Chapter 9

                     Chapter 9

            The horn of the truck honked and we ended our conversations and looked over our heads as we passed under a sign saying “Welcome to Hunters Ville”. As we drove by, many streets separated from the larger road we were already on. The houses were all different in their own little way. None of them had the same floor plan. One of the houses could have three floors while another one could be squatting so far to the ground it wouldn’t be nine feet tall. Each house did have the same type of tree in the front of the yard, some would be circled by flowers and others would have cars underneath the trees unwillingly collecting the sap. Then the littler streets became larger and had many storefronts on them. We stuck to the main road which went up and down and led up to a large White chapel that stood tall and proud.

The children and parents that were walking down the sidewalk didn’t give us as much as a second glance. We drove by looking at the unusual shops and cafés. Then the car pulled to a stop in front of a drugstore with so many posters for sales and prices of store items it made it hard for us to see inside. And what we saw was not pretty, the dirt and grime looked utterly disgusting it made me want to get sick.

The others all hopped out not caring if it was dirty, but after all they did just sleep on a dirt floor in the middle of an abandoned barn. For all I knew that could have been the spot where the cows slept. At that thought I was grateful to have slept in the truck.

“You need anything guys?” Christy asked us.

            I shook my head, ”We have stuff, were okay.” She looked back at the store.

“I see what you mean” Christy had a slight look of disgust, “We’ll be out in about 20 minutes” then she went inside the store.

            I turned to Katie and Red, “Well, what should we eat?”

“I’ve lost my appetite” Katie told us, Red nodded as well. I felt the same way.

            I wondered if Ms.Jones had found out we were gone yet. Most likely yes, she might have informed the police, and she might have gone on with her life as if nothing had happened. It was always hard to tell what she was thinking.

            We waited in the pickup bed for them while they got their food for breakfast. They took a long while but I didn’t blame them, if they moved too fast they could probably start a dust storm from all of the dirt and stuff on the inside. This part of town seemed unusually quiet. Looking down the road I found the answer to the desolateness, a school. Which was also empty. What day was it? Saturday? Yes, it seemed as if it had been longer, like days, instead of one.

            I shuddered as a cold sharp wing rushed into my face, “Sure is cold” I remarked

“I’ve been in colder places” Red began

“Yeah? Where?” I questioned

“Once my family went to Alaska for a few weeks we camped for one night-he held up a finger- in some mountains. My mom thought that it would be fun and that we could sleep under the darn near prettiest stars she had ever seen. We were going to listen for owls and coons and birds. And in the morning we were going to fry some fish and go boating down a river.” He got a sort of spaced out look in his eyes as if he were going back in time and he was living in that time right now.

“And?” Katie asked impatiently

“In the middle of the night we ended up cuddled together in the same sleeping bag with the others piled on top of us, we set up our sun umbrellas to cover us from the snow. It was great, but way too cold. After that, we went to a really nice hotel for the rest of the week.”

“Yeah, but nothing beats riding a horse for miles on end in the woods” Katie said

“Geeze Katie don’t be a back woods man” Red told her

“Says the one who camped on a mountain in Alaska” Katie shot, I didn’t think she meant any harm.

            Thinking about my parents made me want to bawl. I rarely thought of them since it set me off, I had Scott to be with me and he kept me from going over the edge. I liked going camping with my family. They never planned anything that they told us about. We could go home on Friday and go camping over the weekend. I used to remember my old friends coming up to me and asking where did you go over the weekend. Instead of what did you do? I would find antlers that deer’s had shed and selling them to people at school always keeping the biggest for myself.                      

Back when mom and dad were still alive everything seemed to be easier. Scott wouldn’t have gotten into this map and neither would I. if they hadn’t have had that business trip to go to, they wouldn’t have been on that plane. They would be back home with Scott and I, this is Saturday right? We would most likely be camping and having the time of our lives.

Scout walked out of the little shop and gave us a distrustful look. And got into the truck.

“Geeze what’s his deal?” Katie said

“C’mon Katie, give him some slack. How would you feel if three kids you’ve never seen before, are riding with you, all the way to Texas!” I said to her

            Katie stayed quiet and waited while the rest did their stuff in the shop.

 

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Hey look! There’s one just up the road!” Tiff called over the hum of the motor to Kenneth who was driving. I looked and saw nothing.

“Where? I don’t see anything” Marty said to her

 “Look in between those trees. It’s like an underground house or something” she told him

“A sod house?” tony asked, the car pulled over and we all gathered to the side to see what Tiff did, there was definitely something covered by trees, I was surprised that she had actually seen anything.

            Kenneth got out of the truck along with Scout, “Ya’ll stay here while we go check it out” Kenneth told us

            We waited while they walked a little way up the hill. We watched them step down into the hole that could have been a doorway years ago. They reappeared and walked back to the truck.

“Well?” Josh asked impatiently

“It was just a root cellar that was built ages ago” Scout told us, “Nothing good there, except bugs”

“Gross Scout, gross” Julie told him. He flashed his devilish smile towards her it reminded me of Scott’s when he wanted to impress a girl. Julie rolled her eyes and pushed his head back.

            He and Kenneth got back into the car and drove. I watched the old and beat up road run under the black tires. I’m sure there were a lot of other cars I just didn’t notice them. Sitting in a car soon got boring.

It was beginning to get dark, I watched the sun set over the now purple and blue mountains. The clouds had begun to turn a pinkish coral color. The scenery was an endless mountain full of wonders that many people had never discovered. Were the deer and bear and any other creature could run free without a care. It was like they could touch the stars and fly high. But down here the cold and the normal life struggles could keep a person from reaching the stars and… My thought were broken as a low hanging branch slapped across my face leaving small bloody scratches.

“Ow” I said rubbing my cheek, examining the light blood that stained my fingers

“Sorry kid, we thought you saw it” Marty said

“Geeze Brady, you look like you’re ready for Halloween, your face is so red”

“Ha-ha ‘Red’” Josh said

“That must get annoying” Katie said

“You better believe it” Red told her

“LOOK OUT!” Tony yelled, this time I ducked like everyone else did, only I sat up to early and got hit again by another branch on my cheek and a little on my forehead. When the others sat up they looked at me and laughed. Only a person like me could have been hit, in the face. By a tree, twice. I couldn’t help but to laugh with them.

“Here” Christy giggled, and she took out a handkerchief wet it with her tongue and wiped my scratches. When she was sure the bleeding had stopped she sat back in her spot. Then she tossed me the red handkerchief and said, “I don’t want this” so I stuffed it into my back pocket. 

“Better duck your head again” Tony said as he looked over his shoulder. This time when I ducked no branch went over my head. A thick tree root that had grown out of the ground rose the truck a few inches off the ground running it into the head of the truck near the top of the window.

“HEY, HEY, HEY!” Tony called to Kenneth, who had stopped right as the branch screeched into the truck. Kenneth backed up off the root and we got out.

“Geez Kenneth how could you miss it?” Scout growled

“It was dark! I was watching the road!”

“What road! There is no road! Any 6 year old would know that trees don’t slap the back of the truck like a piñata!” Tony accused

“I’m not the one with the map! I trust Scout to point out where to turn and where to stop!” Kenneth barked

“Should we stop this?” I quietly asked Marty, who had been leaning against the back of the pickup truck watching the argument

“No, it’s just getting good”

“Don’t blame me! This car’s already a piece of junk who cares!” Scout snapped

“Piece of junk! Piece of junk! This car was in tip top condition until you started to drive it!” Tony said

“I wasn’t driving it!” Scout said. They ended their loud discussion.

“Why don’t one of you bozo’s check the truck?” Christy told them

            Tony scowled at her, but climbed up on the truck to look at the top and the windshield, “Scratched, chipped paint, dented” he reported

“Does that really harm the way the car works?” Christy asked impatiently

“No” Tony spat through his gritted teeth.

“Then get down of your precious truck”

            Tony hopped down into the gravel, “where are we?” Julie asked. We looked around at the now darkened road or pathway. It was hard to tell. From behind us a twig snapped. I shifted my head and slightly looked over my shoulder. I saw nothing, no one else had seemed to notice it. So I went back to listening to Kenneth and Scout talk about the road and how they should turn around in the space given. Something snapped again. Katie turned, as did I. something emerged from the bushes and walked towards us.

“Kenneth” Katie said, he turned and saw the creature.

“Only a skunk” he said, the others backed up not wanting to be sprayed, “Come on you guys, it won’t harm you”

“It’ll do a lot worse” Tiff told him

            Annoyed, Kenneth pushed the map towards Scout and walked up to the skunk.

“Don’t do it” Julie pleaded with him. He didn’t listen but he started screaming and stomping towards the animal. Instead of spraying him, it scampered back into the woods.

“C’mon we don’t have time for this” Scout said, and he climbed into the truck, followed by the others. As I got in and the truck backed up I had the feeling that somebody was watching me then I heard another twig snap, it could have been my imagination though.