After the Fire (2 page)

“To a new life!” said Sharlene.

Melissa turned around and flew out of the kitchen. She slammed the door of the bedroom she shared with Cody and threw herself on her bed. Her mother was always talking about their new life. Ever since the fire two years ago.

Melissa's tears poured out. It was unfair. When Sharlene talked about their new life, it made Melissa feel hopeful. Maybe things really would change. Some things
were
better, she had to admit. Sharlene's boyfriend Darren was gone and that was no loss. Sharlene wouldn't touch even a drop of alcohol anymore. But the money problems were still there. And when Sharlene worked, Melissa had more responsibilities at home and with Cody than ever.

She sat up and tore the brochure about art camp into tiny pieces. She would never ever want to go back to the way they were before the fire. But feeling hopeful and then being let down so hard was worse than not caring in the first place.

Two

S
harlene said she had packing down to a fine art. That's because we move so much, Melissa thought. Huntley was the third town Melissa had lived in, and Huntley Elementary was the fourth school she had been to. After the fire, Melissa had been sure they would leave Huntley, but instead Darren had left. Sharlene had announced that, as part of their new life, it was time they put down some roots.

Now the school principal offered to store their stuff in his garage. In July, Melissa babysat Cody during the long days while Sharlene was at school. In the evenings she helped fill the cardboard boxes that threatened to take over the apartment.

The boxes that Sharlene had written
Storage
on in black felt pen grew in a steady pile in the hallway. You had to turn sideways to edge your way past. Melissa made sure all the lids were securely taped down. She didn't want anyone poking around and seeing their junky stuff.

The boxes marked for the cabin at the lake stayed in the living room. They slowly filled with blue jeans, shorts, beach towels, socks and T-shirts. Pretty soon Melissa had trouble finding something to wear.

One afternoon Sharlene took Melissa and Cody to see the new apartment she had found. It was in a modern block at the other end of town. The present tenant, who was moving out in the middle of August, let them have a peek inside. Melissa got an impression of big airy rooms and lots of sunlight coming in the windows. It was better than anything she could have dreamed of. But she just shrugged when Sharlene asked her what she thought. She didn't really believe they were actually going to live there. Something was sure to go wrong.

The old apartment was stifling. Melissa slept under only a sheet, and even then she was drenched with sweat. Cody's whining became out of control. Sometimes Sharlene sat on the edge of Cody's bed and wiped his scarlet face with a cool damp facecloth. “Just think. Pretty soon we'll be swimming in a real lake every day,” she said. When she said things like that, Melissa caught herself listening. Then she reminded herself that nothing Sharlene had ever planned had turned out well.

It was weird to see her mother without a cigarette in her hand. In the evenings after supper, Sharlene drank cups of coffee steadily, and Melissa could sometimes hear her in the middle of the night roaming around the apartment. When she had gone exactly one month cigarette-free, Jill Templeton came over and they celebrated with cheesecake and a sparkling apple drink that looked like wine but wasn't. They all drank some out of wine glasses, even Cody.

One night Jill brought over all kinds of stuff for the cabin, including mosquito coils, bug spray, bottles of lamp oil, a secondhand campstove to replace the broken one, and spare flashlight batteries. Melissa got sick of her mother screeching over each item as if it were a long-lost friend. “Oh my god…my grandpa had a campstove just like that…I remember playing flashlight games on the ceiling with my sister…”

Jill told them more about Flycatcher Lake. “It's almost a mile long and kind of shaped like a banana. It's mostly wilderness. There are four cabins, including ours. I'm afraid August is going to be quiet this year. I think you'll be the only ones there.”

Even Sharlene looked a little alarmed, and Jill added hastily, “You won't be entirely alone. The Hopes have a ranch at the end of the lake.”

“Any kids?” said Sharlene. About six months earlier she had suddenly realized that Melissa never hung out with anybody, and she never gave up trying to find friends for her.

“An older boy and a girl about Melissa's age called Alice, but…” Jill hesitated.

“But she's weird,” supplied Melissa.

Sharlene frowned at her.

“Not exactly weird,” said Jill. “The whole family is a bit…well, reclusive. I've heard they've had some problems, but I'm not sure what exactly. They keep to themselves, but they'll be there if you have an emergency.”

Melissa took a can of bug spray away from Cody, who was about to try it out on his hair. She read the label out loud. “
Effective against mosquitoes, black flies,
ticks, fleas, gnats and chiggers
.”

Sharlene and Jill laughed as if it was the funniest thing they had ever heard, but Melissa didn't. What on earth were chiggers? They sounded disgusting.

Jill offered Sharlene the use of her truck. “It's four-wheel drive, and you'll need that to get in to the cabin. It's pretty rough.”

Melissa held her breath. It was her mother's last chance to back out of this, to say it was all a horrible mistake. She peered at Sharlene hopefully and then her shoulders sagged.

Sharlene's grin was enormous. It was one of the few times that Melissa had ever seen her mother look truly happy.

They left for Flycatcher Lake on the first of August in the baking hot afternoon. The back of the truck was filled with duffel bags and boxes of various sizes and shapes. As well, there were three cartons of groceries and two large coolers, borrowed from Jill, containing orange juice, margarine, eggs, milk, yogurt and cheese packed around blocks of ice.

After a couple of hours, they pulled off the highway at a rest stop to eat ham sandwiches and pieces of carrot cake, the icing melting on their fingers. Hot and sticky, they got back in the truck and continued on their way, Cody crammed in between Sharlene and Melissa.

Melissa leaned against the open window, freeing her hair from its ponytail and letting it blow outside as she watched the highway slide by. The hot vinyl seat stuck to her bare legs, and her back prickled with sweat. Sharlene, who had announced that she now had the hang of the truck, drove quickly, belting out the words to “King of the Road
.
” “
No phone, no pool,
no pets…I ain't got no ciii-ga-rettes…
”

Melissa wished she still had her iPod. It had been her Christmas present, the most expensive gift she had ever got. She knew her mother had made a lot of sacrifices to buy it, and she had been terrified a month later when she had to tell her that someone at school had stolen it from her backpack. Sharlene had been predictably furious—not at Melissa but at the unknown thief—and Melissa knew that there was no hope of Sharlene scraping up the money for another one.

Cody squirmed in his seat and said, for the hundredth time, “Are we almost there?” Every time he asked, Sharlene answered him patiently, telling him how many kilometers were left, which anyone could see was pointless because five minutes later he asked all over again.

This time Sharlene said, “We're almost at the turnoff. You watch for a sign that says Bear Creek.”

“Like he can read,” muttered Melissa. Cody's running shoe banged against her shin and she gave him a shove, then hunched further into her corner. She couldn't wait to get out of this furnace of a truck.

“
Third boxcar, midnight train…Dessstination
Bangor, Maine…,
” sang Sharlene.

“Mom,
please
,” said Melissa.

Sharlene slammed on the brakes and turned right off the highway onto a gravel road. “My navigators are sleeping on the job!” she said. She drove over a cattle guard and along the road for half a kilometer and then stopped in front of a log building with a wide porch. A sign hung on chains from the eaves.
Bear Creek
General Store Established 1916.

“This is the end of civilization for us,” she said. “Let's make the most of it!”

Melissa unglued her legs and climbed out of the truck. Cody slid out after her. “I have to go pee,” he whined.

Sharlene glanced around vaguely. “There must be a washroom somewhere…come on, let's go inside and see what we can find.”

A bell tinkled when they opened the door. Melissa had never seen such a cluttered store. Three long aisles were crammed with goods. Cereal, cookies, bags of sugar and boxes of pasta were mixed in with things like flashlights, bottles of detergent, fishing gear and mops. Two tall coolers stood against one wall, one with soft drinks and water and the other with milk and cheese in the top, and eggs, a basket of tomatoes and a few heads of lettuce in the bottom. A thin woman with short straight gray hair was reading a magazine at the counter at the back of the store.

Sharlene gave her a dazzling smile and said, “We need a washroom desperately for this little fellow.”

Really, all Cody had said was that he had to go. Now he seemed to have forgotten all about it as he made a beeline for a row of jars filled with candy. The woman reached up to a hook on the wall and took down a key attached to a wooden horseshoe. “Washroom's around the back. Lock it when you're done.”

Sharlene said, “Be an angel, Mel, and take him. I want to pick up a few things.”

Melissa dragged Cody out of the store and back into the blistering heat. She found two doors, one that said
Colts
and another that said
Fillies.
She unlocked the
Colts
door and pushed Cody inside, ordering him to wait for her when he was done. Then she went into the
Fillies
and splashed cold water over her face and twisted her limp hair into a braid.

When they went back into the store, Sharlene was piling boxes of macaroni and cheese on the counter. “Look at all the caps hanging on the ceiling. Isn't it wild? This is Marge. She and her husband bought the store twenty years ago. Marge, this is Melissa and Cody.”

Melissa flushed. Sharlene had probably told Marge their whole life story by now, every dismal detail. She pretended to be interested in a display of crocheted Kleenex boxes that looked like turtles. A sign in front of them said
Local Crafts
.

Melissa picked up a wooden carving of a duck and examined it. She suddenly felt conscious of Marge staring at her hand, and she put the bird down quickly, her cheeks hot. After the fire, her right hand had required three skin grafts. Sharlene said she was too sensitive, but Melissa could tell when people first noticed the tight puckered skin. They stared right at it and then they pretended that they hadn't seen it, and she could tell they were embarrassed.

“Get yourself something to drink, sweetie,” said Sharlene. “You look like you're roasting.” She consulted a crumpled piece of paper. “Let's see…one last thing, a fishing permit.”

“There's shrimp bait in the freezer,” said Marge.

Two men came in, wearing blue jeans with no shirts. One was short with a beard and the other was tall with a tattoo of a dragon on his arm. They eyed Sharlene right away and Melissa felt her stomach tighten. “We'll take two cases of Labatt's beer, Marge,” said the man with the tattoo, who reminded Melissa a little bit of Darren. He winked at Sharlene.

Melissa took an icy can of Coke out of the cooler and asked Marge, “Is it okay if I drink it now before we pay for it?”

“Sure,” said Marge, and Melissa took it outside and slumped down on a wooden bench. She took a long sip and concentrated on the fizziness, letting her mind drain.

The men left with their beer, and after a while Cody came out clutching a small brown candy bag, his cheek sticking out in a lump. Marge and Sharlene followed him, chatting like old friends. Marge leaned against the railing and lit a cigarette.

“Follow this road for about nine kilometers,” she said. A truck drove by, dust swirling under its tires. A woman in the passenger's seat waved and Marge waved back. “You'll come to the Flying Horse Guest Ranch. You can't miss the sign. Bonnie and Gord Hill run it. They'll be your neighbors. They're nice people, and they'll help you out if you have a problem.”

“Jill Templeton said there was a ranch at the end of the lake as well,” said Sharlene. “Owned by the Hope family.”

There was a short silence. “The Hopes don't really like people coming around,” said Marge. “You'd be better off relying on Bonnie and Gord.”

Melissa drained the last of her Coke and studied Marge over the rim of the can. Jill had said the Hopes were reclusive, but Marge made it sound like there was something else. What exactly was wrong with them? Well, she had no intention of hanging around with the girl anyway—Alice or whatever her name was.

“As soon as you pass the Flying Horse sign, start looking for a grassy road to the left. That's your only way in to the Templetons' cabin. There's a better road around the other side of the lake but it only goes to the Hopes' ranch. It's a good thing you've got four-wheel drive. You'll need it.”

“Great,” said Sharlene. She slid a couple of bags into the back of the truck and slammed the tailgate shut.

“Remember, no campfires until the ban is lifted,” said Marge. “The fire hazard is at the top of the scale.” She stubbed out her cigarette in a chipped saucer. “Too hot even to smoke. The road's right after the guest ranch. You can't miss it.”

“Got it,” said Sharlene. “Hop in, Cody. I don't want to be looking for this cabin in the dark.”

As usual, Sharlene was exaggerating. Melissa didn't think it was going to be dark for ages. The sun was still blazing down on them from a cloudless blue sky. She climbed in after Cody and leaned against the seat with a feeling of looming disaster. You can't miss it, Marge had said. She didn't know Sharlene's luck.