The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones

Chapter Five

        The forest paths were greatest gift that Juniper Jones could have ever given Ethan Charlie Harper. That Sunday morning, he needed the time to think. The sun had slept in and was only just beginning to clear the trees at nine A.M., as he strapped on a pair of Keds and took off jogging down the lane.

        For the first time since arriving in Ellison, he had spoken to his parents.

        It was Father's Day. Ethan knew this, but thought maybe the rest of the world would forget about it long enough for him to escape for an early jog. But Aunt Cara had panicked when she'd found his bed empty the previous morning, and now she was watching his every move. At breakfast only half an hour before, she had stood by the table until he had downed every last grain of his cereal, then pointed to the phone on the counter.

        "Call your father," she'd ordered.

        After Ethan had turned the dial to the correct number, it seemed to take ages before the operator had connected him long distance to his family back in Washington. His feet were itching for a year-long run, but at the sound of his father's voice answering the phone, he was struck with sudden homesickness.

        "Hello?"

        "Dad," he mumbled, his voice hoarse. "Happy Father's Day. I just—I just wanted to call to uh, to say that."

        In the past two weeks, Ethan had forced into his mind an image of his parents as monsters who had forced him into Ellison to endure a personal hell. It had only been a matter of days, but he seemed to have forgotten that they were human.

        Then his dad said, warmly, "Thank you, son," and Ethan nearly broke down in tears.

        He made small talk with his dad for the better part of fifteen minutes before he heard his mom's voice in the background and she asked to speak with him. The first thing he heard was her soft breathing on the other end of the line.

        "Hi, Mom," he said.

        It was a moment before she responded, and when she did, it was with a sigh. "Oh, Ethan. We miss you."

        Ethan swallowed hard and leaned against the counter top. "Yeah. I miss you guys, too. Even the twins. I—how's it going? How's everyone?"

        "Good," she murmured, and he could hear her nod. "Everyone is good."

        He breathed in her silence. "And Sam?" he asked, after a long moment of hesitation. "How is Sam?"

        His mother said nothing for a very long time. Then: "He's just the same. Poor boy."

        Ethan had clenched his fists.

        He clenched them again, here, on the forest path, and let his nails dig into his palms. The sharp pain against his skin cleared his head more than even the fresh air ever could. Stupid, reckless Samuel Hill.

        He ran harder, his feet pounding against the dusty path, beating footprints into the lifeless dirt. He could practically feel the grime coating his bright white sneakers, but he ignored it. This dirt would be his battle scars when he returned to track and field in September. He'd tell the boys back home that he'd outrun a horrid beast on this winding stretches. A three-headed, well-dressed beast named Noah, Courtney, and Alex. He gritted his teeth. Ran harder.

        He had almost asked her why—his mother, that is—but he'd held his tongue. What did he want an explanation for, really? Why they had to send him here? That would be a start. But also, why they had never told him of the world outside Arcadia, why they hid their past and this present—why he had so many gaps in his knowledge. He hadn't been sure where to begin. He still wasn't.