Lore of the Underlings: Kid of Lore (3 page)

Johnny slogged his way through the swamp and
scrambled up the monster hill. He slipped and fell a bunch of times
but climbed like he was on a mission.

He had to find Haylee. No matter what.

And quick.

Before that critter did.

The moon was higher overhead now. It was
getting pretty late. “At least it’s… not a… school night…” he
huffed, half sarcastically. “Umph.” He reached the top.

Then Johnny made tracks, retracing his
route. Well, sort of. He ended up going in circles. He stopped in
front of a fallen pine tree that he’d passed like twice
already.

“Psst… hey Sis… you here?” he whispered. He
didn’t dare yell and tip off the cops.

His words stirred action in the bushes.
Johnny’s ears pricked up. “Hay?” But then his nose caught whiff of
something skunky — “Pew!” — so he blew on by.

That’s when he heard a bark, the sound of
growling. And a familiar voice.

“Helllp!”

The noise came from behind him, punctuated
with a scream.

He did a one-eighty and made a beeline. He
was there in no time at all. And good thing — it was an ugly
scene…

Rusty’s dog Killer had flushed Haylee out of
hiding and he had her trapped.

“Help me! Somebody!”

Ruff! Ruff ruff!

The pit bull snapped its jaw. It gnashed its
teeth. It tried to bite the girl.

She held it off with a crooked stick. Just
barely.

Johnny came to her rescue.

He picked up a rock and charged at Killer.
“Get outta here! You dirty rat…” Then Johnny cocked his scrawny arm
back.

“Scram!” And he pretended to throw.

Killer flinched. But only a second. He
didn’t back off an inch.

Ruff! Rrruff!

He licked his chops at the two young kids.
He foamed at the mouth. His yellow eyes glowed…

Then all of a sudden he turned tail and
ran.

Johnny let go of the stone looking stunned
but also kind of proud of himself. “Guess we showed him. You okay
Sis?”

Haylee was shaking in her flip-flops.
Tongue-tied. All she could do was gawk.

“Sis?”

He glanced back to see what she was staring
at.

“Freeze!” barked a ticked-off cop.

The square-jawed policeman didn’t say much
as he marched his two suspects out to the road. He herded them off
toward another officer just returning to his squad car. That one
looked fairly grim himself. He was older. On the heavy side.

“Any more out there, Deputy?”

“Negative. Just these two. The hill?”

“All clear. But someone was up there
earlier. Footprints — three or four sets. Looked fresh. And this
flashlight.”

He turned it on the kids.

“This yours?”

Johnny shook his head and squinted but kept
his lips zipped.

“Can’t hear you son.”

“Uh… no sir.”

The cop frowned. “What’s your name?”

“Ummm…”

Haylee poked him.

“Johnny… John Cap.”

The deputy pulled out a pad and pen and
started writing. “She your sister?”

“Yes sir.”

“And your name, miss…

“Miss?”

She made a sniffling noise and wiped her
nose on the long, frayed sleeve of her sweatshirt.

Johnny had to translate. “Haylee.”

She was near tears.

The deputy noted.

The bigger officer sized up the situation
and the pair of kids. He snorted. They could see his breath
now.

“What are a couple of minors like you doing
out at this hour? How old are you night owls?”

Haylee peeped something.

“Eleven,” said Johnny.

She poked him again.

“
Going on
eleven.”

The cop eyed Johnny more suspiciously.
“Where are your folks? They know you’re out here?”

“Basically.”

“Don’t be a wise guy, kid.”

“I j-just mean we promised to stay in the
‘hood.”

“What’s your address?”

“Seventeen Lookout Road.”

The deputy glanced down the hill as Johnny
added, “We were just headed home.”

But the kids weren’t out of the woods yet.
Not by a long shot.

The cops pressed — “Home from what?”

“A walk.”

“In the dark?”

“With no flashlight?”

Johnny was speechless.

“Tell us about the hoax.”

He faked a deer-in-the-headlights look.
“H-h-hoax?”

“You know what we’re talking about. Or your
sister here does…”

But Haylee shrugged.

And Johnny played dumb as an ox, “Got
me.”

Neither officer looked too happy. The deputy
knuckled and quickly explained.

“Just about an hour ago, a couple reported
picking up a pocketbook in this vicinity, outside of town near
Farfield Farm. Someone’d rigged it to look like a time bomb. Scared
the living daylights out of ‘em both. They dumped it. Drove
straight to the station.”

“Ring a bell now?” growled the second
cop.

Johnny looked worried that Haylee might
talk. He spoke up.

“We were in the dark.”

The officer stepped a few feet closer and
lit up Johnny’s muddy face. “Betcha were. How’d you get so
dirty?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Don’t play games…”

The radio interrupted. He answered.

“Prank… Two punks on scene, we’re
questioning… M.O. matches the Lookout Hill gang… Evidence?
Negative. You won’t believe this — some dog snuck off with the
bag…”

The radio crackled with laughter. He shook
his head. “I won’t hear the end of that.”

Johnny and Haylee just looked at each
other.

“What now Sarge?” the deputy asked.

“Take ‘em for a little ride,” he snarled.
“I’m heading downtown… to get hounded.”

The sergeant got in his car and peeled
out.

Then it was the deputy’s turn. He opened the
back door of his cruiser. “Okay you two. Time to go.”

Johnny watched the lights fly by. Eastie’s,
Broders’, the wicked small house. They sped downhill on Lookout
Road. Haylee sat petrified by his side.

“It’ll be okay Sis,” he whispered. “See?
He’s taking us home.”

Sure enough.

The squad car slowed to a crawl as the
street turned flat and straight. They stopped at a mailbox.

17 Cap
was stenciled on it.

The cop checked his notebook. He checked out
the long, dark driveway. The warm, yellow glow at the end.

The kids looked like it called to them.
Come home
…

The car took off again.

Johnny’s heart sank. He sat back and slumped
on the worn, sticky seat — the vinyl smelled criminal. Haylee
curled up in a little ball and whimpered. “J-Johnny… are we
arrrrested?”

Her question hung in the air for a mile.

Johnny foresaw himself in the pen. On trial.
Sentenced. “Kinda, I guess…”

They passed the JFK, their grade school,
then turned on Main toward the center of town. Nobody said a word
but the radio. It squawked away. The kids hardly heard.

Especially Johnny. His mind was swamped.

Was she for real… the Shadow Girl? Did that
really happen or was it a dream?

He played it over and over again…

He had to tell someone. “Hey Hay…”

They stopped.

The deputy turned the engine off and eyed
the kids in his rear-view mirror. “Know where you are?”

They looked out the window. A neon blue sign
blinked
Hop woo Police
.

The messed-up words struck Johnny funny. He
giggled nervously.

Big mistake.

“This all a joke to you, Mr. Cap?”

“Oh, no sir. I just…”

“Better watch it.”

Just then a pair of Hulk-size officers
hauled a handcuffed guy inside. A drunk. Some townie. The dude was
pretty bloody.

“You wanna end up like that?”

The cop did some paperwork. He took his
time. Then he turned and read them the riot act.

“You two heard of Juvenile Hall? That’s
where kids like you get sent for pulling stunts like this. And it’s
no picnic.” He let the thought sink in a sec. He checked his watch.
“It’s time to start thinking. Are you gonna be just one of the
gang? A fall guy? Wise up. You can do better…”

He looked each kid in the eye. “And you sure
better. Or next time you’re inside.”

Both were numb by now. They had no answer.
But he didn’t wait for one.

The deputy turned away and turned his key.
They hit the road again.

Johnny let out a long, deep breath. “Hooo…”
Just maybe they’d dodged a bullet. The cop was heading back the way
they came. They seemed to be homeward bound.

Until the cruiser took a detour.

It was a road with great big speed bumps,
one they’d never been down before. And Haylee noticed something odd
about it. Ominous.

“Where are the houses?”

All that they passed was a ramshackle guard
shack…
Guard shack?
She tried to slide closer to Johnny.

After a long stretch they came to a dead end
— a circle by an iron gate. An old stone sign said
Hopewood
Asylum
. A blue beam of moonlight lit it up.

But a fresh-painted board with floodlights
on it read
Farfork County Juvenile Hall
. And two towers
loomed above the fence and gray barbed wire.

They wheeled around.

“Warden’s got lots of bunks,” said the
deputy. “Loves to get ‘punks and yoots like youse’ and fix ‘em
good. Kids come out different. If they come out at all, that
is.”

He suddenly flashed his high-beams at
something.

“This used to be the county nut house. Folks
still see some crazy stuff…”

Haylee clutched her brother’s arm. “I’ll
never be bad again!” she swore and shut her eyes. She’d seen
enough.

Out of sight, out of mind. It was worth a
shot.

The towers were behind them now, fading from
view in the car’s back window. Johnny watched and wondered under
his breath, “So where did Hank end up?”

Home he hoped — except that would be no
layup. Just the opposite.
Not when Dad’s mad
…

They made it to Main Street.

They took Lookout Road…

Knock knock!

“Who’s there?” called Mrs. Cap. She rushed
to the front door and threw it open. “Johnny! Haylee! Where in the
dickens…”

She noticed the cop and gasped.

“Evening ma’am.”

Haylee ran straight to her mother. She
hugged her. “Honey, what is it? What’s going on?”

But the girl kept mum, except for sobbing,
getting Mom’s spring-green dress all wet.

Johnny, for his part, was trying to hide his
messed-up clothes. He sidestepped in.

His mother frowned at him. “Where’s
Hank?”

The back door slammed before he could
say.

“Nora!”

“Here in the living room dear!”

“Couldn’t find ‘em anywhere…”

The kids got skittish. They knew that tone.
Those work shoes on the linoleum.

Stomping…

A man in tan coveralls came from the
kitchen.

His right breast pocket read
Hopewood
Fill-Up
. An oval patch on the left said
Karl
. It was
apparent that he meant business. “What the heck is this about?”

“Mr. and Mrs. Cap?” asked the deputy.

They both nodded.

“These your kids?”

“What have they done?” glared their father.
“Officer…”

“Mack.” He waved his dog-eared notebook.
“There was a bomb scare up the street. A prank with a pocketbook.
And manure…”

“Pocketbook?” echoed Mr. Cap.

“That’s right sir. You know something about
it?”

Johnny saw his father’s blue eyes bulge, his
face turn dynamite red. It was all he could do to keep from
exploding.

“Cow pies?”

“Smelled ‘em myself sir.”

“KIDS!”

Suddenly Mrs. Cap looked faint. She had to
sit down. Her husband helped her.

“Here dear.”

“There must be some mistake,” she
swooned.

The cop snapped, “Yeah — no kidding!”

Johnny saw an opportunity. “Isn’t it past
our bedtime Mom?”

“Oh, yes…”

“Go wash up,” Dad commanded. “We’ll deal
with you two tomorrow. Now scram!”

The cop didn’t stop them but spoke.
“Remember our talk.”

They wished they
could
forget.

Haylee led Johnny down the hall where Biggie
the cat sat like he’d been waiting. He rubbed their legs while they
brushed their teeth and then settled back into sphinx position.
“Purrr…” As if he were guarding them.

The clock struck eleven. The kids headed off
to their rooms. Though Haylee was dead on her feet. She shuffled
along like a zombie, sleepwalking…

“Happy dreams, Sis.”

She mumbled, “Good night.”

Johnny shut his bedroom door and flopped on
the floor in a heap.

“
Good
night?”

The room was awash in moonshine and shadow.
The lights were all off. Johnny liked it that way.

He leaned against the door and listened… Mom
and Dad were getting schooled.

“We’re sure gonna catch it,” he sighed.

It got quiet.

Outside the squad car drove away.

Johnny could see the starry sky from where
he sat, transfixed on the window. He barely blinked his big blue
eyes. He was wider awake than usual. Thinking…

“Gonna need proof I’m not making this up. Or
totally nuts. I can just hear ‘em now.
Oh sure — a ghost girl in
a mud hole. Happens all the time. Ya, right!
”

A dark cloud passed across the moon.

Johnny himself had a shadow of doubt.

So he tried again to conjure her up. “Maybe
if I look hard enough…”

And to his wonder, a figure appeared.

It rattled the window but it was locked. It
knocked three times.

“Who’s there?”

He heard cursing. Yet Johnny was tempted and
cracked the window open.

“Hurry up! Let me in!”