“Tell me about it. That cot is like sleeping on a set of monkey bars. And you might want to mention to management that the air conditioner isn’t working.”
“Are we really going to do this?” Denny’s voice was barely a whisper. Visions of bones and dark tunnels and Bear’s name tag flashed in his head.
“I guess we are. That’s really why I didn’t sleep. Weird dreams.”
Denny nodded. “I thought about it a lot. Half of me thinks we’re both crazy and so is Mossy, my grandfather. But the other half knows it’s true. We have to do this for Paul and Mossy and your dad.”
“I know, Denny. But I’m scared shitless.”
“Me too. That… thing killed so many… killed my dog.”
“Yeah, I know. We’ll get Mossy to the caves and tell him how to follow our markers. Then we get the hell out of there and away from the lake.”
Denny nodded again slowly. “Yeah, let’s go get some breakfast.” He had a different plan altogether.
Denny’s mom was up when they went downstairs and offered to cook them bacon and eggs. The boys inhaled the first batch so quickly, she mixed up another pan of scrambled eggs and fried up more bacon. She did all of this without saying a word, a few times stopping in the middle of a task for so long that Denny had to look away. As they polished off their second helpings, another morbid thought found its way into Denny’s head: What if this is your last meal? He finished off the last of his orange juice, feeling like his throat was closing.
After they helped clean up, Billy went home to get dressed. When the breakfast dishes were dried and put away, Denny turned to go get dressed and found his mother staring at him from the kitchen doorway. The look on her face was so strange, a cross between awe and something else, embarrassment maybe, that he could only stare back. “Denny, I had the strangest dream last night. It was the night of the explosion at the army base. It was so real. But instead of a neighbor coming to tell us what happened…” She laughed, the sound so alien she covered her mouth with her hand as if it surprised her too. “It sounds silly, but my father… your grandfather… came home and told us. But instead of being burned or smoky, he was wet. I hugged him and he was soaking wet… I wanted to ask him why, but I woke up. I tried to fall back asleep, thinking I could fall right back into that dream and find out…”
Denny felt like an Arctic wind had just blown through the house. He felt his entire body go gooseflesh and he was actually trembling. He was unable to speak. He went to her silently and paused with his arms half-raised to her. Will she be soaking wet when I hug her? He pushed the bizarre thought away and threw his arms around the broken woman that was once his mother.
“Will Billy be staying for dinner?”
Denny realized the moment was over. He dropped his arms from her. With all of the unbelievable things going on in Haven, now his mother was having… what… premonitions? At the same time, he realized that she had been back, briefly yes, but back. She had laughed, for Christ’s sake, when was the last time he’d heard that? Not since before You Know What, the Great Oz replied.
He was suddenly sure that his mother seeing Mossy would fix her. If she doesn’t drop dead from a heart attack, the other voice commented. He was more anxious than ever to get Mossy to the caves and get this over with. He began planning quickly. She doesn’t know about Joe, Denny thought. “Ah, yeah, I asked you last night if it was okay.” He hated himself for lying to her and taking advantage of her memory lapses. “We’re going to bike into town, we’ll be home for dinner.”
The mention of something that his mother didn’t remember seemed to push her fully back into her mental hiding place. Denny felt worse when he saw the lines on her forehead crease into a frown and her eyes begin to get distant. He waited for a reply but it didn’t come so he bolted upstairs. After he got dressed he checked in with her again, but she was back in her emotional fortress, drawbridge raised. Denny swallowed hard and started down the hill to Billy’s.
By the time they arrived at Chandler’s it was close to noon and the temperature was in the mid-nineties and the humidity at least that high. The sun was hiding behind a mask of haze and the people of Haven were hiding indoors. They parked their bikes on the front walkway and made their way up the steps of the front porch. Before they could ring the bell, Betty Chandler was at the screen door.
“Good morning, boys. Can I help you? My goodness, look at the state of you two, you’re melting! Come in and have some cold water.”
Denny looked at Billy and realized what she was seeing. The ride had left them both red-faced and covered in sweat. “Yes, ma’am, a drink would be nice. And if you could tell Mo… Mr. Rodman we’re here. I’m Denny O’Brien and this is Billy Cummings.”
She paused as she was opening the screen door to let them past, her face clouding for a moment. “Denny and Billy, of course. Denny, is your mom well? And Billy, how is your dad? Terrible thing to happen in our town.”
“My dad is getting better, he should be out of the hospital soon,” Billy answered.
Denny piped in, following them into the house, “And my mom is okay, I’ll tell her you were asking for her.”
“Yes, yes of course. Billy, do the police know who assaulted your father?”
They were now in the large kitchen and Betty was in full hostess-mode gliding around from cabinet to freezer to sink filling up two large orders of ice-water.
“No ma’am, they don’t seem to know what happened.” Billy glanced at Denny and rolled his eyes while Betty’s back was still turned. Even they knew that all town gossip went through Betty Chandler, and some of it originated with her.
Handing the glasses of ice-water to the boys, Betty eyed them both. “Now, what would you boys want with Mr. Rodman?”
She knows, Denny thought, she knows who he really is. The boys exchanged a nervous glance. “Uh… we are… interviewing him. For a school project.” Denny stuttered. He felt his face flush; lying was not his strength. He felt Betty’s eyes piercing through his soul, seeing through the weak story. But she didn’t question him, just nodded curtly.
“Let me go fetch him, you boys drink up all of that water and take more if you need it. Hot as blazes again out there.” Then she was gone.
Denny gulped the rest of his water, then went to the sink and filled it up again. “She knows we’re lying,” Denny whispered.
Billy laughed. “Probably. My dad says she knows everything about everyone in Haven before they know it themselves. Says she’s the Official Witch of Haven, like the ones they have in Salem.”
Denny gaped at him wide-eyed. “Shhh, what if she hears you?”
Billy refilled his own water glass at the sink, glancing out the window at the sky. “What’s she going to do if she does?”
“Just be quiet, okay? I want to get out of here and get this over with. Shit.”
“Yeah, me too. This whole thing is nuts.”
“Hello, boys.”
Mossy/Rodman walked in and Denny gasped. He looked ancient. He shuffled into the kitchen, slightly stooped over. There were huge bags under his eyes and he was so pale his skin almost looked transparent.
“Hi, Mr. Rodman. Ready for Denny and I to interview you for our school project?” Billy asked, a bit too cheerfully.
Mossy picked it right up. “Yes, sir, looking forward to it.” He slung the backpack he was holding over his shoulder. “Let’s take a walk while we talk, shall we?”