My Darkest Rose

Chapter 13

A House with Good Bones

When he drove up to the house, he found Theodore waiting by the front door. He was unharmed and his fur was full of burs. He darted inside as soon as Jack opened the door, leaving an empty tuna can in his wake.

Despite his relief at finding Theodore, his head ached from too little sleep. He went inside and started a pot of coffee. The day was hot and humid. The rain from the night before seemed to rise from the ground and hover, heavy and persistent in the air. And there was little relief inside. As a kid, they'd had window air conditioners, but those were long gone and the house was stifling.

He opened the living room and kitchen windows, hoping to get some sort of circulation, but there was nothing but heat. At least he could get the smell out, he thought, as he poured a bowl of cereal and took it out onto the back deck, careful to shut the door behind him.

He leaned against the house and watched the surface of the lake ripple in the sunlight. He could just make out a dragonfly hovering near the center.

When he was growing up, he used to sit on the deck and listen to Fauna and her friends swimming and playing in the water. But he never joined them. Even as a little kid he knew there were creatures down in the depths that could swim up and get him, bite on to his bare foot and pull him under, way deep down where no one could ever find him.

He wished Fauna was there with him. She would remind him of what their mother used to say. "Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is."

As a boy, he hated that saying. Because it confirmed the wolf's existence. To Jack, it meant that his fears were real, and that he could give them more power just by thinking of them. So he hid away, he drew, he stayed small and safe. He let his mind go blank while he covered pages and pages with monsters that only he could see.

He ate his cereal and headed back inside. As he was rinsing his bowl out in the sink, he heard the crunch of gravel in the driveway. Through the small gap in the front window he watched a police car pull in front of the house.

He could see Mandy through the windshield. He stepped outside and waited for her on the front steps.

"Not exactly winning any beauty contests is she?" she said.

He turned and looked at the house. In the light of day it looked like it had gotten in a fight with nature and lost. He noticed for the first time that under the ivy, there seemed to be more spray paint on the siding. He couldn't make out what it said, but he guessed it wasn't good.

"She's got good bones," he said. "Isn't that what they say about shitty houses that need a lot of work?"

"They do," she said, smiling. She was in her full uniform and he thought it made her look even younger than she had the night before. She leaned against the car. "Sorry I didn't tell you about Robbie. I should have."

"That's OK," he said, "I overreacted." Though he still didn't know how to process the fact she was dating Rose's brother.

"Listen, I just stopped by to see if you saw anyone else out here last night. Some kids reported sneaking out here on a dare, say they ran when you came home but that one of their friends got left behind."

"Left behind?" he said.

"Yeah," she said, scraping the toe of her boot in the rocks. She looked almost apologetic, and he wasn't sure why. "His name's Eric Holstetter. Seems like he's been out here before, maybe a few times."

"It looked to me like they all got in the car. I didn't see anyone else."

She nodded, looking around.

"The lock on the gate was cut," he said.

"You want to press charges?"

Pressing charges probably meant going down to the station. And that meant crossing paths with Detective Hernandez.

"No. Maybe if they come back, but now that they know I'm here, they probably won't." Or maybe that would be more incentive, he didn't know. He just knew he wanted nothing to do with Tacoma's legal system ever again.

"But you didn't see another kid? They're pretty worried about him."

Jack shook his head. If a kid had been left behind when they ran, what would he have done? Walked back to Tacoma? At night through the woods? He remembered what she said earlier, that he could be liable if one of them got hurt.

"If he's out in these woods, I don't know where. Why not just walk back to town?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Hey, I wanted to mention, I have a ton of rakes and trashbags and all that kind of stuff if you want to use it. Looks like you've got your work cut out for you."

"Yeah," he said, "That would be great. I hadn't planned on doing anything, but I didn't realize the house was in such bad shape. I kind of dread going into the stores around here. Kari at the Dollar General wasn't very fun."

"She posted on Facebook that you stopped in. Pretty much the whole town knows you're back."

"I figured it wouldn't take long."

"She said you were here to ask forgiveness from Rose's ghost."

He rolled his eyes, not really surprised. Over the years people had made up all sorts of stories about him and Moonwood. "That's a new one."

"People are stupid," Mandy said.

"That they are."

"Anyway, you want to come by in the morning? My shift is over at eight."

"You work all night?" he asked.

She nodded. "You get used to it. It's the paperwork that sucks."

"I bet."

"Robbie won't be there," she said, seeing his hesitation.

"OK," he said.

She nodded, uncertain. "You know, it's nice to have you back. I've always hated driving by here. So many memories, you know? But when I pulled in today I thought about how much I loved coming here as a kid. Lot of great memories here."

He agreed and tried to latch on to one in his mind. He remembered riding his bike up and down the driveway for hours.

He remembered one time, when he was probably ten, he and Fauna built a snow fort on the far side of the property. He thought his toes might fall off that night when he got home and warmed them under an electric blanket. He remembered Fauna bringing him hot chocolate and thinking it was the most fun he'd ever had in his life.

"Yeah," he said, "There are some good memories here."

"Seems a shame to think of Moonwood going out of the family name. You're not going to sell it, are you?"

"You in the market?"

"Ha," she said, "I could never afford a place like this."

"Family discount," he said. But who would want to live here who knew what happened? If anyone bought it they would have to be from out of town, maybe even a little morbid.

They were interrupted by a sudden burst of static over her radio. A woman's voice came through, "Mandy, you still down near Moonwood?"

"Just headed back," she answered.

"I need you to drive over to 1000S. Man says he thinks he found a mannequin in the ditch."

"A mannequin?"

Jack felt the blood drain from his face. He'd lived on or near the water his entire life. A mannequin was never a mannequin. It was always a body.

"Possible 10-54."

Mandy looked up at Jack then turned away, speaking into the radio. "Be there in five." She spun around and said, "I got to go, Jack. I'll call you later. Stay put until you hear from me."

He knew from the look in her eyes that she thought it was the missing kid.