The Hollow (26 page)

I hit the kitchen, and headed for the cabinet that held the old Tupperware and extra lunch boxes, and nearly tripped over a chair. I dug through all the containers near the back of the cabinet and pulled out a small insulated traveling thermos. Just what I was looking for. Then I made my way over to the fridge and pulled out several juice containers.

Mom came in when my back was turned, but there was a tone of disapproval in her voice. "What are you doing, Abbey?"

I tried to act like I didn't hear her, while I looked for my prize. Time was ticking away, and I had to do this before Christmas night was over.

"And why do you have gloves and a scarf on? Are you thatcold? Let me feel your forehead again."

I was searching desperately now, moving egg cartons and bowls of cookie dough out of the way. "I'm not cold, Mom. I'm just looking for the eggnog. Did you buy any this year? You always buy some." I risked a quick glance in her direction. "And why do we have three cartons of milk? Who drinks that much milk?"

She stepped closer, trying to reach out and feel my forehead.

"It's on the left, two tubs of butter and one bag of celery over," she sighed. "But maybe you should have some hot tea instead. I don't know if eggnog would be good for you right now."

I held up the thermos while I moved the butter tubs and grabbed the nog. "It's not for me, Mom. It's our tradition, remember?"

A stern look crossed her face and she was already shaking her head before I'd even finished talking. "Not this year, it's not. You're not going outside in this weather. The Maxwells will be here any minute."

I looked pointedly at the clock on the wall behind me before unscrewing the thermos lid and pouring in the eggnog. "They won't be here for another twenty-three minutes, at least. And I won't be gone long. You know I have to do this, Mom. I can't let Kristen down. I already told her that I'd be doing it for both of us this year."

The thermos lid slid back on and it screwed on tight before clicking into place with a loud
pop.
I put the eggnog and the juiceand milk containers back into the fridge, then slammed the door.

"You told
who
already? What do you mean by that?" Mom looked befuddled.

"I told Kristen. You know… at her grave. I told her that I would be doing it for both of us today. Look, I'm all bundled up, and I'll even button my coat all the way to the top. But I have to go. It'll be quick, and I'll be back in time for dinner, but in order to do that, I have to leave now."

I kissed her on the cheek and scooped up the thermos. Then I headed over to the closet for myjacket. She was standing there with her mouth wide open. She spluttered for a minute and held up a finger to me. "Fine, Abbey. But if you get pneumonia, don't say I didn't warn you. And if you are late for dinner, we're
not
waiting."

"Okay, Mom," I called back from the doorway as I buttoned my coat one-handed. "See you soon. Love you, too."

Her final words came drifting out to me, half mumbled as I closed the front door. "Don't think I'm going to spend all day making chicken soup when you
do
get sick!"

I smiled to myself. Who did she think she was kidding? There would probably be hot chocolate waiting for me when I got home tonight.

Holding my thermos in one hand and my coat with the other, I kept my head down and walked quickly. The snow was still falling, swirling all around me and crunching loudly beneath my feet. If itkept up at this rate, we'd have a blizzard in the morning.

As I trudged onward, I thought about the first time I'd done this…

* * *

"Hurry up, Kristen. The sun will be going down soon. I wanted to do this in the daylight."

'Why don't we just do it at night, Abbey? It'll be spookier that way. And are you sure the low-fat sugar free eggnog will be okay?" she called out to me. "That's all my mom bought this year."

I laughed at her question. "Of course the sugar free kind is okay. It's not like he's actually going to drink any of it. It's just symbolic. And it's not
supposed
to be spooky. Leaving letters on his grave on Halloween night was spooky. But Christmas? Not for the spooky."

"Yeah?" Kristen giggled. "Well, tell that to Tim Burton. He thinks Christmas is all about the spooky."

We both laughed as we walked uphill and pushed through the cemetery gates. As we came closer to his grave, Kristen leaned in and whispered, "I think we should make this a yearlytradition."

"Agreed," I whispered back.

I smiled at the memory. We'd had so much fun together. It was hard to believe it wouldn't happen again. The thought sobered me, and when I reached the main gates, my fingers slipped on the cold, wet iron. Frustration welled up inside me and I slammed my thermos against the gate in a sudden burst of anger. "Damn it!"

It did nothing, of course, except send a clanging pain through my arm and my shoulder blade, and I lowered my head for a minute before trying again.

This time, as I concentrated, the gate moved forward just enough for me to slip in, and I was grateful for small favors. I rushed down to Kristen's grave first, skidding to a halt in front of it. "I'm here, Kristen. I brought the eggnog." I held up the thermos. "I'll let him know that it's from both of us. Merry Christmas."

I felt a strange feeling of release as I stared down at her stone. Maybe it really was okay that I didn't know all of her secrets and would never find out who D. was. Maybe the important thing was the fact that she had
wanted
to tell me, but for whatever reasons just couldn't. Maybe that had to be enough.

Lifting a hand, I waved before I turned and headed in the direction of Washington living's grave. The snow was getting harder and harder to see throuah, so I hurried to aet over there asfast as I could.

Once I made it up the stairs and through the gate without slipping, I swept a glance over the family plot. I was glad to see that Caspian's gifts were gone, but sad to see that he was nowhere in sight. My tattered and bruised heart gave a little shudder, but I brushed the feeling aside and bent to the task at hand.

Next to the gravestone I hurriedly unscrewed the lid to the thermos. It was not an easy task to do with my gloves on, but it was way too cold to take them off, even for a couple of seconds. A minute later I had success, and I poured a small amount into the lid before holding it up to the grave. "Happy Christmas to you, Mr. Irving. It will have to be quick, but this one's from me and Kristen. May all your yules be merry."

I tapped the stone gently with my mug, and then swigged my eggnog before dumping the contents of the thermos into the frozen dirt before me. I waited a brief second in silence, and nodded my head once. "See you in the new year."

Getting to my feet, I re-capped the thermos as I navigated my way out of the family plot. The daylight was almost gone, and I took small steps, mindful of the possibility of dangerous hidden ice. When I was finally clear of the cemetery,1 picked up my pace, so the walk home didn't take very long. I arrived at the front door at the same time the Maxwells were stepping into the hallway to clean off their snow covered boots and coats.

I gave them both quick hugs and welcomed them before Mr. Maxwell went in. Kristen's mom had a quizzical look on her face when she saw the thick layer of snow I had on my coat. I held up the thermos as my answer to her unspoken question. "Just had to go drop by an old friend's place. It's a tradition."

She smiled a little as she nodded her head. I could tell by the look in her eye that she knew exactly what I was talking about. She reached out for another hug and held me tight for a moment, then loosened her grip. "I wanted to say thank you for the beautiful gift, Abbey. It really meant a lot to us."

"You're welcome," I replied.

She linked her arm through mine, and we walked to our seats. Mom had really outdone herself, and the table, covered by various plates, platters, dishes, and bowls, was literally groaning from the weight of the food.

I sat down to the left of Mrs. M. and picked up my glass of water when everyone else held up their champagne flutes for a toast. "To happy holidays, healthy new years, and good memories of the ones we love," bellowed Dad.

"To the ones we love," echoed the rest of the table.

Looking out the window at the snow, I made my own silent toast. "To the ones we love…"

Chapter Twenty-two

A New Partner

He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette, is indeed a hero.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

January came in with a bang. Or at least it did for everyone else. Mine was more of a dull thud. I spent New Year's Eve alone, too depressed to even wait for the ball to drop. Mom and Dad went out to celebrate with some friends, so I went to bed early. It wasn't like I had anything to be happy about.

My boyfriend didn't want to be my boyfriend. My best friend was still dead. And midterms were about to start as soon as I went back to school.

Definitely nothing to be happy about.

In my last few fleeting days of freedom, I worked nonstop on my Sleepy Hollow perfume project. I'd decided to make one scent for each of the main characters, but first I wanted to create scents that evoked the settings and emotions of the legend. I had the perfect combination in mind for one I wanted to call the Midnight Hour, and I spent long hours trying to perfect it.

I thought about working on my business plan, but the temptation to play with perfumes was too strong, and the distraction from my thoughts was therapeutic. Overall, it was a somber and quiet yet productive holiday.

When school started up again, we had two final days of prep before midterms began. I was actually glad for the extra schoolwork, and I buried myself in books the entire time. It seemed like I had forgotten almost everything that we'd reviewed before the holidays. My brain felt hollow and stuffy. Uncle Bob probablywould have joked about my head rattling.

In the end I surprised even myself by managing to pass all my tests. I barely squeaked by in math, pulling in a low C, but I got a B in history, and everything else was in the A range. Mom and Dad gave me a well-rehearsed you've-got-to-apply-yourself-more speech, of course, but I let it go in one ear and out the other. They probably would have given me that same speech if I'd brought home all A minuses.

We didn't get much of a break at school once our midterm week was over. The next bombshell was dropped on us the following Monday morning in science class. Mr. Knickerbocker waited patiently until everyone was seated and had their textbooks out before he made the big announcement.

I was fidgeting with my pencil, rolling it back and forth on the desktop, when I heard him clear his throat. "Ladies and Gents, if I can please have your attention."

The quiet chatter came to a stop and the room grew still.

"I know you're all very sad that midterms are finished." We groaned on cue, and he gave a wide fake smile. "But I have some good news for you."

His stiff brown tie bobbed slightly and he started pacing in front of the chalkboard, hands clasped behind his back. There was no way this was good news. Science did
not
equal good news.

He came to a halt and held one finger up. "It's science time,people." Another groan filled the air, but he kept right on talking, like he didn't hear us. "To be precise, it's science fair time. That wonderful time of year when you get to rack your tiny little brains and then dazzle me with your brilliance."

I rolled my eyes. This was
definitely
not good news. Mr. Knicker- bocker had a reputation for not letting people pick their own partners for science fair, and with my luck I'd get stuck with one of the girls from the cheerleading squad.

"This year, instead of devising an alternate way of picking partners, I'm just going to do it alphabetically starting from Z. As soon as you and your partner are paired up, I'll expect you to change seats. You'll be sitting next to your partner for the rest of the school year."

Now I
really
held my breath, and even said a silent prayer. Mentally working my way through the alphabet, I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that none of the cheerleaders' last names started with an
A, B,
or C.

Mr. Knickerbocker continued on. "You'll have three months to work on your project. Entries are due during the second week of April. At that time we'll be holding the science fair and you'll be responsible for giving a presentation on your project. This will make up twenty-five percent of your grade, people, so think long and hard. Any questions, please see me after class."

I tuned out when he started assigning partner names, and theroom quickly filled with the sounds of scraping chairs and squeaking desks. It took him a surprisingly long time to get to my name, and I pasted a bored expression onto my face, hoping that whomever I got stuck with would get the hint that I did
not
want to make any new friends.

Chairs were still scraping loudly, and students were settling in, when he finally called my name, so I missed who was supposed to be my partner. I sat frozen in my seat, hoping that the person who would be sitting beside me for the next couple of months was making their move. Because I sure wasn't.

Glancing discreetly over my shoulder, I saw a girl sitting behind me with an identical look of boredom on her face, and an empty chair next to her. I turned back around to move my books and go sit by her, when all of a sudden Ben plopped down next to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.
I'm confused
was probably written all over my face.

He just raised his eyebrows and grinned at me. "I'm Bennett. You're Browning, right?"

Comprehension still hadn't dawned. "Yeah, so?"

"I'm your partner," he laughed.

My cheeks turned red. "Oh," I said lamely. "I must not have been paying attention."

He shook his head and piled his books neatly over to one side.

"So, any ideas for what we can do? Or were you not paying attention to anything Mr. Knickerbocker said?"

I kicked his foot under the desk, and felt a gleam of satisfaction when he doubled over. He was still laughing, but I could tell he wasn't being mean about it.

"No, Mr. Hotshot Listener, I don't have any ideas. What about you?"

He rattled off an idea involving math, DNA, and some type of space travel, but I was already shaking my head. "Come on. Get real, science nerd. It's a science project, not science fiction. If you want to be responsible for the entire project, then by all means be my guest and go for that one. But if you actually want
me
to do any work, then we have to pick something a little less
Star Trek
and a little more… normal."

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he leaned back on two legs of the chair. "Well, if you don't have any ideas, then how can you contribute?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I'll go to the library and look in a book or something. There's got to be a ton of ideas in there."

Now he shrugged. "Whatever. But I don't want you to skip over any cool ideas, so I'll come too."

"Do you have a free study hall last period?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Okay. We'll go then."

He leaned his chair back down onto the ground and winked at me. "Great! It's a date."

I just buried my face in my hands and shook my head. It was going to be a really
long
three months.

I had agreed to meet Ben by the main school doors at the end of our last class, and I tugged impatiently on the strap of my book bag while I waited for him. The bell had rung ten minutes ago, and I was ready to get out of here before anyone questioned what I was doing just hanging around.

He showed up five minutes later, grinning shamefully and spouting off some sorry excuse, but I was already sailing through the double doors, content to leave him behind. He caught up with me a minute later, and tugged on my book bag when I started to turn left, in the direction of the library. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Parking lot's in the other direction."

I came to a stop. "It's not that far to the library. I just figured we'd walk."

Ben shook his head. "I'm not leaving my car here, and it's freezing. Come on."

I exhaled loudly as I followed him to the student parking lot, navigating the maze of cars as we went.

"What am I looking for?" I called, scanning in several directions.

"It's right over here."

I couldn't see him anymore, so I followed the sound of his voice and stopped when I came to a battered green Jeep Cherokee. He was sitting inside, revving the engine.

"Your chariot waits," he said over the loud noise. "Come on, get in." I tried not to laugh when a puff of black smoke shot out the exhaust.

Chucking my bag into the backseat, I shook my head as I climbed in on the passenger side. "You know, you're really pushy."

He slowly pulled out of the parking space, and I struggled with the seat belt at my shoulder. "Here," he said, reaching over and giving it a sharp tug, "you have to find its sweet spot."

I burst out laughing. "Your car has a sweet spot? You're kidding, right? Next you'll tell me that you've named it too."

He kept his eyes on the road, but nodded. "Of course. All good cars have names. This here is Candy Christine."

I couldn't help it. I exploded with more laughter. "Candy Christine? Did you come up with that name when you were twelve?"

His cheeks turned a bright red and he took his time checking all of his mirrors before answering me. "How'd you guess? I got the car when I was twelve, helped my dad piece it back together, and when it came time for a name, I… uh… just put my two favorite things at the time together. I was going through a real Stephen Kingphase."

I kept laughing. The image was just too much. Twelve-year-old Ben naming his future car Candy Christine was absurdly funny tome.

"I'm sorry," I gasped in between bouts of laughter. "I guess we can be glad that you didn't wait until you were older to name her. Candy probably isn't number one on your list of favorite things anymore."

He shrugged. "You're right. If I would have waited to name her until I got my license, then she would have been a different kind of Candy." Grinning wickedly, he laughed when I turned red as I realized what he meant.

Yeah, I probably should have kept my mouth shut on the whole naming-of-the-car thing. But he took mercy on me and stopped teasing. "So what are you driving?"

"I'm not." I sighed ruefully. "My parents are making me wait to get my license until I'm seventeen."

"Man, that sucks. No wheels equals no freedom. I can't imagine what I'd do if I didn't have Candy Christine. She's like family."

"It's not too bad," I said. "My parents are pretty loose with the rules, so I go wherever I want. And since I grew up walking everywhere, I kind of just got used to not having a car of my own. My mom drops me off at my job on the weekends."

We had reached the library, and he guided the car along until we found the first open parking spot. "You have a job? That's cool. Where at?"

I explained as we got out of the car and walked up the library steps. He listened to what I said, and held the door for me while we stepped inside. I didn't get the chance to ask him whether or not he had a job, because we were immediately greeted by a stony-faced librarian who gave us a very stern look.

Stopping midsentence, I lowered my voice. "What section do you think we should start looking in first?"

"Let's see if they have a section for students," he suggested. "We might find something there."

I agreed, and we quickly set out looking for that section. We didn't find anything on the first floor, and the second floor turned out to be a bust too. But the third floor gave us exactly what we were looking for. "Over here." Ben gestured as we rounded the banister and took the last step up. "I can see a student section." I followed him in through an archway, and we split up, each taking an end.

"It looks like there's a whole section on science project ideas," I called out from my half of the shelf.

"I found some different books specifically on math and science," echoed back to me.

I spent a couple more minutes browsing. I must have beenconcentrating really hard, because I jumped a mile when Ben came around the corner and surprised me. His arms were loaded down with books. "Here. I'm going to go see how many we're allowed to check out."

After dumping the books in a pile at my feet, he jogged off, and I turned my attention back to the shelf. By the time he returned, Pd added several books of my own to his sizeable pile.

"The librarian said we can only check out eight books at a time," he said, eyeing the stack in front of me. "And even if we
both
check out eight, we have a
lot
more than that here."

I looked at the pile and quickly counted. We had thirty-two books between us.

"The librarian also mentioned some type of study room a couple of floors up, and she said we could reserve it for two hours," he continued on. "So I just told her we'd use that for now. Feel up to carrying some books with me?"

My stomach dropped. And not because I was frightened of carrying books. No, it had a little something to do with the fact that I knew exactly what study room he was talking about. I faltered for a moment, but then shook it off. "Sure," I said nonchalantly. "Let's go."

We each gathered up an armful of books, and Ben made sure to pick up twice as many as I did. I gave him a scornful look, but he just turned away and started walking toward the door. "It's themanly thing to do," he called over his shoulder. "I have to cany more books than you."

I readjusted the stack in my arms and followed him, trying to keep my thoughts to myself.
This won't be too hard. It's just a room. I can totally do this. I will not think about Caspian at all, and instead I will focus solely on what type of project Ben and I should do for the science fair.

When we finally came to the room, I heaved my books down onto the table. Momentarily distracted by the sharp ache in my arms, I swore to myself that I would start working out one of these days. A couple more trips like that would kill me.

Ben set his books down too, and gave the room a brief onceover. "I guess this is it for the next two hours." He glanced up at the peeling paint on the ceiling, and the faded pictures on the walls. "Looks like they blew their decorating budget on all the
other
rooms in the library."