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The rest of the walk to the back of Harlow Road was silent. A tense air filled the air over our group of five as we walked along the tracks, not even Teddy and myself spoke a word. There was nothing to say, we were just a few minutes away from seeing a dead body.
Teddy and I's hands remained together. At this point, you might at well have put glue on them, and we wouldn't have noticed a difference. I wasn't sure why he held my hand so often, but, it felt nice. It especially felt that way when he'd give it a squeeze every so often, the we'd look at one another, smiling as if to say 'you got this'.
"Coming through the woods I bet we saved over an hour." Said Chris, breaking the silence.
"Oh, good." I said, looking to Teddy, who did the hand squeeze thing.
A guilty feeling began to rise in my stomach. Ray should be found my the proper authorities, not a gang of twelve to thirteen year old kids who wanted their names in the paper. But, we soon came across a sign that read, Absolutely No Hunting. There was no going back now.
"Hey Teddy, isn't this the back of Harlow Road?" Asked Gordie.
"Yeah." Teddy nodded.
"Well he's out here somewhere. Vern, Teddy, and I will look on this side and you two take the other." I said.
So, we did. We looked along the side of the tracks, and I felt my nails dig into the palms of my hands. It was a nervous tick of mine, anytime I felt scared, I'd clench my fists and dig my nails into my skin. Many times, there were crescent moons left on my palms.
"Look! There he is! I see him" I heard Vern exclaim. We all rushed over, and I gulped as I saw a pair of white keds and blue jeans hung over brush. We knew that the other part of Ray Brower was down there somewhere.
We went down the small hill, all huddled around the brush, Chris leading the way. He took a stick, moving the weeds and brush out of the way to reveal the rest of him. My mouth fell agape as I looked at him. One of his blue eyes looked at his nose while the other looked at the sky, some blood was evident on his face, as at one point it was fresh and dripping from his nose. His light brown hair was sticking in various directions, and his flannel shirt was torn in different placed, revealing a white shirt beneath it. His denim jeans were also torn, and his arms were spread out as if he had laid down to take a nap after fishing from the river.
But Ray Brower wasn't taking a nap after fishing.
Ray Brower was dead.
"Come on, gather up some sticks and we'll build him a stretcher." Said Teddy, and we all looked at Gordie, who was sitting on a log that hung above Ray Brower.
"Why did he have to die?" I heard him ask quietly.
"What's wrong with Gordie?" Teddy asked.
"Nothing, you guys go look for some long branches." Chris said quickly, and we all nodded.
