Storm Watcher (16 page)

Her expression changed to a softer, sadder look. “No one believes it’s your fault.” She held up her hand, stopping him. “However, you do, so we need to address that as well as your fear of the weather. Unfortunately I’m not trained for either issue. I’d like to call your father to discuss different options.”

“Different options?”

“There are other people who are qualified to help you.”

“Oh.” Luke mulled it over. Dad believed it was Luke’s fault, and he had ignored Luke’s fears as well. Luke couldn’t talk to Dad about it, but maybe if Mrs. Miller called, Dad would let him talk to someone who could help. Dad might say no, but at least he’d tried.

“Okay.”

Biking home from Willajean’s, Luke was surprised when Dad drove past him, then parked ahead. Ranger poked his head out of the back window. Luke slowed down. Balancing with his hands off the handlebars, he quickly pushed Lightning down into his pack and zipped it shut, leaving only a one-inch opening for the dog to breathe.

He stopped beside the car. His father rolled down the passenger side window.

“What’s up?” Luke asked as he silently prayed Lightning would keep quiet.

His father popped the trunk and got out of the car.

“Put your bike in the trunk.”

“What for?”
Did Dad spot Lightning?
Luke gripped the handlebars hard.

“We need to talk.”

Fear flared in Luke’s gut as he put his bike in the car. He turned his back to the car for a moment. He opened his backpack, gave Lightning the quiet signal, and zipped it again. Not knowing what to do with it, he placed the backpack behind the passenger seat. Lightning’s black nose pressed against the opening. Ranger pawed and whined at the bag.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Dad asked the dog.

“I’ve got some cookies in the pocket of my pack,” Luke explained. True, except they were Willajean’s special dog treats.

They drove for awhile, and then Dad said, “I got a call from your school today.”

CHAPTER 15

Dinosaur Hunting

It had been a week since Luke had talked to the guidance counselor.
She acted fast.
Too worried to look at Dad, Luke peered at the road ahead.

“Some school shrink phoned. Mrs. Muller?”

“Miller,” Luke said.

“Yeah, Miller. She said you missed a lot of school. Three weeks.” He whistled. “I didn’t think it was that much.”

Luke glanced at him, trying to gauge his mood.

“Anyway, she spouted some psychobabble about something called
storm phobia
, and how I need to take you to a professional to help you overcome your fears.”

Luke waited a moment for his father to go on, but the silence continued.

“And, what” – Luke cleared his suddenly dry throat – “did you tell her?”

“Just because you’re afraid, doesn’t mean you have some disorder,” Dad said. “I’m afraid of getting electrocuted. I check the power two, three times before I’ll start a job. My buddies call me paranoid, but I don’t care. And I don’t need to see some shrink.”

Dad stopped, but he hadn’t answered Luke’s question
. Should I ask again?

“What I’m saying is everybody’s afraid of something.” Dad paused and rubbed his eyebrow with his fingertips. “Your mother hated driving on highways. She’d go twenty miles out of her way just to avoid a highway.”

Mom had died on a backcountry road, surrounded by farm fields. Just a couple trees along the road, including the one she’d slammed into. Talk about odds. Luke squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears that threatened.

“Was Mom afraid of anything else?” Luke asked.

There was a long pause before Dad said, “Yes. She was afraid of losing you and your brothers. She would dress you boys in super bright neon T-shirts when she took you to Hersheypark so she could spot you. She wouldn’t let you go on the bigger rides even though you were bored with the kiddie rides.” Dad laughed. “I had to sneak you on with me and your brothers, and tell her about it later.”

“I remember Mom yelling at you for taking me on the SooperDooperLooper.”

“Yeah, she was overprotective.” Dad pulled the car into their driveway and turned off the engine. He made no move to get out. “She loved you kids so much. In fact, the night…she died, she already had her keys in her hands and was heading out the door when you called.”

Luke’s heart froze in mid-beat.

Dad met Luke’s gaze. “Do you understand what I’m saying? She already planned to go and get you. It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you.”

A thousand emotions slammed into Luke. His head spun. He stared at Dad as if seeing him for the first time. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

“I couldn’t. It’s…taken me this long to sort it all out. It’s still very hard for me to talk about her.” He sucked in a deep breath. “And I thought you were just mad at me about the puppy and didn’t really believe I blamed you. Not until Mrs. Miller called.”

“Oh.” All this was too much to take in.

“I don’t blame you. It’s not your fault. Okay, buddy?”

“Ah…okay.” He guessed. Dad had dumped a ton on him. Luke needed to sit down alone and unravel the tangle inside him.

“Now that we have that settled, there’s still the other problem.”

Confused, he asked, “The puppy?”

“No, your fear of the weather.”

“Oh.”

“I told Mrs. Miller that your fear is just a stage. That I didn’t have the money for some fancy doctor to tell me that you’ll grow out of it.”

“But it’s been years, Dad.”

“Do you remember when you were convinced a Tyrannosaurus rex hid under your bed?”

Luke couldn’t forget the nightmares of being chased through the woods by the monster. Feeling the ground shake as the beast’s thundering feet drew closer, looking back to see T. rex’s twelve-inch-long, serrated teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

“Remember how I went dinosaur hunting every night to convince you he wasn’t there, and we rigged up an under-the-bed light to keep him away?”

Luke smiled. Dad had worn a goofy hat and slung a water rifle over his shoulder. He called himself Great Bwana as he crept around the room and dived under the bed skirt with the rifle in his hands.

“Eventually you grew out of it and didn’t need me to check your room. This is a stage, too. It’s just taking longer.” Dad clapped him on the shoulder. “But no more days off, buddy. I’ll drive you to school if the weather’s bad. Okay?”

Luke nodded, not sure what to say. Just the thought of Dad driving in the rain scared him. But Dad made a good point. His fear could be a stage. Although Mrs. Miller had also made sense. The tangle inside him grew tighter.

And the knowledge that Luke still checked under his bed for the T. rex lay heavily on him.

Rain pelted the windows, and the panes shook with each blast of wind. Luke read his history book, but the words didn’t make sense. Thunder rumbled. He clutched the edge of his desk with sweaty hands. Each flash of lightning sent a pulse of fear through his body.

Finally Luke asked Mr. DeWire if he could be excused. He snatched the hall pass and bolted into the hallway.

Now what? The safest place is an interior room without windows.

Luke found a storage closet, slipped inside, and closed the door. As the storm passed over the school, he sweated it out. He wished Dad had agreed to send him to talk to a counselor or shrink. Would Mrs. Miller be able to help without Dad’s permission? He couldn’t keep this up. His stomach hurt all the time, and he dreaded watching the Weather Channel. Spring in Pennsylvania meant every day had a chance for a thunderstorm.

When the bell rang, Luke had to get to his next class or be marked late. He eased open the door and joined the flow of students. Hopefully no one spotted him. Mr. DeWire said nothing about his long absence from class when Luke returned the hall pass. Luke wondered if Mrs. Miller had talked to his teachers about his SWP.

At the end of the day, Megan cornered him. “I saw you sneaking out of that closet.”

He sighed. “Did anyone else see me?”

“I don’t know. But, Luke, you need to talk to someone.” She gestured at him. “You’re a mess. Convince your dad.”

Megan was right. Deep down Luke agreed. Every night he planned to ask Dad, and every night he chickened out.

After hiding in the storage closet for the third time that March, Luke decided to talk to Mrs. Miller again. Maybe she could convince Dad.

“I’ve tried,” Mrs. Miller said when he visited her after school. “Your father is convinced your fears are temporary.”

Luke slouched in the chair. His heart-thumping panic didn’t feel temporary.

What am I going do? Save money and hire my own shrink?

“Is there any other way?” he asked. “Another guidance counselor?”

She leaned back and tapped a pencil on his file. “There’s a counselor at the high school. I’ve discussed your phobia with him. Not by name,” she added quickly. “He has experience with this type of problem. Would you like to talk to him?”

Would he?

What if the guy couldn’t help? What if he made it worse? What if someone at school found out and teased him?

Luke swallowed all those questions back down into his churning stomach.

“Sure.”

Hershey High School was just down the road from the middle school. Standing outside the main doors, Luke studied the map Mrs. Miller had given him. Mr. Hedge’s office looked easy to find. Luke eyed the few high schoolers leaving for the day. The guys looked…big and brawny and mean.

A couple had mustaches, and one had a full beard. Maybe he should just go. If Jacob and Scott caught him here…

No. He pushed all those thoughts away. Determined, Luke followed the directions and knocked on Mr. Hedge’s door.

“Come in,” a man called.

Luke entered a small neat office.

Mr. Hedge stood and shook his hand. “Have a seat, Luke.”

Perching on the edge of the chair with his backpack on his lap, Luke studied Mr. Hedge as the counselor settled behind the desk. Mr. Hedge wore a pink polo shirt, khaki pants, and thick round eyeglasses. Only a thin strip of graying hair stretched from ear to ear. Mr. Hedge didn’t match Luke’s vision of a shrink at all. He’d expected an old guy with a bow tie and suspenders.

“I’ve read through your files and Mrs. Miller’s comments.” Mr. Hedge flipped a few pages over. “Now I could spout some psychobabble and promise you I can cure you, but the truth is I can’t do anything.”

Luke’s heart sank.

“But you can,” Mr. Hedge said.

Confused, Luke peered at the counselor.

“To get over your fears,
you’re
going to have to do all the work. You’re going to dig deep inside you and expose things that you don’t want to. Voice those inner thoughts no matter how nasty and evil. I will promise you that what you say in this room goes no further. You won’t get into trouble.” He lowered his voice. “You can even curse in here. I do. See that?” He pointed to two red scabs on the tip of his finger. “A staple went right through. Oh man, lots of cursing ensued, believe me.”

Luke smiled.

“Do you think you can do that?”

“Curse or staple my finger?” Luke asked.

Mr. Hedge laughed. “Ah, a joker. I like. So do you think you can talk to me?”

Could he? If he didn’t want to spend another storm shaking and panting like a frightened dog, he had to do something. “Yes.”

“Great! There’s something I want to talk about right now.”

Uh-oh.
Luke hugged his backpack to his chest, bracing for the questions.

“I want to know all about your science fair project. You built weather instruments that worked. How cool is that?”

Talking to Mr. Hedge wasn’t as bad as Luke had thought. He didn’t know how discussing his science project would help him, but doing
something
felt better than doing nothing.

Luke met with Mr. Hedge twice a week, then headed over to Willajean’s to help with the training.

“No, Lightning. Come on. Pay attention,” Luke yelled in frustration as the white dog wandered off the course yet again.

Megan and Willajean worked Lance nearby. Megan was training him in air scenting. Lightning followed a person’s scent left on the ground, but Lance sniffed the air.

“Dogs see the world through their noses,” Megan had explained. “They have one million scent receptors per nostril. And did you know, people shed about forty thousand dead skin cells a
minute
? That’s so gross, but that’s what Lance is smelling – those skin cells when they’re blown downwind from the person.”

Luke rubbed his fingers along his arm. Losing forty thousand cells a minute sounded like he shouldn’t have any skin left at all. Really gross.

“Nooooo.” Luke groaned as Lightning lay down in the middle of the course again, ignoring him.