The Stone Child (7 page)

“If not, at least it belonged to someone who knows about the Nameless Woods, the Nameless Lake,” said Harris, following Eddie across the clearing to the top of the slope, “and the symbol on the statue.”

“Which could be anyone in town,” said Eddie. “Right?” He picked up a pebble from the edge of the clearing before heading down the hill.

“Yeah,” said Harris, “but no matter who it belonged to in the past, now it’s up to us to figure it out.”

Eddie nodded, excited. Was Harris suggesting they work together? That they become friends? “Yeah,” he said as they neared the edge of the lake. “It’s up to us.”

“So how should we start?” said Harris.

At the shore, Eddie tossed the pebble. It bounced across the sky’s reflection, splashing several times before disappearing underneath the surface. “I’ve already taken the one code book out of the library,” said Eddie. “But it’s really confusing and not much help.” The raven called to them from the top of the hill near the statue, louder this time.

“Forget about it then,” said Harris. “I’m sure we can find some sort of pattern on our own.”

Eddie was about to take
The Enigmatic Manuscript
out of his bag so they could get started, when near the far shore, the calm surface of the water suddenly rippled, as if something large had risen from below. The raven at the top of the hill took off for the sky. Wide-eyed, the boys looked at each other.

“I think the sun’s starting to go down,” said Harris, stepping away from the shore.

“Did you see that?” said Eddie. Small waves disturbed the water at the center of the lake. Eddie stepped forward, trying to peer through the blue sky’s opaque reflection. He could see a dark shape shifting and squirming in the hazy depths fifteen feet from the shore. The shape reminded Eddie of a fast-moving storm cloud, swirling and rolling in upon itself as it grew stronger. The forest behind him was suddenly quiet, as if all its inhabitants did not want to be heard. From where he stood, Eddie could see the dark cloudy shape rise to the surface of the water from below, creating a black spot nearly five feet in diameter. The edges of the black spot seemed to pulsate and roil, spreading its wide fingers out across the top of the lake like a fist slowly opening. “Is it an oil slick?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know
what
it is,” said Harris, staring at the spot intently as it continued to grow. Now it had doubled in size. It floated in stark contrast to the sky’s blue reflection, turning the water black as it spread outward.

“It’s coming up from the bottom of the lake.” Eddie leaned forward. “Like a geyser.” He was frightened, yet at the same time, he was curious. “Or maybe not. I can’t really tell.” He’d never seen anything like this before. After Harris’s spooky stories about the woods and the town, he felt compelled to run away, but he also wanted to stay to see what would happen as the black shape grew and grew. This almost seemed like something that would happen in a Nathaniel Olmstead book, but, of course, Eddie told himself, those stories were not real, in spite of what people believed.

Now the dark shape in the middle of the lake was as large as a small island, taking up almost all of the water’s surface. The blue reflection from above had been replaced by darkness from below, as if someone had covered the sky with a blanket; yet, when Eddie looked up, he could see the sun still shining somewhere beyond the canopy of trees near the horizon. Even so, the afternoon light barely broke through the tree-tops. Then Eddie noticed something even weirder. In the water, there began to appear little white specks of light, which wavered as the surface rippled slightly. Eddie was reminded of a book he’d read about phosphorescent algae. He also remembered reading about a type of shrimp capable of producing a small amount of light, like a firefly. But these specks of light didn’t look like algae or shrimp or fireflies. They appeared to be something else—something familiar that Eddie couldn’t quite name.

“Are those … stars?” whispered Harris.

The darkness reached the shore, so that now, except for the specks of light, the entire lake had turned black. The water did not merely look dirty—but impenetrable and infinite. Eddie cautiously leaned forward even farther. “You’re right,” he said. “It almost looks like … a reflection of the night sky.” He glanced up at the cirrus clouds wisping in the afternoon light, then shook his head, baffled. He bent down and picked up another pebble from the edge of the water. He was about to toss it in to see what would happen, when Harris grabbed his arm.

“Don’t,” said Harris. “Look.”

The specks of white had turned red. Eddie realized they no longer looked like the reflection of stars from above. Now the lights were clearly floating just below the water, close enough for Eddie to reach out and touch. The sight was almost hypnotic. Eddie began to feel dizzy. Suddenly, he knew what would happen next. He’d read about it in one of Nathaniel Olmstead’s books on Saturday night.

“Eddie, get away.” Harris yanked him backward as something large in the middle of the lake splashed the dark water. Several waves came rolling slowly toward the shore. Unable to look away, Eddie felt his skin go prickly with goose bumps. His mouth felt as if it was filled with dust. His hands were numb. Harris continued to pull on his sleeve. When Eddie
glanced at him, he could see fright welling up in Harris’s eyes. His mouth had fallen open, and his skin had turned ashen. Seeing Harris afraid made Eddie twice as scared as before.

Harris swiftly shot his finger to his lips and nodded toward the hillside. Slowly backing away, the boys made it to the edge of the woods. Several pine branches poked into Eddie’s back. He jumped. The splashing in the middle of the lake stopped. The small waves finally rose up and rolled onto the pebbly beach, breaking and washing the shore in slow, steady rhythm. The soft lapping of the water was the only sound Eddie could hear. Then, several feet from the edge of the lake, a shape churned the water—something rising from the shallows below the surface. A muffled howl resonated faintly from its direction. Eddie’s mouth dropped open in horror as he saw what looked like a long black snout and a flash of several sharp white teeth.

The boys turned and ran as fast as they could, slipping and sliding up the slope in the mud and dirt. At the top of the hill, the statue watched silently as the boys ran through the clearing and into the woods. Eddie followed Harris, leaping over large roots and half-buried rocks that jutted out of the ground every few feet. In some places, the trees had grown densely together. Trying not to slip in patches of silt and leaves, the boys weaved back and forth as if through an obstacle course. Even though he was nearly out of breath, Eddie glanced over his shoulder.

But there was nothing there.

Still, he wanted to get away from this place as quickly as possible. Eddie sprinted into the woods, clutching the straps of his bag, which bounced against his back. At the edge of the flatland, the boys briefly caught their breath before heading over the ridge, through the orchard, past Nathaniel Olmstead’s house, and all the way down the long driveway. By the time they got to their bikes, Eddie was feeling faint.

He dropped to the side of the road and hung his head between his knees. After he caught his breath, he glanced up at Harris, who was leaning against the fence in shock. “What the heck just happened?” said Eddie. “I thought I saw … dogs … coming out of the water for us!”

“I’m not sure what I saw,” said Harris, red-faced and weary. “But I have an idea.” He pushed himself away from the fence and stumbled toward his bike. “There’s something else I think you should see.”

“It’s not another statue, is it?” said Eddie.

Harris shook his head, lifted the handlebar, and set his bicycle upright at the edge of the road. After swinging his leg over the seat, he kicked at Eddie’s bike, which was still on its side in the brush. “Do you think you’re okay enough to ride this thing back to my place?”

Eddie nodded.

“Because we should probably get the heck out of here.”

By the time they reached Main Street, Eddie was shaking with exhaustion and fear. “Hey! Wait for me!” Eddie called, but Harris raced toward his mother’s store.

When Eddie came around the side of the building, he noticed Harris’s bike tossed near the still-swinging apartment door. Eddie propped his bike against the wall. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled.

Up the stairs to Eddie’s right, Harris stood in front of another open door. “This way,” Harris said.

At the top of the stairs Eddie found a neatly kept kitchen. Harris dropped his book bag onto a chair at a table opposite the refrigerator. Green gingham curtains hung in the window above the sink. A bowl of fruit sat on the counter. A dishwasher was running quietly.

“Where have you been, Harris? I was starting to worry.”
A woman came through a doorway next to the refrigerator with a dripping tea bag in one hand and a steaming mug in the other. She looked about the same age as Eddie’s mother. She wore jeans, a tank top, and baubly green beads draped around her neck. When she noticed that Harris was not alone, she said, “Oh, I didn’t realize you brought home a friend.” Her smile was sweet. Her warm brown eyes matched the few dark strands that ran through her blond hair. “You boys are filthy,” she said with amusement. “What have you been doing?”

“Eddie’s going to stay for dinner. Is that okay?” asked Harris, quickly changing the subject. He walked over to the sink and started to wash his hands.

“That’s fine with me,” said Harris’s mother, shrugging. “But why don’t you call your parents and ask them if it’s okay. Do you like leftover meat loaf, Eddie?”

Eddie nodded sheepishly. He hadn’t prepared himself to meet Harris’s mother, never mind have her invite him to stay for dinner. He felt dirty and intrusive, but when she held out her hand and introduced herself, he realized he was welcome.

“You can call me Frances,” she said. “How was the first day, Harris? Who’d you get for homeroom this year?”

“It was fine. I got Dunkleman this time.” Harris spun away from the sink and wiped his hands on his jeans, leaving wide wet marks over his pockets. “Come on, Eddie. Let’s go play video games. You can call your mom from my room.”

“You finished your homework already?” said Frances.

“First day of school. I only have a little bit tonight,” said Harris, disappearing around the corner into the hallway. “I’ll do it before bed, okay?”

Eddie looked at Frances, who just smiled and waved, shooing him off to follow her son. “Boys,” she said with fake exasperation. “Go. Play. It’s nice to meet you, Eddie.”

“You too,” said Eddie, following Harris around the corner.

A few minutes later, Eddie was sitting on Harris’s bed, as Harris leaned over his computer’s keyboard. “Here,” said Harris, typing Nathaniel Olmstead’s name into a search engine Web site. Several items related to the author appeared in the search window.
Buy Nathaniel Olmstead books … 50% off! Are you an Olmsteady …? Click here!
Harris clicked on the last link, which appeared to be a listing from the archives of the
Gatesweed Gazette
. “Check this out.”

On the screen an article appeared, dating from the time of the author’s disappearance. Eddie read the first part of it carefully. The article described how the town-wide search party had discovered the statue in the woods.

“After I started getting into Nathaniel Olmstead’s books, I came across this article,” said Harris, scrolling the cursor to the bottom of the screen. A small box appeared where the article ended, showing a crudely drawn map of the Nameless
Woods. The clearing, the statue, and the lake were specifically marked. “I used this map to find my way. I wanted to see if I could discover anything the search party might have missed.”

“What’s that there?” said Eddie, leaning forward and pointing at an X that had been marked in the middle of the lake, in the same spot where the water had turned black.

“That’s where the police found
evidence
.”

“What sort of evidence?” said Eddie.

Harris scrolled the cursor and read from the screen. “‘When the lake was dredged, police discovered a small metal box. The nature of its contents is being kept secret as the investigation is ongoing. However, an anonymous source has exclusively revealed that this secret evidence has itself mysteriously disappeared.’”

“That is weird!” said Eddie. “What do you think was in the box?”

Harris shook his head. “Listen to this,” he said as he continued to read. “‘The disappearance of the evidence was understandable to one eyewitness, who wished to remain unidentified. According to the witness, as the lake was being dredged, a pack of vicious dogs chased the search party from the area. “In all the confusion,” said the witness, “anything we found might have been lost. We barely escaped with the seats of our pants intact. It was like something from one of poor Nathaniel’s books.”’” Harris stopped reading and turned to look at Eddie.

At the same time, both boys opened their mouths and said, “
The Rumor of the Haunted Nunnery!
”

“I was thinking the same thing when we were up in the woods,” Eddie added.

Harris leapt from his chair and ran to the bookcase next to his bed. Eddie could see Harris’s alphabetized collection of Nathaniel Olmstead books filling the top row. Harris pulled out a book and flipped through it until he found what he was looking for. Eddie couldn’t see the book’s cover, but he knew exactly what Harris had found.

“‘Reflected in the water, some of the stars had already changed color, from white to red,’” Harris read aloud. “‘As he watched, they all turned, then began to move. In an instant, they divided into hundreds of pairs of red eyes that watched him from under the lake’s surface.’” When he finished, he looked up at Eddie. “The monster lake-dogs.”

“Do you actually think that’s what we saw?”

“It sure looked like it.”

“In the book, the dogs came out of the lake and chased Ronald after he accidentally touched the water,” said Eddie.

Harris was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “The water turned black after you threw the pebble at it. Remember? Then we saw those stars. They turned red. Then that thing started to come up onshore … just like in Nathaniel Olmstead’s book. …”