Unleashed (16 page)

No one ever came into the library while she was there, until Friday morning. She was bent over a low shelf of books, running a feather duster over the neglected volumes, when she was startled by a voice.

“Hey.”

She spun around, feather duster in hand. It was Beau from history. He held up his hands. “Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.”

She smiled and lowered the duster. “Hi. You’re the first person I’ve seen in here since I started coming.”

“Are you doing some kind of extra credit?” He walked in and looked around at the progress she had made in her tidying project. “Cleaning up?”

“I was looking for a book about the history of Wolf Springs, but it’s missing. Then I kind of got into straightening up.” She remembered his insistence that the cause of Haley’s death had not been revealed. She recalled how angry he’d been about it, and how it had seemed almost like he’d wanted to tell her something.

“You and Cordelia are working on a lost silver mine,” he said.

Mr. Henderson had begun announcing which project topics he’d approved. She and Cordelia had gotten the go-ahead to work on theirs.

“Yes,” she said slowly, “but what I’m looking for is information about something else. I read about something really creepy that lurks in the woods. I know it’s silly, but it’s interesting.”

He blinked. He studied her, then nervously licked his lips.

“Of course, you don’t believe stuff like that, coming from the big city and all,” he said slowly. “You probably think we’re a bunch of hicks with our superstitions.…” He trailed off and averted his gaze. “Because we
are
hicks, I guess.”

“Not at all,” she said, inwardly wincing at how she and Kimi still made fun of Banjo Land. “The other day, you were going to say something about your grandmother,” she said gently. “And … Haley.”

He swallowed hard. “Haley,” he whispered. “
God
.”

“You didn’t seem to agree with what people are saying happened to her.” She was careful how she phrased her words. She didn’t want to seem eager to talk about it. But she wanted to know.

She watched his face go gray. He sank slowly onto the edge of the abandoned librarian’s desk. Then he shook his head.

“This stays between us,” he said. “Deal?”

She nodded. “Sure,” she said.

He managed a small smile. Then it fell. “My grandma says what happened … it wasn’t just a random animal attack. She says that Haley was just the first. That it’s starting again.”

Katelyn waited, scared that if she broke the silence, he’d stop talking. Then finally, after a minute or so, she asked, “
What’s
starting again?”

He cleared his throat and moved his shoulders. Time was slipping by. The bell was going to ring any second, and she knew it would kill his confessional mood.

“She said about forty years ago, there was a bunch of attacks around here. ‘People tore up.’ That’s how she put it. Animals in the forest just went into a frenzy and killed anybody they crossed. And about fifty years before that, same thing.” He looked hard at her.

“Why? What made them do it?” she asked.

“She didn’t know. Nobody knew. Things were different back then. Wolf Springs was more cut off—if you can believe that—and folks kept to themselves. Mountain folks, superstitious and standoffish. They only talked about it in whispers. Everybody was scared. No one knew what to do—except go huntin’,” he added. “Folks shot every wolf and bear they found. But it didn’t help. People kept dying.”

Ed must have heard about this
, she realized, the thought of all that carnage—both human and animal—turning her stomach. Her dad would have been a little kid.

“Grandma says Wolf Springs is a banked fire. There’s things here shouldn’t be crossed. If something stokes the embers, flames are gonna burn this whole place down.”

Katelyn shivered. “Something like what?”

He shrugged. “Don’t know. Grandma doesn’t know, either. I asked her. But she’s scared to death. Good thing she lives with us.” He gestured to the shelf she’d been dusting. “Maybe that’s why your book is gone. Maybe it said something about all this.”

“But why would someone want to hide it?” she asked carefully.

“So we won’t panic? I dunno. The mayor and all them are trying to keep Wolf Springs from dying.” He blinked, as if he’d just realized what he’d said. “I mean, dying as a town. We’re so cut off. We don’t have a lot of jobs and there’s nothing for us teenagers to do. When that Bronson guy started that wolf retreat, folks started crossing their fingers that things would get better.”

“It’s a really cute town,” she offered. “If it was easier to get to, I could see tourists coming here.”

He nodded. “But my grandma says the fewer people come here, the better.” He swallowed hard, and the stricken look came over his features again. “At least, until this is over.”

The bell rang and he jerked as if waking from a trance. “Walk you to history?”

“Sure,” she said. “Thanks.”

As they left the library, he murmured, “You didn’t hear any of this from me. My grandma made me promise to keep it to myself. She threatened to tan my hide when she found out I brought it up in class.”

“Why?”

“She said she knows when to keep her mouth shut.”

“Wow,” Katelyn said, and he nodded.

As they walked down the hall, Mike Wright glared at them both.

“McBride!” he sneered. “Forgot your deodorant? I can smell you from here!”

Katelyn rolled her eyes and ignored him, focusing back on Beau.

“Why’d you tell me this?” Katelyn asked Beau quietly.

“ ’Cuz you’re not from around here,” he replied without hesitation. “And if I was you, I’d get out of Wolf Springs as fast as I could.”

“Yeah,” Katelyn murmured. “It’s on my to-do list.”

Mr. Henderson lectured the entire class time, so Katelyn never got the chance to tell Cordelia about her conversation with Beau. Then, on the way to gym and at lunch, they were surrounded by people. It seemed the new girl had been accepted, but Katelyn was dying to ditch the group and see what Cordelia thought about everything.

Cordelia had to go home before she went to Katelyn’s, so when the final bell rang, Katelyn walked to Trick’s car for her ride. He had a cardboard box, which he stowed in the back.

“Some art supplies,” he explained. “For this thing I’m doing.”

“Cool,” she said, waiting to hear more. But mysterious Trick remained silent.

“Listen, I heard this weird story,” she said, eager to tell
someone
. “Every forty or fifty years, there’s a rash of animal attacks.” She looked at him to see his reaction.

He eyed her askance. “Who told you that? Babette?”

“Who’s Babette?” she asked.

“Who are you, Nancy Drew?” he asked with a guffaw. “I’m sorry, Kat. I don’t mean to make fun—it’s no weirder than half the other stories I’ve heard. But there’s been one death by animal attack.
One.
”

“Things like that don’t really happen in Santa Monica,” she said quietly. “But we have other kinds of … I mean, people die.” Her voice caught.

“I know, darlin’,” he said gently. He peered at her. “Haley died because she crossed something in the forest.”

She nodded, even though her pulse quickened when he called her “darlin’.” “And about that ‘something.’ The priests who settled Wolf Springs said that something evil lived in the forest. They said they shunned the forest because of it.”

“Big bad wolf. Big bad bear. Take your pick.”

“You have no imagination,” she said, chiding him.

“And you have too much,” he retorted.

When Trick dropped her home, he offered to stay until Cordelia came. But despite being tempted—and a little freaked out by Beau’s story—she passed. She hadn’t been alone, truly alone, since her mom died, and she was looking forward to an hour just to
be
before Cordelia arrived.

And maybe, just maybe, she was a little shy about being alone with him.…

As soon as he’d gone, she closed the door, locked it, and stared at the cabin. Freedom, no one to watch or hear her. She had the urge to go crazy, jump on the furniture, scream her head off just because she could. Another part of her, though, felt like it was going to collapse. There was no one to put on a brave face for, no one to please or avoid or figure out. There was just her.

And the sound of a motorcycle coming through the woods.

The roar of the engine grew louder and louder, droning in from the left side of the cabin. Then finally it caromed around to the front and stopped. Curious, and a little trepidatious, she cracked open the door and looked outside.

With the engine throbbing in idle, Justin Fenner straddled his bike. His boots were on the ground, and the slanting sun caught the gold highlights in his hair.

Her heart stuttered.
What is he doing here
?

She opened the door and stepped out on the porch just as he turned off the engine, dropped his kickstand, and dismounted.

“Hey, Kat,” he said. He made his way to the bottom of the steps and stopped.

She stared down at him, wondering if he could tell how fast her heart was beating.

“Hey, Justin,” she managed to get out. It felt like she couldn’t catch her breath, but she forced herself to take a beat before continuing. “Where’s Cordelia?”

“Her daddy sprang something last-minute on her, and she’s going to be late. She didn’t know your home phone number, so I volunteered to come over and give you the message.”

She felt an unreasonable disappointment that he was just a messenger. For one crazy moment she had thought he’d come to see her. “Thanks,” she said, taking a deep breath. “That was a long way to come just to deliver a message.”

“Not. Considering,” he replied.

Her knees felt like they were turning to jelly. “Sorry?”

“I wanted to see you.”

“Oh.” It was all that she could think to say. She knew she should at least invite him onto the porch but was tongue tied. The silence was stretching on too long, and her mind raced, searching for words. Anything.

“Cool bike,” she said, and immediately wanted to kick herself.

“Wanna ride?” Justin asked, eyes burning through her until she felt herself flush from head to toe.

She nodded silently, because her mouth had suddenly gone dry. She closed the door and walked down the steps until she was next to him.

He peeled off his leather jacket and helped her put it on; then he pulled her hair out of the collar. She shivered as his fingertips brushed her neck and he turned her around slowly. The fabric of his T-shirt stretched tight across his chest and abs. She put a hand on his chest, stunned by her own boldness. He smiled down at her and she could feel the blood rushing through her body, until every part of her was pulsing in rhythm with the rise and fall of his chest, beneath her fingers. All she wanted was to kiss him.

He took her hand and pulled her to the bike, and she slid on behind him and thrilled as their legs touched. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his back. He smelled like the forest around them, and more—trees and earth, wild and untamed.

With a roar they were off, forsaking the road and racing through a narrowed clearing among the trees. Tears stung her eyes as he twisted and turned. Her blood sang as time and again, he saved them from crashing with his lightning reflexes. In California there was thousands of miles of roads, endless asphalt and concrete. Here there was none, just dirt and leaves that sprayed out from underneath the churning wheels.

She squeezed her eyes shut but then forced them open again because she didn’t want to miss a single moment. The vibrations and roar of the bike, the feel of his shirt against her cheek became her whole world as they hurtled together through the lengthening shadows.

At last he spun to a stop in a circle of level ground ringed by giant trees. Piles of fallen leaves filled the space. He climbed off the bike and helped her down. Her legs were shaky as he led her to the nearest pile of leaves, their faces inches from each other.

“Did I scare you?” he asked as he reached over and pushed a strand of her hair away from her eyes.