their discovery.

“That sounds great. So we can dig the hole and put the safe at the bottom, cover it with the gravel and sand and then put the concrete on top?” Bug was hopeful about the process.

“Yep, that’s what we’re thinking. I’m feeling pretty confident about the success of this plan.” He sat back and sighed. It had been a long day. He and Bill had started out bright and early to do the scouting, then he had come home to shower and change before going in to work for the rest of the day.

“You know, it sounds like another part of
Curses of Ancient Tribes
,” said Bug. “That book had the two suggestions we discussed at the meeting, but I remember reading part of another chapter that talked about entombing an object. This way, we’re kind of doing both. First we bury it then we entomb it, Super!”

A car horn honked outside. “Oops, I bet that’s Clara. I better go, Dad.” She hopped up and kissed her dad on the cheek.

“Tell Shasta hi for me. I’ll see you tonight,” Mark said. “And Bug?”

She turned at the door to see her father’s face full of concern. “What is it, Dad?” She asked.

“Nothing, just be careful, Honey.” He winked at her and then she was gone.

Clara’s Volkswagon Bug was parked behind Mr. Hamilton’s car. Bug hopped in the passenger side, as Clara turned the blaring music down.

“Okay, how late am I this time?” Clara asked good-naturedly. She didn’t mind being reprimanded by her little friend; she actually found it amusing. One thing Clara loved about Bug was that she always spoke her mind and was never concerned about what anyone thought of her. How freeing that would be. Clara was learning to let go of her “popular girl” alter ego, but it still crept up on her.

“Twenty-seven minutes,” Bug said. “That’s a new record for you and you’ve only been taking me places since yesterday.”

Clara laughed and turned the tunes up again. That was another difference between Shasta and Clara. Shasta didn’t like the radio up too loud. Bug was on Clara’s side, though. She liked car music playing loud. The girls sang to the radio all the way to the hospital.

Darren was in the room with Shasta when the girls arrived. It looked like they were having a serious discussion. Clara felt like she and Bug were interrupting, so she tried to back out of the room. The movement caught Shasta’s eye, though.

“Hey, Buggie,” She said happily. “I was hoping you could come see me today.”

“Oh, I had to go to school first, and then I had to wait for Clara to pick me up. She was twenty-seven minutes late. Hi Darren,” Bug said.

She went to the side of Shasta’s bed and stopped. Bug didn’t know if she was supposed to hug Shasta or shake her hand, so she just stood still.

Clara came further into the room and said, “Hi Shasta, Hi Darren. Is it okay if I come in?” Clara hadn’t talked to either of them since Hansen died. To them, she was still the old, popular girl Clara.

“Um, sure,” Shasta said. “Thanks for driving Bug over.” Shasta was a little confused at how her adopted sister could have ended up with Clara as a chaperone.

“Oh, it was no problem at all. I love hanging out with Buggie. But don’t worry, Shasta, I’m a poor substitute for you. You have to hurry up and get out of here so all of us can go for ice cream or something.” Clara could feel herself trying too hard. She hadn’t realized how desperate she was for a good friend. It was within her reach again, and she didn’t want to lose it.

Shasta looked at Darren for confirmation that something was weird and got it when his eyebrows rose in surprise. Luckily, Bug was oblivious to the awkwardness of the situation and diffused it without even knowing.

“Dad said that they found a perfect place for the burial this morning. It has a slab of concrete already and it’s really close to some cliffs.” Bug was still anxious about the plan being executed, but she was also excited about her dad’s success.

“That’s what Darren was just telling me. He was there with Sheriff Buchanon this morning when our Dads made it out of the woods.” She looked at Darren with a mixture of pride and worry.

“How long do you think it will take to do everything tomorrow, Darren?” Asked Clara who had moved to Bug’s side.

Darren and Sheriff Buchanon had tried to come up with that answer on the way back to the hospital that afternoon. “Sheriff Buchanon thinks if we start first thing in the morning, we’ll be finished by late afternoon.”

“It’s going to be a long day,” said Bug. “But I’m glad you’ll be finished when it’s still daylight.” Bug involuntarily shivered.
Where did that come from? Super weird
.

“I’m going to get going. I want to check on Mom. I have to talk to her about a couple of things.” Darren bent down and kissed Shasta gently on her cheek. He could finally do that without her wincing at the tenderness of her skin. She was getting better every day.

He looked at her straight in the eyes. “Don’t worry about me tomorrow. I promise I’ll be very careful. Get yourself home and comfortable and I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Shasta’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. She was so scared about what might happen to him. They had already been through so much. Blinking them away, she tried to smile. “I’ll try. I really will. See you tomorrow.”

Darren said goodbye to the other girls and left the room. Bug saw a box of tissues and held it out to Shasta. Clara looked like she was about to cry too, though. Bug didn’t know which girl needed the tissues more, so she just held onto them.

Clara stepped closer to Shasta’s bedside. Bug was right, there were tears in her eyes. “Shasta, I’m so sorry. Not about Darren. Well, I’m sorry about Darren, but I’m more sorry about… Oh, I don’t know what to say. I’m just sorry that I’ve been so horrible the last few years. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I just want you to know that I feel really bad about everything.” She grabbed one of the tissues out of the box Bug was holding and started to dab at her eyes.

Shasta had stopped crying when Darren left, but she was really touched by Clara’s apology. “Thank you, Clara, really. That means a lot.” She didn’t know what else to say. She was still a little confused by this new Clara. She thought maybe Clara had somehow been affected by Hansen’s death.

Bug and Clara left the hospital about an hour later after chatting with Shasta about the latest Hollywood gossip. It seemed to be understood that the topic of the burial was off limits. Everyone needed a break from the constant stress.

“Are you nervous?” Hunter asked Eli.

They were sitting in the lawn chairs in back of the Massey’s house. They had just finished eating dinner when Sheriff Buchanon had shown up to give them all an update about the trail into the woods. It sounded like a great spot. Hunter and Eli were going to be driving Bill Port’s Blazer. He was going to drop it off later that night and pick up Eli’s Fusion to use tomorrow. Everything in the plan had been settled. Now all they could do was wait.

“I’m not nervous,” replied Eli. “I just want it over with. All the damage it’s caused. I mean, Mr. Jackson, Hansen and Mr. Just. That’s horrible enough. But sometimes, I just can’t believe Heather’s gone.”

Hunter felt awful for his friend. He knew Eli was hurting. Hunter was too. The guilt that both of them felt was almost overwhelming.

“Eli, I feel horrible, too. But you know what my Dad said? He said that anyone in the world could have come upon that box. And ninety-nine percent of them would have done the same thing we did. It’s natural human curiosity.” Hunter had felt a little better when his dad had told him that. He wondered if it made Eli feel any better. “He also said that there was no way we ever could have imagined what was in that box. If we had imagined it, we never would have taken it out of the woods. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

“It does, and I know you’re right. I just can’t stop feeling responsible. I mean, it was my stupid dog that led me out there in the first place.” Eli was rubbing his temples, as usual.

“Well if you’re going back that far, then it’s Mr. Jackson’s fault for digging it up, right?” Hunter thought he made a good point.

“I know. I’ll just be glad when it’s over tomorrow.” Eli stood up and stretched. “Do you think you can take care of switching out the cars with Mr. Port? I’m beat and my head is killing me. I just want to go to bed.”

“No problem, Buddy. I’ll handle it. Go get some rest.” Hunter reached out for the keys that Eli was handing over.

“I’ll see you first thing,” Eli said.

“First thing,” echoed Hunter.

The three of them stood in the driveway next to Bill Port’s Blazer. Lara Andrews had quiet tears running down her face as Gina Massey put her arm around her friend. Hank Massey was giving the boys last minute instructions on the Blazer’s GPS and Darren was standing with his mother. They were going to drop Darren off at the Sheriff’s Department where the bulldozer was stored. From there, they would follow Darren down Route 68 West. Sheriff Buchanon and Deputy Clay were to pick up the dump truck and rendezvous with them at the gravel road.

Hunter and Darren were in the front of the Blazer. Eli sat in the back seat. The day seemed very gray to Eli. He knew it was early, the sun wasn’t all the way up, but the sky had a strange darkness to it.

They made it to the Sheriff’s Department without passing one car. The sheriff had said that the impound lot would be unlocked when they got there, and he was right. Darren got up in the bulldozer and cranked the engine. It sprang to life.

He remembered getting in it yesterday for the first time since his father’s death. He hadn’t anticipated his strong reaction to his father’s smell. It had been meticulously cleaned since Claymont’s death, but his father had been in the rig almost every day for the last twelve years. Darren had closed his eyes and taken a deep breath. It had felt a little like hugging his father. He had needed a moment to collect himself before driving the rig out of Tony Clark’s construction site.

Today wasn’t as big of a surprise. He expected the smell. He even welcomed it. Darren felt like his dad would be there with him today. “Let’s go to work,” he said.

The boys made it to the gravel road off of Route 68 without incident. Sheriff Buchanon was already there with Deputy Clay. It was weird seeing both men in street clothes rather than their uniforms. The boys pulled the Blazer in behind Darren in the field.

“Morning, Boys,” Sheriff Buchanon greeted. “How’d everybody sleep?” He could tell by their eyes that they had gotten as much as he had – none.

“I figured as much,” he said. “Before we start, I want each vehicle to have one of these.” He motioned to Deputy Clay who walked over to the Blazer and handed Hunter a walkie-talkie. Then he went to the Cat and gave one to Darren.

“We’re on frequency four. If for any reason, one of you feels funny or has any kind of problem, we’re aborting this mission. Don’t hesitate, Boys. It’s not worth your lives. Understand me?” Sheriff Buchanon used his most intimidating voice on them. He didn’t want any heroes out of the three.

The boys all nodded their understanding as Hunter leaned out of the window of the Blazer to vomit yellow stomach acid onto the ground. The safe with the rock was in the back of the Blazer. It had taken longer to affect Hunter today, but Eli’s head was hurting badly.

Sheriff Buchanon saw Hunter puke and decided to get the show on the road. “We’ll start out in front. Darren, you follow us and Hunter, you fall in behind Darren. We’re going to chug along at as fast a pace as we can manage. If you start to fall behind, notify us ASAP.” He looked at the nervous faces of the boys and thought to himself, “What the hell am I doing, these are just kids. What choice do we have, though?”