I woke up to mumbling. Again.
If that boy is dreaming again, I’ll so punch him. I walked across the campsite and saw James rocking back and forth, his head in his hands. Sighing, I put my hand on his shoulder. He jumped.
“You were mumbling again.”He lay back down.
“I’m sorry.” Rolling over, he went back to sleep. Lucky duck. I was awake now, and wouldn’t get back to sleep that morning. We needed to make it into town that day. Not only for what needed done, but for food as well. I dug in my worn-out t-shirt purse for the beat-up wallet with monkeys on it. It contained thirty dollars. That wouldn’t last long.
James shifted on his mat. White-blond hair just like mine covered his light skinned head. Freckles were splattered over his nose, cheeks, and arms, and spreading from so many days in the sun. He was tall, not nearly as tall as Dad, but taller than me. He had chocolate brown eyes and a gentle attitude. My little brother was the best.
Later, I climbed a high rock near the campsite. Settling back in a hollow, I waited for sunrise. The trees stilled and the creatures in the forest held their breath. My breathing stopped momentarily, a hush over the landscape. A barely perceptible light grew out of the eastern trees. The tension built, a silent drum roll. Then the sun made its shy entrance, embarrassed by the flight of birds and praise that rose from the mountainside. The excitement swept me up as well, and I smiled. I didn’t descend the rock until the sun was completely over the trees. It was time to make breakfast.
I returned to camp to find James cooking the last of the Ramen and slicing our boiled eggs to put into the soup.
“Morning, Jamesy.” I bent over to stir the Ramen.
“Morning Annie.” He brought the sliced eggs over and dumped them in. “Watch the sunrise?”
“Yep. It was beautiful.” I poured the broth powder into the soup and thoroughly spread it through.
“I’ll pack up.” He rolled up the mats and packed up the camp stove. He put away matches, folded our clean clothes, and bagged our dirty clothes. I found our bowls and divvied up the soup. We ate quickly and without talking. We talked only when hiking, and barely then. As we donned our small backpacks I heard him mumbling again.
“Jay, you’re mumbling.”
“Sorry.” He started walking and I followed.
“It’s happening more often now.” I looked at his tall pale form. “You wanna talk about it?”
“Not really. I just,” he hesitated, “need more time I guess.” I knew why he mumbled. He was scared by what we were instructed to do.
“Now, kids. Go to the third town you come to on this trail. Find the man who works for the General Store on Tuesday nights. Take this gun and shoot him at midnight. If you don’t, your parents won’t live. Got that?” Short and sweet. Very clear; we had to kill a man. We didn’t know who he was, but we were dead if we didn’t do it. So were Mom and Dad, who were in the Bald Man’s custody. So we went on. Today was Tuesday. One day left to find the town and the man. The sign said we would get there in a mile. James put his hand on his side and felt the pistol. The thought made him visibly sick.
“Annie, how do you think Mom and Dad are?” He asked this all the time.
“Worrying about us. But they should be physically comfortable.” At least, I hope so.
“Do you think they’d want us to do this?” He was twitching now, nervous.
“We don’t have a choice. We’re all dead if we don’t. Just walk in, find out, lay low until midnight, get it over with, and keep hiking.”So simple. Yeah, right.
“Annie, I don’t think I can do this.” He was almost sweating with nervousness. “We don’t even know him.”
“All the better—we won’t be attached.”
“Why do we have to do it? Why did he pick us?”
“I don’t know. That’s not my problem.” Inside, I was terrified. I didn’t want to do this either. I was confused and wanted answers. But I was the big sister and I couldn’t be weak.
There was a fair in town. We decided to wait until evening to find out who the victim was. The less time we knew, the less the face would haunt us. We got some cotton candy and tried to forget our mission. James had gone to a haunted house when someone bumped into me.
“Sorry!” A young man about seventeen apologized profusely. “I didn’t see you there.” I smiled. He was tall with dark hair and dark eyes that seemed lighted from within. His smile was sweet and reassuring. Oh dear, I thought, I can’t like anyone here.
“It’s okay,” I found myself saying, “it’s a bit crowded here.” He smiled again, melting my insides.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here.” His southern drawl sounded so sweet to my ears. I took a bite of cotton candy.
“My brother and I are just passing through.”
“Where’s your brother?”
“I’m right here.” We both jumped. James looked suspiciously at my new friend. “Who are you?”
“My name’s John. John Carlson. I live here. And you guys?”
“I’m James and this is Annie.”
“Nice to meet you James and Annie.” His smile was so natural it put me at ease. “You want to know what’s fun?”
“What?” Both of us said at the same time.
“The corn maze. Come on, I’ll show you.” He turned and beckoned us to follow. James and I exchanged nervous glances and followed. John was right—it was a blast. I actually forgot what I had to do that afternoon. Turns out John was kind of shy and quiet. I was trying to find James around noon when I bumped into him again.
“Sorry.” I reached up and picked a piece of straw out of his hair. The whole place was covered in it. He turned red.
“It’s ok. So where y’all from?” My heart started pounding harder. That was a dangerous question.
“East. It’s a long story. You?”
“Born right here in town. You got anywhere to stay tonight?”
“No. but we’ll be ok. We’ve been camping for a few days now.” We’ll be gone soon after midnight. Please don’t say—“Why don’t y’all come over? My parents wouldn’t mind much.” Shoot. I didn’t want to worry them. We were becoming too attached.
“I need to talk to James.” He’d never agree.
“All right. I’ll go find my folks. Meet me at the General Store?”
“I guess.” What could it hurt?
“Alrighty. See y’all then.” My goodness he was hot. Snap out of it, Annie. James came out of the corn. Shoot, he was listening.
“Annie, maybe we should tell them.”
“And get our whole family killed? No. Why’d he have to ask us to stay with him?”
“We should do it so they won’t be suspicious. They won’t know we left before sunrise.”
“It’s risky.” He needs to feel human, I guessed.
“I want to sleep in a bed, Annie.”
“Fine. We’ll go to the General Store, then.”
“Thanks, Annie.” I took his hand and walked out of the maze. I asked the lady at the cotton candy stand where the General Store was. Neither one of us wanted to go to the General Store, but I had had enough. The Bald Man meant business. If we backed out now, death would be the least of our worries. I glanced around and felt my breath catch in my throat. The Bald Man was there, in line for Kettle Korn. James looked completely terrified as we stood there, five feet from the General Store.
“Hey guys!” We both jumped and whirled around. John was startled by our reaction. “Um, Dad said y’all could come over tonight.”
“Well, we’ll come over. A bed would be nice for once.” We looked at each other and finally started laughing at our own absurdity.
“Let’s put your packs in the house, then.” John said between laughs as the laughter died down. We complied, walking down the street to an out-of-the-way house. “What do your folks do?”
“Mom is a writer. Dad is a pastor.” I said hesitantly.
“Cool. What church?”
“An Adventist church somewhere East. You’ve never heard of it.” James said with a sign practically shouting Go No Further.
“And what does your mom write?”
“Historic Fiction. I doubt you’ve heard of her either.”
“Cool. I love history.” My stomach fluttered again.
“That’s cool. Which part?”
“American. Mainly the Civil War.”
“Ah.” My heart was pounding. I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted to confide in him, to get to know him better. Just keep him talking. “So John, you have any siblings?”
“Naw. It’s just me and my folks.”
“How old are you?” Keep the questions going.
“’Bout seventeen. And y’all?”
“I’m sixteen. James is thirteen.” I hesitated to say.
“So he’s your little brother.”
“Yeah, the best.”Come on, Annie, think… He opened the door and led us inside his house.
“Hey Mom, I’m home.” A lady with white-blond hair and dark eyes like John’s stepped out of the kitchen.
“Hey John. Who’s this?” She smiled at us, instantly putting me at ease.
“That’s Annie and James. Dad said that they could spend the night.” He walked over to his mom and hugged her. My heart twinged and I flinched. I missed my Mommy. “Should I put ‘em in the guest room?”
“Go ahead, son.” She went back into the kitchen and John took us back further in the house. He opened a door in the back of a hallway and led us into a small cottage-like bedroom. One bed, a night desk, a small lamp, and a dresser adorned the space.
“I know it’s small,” John was saying, “I wish I-”
“It’s perfect.” It was better than the couch I was expecting, and it made me want to cry. A clean bed, an actual desk, being indoors, was too much for me to take in at once. He smiled at us.
“Supper’s at six. I think we’re ordering pizza.”
“Sounds great.” I looked at James. He hadn’t spoken for a while.
“Yeah. Sounds good.” He was nervous. I looked at my watch. One o’clock. John left the room as I put my backpack on the bed. I had carried it around all day and my shoulders were knotting up. I flopped onto the bed when my stomach growled. John had just walked back into the room to ask us something. He laughed. He is so hot.
“Let’s get you some lunch then.” I nodded embarrassed and a good deal red. I grabbed my purse and jumped off the bed. James tried to cover his chuckle. John led us out of the house and back into town. James took my hand again. “So what do y’all want? Chinese? Mexican?”
“How about Subway?” I said, mainly because we hadn’t had vegetables in days. I had seen it on the way to meet John.
“Alrightey then.” We went in and I handed over the money for my Veggie Delite™ and James’s turkey sub. We sat down out of sight of any windows and started eating. John joined us shortly afterwards.
“So what brings y’all here?” He asked. I already had a story for him.
“We’re on a hiking trip for Spring Break. We’ll probably go on a few more days, then find a pay phone and tell Mom and Dad to pick us up.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah. We get up before sunrise.”
“Do you like watching the sunrise?” My heart jumped and my stomach fluttered.
“Yes. Yes I do.” I blushed again. That was an honest answer I’d given him. Not hiding anything. The Honest Truth.
“I do too.” Why do I have to love him? He was blushing.
“That’s cool.” Lamest answer ever, loser. I stood jerkily and asked to be excused. I walked down the short hallway to the bathroom when a lone figure caught my eye. The Bald Man was staring straight at me through the window from across the street. Just staring, his eyes cold and piercing. I sprinted to the bathroom and splashed my face with water. We had a mission and I was getting sidetracked.
I came back and sat down. John took one look at my pale face and quickly asked, “Annie, are you ok?” I replied that I was fine. James elbowed me.
“Can we go to the General Store?” He asked. He was crossing his arms with his hand touching his side. The side with the gun. He looked sick.
“Sure. You ok? You look sick.” He looked at both of us, worried.
“I’ll be fine. Just want to know what they have.” Poor James, He would never get better. Not after tonight. We walked out of Subway and over to the General Store.
“My dad’s working here tonight, so he’ll help you find whatever you need.” James and I froze.
“’Scuse me?” I said barely above a whisper. My throat had gone dry. No, it can’t be.
“My dad works here Tuesday and Thursday nights ‘cause Justin Guffy can’t work all the days of the week.” He continued, telling us how Guffy was retired and old and stuff, but I didn’t hear him. I was stunned. The Bald Man sent us not to kill some crooked man but a father. I looked down the street and saw the Bald Man again. My heart froze. He wouldn’t hesitate to kill us if we even thought about squealing. “Hey, are y’all listening?”
“What? Oh,” I blushed, “Sorry. Zoned out. You know every time you zone out there’s a mini seizure in your brain?” I was talking fast and high. I was scared now. The weight of our task finally hit home.
“No, I didn’t know that.” He said as he opened the door, still smiling. The man at the counter had that same genuine smile.
“John, who is this?”
“Dad, this is Annie and James. James looks a bit sick, so I was wondering what you had for it.”
“Well James, can you describe exactly what’s wrong?” James looked at me like ‘well, my heart is banging around and my stomach doesn’t like me and I agree with my stomach.’ He worded it better.
“I feel nauseous and jittery.”
“Nausea we can help. John, you know where it is.” John’s face lit up with knowledge as he took off down one of the aisles. “What’s making you jittery?” Groan, why’d you have to ask that?
“Maybe you’re just excited.” I hastily replied. I looked at the window. Bad move. The Bald Man was there. He beckoned me. “I’m, um, getting dizzy. I think I need some fresh air.” I walked out the door and followed the Bald Man into an abandoned alley. He was built like a football player and had fewer manners.
“Are you thinking of chickening out?” His voice sounded mockingly sweet.
“No sir.” My eyes memorized the exact placement of each pebble on the road. He whirled around and grabbed my bare arms with his meaty paws.
“You lie.” Spittle flew from his mouth, his nose was inches from my nose. “You were gonna tell him, weren’t you?” I winced.
“Why do you want to kill him? He’s a father!”
“Because he ruined my life.” He was practically growling, his beady eyes mad with fury. “I have spent years tracking down this man, concocting a plan. You think I’d let a kid like you ruin that?!” He picked me up off the ground and threw me across the alley. I landed hard against the wall and landed in a heap. “At midnight, I’ll have him here. You and your brat of a brother be here with the gun and shoot him. Or your parents are dead. Are we clear?” I had no breath to answer. He stalked up to me and yelled in my face. “ARE WE CLEAR?!” He slapped me, hard. I whimpered and nodded, my eyes shut tight. “Good.” He picked me up and whispered in my ear. “I’m glad we had this discussion.” He laughed a sickening laugh and walked away. I collapsed and rocked back and forth, mumbling like James often did.
“Where’d she go?” James. James was looking for me. I let one tear slip. What was I going to do?
I got up and wiped my face. Checking my breathing, I walked into the light. I planned out what I would say and wiped my scared-spit-less look off my face.
“Sorry guys! I got distracted.” I smiled at them. James looked panicked and relieved, almost about to cry. He quickly regained his composure.
“You scared me.” He gave me a big hug. He had seen the Bald Man too.
“I’m sorry, Jamesy. Hey, I have somewhere to show you at midnight.” He stiffened. John looked at his watch.
“We should get going. Supper’ll be soon. Dad’s coming later, and then we’ll see the fireworks.”
“Fireworks?” I said, allowing myself some excitement.
“Yeah. Every year we have them at the fair as well as at the Fourth of July.” He looked at me, fully interested in what I had to say. “You like fireworks?”
“Yeah.” I blushed again. Another honest answer. My feelings for him made my job that much harder. I pushed them down. He opened his house door and smiled at me. My stomach fluttered. I motioned James into the back room. John called out.
“I’ll get you guys when supper’s ready, ok?”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I flashed him a smile. I shut the door and flopped onto the bed with a groan, again. James sat down and pulled me into a hug.
“You like him, don’t you?” He asked.
“Yes. It’s not helping me.” I groaned again. “What are we going to do?” He shook his head. He didn’t know.
“What did the Bald Man have to say?” I looked up at him, tears in my eyes.
“He’s not gonna back down. We’re gambling our lives here, James, and our parents’ lives.” I sighed loudly. “I don’t know what to do. Doesn’t help that I like him.”
“I approve of him.” I looked up at him again, startled.
“You do?” Earning James’s approval as a potential beaux was no easy task.
“Yeah. He’s better than Thomas.” Thomas was an unofficial boyfriend of mine back home. I’d break up with him, but we weren’t going out. I didn’t like him anymore and James hated him. “John is a good match for you.” High praise.
“James, I have an idea.”
Supper was good. I told John to keep his dad in sight.
“Why?” He looked at me quizzically.
“I have a bad feeling. Just keep an eye on him all night, ok?” He looked confused, but accepted. His dad came home about halfway through the dinner of pizza. He was so nice, I felt sure my plan would work.
We all went to the fireworks, fireworks that put ours to shame. I went to check the time when it was late and ran into John. We blushed and started laughing.
“Sorry, again. This seems to be a habit of mine.” He said, lights and colors washing over his face.
“It's ok. My fault this time. I’m so clumsy.” He laughed. Then we got quiet. I couldn’t help but stare into his eyes and smile my goofy love-struck grin. An extra-large explosion that sounded like a gunshot made me cower into his large frame. Shocked, he put his arms around me. My heart threatened to leap out of my chest.
“You ok, Annie?”
“You don’t know what’s going on, John. Your dad is in trouble, and I can’t tell you why.” I was crying. “John, you would hate me if you knew what I had to do.”
“What are you talking about, Annie?” He loosened his arms a tad and looked me in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m a horrible, rotten person who doesn’t deserve to be trusted.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’ve lied to you today. I need to do something tonight. Mom and Dad are not going to pick us up in a few days. We’re not on a hike.” I broke down.
“Annie, calm down.” I looked up again. “I don’t blame you.” That’s when I remembered why I ran into him in the first place.
“What time is it?”
“Eleven-forty-five.” My eyes widened.
“I have to go.”
“Why?” He looked confused.
“I can’t tell you. Go check on your dad, ok?”
“Okay.” He turned to leave. That’s when I had to ask, otherwise my heart would burst.
“And John?”
“Yeah?” He turned and looked back at me.
“Do you trust me?”
“I know you’ll do the right thing.” He didn’t want to let me go.
“Thanks.” And I took off.
I ran to pick up James and didn’t stop running till we got to the alley.
“I don’t know how much time we have left, but go now and you might make it.” I took the pistol and handed him the one I had gotten in the last town from a worried old lady. She had given it to me for self-protection. If I didn’t have the Bald Man’s gun, however, he’d flip out. I took a deep breath and made sure it was loaded. I heard loud arguing and looked up.
“IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT THAT I LOST THAT JOB! YOU DID NOTHING TO HELP ME, YOU MADE FUN OF ME ALONG WITH THE REST OF THEM!” Bald Man’s voice was clear. I regulated my breathing and slipped into the ‘Annie’ I had prepared.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Leroy. I tried to be your friend all along.” Leroy? I almost giggled.
“YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHAT YOU DID, YOU LYING CHEAT! I WILL NEVER TRUST YOU, YOU SCUM!” Those weren’t the exact words he said, but I’d rather not repeat them. Leroy’s fat, heavy lips parted in a grotesque smile as he saw me. “But you will pay, and you pay tonight.”
“What?” Mr. Carlson looked at me with his clear blue eyes. “Annie? What are you doing here? This man’s crazy, run away!” I smiled the creepiest smile I could muster.
“Run away? Why would I do that? He won’t hurt me.” I smiled wider, getting into my role. I lifted the gun. “I feel sorry for you, however.” His eyes widened in confusion. Leroy laughed. He laughed long and hard.
“Annie! Don’t do it!” James’s voice rung out above us. Right on time. Leroy snarled.
“You have two minutes, Annie.” He growled at me.
“Annie, listen to me! Don’t you love John?”
“Of course I do. But I also love Mom and Dad. Besides,” I grinned, “John’ll never know.”
“Annie, I’ll jump off this building if you don’t drop that gun.” James went to the edge of the building.
“Don’t make me shoot you too, Jamesy.” I snarled. “That would be a shame.”
“So you won’t give up?”
“Never.” My lip curled back as I lowered my arm at Mr. Carlson. John rounded the corner just then.
“Annie!” I rolled my eyes, hiding the fact that I was extremely scared for him.
“Don’t come any closer, John.”
“What are you doing?”
“My job.” James jumped off the roof and landed in the shadow. A CRACK reverberated through the alley. “Idiot.” John looked at me, hurt stinging his eyes. I nearly broke character. “My business is not with you, John. Leave.” I fired the gun several times, being careful not to hit anyone. Leroy ducked. That’s when James, who had snuck up behind Mr. Carlson, hit him behind the knees. He took blood from the haunted house and smeared it on the man’s shirt. He then motioned for John to run and for Mr. Carlson to play dead.
“I think you can let my parents go now.” I said, sounding homicidal. This was the hard part.
“But if you and James are gone, I can tie up all the loose ends.” This is what I expected of him. I smiled.
“Check again. I think you’ll agree with me. I win, not you.” He looked down and saw he was the one who had a gun pointed to his head. James.
“You can’t do this. You kids wouldn’t.”
“Who would know?”
“You wouldn’t.” I pulled the trigger at the same time James did. He was shot in the jaw and the leg. He would bleed to death if not found. And he would never talk again. I went over and moved the mattresses James had landed on and shoved Leroy in the middle. I don’t know how I had seen them before, but I had. I called the ambulance on a payphone and notified them of a shooting. One injured, none dead. This way I wouldn’t be a killer. This way my conscience could rest.
“Nice trick with the stick, James.”
“Thanks.” John walked around the corner again. I ran up and hugged him as Mr. Carlson got up and demanded an explanation from James.
“John, I did the right thing. I did the right thing.” I broke into sobs. “John, I’m sorry I lied.”
“It’s ok, Annie. I never doubted you.” I collapsed into his arms, weeping. “And I never will.”
