A raven's secret

The jock and the introvert

At first I was glad that nothing had happened to Mom or Scott. Then the horror sunk in. Mackenzie Willows. The little girl who's dad was lying in the cemetery. The girl whom I took a picture of. Suddenly the camera that was slung around my neck felt like a boulder hanging from a piece of string.

Mom came out of the gallery with Scott following shortly behind. "Hallo Honey, how was-" She stopped short when she saw Dad's facial expression.

"Get in the car, I'll explain on the way home." Dad got back behind the wheel.

Mom got in the car in a flash, while Scott shot me a confused look. I sighed. He wasn't going to take the news well...

On the drive home Dad explained about the new case he had and the fact that he would have to go back to the office to arrange a search party to look for the girl.

Mom was sympathetic, telling Dad he would find her soon, but I saw Scott close his eyes in despair. And I knew why. I reached over to him and squeezed his shoulder. His eyes flew open.

"Are you okay?" I mouthed.

Scott nodded, but I saw the troubled look in his eyes. Of all the possible cases Dad could get, this was the one to present itself.

Dad didn't even get out of the car. He dropped us off in the drive way and sped off to the station.

The house was quiet, which was more than unusual. Scott didn't play his band's music so loud that the windows rattled, and Mom wasn't singing the old songs she knew when she was a teenager while she was making dinner. Scott and I was forced to swallow down her creative food poisoning since Dad wasn't home to make us something that wouldn't make us sick. But Scott didn't even complain, just ate and than excused himself from the table.

Scott retreated to his man cave, and after I was finished eating I followed him upstairs. I knocked on the door, and Scott appeared a moment later, opening the door only a few inches to allow conversation. "What?"

"I want to ask you if you're okay," I said and forced the door wider. I slipped through the gap and stood in the centre of Scott's room.

"How do you think I'm doing?" he asked sarcastically. He kept standing next to the door; an open invitation for me to leave.

"I'm sorry," I started to say, "I know you still think about-"

"Don't," Scott interrupted. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What happened was no one's fault," I presisted. "And you especially can't blame Dad..."

"Please leave," Scott whispered. I heard the slight begging in his voice.

My head hanging, I started towards the door. Before passing Scott, I folded my arms in a hug around him. Scott was surprised by this gesture, but after a moment he hugged me back. "I'm truly sorry," I whispered. "I know Sasha is brought up with this..."

"Sasha deserved more than she got," Scott said sharply and pulled away. "And I really hope Dad can find this girl in time." He slammed the door in my face.

* * * * * * *

"So, did your daddy solve the case yet?" a voice asked from behind me.

I swung around. Behind me in the lunch line was Brandon Cole. He was grinning at me with amusement in his eyes.

"He's working on it," I mumbled and picked out the food that I wanted. Brandon was close behind, and I wasn't fast enough to escape. One of his friends blocked my path to my lunch table.