There Are No Words

Chapter 12

BEFORE

Walker

At first, I think the tapping noise I hear is a branch hitting on our living room window. As I come to, however I realize that someone is throwing pebbles against the glass from the outside. Since the window is half-way open, whoever is doing it has good aim; the rocks are only hitting the top portion of the glass. None of the rocks land inside the cabin.

I look over at the cable box clock and read the numbers on it; 12:30AM.

Who in the world?

I toss my lap blanket off and get up to check it out. I tip-toe over towards the window and stand back behind the drapes to peak out. I can't see who it is; it's too dark. Whoever's throwing pebbles is in the shadows, out of my line of sight.

Leaving me no choice, (I don't want to wake the house up around me) I stick my head out of the bottom part of the window and whisper-shout, "Hey, who's out there?" For my efforts, I am promptly beaned in the eye with a small, hard projectile.

"Ouch! Shit!" I curse, trying to duck back inside, but adding insult to injury, knocking my head on the window frame behind me. "Dammit."

"Walker?" I hear a quiet, female voice call out. "Is that you? Walker?"

I rub the back of my head, before leaning back out to answer her. "Yeah. I'm coming back out. Don't throw anymore rocks at me, Jenny."

"Oh, sorry, Walker."

"On second thought, Jenny, just meet me at the front door," I tell her. "I'll let you in. Just be quiet; everyone is asleep. I don't want to wake any of them up."

"OK," I hear her reply in a whisper.

As I move across the living room, I trip over Cian's sneakers and bang my shin into our coffee table. "Aw! Jeez. Son of a..." I hear a noise upstairs and go silent. I don't know if anyone is up but if not, I want to keep it that way. Limping my way to the door, I creep a little slower, trying to avoid sharp objects and lost articles laying around the floor. Mom is going to flip a lid when she sees the living room in the morning. Cian and I hadn't cleaned up before going to bed.

As I open the front door, and slip outside, Jenny rushes at me. She hugs me tight around the waist. The air goes out of me and I stand frozen to the spot, not having expected her to grab onto me the way she has.

"Ah, Jenny, is everything alright?" I ask tentatively.

"I'm 'fraid cn u sov m hs," was all I could understand when she answers me. Her face is hidden in my chest and she's trembling. I pull my front door closed behind me and walk Jenny over to our porch steps, where we sit down together.

Once we we're comfortable, I look at her and ask, "Ok, you wanna repeat that? I didn't understand a word you said."

"I said", she answers too loudly. "I mean, I said," she repeats much more quietly. "Can I sleep over your house tonight? Will you hold me until I fall asleep?" And she follows that with, "I'm scared."

"You're scared?" I ask in surprise, looking down towards her cabin. "Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing like that," she says. "We had a sleepover at my cabin tonight. All the girls from school came, even Suzy Cambridge. I don't know why Siofra even invited her. Anyway, we ended up playing truth or dare. When it was my turn, I accepted a dare," she replies.

"Ok? Then what happened?" I'm still not sure where all this is going.

"So," she sighs. "I take this dare and Suzy Cambridge says I have to sleep outside, overnight, ALONE, in a tent. I couldn't tell her no. I mean, turning down a dare? So not me. Anyway, after watching the movie, "It" with the girls it's time for me to go outside. I was having a fit inside my head, but I'd never give Suzy the satisfaction of knowing she got to me, you know? Fifteen minutes after the movie ends, here I go, trudging into our yard with my tent and a sleeping bag."