Beyond Denver

Chapter 23

6 years ago, Chelan

Edmund and I hear more plates and glasses cracking into small pieces. Confusion hits us as we check, and nothing is there. Everything sits perfectly and still. Animals maybe? But not even animal steps I can hear. Only the pitching cracking of plates and glasses smashing on the wall; the same cracking sound coming from the plates my mother had thrown against the kitchen wall just a few moments ago.

Next, Edmund and I ran away from there as fast as we could, the rain had decreased, and the hail had stopped. We ran across the cemetery until our bodies were so tired, and we needed to sit down. At that point, we didn't mind sitting on wet grass. Edmund laughed so hard he could barely breathe. I didn't know fear could make people laugh.

"We are in the cemetery, so that means ghosts can still haunt us here," I say, my backs touching a cold graveyard.

"Ghosts can haunt you anywhere, but my father always tells me the worst ghosts are the ones who are alive. The ones who haunt us every day."

"True. So, are you going to tell me why I can't tell Jason we were in that spooky house? What's the secret?"

Edmund leans over me, and I'm glad the rain has stopped for the time being. A few black clouds are still above us, so that means we are not immune to more storms. "Because of this," he says. And just like that, he lays me a kiss on the top of my lips. I don't kiss him back; I stare at him in disbelief when his lips break apart from mine. I had no idea he held any romantic feelings toward me.

"Eddie wouldn't like that, either," He entwines his hands in mine.

"I know Jason is overprotective and enjoys playing the big brother, but now Eddie, too?"

"Girl, you have no idea of anything, do you?"

He is right. I don't have a clue. I'd love to be a flying bird to listen to what they are saying. The boy always finds something to do. Stuff that girls are omitted. It has been like that for a couple of months, and I wish to know what they had in mind. At least Jason has been acting weird. I caught them one time talking about Diane, the most popular girl in the city. The rich girl. Her parents wouldn't give the Super Brothers and Jason the slightest chance for them to date her. Besides, she has a crush on Richie, and I don't blame her for that. He is as handsome and rich as her. They seem to be the perfect match.

"Look, I don't think it is a good idea for this to happen again. I'm sorry, Edmund, but I don't feel the same way about you." I mean when I say that.

We stay in silence for a minute or two until we decide it is time to walk to Jason's house. As we reach the street, Edmund stops suddenly, "Look, let me go first and then wait like at least ten minutes and knock on their door. I don't want him to know you came here with me."

"Alright, but I don't need to knock on the door. I can go inside."

"Right. I forgot you are family."

I wait fifteen minutes and then arrive at their home. To my surprise, everyone is there, including all the cousins and even Eddie sitting on the doorstep with Martin, the oldest. Jason smiles in surprise when he sees me but keeps puddle jumping.

"I called you many times, but your mother said you disappeared from home," says Jessa with a concerned expression. "They are competing. Want to do some puddle jumping?"

"I think I'm soaked enough."

Jason hears his sister's and adds to her comment, "Yes, where the hell was you, Cassie? Why both you and Edmund are soaking wet. It looks like you guys were hanging together."

I exchange glances with him, "No, of course not. It is just coincidence."

Weeks later, here we are all hanging out together again at Jason's place doing another puddle jump competition for spring, but Edmund never made a move again on me. Instead, he kept on talking about Diane. Once in a while, I sensed him staring at me, but only for a second before Jason calling him out for something.

"Hey, why are you so sad?" Jason pulls a chair close to mine. He places his fingers on my hair, playing with a strand. He can make braids, not like girls make on their baby dolls, but messy braids.

"I'm not." I sense the Super Brothers watching him sitting next to me without caring for the game. Jessa is the next one to puddle jump. Splash goes all over.

"Don't lie," Jason affirms, "I know you.

"I think my parents will get a divorce. They've been talking about it. I heard through the stairs." The ground is covered with water that stands after another storm day. Instead of the muddy puddles, this one they are playing is crystal clear, with a few rocks on the side. Jessa walks straight through it as Edmund makes slight footprints as he follows her.

I don't feel like playing today. It must be that I'm almost fifteen. There isn't art or join in puddle or jump or hopscotch. For the most part, when they challenge me, all I do is skidder around the edges, so I don't have to wet my shoes more than they are.

"No, they won't."

"My mom wants to take me to Seattle."

"She won't. I will never let that happen, Cassie," his shocked expression surprises me. What can Jason do about it? His reckless behavior worries me for the most part, but what can he do to keep me here?

"What can you do?"

"I'll talk to my mother. Maybe she can adopt you."

"Right. The idea is too good to be true. Non-sense."

"Cassie, look," he points to one of the muddy puddles that formed on the other side of the yard. "You can either stay in the muddiest spot or come back to the crystal clear one. What I mean by that is, you can make a choice between go to Seattle or stay here in Chelan with me and my family, but if you go, you can always come back. My house always will be open for you, and by the time you turn eighteen, your parents don't have any say about your choices."

It would make sense to think about this. Over the years of scraping mud out of my boots after puddle jump practice, I have learned the lesson of a puddle path. All I need is to make a choice. I chose to stay in Chelan.

Now it is like I can see the gravel on the bottom of that puddle. I can either walk o the edge of it or sink my boots completely or at least until the water gets soaked up.

"Then I choose to stay."

"That's what I have been trying to say," he finishes the messy braid. "There is always a way for you to work things out, even if your parents won't. Just stay out of the mud, and you'll be fine."

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