July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (20 page)

“That’s really nice of him.”

“Yep, people in small towns usually are.” He started the engine. “People in Talkeetna are really nice, too.”

I didn’t say anything, as I doubted he was right. It would probably take me a year before I made even one friend and another year before I felt comfortable and fit in there. By then, I would pack up to go back to civilization. What was the use in putting forth the effort when I would just be leaving?

Sigh. "Yeah, right."

For that matter, what was the point in this year when I was probably just going to fail? All this attention and I couldn’t have any of it. Sigh. I sighed a lot. It was better than screaming and tearing my hair out, or so I told myself.

Dad parked us in a much better spot and I could see Jimmy once again warming up on deck. Rob was in his usual spot watching us. Dad left the windows cracked a little so I could get some fresh air while he went to the concession stand.

Aaron tried not to look conspicuous as he worked his way over to our van. I groaned. When he reached the driver’s side window he breathed in deep and the broad smile on his face became so goofy a giggle slipped out before I could slap a hand over it.

He must’ve heard and peered through the inch of open space. “Hi, Sylvia, can we talk?”

“No, Aaron, you need to go make up with Sheila.”

“Who?”

“Sheila … your girlfriend … my cousin?”

“Sheila’s your cousin? How fascinating.” He leaned his elbow against the window.

It was time to tell him to go away.

His eyes bugged out as he was suddenly yanked two feet away. Rob had Aaron's Rugby shirt squeezed tight in his firm grasp. The shorter boy squirmed. He couldn't get free and was unable to call for help with his face turning blue. The annoying boy didn’t have a ghost of a chance as Rob turned him around.

The crack of a bat and a cheer.
I forgot about the game.

Instead, I watched Rob push Aaron ahead of him. They disappeared behind the concession stand. I held my breath, afraid of what might happen. Rob came back around the building dusting his hands off. I breathed again. He couldn’t have done too much damage in that short amount of time. Could he?

Rob returned to his spot behind Jimmy’s dug-out without looking in my direction.

My cousin wasn’t warming up any more or up to bat. Did he strike out? He wasn’t in the dugout. A scan of the infield found him on third base. How’d he get there? I must’ve missed a really good play. I looked at the score board. I’d missed seven innings and the score was now tied six all. Ah man … was there anything this year I wasn’t going to miss out on, beside frustration? I moved to the front seat and tried to concentrate on the game.

Paul and Steven came up out of nowhere to talk to me. Before Rob could intervene or even before I could speak they were fighting. The sheriff showed up and pulled them apart. Dad came back as the two boys were hauled away. He unlocked the door and handed me a box full of food and a large soda.

Once inside, he locked the doors. “I thought I would keep you company, if that’s okay.”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to. The sheriff’s staying fairly close.” I could see him standing between the stands and our car.

“Sure I do. I’m your dad, it’s in my contract under the protection addendum.” He looked over at the box of food on my lap. “Would you be willing to share one of those hot dogs?”

I held the box out to him. “Sure.” I’d share all of it to have time with him. My stomach almost choked.

He took a hot dog and dug a bottle of water out of his pocket. It was nice just the two of us watching the game together. This was a first. We’d never gone, together, to a live game before. It wasn’t at all like the games we’d watched on TV.

We spent the rest of our short time chatting about the action and he filled me in on how Jimmy hit a line drive and the outfield bobbled the ball giving my cousin enough time to slide into third base.

Of course, I missed the winning run when a small group of boys crowded around my window. One of the boys climbed onto the bumper and was about to crawl across the hood when Rob showed up to pull him off. I heard a crack of a bat, but couldn’t see around the backs of the boys that had turned to see the action. They jumped up and cheered or yelled for the other team to hurry. Dad cheered so I figured it was our team that won. What a bummer, so close, and I didn’t see but a small portion of the game.

It had been a pretty good game, from what I was told, and Jimmy's team won by two runs. The last at bat was a homerun.
And I missed it
!

The drive to Aunt Betty’s was spirited as Dad and Tim talked animatedly about the game, and Tam talked about the boys. From the way they told it, I’d missed a
whole
lot.

Jon’s family and Rob joined us at Aunt Betty’s for a cake and ice cream celebration. I sat off to the side on a stuffed chair with my leg up and an ice bag balanced on my knee. No leaks this time. Tim complained, numerous times, on the way back to Aunt Betty's about the wet seat he had to sit in.

Jon talked to Sheila and she forgave me for my part in her break up with Aaron. Her father convinced her I hadn’t even spoken to Aaron, so I had nothing to do with his behavior. Little did they know, everything to do with the break up was my fault. I felt horrible about it.

Sheila was nice and kept me company. "New Bridge isn't too bad. The boys, for the most part, are nice." She huffed, probably thinking about Aaron.

I had to bite my tongue not to apologize.

She rattled off the pluses. "Our school is here and there's good shopping in Richland."

That was too far away, how did people live like this?

"Actually, there’s a lot to do around here."

I was dubious. "Like what?"

She laughed at my expression. "You'd be surprised how ingenious small town kids can be. When you come back to visit, I'll take charge of your entertainment. You'll see there's more to New Bridge than a dirty old swimming hole." She glared at Jimmy, who just shook his head with a grin.

It sounded as though she didn't approve of Jimmy's idea of entertainment.

"That would be fun." I doubted I would ever come back here again.

Jimmy walked by and messed up Sheila's hair.

"Hey!"

He ignored her and went to his friend, who had stationed himself close by, still on guard duty.

“Come on, Rob, we have to get fresh water to the upper pasture."

Rob left reluctantly. When I heard the side door shut I turned to Sheila.

"Has Rob always been so …" I wasn't sure how to word it.

"Such a sourpuss?" She finished my sentence.

"Okay, that works."

She chuckled. "No, actually Rob use to be a lot of fun before his parents were killed in a car accident when he was ten."

I sucked in a breath. "Oh, my." How do you reply to that?

"Even then, he wasn't so bad. He was moody a lot at first, but got better after he settled into his grandparents’ home. Great people, Dave and Jenny Peterson." She took a sip of her lemonade.

"So, what made him so solemn?"

She smiled slightly at the memory. "Rob got really close to his grandfather. They did everything together. Even after Dave had a stroke five years ago and became an invalid, they still did everything together. They devised ways to get Dave's wheelchair wherever they wanted to go. They were quite the sight sometimes."

I feared where this story was going.

"Dave died last fall.”

My heart sank.

"Rob hasn’t been happy since and went a little wild. He got tattoos and an ear pierced. About broke his grandmother’s heart. Between that and his fighting she’s had her hands full. Did Jimmy tell you that Rob fought with Cameron, and that was why he didn’t play today? He's still recovering from the injuries. Rob was kicked off the team because of it."

"So Rob hadn’t always been like this. Poor Rob." I wished there was something I could do.

Sheila left to help her grandmother.

Jon took her place and whispered to me. “I don’t know what it is about you, but thank you.” I looked at him, confused, and he grinned. “Aaron is no longer in the picture. I don’t know for how long, but she is boyfriend-free for the moment. I’ll take whatever time I can get.” He glanced over at my dad. “I don’t envy your father at all. Having a beautiful daughter is really rough.” He patted my shoulder and walked away.

Jon had a beautiful daughter. My dad just had a plain daughter with a curse. Sigh. He only had a year of this. Jon, on the other hand, will probably go completely grey before Sheila graduates high school.

After the festivities were done and the good-byes said, I tried out my knee. It was sore, but the swelling was mostly gone, so, not too bad. When Dad offered to help me to my room, I took him up on it. My first instincts were to walk out the stiffness. I’ve come to rely on my gift and concentrated deeply with my inner eye. The center of pain felt like something I needed to rest. I’d always had this ability to tell when there was pain in someone else and sometimes I could tell what was wrong. Gram had accepted my weirdness. Sue freaked when I tried to explain it. To keep peace, I didn’t mention it to anyone.

Aunt Betty came in after I dressed for bed and put some ointment on my knee, then wrapped it with an ace bandage.

“There, that should help you sleep.”

“Thank you, Aunt Betty.” Guilt pummeled me again for treating her so bad.

She hugged me goodnight. “You’re very welcome, Sylvia.” On the way out she paused at the door. “You handled everything very well today. Anne would be proud of you.”

She slipped out before I could tell her thank you. It was good to hear I’d finally done something right and Gram would approve. It would take some effort to make up for all the wrong I’d done Aunt Betty. Grandmother was right, hating someone wasn't worth the effort.

My grandmother was never vindictive, so how in the world did I think treating Aunt Betty as the enemy would be the right thing to do? This year, I was always mixed up, it seemed. Gram did say my emotions would go a little haywire. What an understatement! Nothing made sense to me. Actually, I didn’t make sense to me. Five more months and I would be back to normal … emotionally, at least.

The day finally came to an end. Exhaustion captured me and I gladly surrendered.

I don’t know how long I’d been asleep when something woke me. I lay very still, listening to the dark. There was a tap on the window.

I groaned … not again. Déjà vu from Nebraska rolled through my head. I debated whether I should even look out the window. With my luck it, would be Cameron. Someone rapped again. I would have to do something. I decided I would simply check to see who it was and then go tell my dad.

Maneuvering my bad leg out of bed I hobbled around the night stand and moved the curtain.

To my surprise it wasn’t Cameron. It was Jimmy and Rob atop two tall ladders perched on either side of the window.

I pushed the sash open. “What are you two doing?” I whispered, trying not to wake Tam.

Jimmy chuckled quietly and whispered back. “We were out and thought we’d come see how you’re doing.”

Rob tried an uncomfortable smile that almost worked.

“You’re going to get in trouble.”

“Nah, we won’t stay long. How’s the knee?”

“It hurts now that I’m standing.” I was a little short with him, and too tired to care.

“Right, sorry, I guess we shouldn’t have come.”

Rob grimaced and looked away.

A twinge of guilt fluttered my heart. “It’s okay. I’ll survive.” Déjà vu tingled in my head again. “At least you weren’t Cameron.”

“Yeah, there’s a bright side.”

“Did I hear my name?”

All our heads jerked down to see Cameron and his two friends climbing Jimmy’s ladder.

“I knew you’d be thinking of me, Sylv.” He spoke my name as though we were old friends, or perhaps more.

I groaned and shifted my weight. My knee protested and I winced.

“Hey, Cameron, this ladder isn’t strong enough for four people.”

More déjà vu. Was this day ever going to end?

“Then get off, Jimbo, I’m here to see Sylv.” He turned his attention to me. “Hey, Angel, you want to go for a ride?”

“No, thank you. Now, would you three please leave?”

“Ah come on, Sylv, I’ll get rid of my friends, you get rid of these two losers and we can spend all night … talking.” He grinned as though I wouldn’t be able to resist such a stupid line.

I about puked. “Go away, Cameron.”

Rob growled at the pesky boy. “You heard her … go away before I come down there and rip you away.”

“Yeah right, you and what army?” Cameron spit back. Was he always this stupid?

Rob flinched toward him and Cameron almost fell off the ladder. That boy must really be affected big time if he was willing to incur Rob’s wrath, again. There was going to be a fight if I didn’t do something.

Jimmy stepped on Cameron’s fingers as the obnoxious intruders progressed up the ladder.

There was movement on the ground and in the shadows. I heard my name whispered over and over.

The zombie movie flashed through my head once more. Where did they all come from? There was a whole herd of them as they materialized out of the night shadows where the moon had bleached all color away.

I recognized Steve and Paul and Aaron from the baseball game, along with many other familiar faces.

The noise level rose, so it didn’t surprise me when my dad came into the room. “What’s going on, Sylvia?”

Tam rolled over, groggy. “What am I missing?”

I pivoted on my good leg so Dad could see out the window. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He looked at me with an unspoken question I had no answer to.

Aunt Betty came in with a cordless phone to her ear. “Yes. Tell Sheriff Jardine there’s a large number of teenage boys trespassing on my property. I need him here pronto!” She moved the receiver from her mouth. “How many?”

Dad looked out the window and took a quick count. “At least a dozen, maybe more, not counting Jimmy and Rob.”

Aunt Betty’s eyes widened, but she recovered. “At least a dozen, Maggie. Tell him to hurry before they ruin my azalea bushes … thanks, bye.”

Dad looked out at Jimmy. “The sheriff’s on his way.”

I couldn’t see the boys from behind my vantage point.

“Oh shoot! My dad’s going to kill me. Let’s go Rob.” Panic sprayed from his voice.

I peeked around Dad’s shoulder in time to watch Jimmy leap from his ladder to Rob’s and they quickly climbed down, shoving the affected boys at the bottom out of the way. They high tailed it out of view around the house. They were the only smart ones.

None of the other boys cared that the sheriff was coming. Now that Rob was off the second ladder the boys on the ground climbed up.

Aunt Betty and Tam, on the opposite side of the bed, watched out the other window.

All the boys filled the two ladders that were barely sturdy enough for two each.

Cameron and his buddies climbed all the way up, and were now trying to knock the other ladder over, probably trying to protect a territory that wasn’t theirs to fight over. The boys on the second ladder became angry and tried to push the first ladder over.

I grabbed Dad’s arm in fear as I watched the lunatics sway back and forth. From the scrapping sounds, I figured the house would need a paint job after this.

The boys on the second ladder got the upper hand and I watched in horror as the first ladder, with Cameron’s crew, slide and scrapped sideways, crashing into the ground. The squirming mass, in a heap, hurled insults at the other ladder and each other. Adam was the loudest, angry at Malcolm, who fell on him.

“My azaleas!” Aunt Betty moaned.

I looked over to see her slump against the window sill. Tam patted her back. Sue joined them and also consoled her.

“Where is that sheriff?” Aunt Betty straightened up and her jaw locked.

As though on cue, the sheriff from the baseball game and three deputies showed up with a bright flood light and rounded up the boys on the ground.

It was rather funny to watch. The boys on the ground wouldn’t leave the ladder as they tried to raise it back to the house. Each boy worked against the others to block anyone from getting to me.

The officers simply picked them off, one at a time, zip tying them together and forcing them to sit in a circle on the ground. The guys all tried to get up, and once again, worked against each other.

The deputies then climbed onto the remaining ladder and pulled one boy at a time off. The youngest of the officers and definitely the strongest was the one who climbed the farthest up and hoisted the boys over the side. When it was all said and done, they had a mass of squirming bodies, all wanting to get to me, and not running off. This must’ve been the easiest mob arrest in history.

The sound of air brakes pulled up out front.

“The school bus is here, Arnold.” Aunt Betty hollered down.

The sheriff waved. “Thanks, Mrs. Stuart.”

Since they didn’t normally have need of a paddy wagon in a small town like this, a school bus must be the next best thing. I continued to watch as the officers escorted the boys three by three to the driveway. When the last two were shepherded around the side of the house, the youngest officer climbed the ladder.

He looked right at me. “You must be Sylvia.”

I nodded my head and moved closer to my dad who put his arm around me.

“I’m Chuck, Chuck Darling.”

Oh yes, he was definitely darling. Curly blond hair, light eyes and chiseled face. His smile alone had my heart thumping erratically.

“I want you to know we have it all taken care of and you have nothing to worry about now.”

“Thank you.”

Dad shuffled me back a few inches. “Thank you, Officer Darling. I’m going to close the window now.”

“If you must.” He looked disappointed.

“DARLING GET YOUR SORRY CARCASS AROUND FRONT!” The sheriff demanded.

Chuck winced.

Dad closed the window and locked it. We straightened the curtains and Dad stood stiffly beside me.

“I’m sorry, Dad.” I was afraid he was going to chew me out. “I just looked to see who it was.”

Instead of turning red in the face he relaxed and chuckled. His brow raised. “Next time, you will just come get me … don’t even look out the window.”

Butterflies rushed through my stomach. “Next time? You don't think there’s going to be a third time, do you?”

Aunt Betty flicked on the light. “This has happened before?”

I hadn't wanted to count Tracy Walton so, technically,
this
was the third time.

“Oh, yeah.” Tam jumped into storytelling mode and rushed to fill Aunt Betty in on Nebraska.

I put on my bathrobe and tried to ignore the story. I still felt guilty about that one, too.

"The first time was in Nebraska." Tam sat on her side of the bed with a bounce. "We were staying with the Becks. They have a really cute son named Randy. But it was his brothers Kevin and Mark who came to the window where Sylv and I were sleeping." She frowned at me. "Someone didn't wake me up right away so I don't know what happened before Sylv landed on me." She sniffed. "Anyway, the boys were arguing and fighting and they broke a tree in half!" Her eyes got wide. "It was all very scary until Mr. Beck and Dad showed up. Then it was kinda funny how they kept fighting even though Dad and Mr. Beck were pulling them apart. Even as they were being dragged to the back door they were still trying to hit each other. Mr. Beck yelled at them all the way. I'm not sure what happened after that."

She looked at me.

I smoothed her hair that was sticking up in the back. "You fell asleep."

"Oh." She turned to Aunt Betty. "I fell asleep so that's all there is to that story."

There was a lot more and I didn't want to tell it.

We followed Aunt Betty to the living room where Tim slept soundly. That boy could sleep through a 5.0 earthquake. There was a knock on the door and Dad checked the peephole before he pulled it open. The sheriff was there with his flashlight in hand. The school bus was in full view of the door and the boys all had their noses pressed against the windows. When they saw me they went a little berserk, calling my name.

Dad moved me out of view while the sheriff waved the bus to go. Stepping inside he pulled out a crumpled note pad. The cute, young deputy followed closely behind, grinning at me.

I stayed as far from Chuck as the crowded room allowed. His staring got old quickly and creeped me out, so I decided to go back to bed. I limped towards the hall.

The sheriff looked up. “Knee still hurting you, Sylvia?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chuck crossed the room, concern etched on his adorable face. “You hurt your knee? You shouldn't be walking on it. Here, let me carry you back to bed.”

I flinched away from him and thudded against the wall. Turning my knee the wrong way, pain zipped up my leg.

Chuck scooped me up in his arms and strode toward my room, the only one with the light on. Bandit growled as he followed us. Gently, Chuck placed me on Tam’s side of the bed. He straightened the covers as Dad and the sheriff dashed in the room. Chuck leaned over with puckered lips. The sheriff caught his shoulder and pulled him upright.

Chuck immediately turned back to me.

“Officer Darling, get out of here!” He turned him to the door.

The adorable officer looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Goodnight, Sylvia.”

The sheriff shoved him out of the room.

I often speak before I think. “Goodnight, Officer Darling.” It had seemed innocent enough.

Chuck spun around and threw his whole body into forward motion, intent on coming back to me.

Jardine rammed his shoulder into Chuck’s chest. “Oh no you don’t, Darling. Out, now!”

Dad and the sheriff wrestled him out of the room as I half hid under the covers.

The sheriff muttered. “Gotta get this boy married.”

Maybe I should stop talking all together since it usually gets me in trouble.

The front door opened and closed. The sheriff and Dad continued speaking softly in the living room. It was time for everyone to leave so I could crawl over to my side and collapse. My stomach thought it was time to be fed. I reminded it had been feed only a short time earlier. It pouted.

Aunt Betty came in the room. “It’s clear. Sheriff Jardine and Len kicked him out the door. He's on his way back to the station”

I sat up and pulled the covers off. “I’m so sorry, Aunt Betty, I …”

She raised her hand to stop me. “It’s not your fault.
Remember
that. It’s
not
your fault.”

“But if it wasn’t for me your azaleas wouldn’t have been harmed.”

She grimaced as she shook her head. “No, that is still not your fault.” She took a deep breath. “Now, on the other hand, I will be having a long talk with Jimmy and Rob.”

“Oh, please, don’t be mad at them. It wasn’t their fault the others showed up.” I spoke quicker than Aunt Betty. “’Sides, I’m sure they would’ve left soon and quietly because they were concerned about my knee.”