The Locker (8 page)

“The caretaker. People only use these cabins in the summer. Jimmy Frank does anything that needs doing—repairs, maintenance, stuff like that. But last year, with the robberies and all, folks asked him to keep an eye on things during the off-season. Haven't you met him yet?”

“Why would I?”

“He goes to school with us. You must have seen him in class.”

Tyler didn't hear me slip downstairs. I stood there watching as he climbed up on the back of the couch to check the lock on a window. His jeans were still wet, molded tight to his narrow hips, and he'd taken his shoes off and stripped to his T-shirt. His head was angled slightly back, and his hair swished back and forth across his shoulder blades like a soft black cloud.
What's the matter with you, are you crazy? What possible reason would he have for pushing you down a hill?

While I hesitated there at the bottom of the steps, Tyler turned and saw me, his face exploding in a giant grin.

“Wow! You look like a clown!”

“Thanks,” I grumbled.

“A cute one, though. I meant a really
cute
clown.”

“Are these your dad's?” I said irritably.
Great way to make an impression, Marlee. I'm sure you'll be engraved in his memory forever and ever.

“Actually they're my older brother Eugene's,” Tyler said. “He's really fat, so he ran away from home last year and joined a traveling sideshow.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Is that true?”

“Of course it isn't true.” He gave me a chiding look and hopped back down onto the floor. “I don't even have a brother named Eugene. Well, I can't find a single thing going on here. I guess we'd better get back.”

“Can I do anything?”

“Just wait in the car while I lock up.”

Dusk had turned to full dark by now. As I sat there alone waiting for Tyler to come back, I could hear all these weird whispery sounds around me … invisible things moving through the shadows, camouflaged by the night. I wrapped my arms tight around myself and fought off a bad case of nerves. Far below me the river flowed, and an owl hooted mournfully, and the wind sighed through the trees, making them bend and sway like zombies on the loose.

Now, why did I think of that? Why zombies?

“Tyler?” I called.

“Yeah! Coming!”

He stepped out onto the porch and locked the door behind him. I finally began to relax a little when we were well on our way down the road.

“Did you find anything?” I asked him as he fiddled with the radio.

The light was so dim inside the car, I could barely see him shaking his head.

“No. If anyone
was
there, they didn't bother anything.”

I nodded and leaned back into the seat. “Why do they call it Lost River?”

For one instant Tyler's hand was caught in the glow of the dashboard. It paused in midair as though frozen.

“Because,” he said slowly, “it's so deep and the undercurrents are so strong.”

The radio sputtered with static. Tyler clicked it off.

“It's a spooky name,” I murmured.

“It's a spooky river,” Tyler replied. He thought a moment, then went on. “It winds back through those woods where the sun can't even reach. People've been known to get lost back there … some never come out again. And those that do come out …”

His voice trailed off. I stared at his shadowy silhouette, knowing he couldn't see me now in the dark.

“Those that do, what?” I coaxed.

“Oh, you know how rumors are.” He brushed off my question, yet his voice sounded tight, and his shoulders seemed to have stiffened. “Some say the river's possessed. That it calls to you, and when you hear it, all you want to do is be a part of it forever. And all the souls of the ones who've drowned, they beckon new ones to join them.”

A heavy silence fell.

I could hear my heartbeat quickening and the rush of the wind through the car and the chirping of crickets from the darkness. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard.

“Sorry I asked. Just what I needed to help me sleep tonight.”

“But you don't really believe any of that, do you?” His voice was low. “Haven't you been warned about small-town gossip? For each story someone tells, there's always someone else trying to top it.”

And suddenly he laughed—a quick, nervous sound in the uneasy quiet.

I tried to laugh, too, but couldn't.

I turned my face to the window and let the deep, dark night flow over me, and wondered why I suddenly felt so cold.

9

I
t's funny how morning can give everything a fresh new perspective.

When I woke up the next day and saw the sun shining and heard the sparrows singing outside my window, all the scary things that had upset me before seemed like a bad dream. I even stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror and gave myself a good talking to before I went down to breakfast.

“Small-town gossip,” I told myself sternly. “Small-town gossip and a bad case of new-school jitters. Nothing strange is going on in your life. So remember that and be sensible for a change.”

“You're fooling yourself.” Dobkin frowned at me from the hall. “You know as well as I do that something strange is going on.”

“I don't know anything of the sort.”

“Well”—he sighed in his most tolerant manner— “since you're being so stubborn about it, at least take these with you.”

Frowning, I turned to see him holding something in his hands.

“What are those?”

“Magic charms,” he explained. “Hang these in your locker. Maybe they'll help.”

I stared down at the items he'd given me. A small mirror. A bent-up photo of him and Aunt Celia and me on the beach. A plain three-by-five index card with a message printed in a childish hand:
SUELLEN DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.

“What in the world is this?” I waved the card under his nose.

“Kind of like a spell,” he said gravely. “So any spirits hanging around will go away.”

“
You
go away.” I slammed the door in his face and gritted my teeth, more determined than ever to have a wonderful day.

Noreen was waiting for me by the steps when I got to school, and I yelled and waved to her, barely even acknowledging Dobkin as I jumped out of the van. He'd been lecturing me under his breath all the way there, and as I glanced back at him, he shook his head in that resigned way he has when he knows he's right and I'm going to be sorry I didn't listen to him. Noreen led the way into the building, chattering nonstop about some paper she was supposed to turn in today but didn't have the faintest idea what it was supposed to be about, and that's why she'd forgotten to write it. I was so busy listening to her that I didn't realize someone had come up behind me until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Hey,” Tyler said, just loud enough for Noreen to hear. “You forgot your clothes.”

Beside me Noreen braked to a halt, and we both spun around to face him. He was holding out his hands, and I recognized the filthy jeans and shirt I'd been wearing yesterday. As I stared down at them, I felt my cheeks go beet red.

“Wow!” Somehow Noreen managed to keep a straight face. “Is there something I should know about?”

A faint smile played over Tyler's lips, and he shook his head mysteriously.

“Our secret,” he whispered. He dropped my clothes on my armload of books and moved out into the flow of students rushing to class. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he'd already disappeared.

“It's not what you think,” I stammered, but Noreen only hooted with laughter and linked her arm through mine.

“Come on, I know Tyler. Shall I help you kill him
now
or
later?
”

“He showed me his family's cabin last night.” I felt like I had to say something to explain, so I rushed on. “I tripped and fell and rolled right down the river-bank. Definitely one of my more graceful moments.”

The picture I painted was enough to send her into fresh peals of laughter. Kids at the other end of the hall actually craned their necks to see what they were missing.

“He was so nice about it,” I added, remembering. “Come to think of it, he
could
have taken the steps down to help me, but instead he just came sliding down in the mud.”

Noreen and I looked at each other.

“I think he was trying to be polite,” I said.

At this we both exploded into giggles. Students hurrying past gave us weird looks, and we pressed back against the wall, trying to get ourselves under control.

“He's not like anyone else in the world.” Noreen caught her breath at last and rubbed tears from her eyes. “I remember as far back as kindergarten, he was always just a little out of sync with the rest of the human race.” Her face screwed up in deep thought, and then she added, “He's totally unpredictable. In fact, that's the only thing
predictable
about him—is that he's
un
predictable.”

We started walking again, and Noreen sighed, throwing me an amused look.

“You know, when I was little, I used to think Tyler was an alien? No,
really!
”

Again we burst into laughter, taking several more minutes of concentrated effort to finally quiet down.

“I
believed
he was an alien,” Noreen went on breathlessly, “and I kept waiting and waiting for him to show me his spaceship, and I wanted so
bad
to go off with him to some other planet.” She gave a wistful sigh. “I figured it had to be the most fun planet in the whole universe if Tyler was from there.”

We rounded the corner, and suddenly I stopped, taking her arm.

“Look, Noreen, who's that?”

“Where?”

“There. That guy standing next to my locker.”

“Oh, him?” She raked one hand through her curls in a nervous sort of way. “That's Jimmy Frank Baldwin. Why?”

I shook my head, watching as he shoved some books inside, stepped back and closed his locker door.

“I don't think he likes me.”

“Why not?” Noreen's glance flicked between me and Jimmy Frank and she frowned. “Does he even know you?”

Shaking my head, I said, “It's just his attitude. We were both at our lockers yesterday, and I thought he was kind of rude. You know … making assumptions about me that weren't even true.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “he's not exactly known for his tact. He's kind of a loner—doesn't like outsiders much. But who cares about attitude when someone's that gorgeous, right?” She rolled her eyes wistfully, clasping her books to her chest. “His dad's the sheriff here, but they have a farm out on Dry Creek Road. Jimmy Frank spends most of his time keeping an eye on those cabins along Lost River. He's kind of the caretaker.”

“Which is why you like to visit Tyler's cabin.” I nodded. “
Now
I'm beginning to understand …”

“Lot of good it does me.” Noreen sniffed. “Do you realize I've known Jimmy Frank
almost
as long as I've known Tyler—and he
still
has absolutely
no
idea of the depth of my lust. Maybe,” she added thoughtfully, “I could fall out of a boat next time I'm there. Or a window. Or … my swimsuit.”

We burst out laughing again, and when we did, Jimmy Frank's head came up sharply, his narrowed eyes shooting straight across the hallway and onto me. I immediately looked away, but Noreen walked straight over.

“Hey!” She grinned. “Jimmy Frank! Have you met my friend Marlee?”

I was mortified. As I tried to pull out of her grasp, Noreen pulled just as stubbornly on my arm, forcing me across the hall to where Jimmy Frank waited and stared.

“She's from Florida,” Noreen chattered on. “She just started school here yesterday. Did you know she's renting—”

“The old Turley place,” he cut her off. “I heard.” His blue-green eyes swept over me with deliberate insolence. “And yes, we've already met.”

“Just checking.” Noreen gave him her most dazzling smile. “Wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the introductions.”

Jimmy Frank slammed his locker door, but his eyes were still on me, and they were making me very nervous.

“I've got to get my stuff,” I mumbled, and Noreen nodded, finally letting me go, but giving her full attention to Jimmy Frank.

I twirled the dial on my lock, juggling my books from one arm to the other. Behind me I could hear Noreen going on again about that English paper that was due, and Jimmy Frank was answering her in a monotone that reminded me of Dobkin's when he wished I'd just get lost and quit bothering him.

The lock clicked apart, and for a long moment I just stood there looking at it, thinking back to yesterday morning.
But nothing happened yesterday afternoon when I came to my locker.… There's no reason to think anything will happen now or ever again.