“Yeah.”
We both kept staring down the road.
“Is he gone?” Rusty called from somewhere among the trees.
“Yeah,” I said. “You can come out now.”
Rusty tromped out of the darkness. The moonlight flashed on the blade of the knife in his right hand. “What’d you wanta just stand here for?” he asked, sounding annoyed.
Dagny shrugged. “Why run?” she asked. “He didn’t
“I was ready for him,” Rusty said, raising his knife. “Lucky for him he kept going.”
We all turned and stared at where the sheeted man had gone.
I really expected him to reappear, gliding toward us around the curve.
But the road was empty.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dagny said.
“Janks Field?” asked Rusty. When he saw how we looked at him, he said, “Just kidding.”
So we headed north on Route 3, walking back toward town. We walked more quickly than usual. We often looked behind us.
When at last we reached the sanctuary of well-lighted streets, porches with glowing jack-o’-lanterns and houses with bright windows, we slowed to our usual pace. And we didn’t look behind us quite so often.
“You know what?” said Rusty. “We should’ve gone after him.”
“Sure,” said Dagny.
“No, really. I mean it. Now we’ll never find out who he was. And you know, he must not’ve been following us like we thought, so what was he doing? Where was he
“Nothing but more forest,” I added.
Shaking his head, Rusty said, “Shit. We should’ve followed him or something.”
“Sure,” said Dagny.
“Wouldn’t you love to know what he was up to?”
“I don’t think I
The thing about that night is that Rusty got scared and fled.
We could’ve gone with him, of course. It was our choice not to run off and hide. But after he knew that we were staying by the road, he didn’t come back.
He didn’t stick with us.
That’s the point.
Rusty couldn’t be completely trusted to watch out for Slim. In a bad situation, he might save his own hide and let Slim go down.
I never should’ve left them on the roof together.
Chapter Twelve
On our way back to Route 3, Lee drove the dirt road very slowly. We both scanned the woods in hopes of seeing Slim and Rusty.
Three times, Lee stopped her truck and tooted the horn. I climbed out and called their names. Then we waited. Nobody yelled back. Nobody showed up. So she drove on.
When we reached the two-lane highway, I said, “Maybe you’d better let me out.”
She shook her head, but she didn’t drive on. Most adults would’ve just stepped on the gas and whisked me off, but not Lee. “I don’t think they’re in the woods,” she said. “By now, they’re probably long gone.” She put her hand on my leg. “Did you tell them where you’d be going?”
Blushing a little because of her hand, I said, “Not really. Just that I wanted to get a car and come back for them.” She patted my leg. “You know what? I bet they’re looking for
“But we would’ve passed them.”
“A lot of ways we could’ve missed them. Depends on when they left. And maybe they took short cuts.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. I supposed Lee was right about missing them one way or another. It was sure possible. “But I’ve got a feeling they’re still out here,” I told her. “I feel like something went wrong, you know? I mean, Slim already had all those cuts. What if she passed out? Or what if the dog attacked them? Or maybe Rusty broke his leg jumping off the shack. Or maybe they were captured by those people who run the vampire show. I thought they were a pretty creepy bunch. No telling
Lee didn’t smirk or laugh at me. She looked concerned. “You’re right,” she said. “Any of that stuff
I almost smiled, myself.
“The deal is,” she continued, “they’re probably somewhere in town by now—more than likely at
