The Watchers (30 page)

“Yeah.” Alex’s eyes were distant. “I have a
bad feeling. I know how her dad can be. What if he got mad about
something and she needs help?’

“What happened to ‘people around here don’t
butt into other people’s problems’?” I mocked.

I already knew I would do whatever it took to
make sure Amanda was okay regardless of what was typical around
here. I hated that she thought so little of herself. I could
understand her feelings of inadequacy – I had spent most of my
school years being ostracized and shunned from the crowd – but
Amanda seemed to take it further. It was as if she was punishing
herself for not fitting in with people like Jennifer, not
realizing, of course, that she wasn’t less because she didn’t fit
in. She was simply different.

“Within reason,” Alex said. “People care. I
care.”

“What can we do?” I asked pushing my food
aside.

“About what?” Ellen asked walking into the
kitchen. She was in lounging clothes, and her face was clear of
makeup. It was my favorite Ellen look. “Hi, Alex,” she said
cheerfully, even though her thoughts were filled with worry that
Alex would have a problem with Sam asking her out.

“Hi, Ellen. We were talking about Amanda
Nichols, a girl at school. We’re worried about her. She hasn’t
shown up since Monday. Things are kind of rough for her… everywhere
really. The kids at school make fun of her, because her dad is
different, and her mom…” Alex trailed off. “Her dad gives her a
hard time, because he doesn’t really like much.”

“You’re talking about Gavin Nichols’ kid?”
Ellen asked as she filled her plate with casserole.

“Yeah. Do ya know him?”

Ellen plopped into a chair across from me.
She nodded as she opened her soda. “Well, I know of him. He was out
of high school by the time I was a freshman, but I heard what
happened to him with his wife, and I knew his sister, Colleen.”
Ellen grinned wickedly. “She was a lot of fun at parties.”

“I think we should go check on Amanda,” Alex
said, returning to my question. “I got her homework from the front
office this afternoon, so I have an excuse…”

“Nice,” I grinned. “Just let me finish
eating, and we’ll go.”

Ellen began shoveling food into her
mouth. “I’m going too. I don’t want you dealing with that man by
yourselves…” She paused and looked at me.
Not with
everyone looking for
you
. “That way I know I’m not being lied
to.”

“She didn’t tell you about her forest
adventure either, huh?” Alex asked.

“Not about the part where she was
unconscious,” Ellen said giving me a fierce look.

“I saved someone’s life! Doesn’t that mean
anything? Don’t I get a ‘pass’ or something?”

“Of course, it means something,” Ellen
replied, “but that doesn’t make it any less dangerous. If anything,
the fact you had to save her life from tho… whatever has been
attacking people makes it even more dangerous.”

I stood and scraped off my food into the
trash can and put the dish in the sink to wash later.

“Well, it won’t happen again. I’ve been
yelled at by three people now. I know when I’m beat.”

“You could be beaten, and would still get
back up, you’re so stubborn,” Ellen said dumping the remainder of
her food into the trash can – having eaten the fastest dinner in
recorded history.

“Yeah…I wonder where I get that from?” I
asked her.

She made a face while running out of the
room. “I’ll be right back!”

“Daniel sure was eager to show that you two
are together today,” Alex said conversationally as soon as Ellen
was gone. If there was one thing about my friend I had realized
after a month, it was that she was persistent. To a fault.

“Was he? I didn’t notice.”

I kept my face expressionless, knowing she
was trying to get a reaction. For some reason, Alex loved getting
reactions out of me. She started laughing, my expression giving me
away regardless. “It’s all over the school, Clare. He kissed you in
gym, and now you guys have detention on Friday. And the way he was
all over you at lunch…” She made groping motions with her
hands.

“Huh. I didn’t hear that rumor. Did we really
get detention?” I gave her an innocent look.

“Don’t play coy with me...what happened?
How’d you two realize you were crazy-bad in-like with each other?
Details woman, I want details.”

There was so much to tell, and it had all
happened so quickly. I’d only had two days to process a lot. I
wasn’t sure if I really had a handle on it yet. But, despite the
fact there had been plenty of fear and crazy occurrences, my
moments with Daniel had made everything else fade into the
background. It was as though I knew the fear, the danger, were just
momentary blips in a life that was meant to be spent with him. It
was enough to make me want to talk about it, the emotions bubbling
over and out, uncontainable and uncontrollable. I told Alex what I
could, my story tempered by the things I couldn’t say without
giving away my secret. She listened in rapt attention. Ellen came
back down as I finished, and we left to go to Amanda’s house. Ellen
didn’t have to ask to know what we were talking about.

“I think it’s nice,” Alex said as we walked
to her Jeep. “I’ve always thought Daniel was trying too hard to be
happy. Like he thought if he pretended hard enough, happiness would
come. Now, he doesn’t have to pretend.”

“Relationships go bad.”

“Cynic. Stop acting like it’s no big deal.
You know it is.”

She floored the gas pedal, cutting off my
snarky reply. I heard Ellen squeak from the sudden movement. I held
on to the door with a strong grip, prepared for Alex’s driving. We
rode to Amanda’s in silence. Alex’s thoughts went back to Amanda,
and Ellen’s went back to the Seekers hunting us. I thought about
both. Was there an answer to either? How does one realistically
stop people who are serious about hunting you? How do you convince
a teenager it is okay to be different? Both questions were out of
my league.

When Alex finally jerked the car to a stop,
my stomach slowly filled with knots at what was in front of me. We
were at Amanda’s house, though ‘house’ wasn’t really the proper
term. It was more like a cabin. A cabin so old and dilapidated – it
was made of chinked wood and mud – it looked ready to fall down at
any moment. I tilted my head and realized the structure slanted
slightly to the left. The dirt yard was deserted and bare of any
kind of ornamentation or furniture. Where there should have been
grass, there were rusted pieces of metal, and junk, covered in
thick, dead vines. Three other houses bordered the small property
and, while they weren’t mansions by any stretch of the imagination,
the cabin made them look like Daniel’s house in comparison. Smoke
curled halfheartedly out of the old stone chimney, misting the yard
in a thin haze. A group of dogs, tied to metal stakes near the edge
of the property, got up and started barking as we stopped. A couple
strained against the stakes, choking themselves in their attempt to
reach us.

As I unbuckled my seatbelt, I saw a curtain
in the cabin twitch. There was a moment of quiet doubt then the
door opened slightly. Amanda peeked out at us, her thoughts
ghosting across the yard as much as the smoky haze. She looked
scared, as if she thought we were there to kill her, or worse. I
waved to assure her we came in peace, and she stepped out, shutting
the door with a click. Alex grabbed some papers from her bag and
followed me, looking around sadly. Ellen stayed in the car, looking
at the house, not wanting to get involved unless Gavin Nichols
did.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey.” Amanda turned her head to listen for
sounds of her dad moving inside. I heard her worrying about her
father overhearing. He was in the living room, passed out. He had
been on a bender since early in the day. As she looked back, I saw
a faint blue color that was obviously the result of a hit on the
face highlighting the bones of her cheek. The instant I saw her
face, I wanted to go inside and hit Mr. Nichols in retribution. I
controlled the impulse however, figuring that wouldn’t help our
reason for being here. “What are you guys doing here?” Amanda
asked.

“Alex brought your homework from school,” I
replied. “And I came along, because I wanted to ask you if you’d be
interested in coming to the movies with us this Friday.”

Alex threw me a warning look, but I ignored
her. Amanda could still say ‘no’. I wanted her to know that I
wanted her there. That somebody cared. It was important. More
important than my desire to go inside and teach her dad a
lesson.

Why would she do that? I’ve
only talked to her a couple of times since she came here, and I’m
sure I just said something stupid each time. This has to be a
trap.
“I don’t know…” Amanda said.

I took a step forward. “Look, Amanda, I
think you’re really cool.
We
think you’re really cool,” I gestured at Alex, “and we would
like to get to know you better. But if you don’t want to come,
that’s fine. I just thought it would be a good opportunity for us
to hang out.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said uncertainly,
her voice barely a whisper.

Alex handed Amanda the papers. “But you’re
okay, right?” she asked. “You haven’t got strep throat or the
measles or anything?”

“Oh! No. I think it’s just a cold or
something.” She sniffed unconvincingly, her eyes glancing at the
door again.
Daddy is going to be so mad if
he wakes up. I wish the dogs would shut up! …I still don’t get why
he said I couldn’t go to school. I’m going to get so behind! It was
really nice of them to bring my work…but how will I get it back to
my teachers?
Amanda played with the papers nervously.
“Thanks for bringing these.”

“No problem.” Alex smiled at her.

“Amanda! Shutthadogsup!” A drunken, slurred
voice called from inside. Amanda jumped as if she’d been whipped.
“Amanda! Dicha-hear-me! Shut-those-dogs-up!”

“I hear you!” she called back looking at us
nervously. She added, “I’m about to feed them.”

“Damn straight!
Then-you-best-fix-me-dinner!”

Amanda blushed from the roots of her
hair to her fingertips. I felt a burning anger, and my fists
clenched. When Amanda had jumped, I had gotten an image of a man
hitting her for burning dinner, a slap across the face for coming
home late, a hit for questioning him about staying home from
school…other occurrences. It was a stronger rage than the initial
one I had bested. How badly I wanted to teach him a lesson!
Controlling my rage, I stepped closer to Amanda and took a pen out
of Daniel’s jacket. Taking one of the papers from her hand, I wrote
my number on it, using my leg as a table. “If you need
anything
…or you make up your mind
about the movies, call me. Whatever you need. It doesn’t matter
what.”

“Okay. Thanks.”
Oh…she’s making me into a charity case
.
That’s all I need..
.

“Amanda!” the voice yelled again.

“We should go,” Alex said nervously. “Will
you be in school tomorrow?”

Amanda hesitated. “I don’t know. I’m still
feeling a bit under the weather.”

“Well, when you get back, you can show me how
to do that problem you solved the other day in Calculus. I still
can’t get my head around it,” Alex said.

“Sure.” Amanda said, blushing and lowering
her head, ashamed to feel proud of herself. “Well, I’d…” She
gestured vaguely towards the dogs.

“Bye,” I said.

“Bye.”

Amanda watched us leave, her thoughts filled
with burning questions and dark skepticism. As we drove away, my
stomach settled into a curious knot of foreboding.

Chapter 15

“Can you believe that man?!” Alex’s normally
happy eyes were fierce with anger.

“If it weren’t against the law, I’d go back
there and teach him a lesson,” I said, trembling with my anger.

“Who cares about the law?!” Alex said
angrily.

“Your father might,” Ellen replied quietly
from the backseat. I could tell she was also upset by the
encounter, though she was trying to hide it for our sakes…to keep
us calm.

“He’s biased,” Alex hissed. “Did you hear the
way Amanda’s father talked to her? I mean that voice! It was just
so…evil!”

I froze.

“And the way he treats those dogs! I bet he
doesn’t treat Amanda any better!” Alex raged on. Her knuckles were
white as she gripped the steering wheel. “I oughta hit him until he
cries, that evil, evil, man!”

“What’s the matter, Clare?” Ellen asked,
noticing my tense frame.

“His voice was familiar, that’s all. It was
like I’ve heard it before.” I put particular emphasis on the last
words.

She frowned, thinking about my words.

“Maybe you heard it in town?” Alex suggested,
giving us a funny look. “He preaches on the corner every
Saturday.”

“No,” I said staring at Ellen. “More like at
school…and out in the woods.”

Ellen’s eyes widened as what I was
saying registered.
You mean out in the
woods with those scary people you told me about? He was the evil
man?
She was trying hard not to freak out, but I could
see her fear.

“In the woods?” Alex asked, totally
confused.

I faced the front and focused on the road. “I
could be wrong.”

Alex glanced at Ellen in the rearview mirror
and muttered, “Uh-huh”

We were all silent then – figuratively
speaking. Alex’s anger at what we had witnessed, and her confusion
at my reaction, pounded through my brain. Ellen was trying to think
about other things, so she wouldn’t worry me with her worry. Sam’s
face kept popping into my brain, making it difficult to concentrate
on what I had just learned. I scowled at her, and she slowly
blushed. The images of Sam faded as she started repeating nursery
rhymes.