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After Addy finished washing the dinner dishes and put them away for the umpteenth time, she decided to get a dishwasher. Her grandmother had considered most household appliances the devil’s work and refused to buy anything to make her life easier. These frivolous items cost a lot, and if they broke down, she’d need to spend even more money to have them repaired. As a result, the only modern conveniences in the house were electricity and running water, put in when Addy and her brother came to live with her. The state of Maryland insisted that she install these if she expected to remain the children’s guardian.
After Grandma Adelaide added showers and toilets, she continued to expand the house. She still used the outhouse in the backyard and bathed in a wash tub filled with water she heated on the wood-burning stove, but she became enthusiastic about architecture when she realized what fun construction work could be. She did much of the work herself, learning from books she borrowed from the library. It was hard, physical labor, the kind her grandmother was used to and loved. By the time of her death, she had added four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a family room.
And when Tommy decided to stay in the tree house permanently, she ran plumbing, heating, and electricity up the old oak and installed insulation. She expanded his small room and added a tiny kitchenette and bathroom.
Addy dried her hands on the dish towel and stood at the kitchen sink, gazing out into the night to see if Tommy was okay.
Things were going well, with the new tenants and the house already in much better condition. She needed to get her real estate in Oakland on the market and determined to call her realtor in California the next morning. Right now, she hoped her savings and the income from the tenants would be enough for them until the house sold. She considered hunting for another job, but the town was small and businesses scarce, so she knew salaries would be low. Perhaps doing people’s taxes might help, but tax season was a long way off. She couldn’t leave Tommy alone all day anyway—someone needed be around to fix his meals and keep an eye on him. Fern still worked, and Addy didn’t feel right about asking Chauncey.
Staring out the window again, she wondered if Tommy was awake. It was still early. Maybe she should spend some time with him. She wanted to be sure all the changes in his life weren’t too much of a strain, and besides, she was a little lonely. She tossed the dish towel onto the counter and wandered out the back door.
“Tommy? Tommy, are you awake?”
Not waiting for a response, she climbed the oak and scrambled to the door, knocking briefly before she went inside.
“Tommy?” She groped in the dark until she found the switch to Tommy’s bedside lamp. His bed was empty and Tommy nowhere in sight.
“Tommy, where are you?”
She began to shake and she panicked, thinking something bad had happened to him. Maybe she should call the police. That meant calling Karen, and while her body instantly perked up, her mind rebelled. She forced herself to calm down and think clearly.
She didn’t see any signs of distress in the room. In fact, Tommy’s bed was neatly made. Could he have voluntarily left his tree house? He never went down, but then, who would pay any attention to him at night when everyone was in bed? She rushed to the window with its open shutters. The half-moon reflecting off the water provided enough light for her to see, and she squinted into the darkness. After a few moments, she detected movement down by the water, and she ran to the platform and stumbled down the ladder.
She sprinted to the pine trees and into the tall grass dotting the inlet banks, at one point tripping and falling to her knees in the mud. Pausing only for an instant, she scrambled to her feet and trod more carefully near the water’s edge.
“Tommy? Tommy, where are you?” Please, oh, please, God. Where is he? Tommy was her baby brother, whom she had held in her arms as a little girl, if for only a few moments. She had loved him like a favorite doll then, and as they grew older he became her best friend and confidant. When they lost their parents, they had had only one another, and they had defended each other.
“Caw, caw! Over here, Addy.”
His voice washed over her so rapidly that her knees nearly gave out. Stepping cautiously into the weedy grass, she reached an opening where the ground had been trampled and found Tommy standing next to a mound of dirt, a large branch in his hands. She rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank God you’re all right. What in the world are you doing out here? Are you okay?” Her words tumbled out, and she breathed deeply to calm herself. Her sudden release of tension made it difficult to stand.
“I could kill you, Tommy. Don’t ever do this again without telling me. It’s dangerous. You could drown and I’d never know it. What are you doing out here in the dark?”
Tommy pointed to the mound of dirt. “He’s dead, just like Grandma.”
Confused, Addy stared at the pile of earth.
“What? Who’s dead? What are you talking about?”
“The man with the camera. He was playing hide-and-seek, but he’s not very good at it. And look, he’s dead just like Grandma. Do you think he’s with the angels now too, Addy?”
The night sky and bright moon created a surreal landscape, as though Addy were dreaming or moving through water. She tripped over something—a pair of feet sticking out from the mud. She pressed a fist to her mouth, suppressing the scream and bile that rushed to her throat. Unable to comprehend the horrific scene before her, she stared at Tommy instead, and for the longest time, she tried to process exactly what was going on. He held the branch in his hands, as if he had either clubbed the man with it or was using it to cover up the body.
“Tommy…what…what are you doing?”
He grinned, his teeth gleaming even in the darkness.
“I’m burying him. I tried covering up his head better. It was kind of bashed in, so I put more mud on it. I was going to put some grass on his legs so all of him would be buried—just like Grandma. But I scratched myself on this limb. I think I got a splinter in my hand too. Can you get it out, Addy?”
He held up his hand and she automatically moved closer.
Holding it, she stared at his palm, unseeing, so she shook her head to clear it. Everything was happening so suddenly, and she couldn’t quite grasp what was going on and what Tommy’s role in it was. She felt numb yet shivered violently in the warm summer air.
Kneeling beside the body, she felt hopefully for a pulse, but found none.
“Tommy, let’s go back to the house so I can take care of your hand.”
“But what about him? I need to finish burying him.”
“Not tonight. Come on, Tommy. I need to think about this.”
Taking his arm, she dragged him along, half leaning on him for support. She started to take him into the house, but he pulled back, insisting on returning to his tree house. She nodded dully, and after getting some first-aid cream, tweezers, and a bandage, she followed him. He sat on his bed, staring at his hands, the bedside lamp shining brightly like a beacon in the darkness.
Sitting next to him, she said, “Let me see.”
His hands were covered in blood, much more than a simple sliver of wood could ever produce. Her heart stopped beating and she couldn’t move.
“Oh, Tommy. What did you do?”
“I got a splinter when I accidentally dropped the club on the man. I didn’t mean to, Addy. Is my hand going to be okay?”
Addy couldn’t keep from shaking. She held on to Tommy’s hands, unable to let go of them. Finally, she got up and poured a bowl full of water from the pitcher on the table. Grabbing a towel, she began to wash his hands. The water in the bowl turned bright red, and she scrubbed his hands roughly, trying to rid him of the stain.
“Ow! Addy, you’re hurting me.”
“I’m sorry.” She stilled her hands. Finding a small sliver in his thumb, she removed it with the tweezers, then applied the medication and bandage. “Tommy, listen to me very carefully. You need to stay here in your tree house. Don’t leave it for a while, because I don’t want you to get your hands dirty. You could get a bad infection. And if anyone asks you about the man down by the water, don’t say anything. Even if it’s the police, say that you don’t know anything about the man. You never saw him before, okay?”
“But if Karen asks, it’s okay then, right? She’s my friend. And Jeff Olson, he’s my friend too.”
Addy shook her head. “No. Promise you won’t say a word to anyone and that you’ll stay right here. I mean it, Tommy. This is very important. Say it.”
“I promise.”
“Now, go to sleep, and don’t climb down again tonight. Good night, Tommy.” She kissed his forehead and left him sitting on his bed.
Back in the house, she sat down at the kitchen table, shaking uncontrollably. What should she do? Perhaps call Karen, tell her everything and that Tommy couldn’t be held accountable for his actions. He didn’t even understand most of what he did. Hell, he thought he was a bird, had believed it since he was a boy. After his parents disappeared, he had climbed up into the tree house and never budged—at least that’s what everyone believed. But he did indeed come down, and for what purposes she could only guess!
She glimpsed her nearby cell phone. She should call Karen.
She’d know what to do. Just thinking of Karen here in the room, with her quiet strength, taking charge of the situation, as she had so many times in the past, calmed her. Karen had been with her when Addy had found out about her parents, and even though they were just children, she seemed to know how to make things right.
And Karen had been her first love, leading her gently into the unknown world of self-discovery. She had shielded Addy against the people shocked by their relationship and defended Tommy from the taunts and fists of other boys. Karen was her champion, like those she read about in fairy tales, and she had believed in her without question.
In that instant, she almost reached for the phone. But she was exhausted and still needed to mentally process the evening’s events. What would happen to Tommy if he were arrested and convicted of murder? He would never survive. Addy had to defend him from the real world. Maybe she would be able to think more clearly in the morning. After that, she would call Karen.
Äàòà äîáàâëåíèÿ: 2015-09-11; ïðîñìîòðîâ: 21 | Ïîìîæåì íàïèñàòü âàøó ðàáîòó | Íàðóøåíèå àâòîðñêèõ ïðàâ |