Rules for Werewolves (31 page)

—Well, we might have to sharpen the scissors a few times, but we could get it cut. I’m serious. We’ll do something for you.

—That’s very sweet. I’ll think about it tonight.

—You think about it. ’Cause what you said is true. If you meet someone with less than you, you give to them. And there must be something my brother and I have more of …

—You have more of an appetite than I do.

—I’m sorry. Am I bolting my food?

—Don’t be sorry. There was a time when it was a compliment to a woman if you asked for more of what she was making.

—Well, I might want to give you two or three compliments.

—I appreciate it.

—Is there gonna be enough left over for my brother?

—If we run out of chili, I think he’ll find a valuable lesson at the bottom of the pot.

—You’re funny.

—I’m just the way I am and as times have changed I’ve turned out to be funny.

—Why don’t you come with my brother and me?

—Where is it you think you’re going?

—I think we’re going to go live the way things used to be.

—And what do you know about the way things used to be?

—That’s why we need you. You can be our queen. If we have an idea for a barn raising or a barn dance, we’ll come to you and ask if it’s authentic.

—You and your brother are going to have a barn dance.

—We’re going to meet those friends of his.

—And where is it you think they are?

—I don’t know. We were hoping they were here.

—They were.

—Do you know where they went?

—There was a time when children your age didn’t wander around the countryside. There was a time when there was work to be done.

—You tell us what to do and my brother and I will do it for a day or two.

—For a day or two?

—I guarantee that we’ll work for at least one day. I don’t know what my brother wants to do, but if I tell him I promised you a day, he’ll let us stay and work it off.

—If he comes back.

—Why wouldn’t he come back?

—I don’t know. But his friends didn’t. A single night was too long for them to stay. When I woke up in the morning, they were gone. And so were some of my things.

—I’ll ask my brother if we can stay and work until you’re paid back.

—We’ll talk about it in the morning. Let me show you where your room is.

—Do you mind if I wait up for my brother?

—I’ll show you where your room is and I’ll start your things washing, and then if you want we can sit in the living room and talk until your brother comes back.

—He’s gonna come back.

—I hope he does.

—Funny meeting you here, Mr. Hat. Is the scarecrow a good boss?

—

—Yeah, well, it could be worse. You could be left with nobody, like me.

—

—My brother can’t help me. He doesn’t know where the others are. He’s never even met the others. You know them better than he does. You’re wearing a hat that belongs to one of them.

—

—Why do you think they left us here with this old lady?

—

—She’s being cagey. She knows something. But she’s not telling. And I’m not smart enough to trick her into giving me a hint. But we’re close, aren’t we?

—

—What should we do?

—

—Answer me.

—

—If you don’t answer me, I’m gonna punch you in the fucking face.

—

—All right. You asked for it.

Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch. Punch.

—Oh, look, I knocked your fucking hat off. And it looks like there’s one last little instruction inside. Maybe this is your way of saying what we should do.

—Run. The old lady called the cops on us in the middle of the night. We sent the postcard earlier in the day. We all got away, but she’s gonna do the same to you. Meet us at these coordinates: 34° 2´ 29˝, 102° 38´ 41˝

—Fuck.

—Where is the little boy? What did you do to him?

—He’s all right. He’s under arrest.

—Where?

—He’s in my car. Out behind your barn. I don’t want to scare off his older brother.

—I didn’t call for you. I called for the sheriff.

—Sheriff Hanson’s here. He’s out by the road. He’s going to make sure no one gets away like last time.

—I changed my mind last time. I told them they could stay here and camp in exchange for some work, and then I changed my mind.

—Minds are like that.

—I gave them dinner and showed them the place on the lawn where they were allowed to camp. But I couldn’t sleep with them out there. I was afraid one of them was going to wander in to use the bathroom and scare me. I was afraid I might end up shooting one of them.

—You did the right thing.

—I started thinking, “What would Justin think about all this?”

—He’d be glad you called the sheriff.

—I don’t know. He wasn’t the sort to call the sheriff about his troubles.

—You don’t think so?

—No, sir. He would’ve got the shotgun out from under the bed and cleared those hooligans out himself. Screaming and hollering. The least calm man in an emergency.

—These kids are dangerous.

—So was Justin with a shotgun.

—Mrs. Thomas, with all due respect, it’s not just kids we’re looking for. It’s grown men and women, too. We think they might be armed. And we know for certain they’re dangerous. They burn down houses. They vandalize homes. And it’s possible they’re responsible for more than one murder.

—These boys wouldn’t hurt anybody.

—Maybe not these boys. But the people these boys are trying to find.

—They just wanted somewhere to camp.

—Well, somebody’s dangerous. Somewhere. So we have to be careful how we deal with strangers.

—You’re the stranger here. I fed that boy. I ate a meal with him.

—He’s going to be fine.

—I promised him dessert.

—Maybe you can bring it to him at the station.

—What if he gets out of the car and leaves?

—It’s a police car. There’s no way out of the backseat unless you have these keys on my belt. And besides. He’s in handcuffs. Where’s he going to go wearing handcuffs?

—I don’t know. If he got away and he hid out in the forest and then he came back here in handcuffs, I’d free him.

—So now you’ve changed your mind again. Have you?

—I called Sheriff Hanson.

—You wanted the same thing to happen, didn’t you? You wanted him to wheel up here with his lights on and scare the boys off and make them someone else’s problem.

—I trust Sheriff Hanson. That’s why I called him.

—I was with Sheriff Hanson when you called. I figured the boys were headed up this way. Someone else got suckered into their story, just like you, and tried to set me off in the wrong direction. But I figured the boys were headed north. Now I’m going to ask those boys to lead me to the others.

—Is that how you think this is gonna work?

—I don’t think the older brother will leave his kid brother behind. But you never know. So I asked Sheriff Hanson to watch the road.

—He’s probably out in the woods and never coming back.

—Well, like I said. I don’t think Robert will abandon his brother. I think he’ll come back, and when he does, I’ll be sitting here, waiting for him. You can go to bed if you want to.

—I couldn’t sleep.

—I guess not. How long ago did Robert leave?

—Before dinner.

—I bet he’ll be back soon.

—What if I let the boys stay with me? If I say I don’t mind and they can sleep in the upstairs room and do work around here?

—I know you’re nervous. It always happens before an arrest. I’m nervous, too. But Robert’s a good kid. Just as you suspect. And I’ll tell him he’s under arrest and he’ll walk out to the car with me like his little brother.

—And you think they’ll tell you where the others are hiding out?

—I do. And then we’ll put the bad ones in jail and let the good kids go. Just like the old days. And then you’ll be able to sleep at night.

—You’re making a mistake.

—Shh. What was that?

—I said, “You’re making a mistake.”

—I thought I heard something. Like somebody at the window.

—I said, “YOU’RE MAKING A MISTAKE!”

—Shhh! Don’t try to warn him. You can become an accessory.

—I’ll be quiet. You tell me when I can talk.

—Robert! If you can hear me—it’s all right. I have your brother. And he needs you. He needs you to come in to the station with him and answer a few questions.

Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen. Listen.

—He’s not there.

—I guess not.

—Can I finish what I was saying now?

—Please.

—You’re making a mistake.

—What’s that?

—When you say things are gonna be just like the old days. And I’ll be able to sleep.

—You couldn’t sleep in the old days?

—You have no idea what the old days were like.

—I read a lot.

—There were people camped out in people’s lawns quite often in the old days. And if someone needed a little work it was quite common for them to go around knocking on people’s doors. That’s how you started a new life. You just headed out into the world. That’s how it was in the old days. That’s why it was hard to sleep. Not because I was afraid of all the people traveling back and forth at night. But because I thought that maybe I should get up and join them.

—But you never did.

—Like I said. Justin was quite dangerous with his shotgun.

—Timothy.

—Bobert? Is that you?

—Yeah. I’m over here.

—Get out of here. She called the cops.

—I know.

—I guess it’s pretty obvious, huh? Me sitting in the back of a cop car in handcuffs. Where are you?

—I don’t wanna step into the light in case he’s got some sort of a trap set up.

—I was just talking to the old lady, sitting there, and there was a knock at the door. I thought it was you.

—But it was that asshole in the tweed jacket.

—How do you know what he’s wearing?

—I just crept up to the window and watched him talking to her. That’s how I found out where you were, where he parked his car.

—You weren’t scared he could see you then?

—When people are sitting in a house with the lights on, it makes the window into a mirror. We used to sit and watch different houses like TV. I’m just being careful in case he comes outside.

—But how did you know not to just go through the front door?

—The scarecrow told me the old lady called the cops before. That’s why everybody else isn’t here. But they left us a new address.

—Tell me.

—No.

—Tell me and I’ll come meet you there after I get out of this.

—They’re gonna try to use us to find the others.

—I won’t tell them anything. I’ll just keep my mouth shut and after they send me back home I’ll run away again and meet you.

—They would let you go and they would follow you.

—I’ll lose them. We didn’t know they were onto us this time. But now I’ll know, so I can be trickier about how I move.

—Shut up.

—Fuck you.

—Shut the fuck up and listen to me, Timothy.

—What?

—Did you see anyone else?

—Just the guy in the tweed jacket.

—And he didn’t talk about anyone else?

—He radioed someone that I was in custody.

—Probably the sheriff who’s up watching the road.

—So there’s just two of them?

—I don’t know. I think so. What else happened?

—What do you mean?

—When the old lady let him in the house, did he draw his gun?

—No.

—What did he do?

—He asked me how I was feeling. He asked me where you were. He asked about your hand.

—How does he know about my hand?

—Maybe the old lady told him?

—When did she call the cops?

—Maybe while you were out and I was in the shower.

—What else do you remember?

—He just sat down, like it was no big deal.

—Did he say he was a cop?

—He asked about the others. He asked if I knew where they were. If they were coming here. And then he said I was under arrest.

—And that’s it?

—He asked if he could put the cuffs on me. He called it a formality. I didn’t even know what was happening. He was so calm. I just went along with everything. And then he said I should wait in the car and this would all be taken care of in a little while.

—All right. Wait here.

—Do I really have a choice?

—I’m gonna go take care of this and then come back and get you, and we’re going to get out of here.

—You sound like him.

—I am. I’m calm. But there’s one big difference between me and him.

—What are you gonna do?

—I’m gonna change.

—What happened in here?

—I’m all right.

—You’re hurt. Don’t move. Stay there.

—I’m all right, John. It’s not my blood.

—Is he still in the house?

—Put away your gun. The young man’s gone.

—There were two boys.

—I know that. I’m the one that called you, John. I wish I hadn’t, but I did.

—So you think they’re both gone?

—Yes. That’s what I think.

—Where’s Detective Raphael?

—The detective’s locked up in my front closet.

—What happened in here?

—They had a fight.

—I’ll say. Every last fucking thing in your house is broken or covered in blood, Ellie.

—Don’t open that door.

—I thought you said the detective was in there?

—I did. But I think the young man may have rigged it so that if
you open the door the shotgun goes off and the detective’s head gets blown off.

—What shotgun?

—The young man must’ve overheard me telling the detective about Justin’s shotgun.