Luke yelled at him, “Jimmy! Enough!”
Jimmy stopped and turned to look at Luke as if to say
Jimmy stood for a minute and then seemed to relax a bit, letting John pull him away.
“Don’t do that again,” Jimmy said finally, and turned, walking off.
Patrick shrugged, joined his buddies and they left in the opposite direction. Nobody looked back. Luke knew the next snowball fight, if there was ever going to be one, would be bad.
That evening at dusk, they all played kick the can in the snow storm. The game was something their parents had taught them, and though it was old and dated, they all loved it. Most of the kids from Cotton Court were there including Luke’s sisters Katy and Deana. Ralph, the kid from three doors down, along with his little sister, Marsha, was there too. She was twelve and he was thirteen. Ellie came over from Willow Branch court along with Paul and Alan, but Patrick didn’t show. Ellie said he was locked in his room, and though she didn’t tell Luke why, she refused to knock on his door. Finally, the three new kids at the end of the court showed up and Luke learned their names were Cece, Ashley, and Chad. Cece was the oldest at fifteen, Ashley was fourteen, and Chad, eleven. They seemed alright but couldn’t play kick the can for crap.
The game had been an almost nightly ritual ever since Luke moved here in the third grade. No one ever seemed to tire of it and it was especially good at night. With the snow falling, it was even better.
John had just kicked the can (which in this case was a red rubber ball) and freed all the prisoners. Jimmy, who was ‘it,’ chased it down and hurried back to base hoping to catch some slow runners. Everybody made it into a hiding spot in time. Luke and Ellie were currently hunched down in a hedge at the side of Luke’s house and they smiled at each other in the dark.
“I like your new haircut,” she whispered.
“It’s stupid,” he said and fiddled with it.
She reached up, pushed his hand out of the way and combed the hair over to one side with her fingers. Little electric shocks ran up and down his spine as she played with his hair. He didn’t want her to stop.
“There,” she said. “That’s better.”
He grinned and said, “Thanks.” He could feel himself blushing and was glad she couldn’t see it in the dark.
He looked up and found her staring at him with a little smile on her lips. He couldn’t help it. He smiled, too, and said, “What?”
She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It startled him and he almost pulled away, but then her soft, warm lips held him and he kissed her back. She pulled away a bit and whispered, “I know you’ve been wanting to do that, and I knew you never would, so…”
It was like he was floating in a pool of warm water. Sounds grew muffled and distant, his breath was quick and shallow, and all his senses tingled, feeling electric. He reached up, holding her face in his hands, and pulled her to him. He kissed her and felt everything else disappear. Nothing existed but her. The feel of her face in his hands; the smell of the soap she used; the heat from her body radiating out to him; her soft, moist, lips pressed against his; all those things and so much more. It was just him and her in the world and no one else.
Then he heard the voice.
“Help me…”
She jerked away, and now he saw fear in her eyes. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” he said, thinking John or Jimmy must have seen him kissing her and was messing with him. “You heard it too?”
She nodded quickly and kept looking around in the dark. He started to say something but she put her finger to his lips and shushed him. They both listened to the silence drag out and Luke could actually hear his heart beating. Nothing happened for a bit and he was about to say something when the voice whispered again.
“Help me…”
It came from behind. He heard her take a sharp breath in surprise and look up over his shoulder. He was afraid to see. A palpable presence felt like it was pressing up against his spine and he shivered as he slowly turned.
He could see nothing in the gloom as his eyes tried to penetrate the dense growth of bushes. He heard a faint sound, almost like laughter, but it was so soft and seemed so distant he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things.
Ellie whispered in his ear. “I heard a laugh.”
He nodded but stared into the darkness where they heard the voice.
“It sounded creepy,” she whispered and shuddered involuntarily.
He suddenly grabbed her hand and said, “Come on!” He crawled from the bushes with her following behind and stood up. “Time!” he yelled and it sounded huge and booming in the silence. “Jimmy! John! Get over here! Quick!”
A grunt of anger came from the direction of the voice and then a crashing noise as someone, or something, broke through the hedge and ran off down the path through Luke’s backyard. Ellie and Luke jumped at the sound, and Luke had a hard time holding his ground. He wanted to bolt and run in the other direction, but he couldn’t leave Ellie there. He squinted into the darkness as he tried to follow the noise, but he could see nothing. John ran over and then Jimmy was there too.
“What’s up?” John said. “You guys quitting?”
“Someone was here,” Luke said.
“What do you mean?” Jimmy asked.
“Someone was in the bushes with us,” Luke said.
“So,” John said, not understanding. “You can hide wherever you want. Everybody could hide in the bushes at the same time if they wanted. It would be stupid, but they could do it.”
“No,” Ellie said. “Somebody else was here. Someone not in the game.” Her face looked haunted and she held on to Luke’s arm with a vice-like grip.
Jimmy’s mouth was set in a tight line and he looked at John, who stared back at him.
“Was it him?” John asked quietly.
“I think so,” Luke said. “It was creepy. This voice whispered ‘Help me’ twice, and then we heard a laugh. Not a funny laugh, but a mean laugh. That’s when I yelled ‘Time’ and called for you guys.”
“Is he still there?” Jimmy whispered.
“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “We heard a grunt and then someone ran off through my backyard.”
Just then Paul and Alan came running around the corner and they all jumped in surprise.
“What’s happening?” Paul asked. “We quittin’?”
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “We’re done.”
“Why?” Alan asked. “It’s still early.”
“We’re just done.” And Jimmy yelled, “All-e-all-e-all-come-free!” Jimmy led the way back to the center of the court.
“Hey! What the heck?” Paul said. “What’s wrong with you guys?”
“Nothing,” Jimmy said. “I said we’re done and that means we’re done.”
“Man-ever since you guys found that dumb dog you’ve been acting weird,” Alan said.
“Hey!” Luke yelled. “That dog was our friend!”
“Yeah! That so called ‘dumb dog’ was mine,” Ellie shouted, her voice breaking.
“Jeez! It’s just a dog!” Alan said.
Luke got in his face. “Tell her you’re sorry!”
Alan was taken aback. “What?”
Luke grabbed Alan’s jacket sleeve and repeated himself, poking him in the chest with every word. “Tell-her- you’re-sorry!”
Ellie had tears in her eyes even though she was angry. She stood waiting for the apology. Alan looked around. Jimmy and John were staring at him intensely. Paul looked at the ground shuffling his feet.
“I’m sorry,” Alan said.
Luke let go of his sleeve. “Alright.”
