Chapter Four
Turns out Appomattox Court House wasn't a what but a where. Appomattox Court House, Virginia was the name of the town where the Civil War ended. It was where Robert E. Lee, leading the South, met up with Ulysses S. Grant, leading the North. On April 9, 1865, Lee and Grant stood face-to-face in the McLean home and reunited the country, ending the Southern attempt to secede and stopping a war that had already cost more American lives than any other war the United States had fought. What had once been a town, and only the county seat for Appomattox County in Virginia, was now a national park and a legend.
After reading about Appomattox Court House, my mind began to wander. Lying stomach down on my bed, I rested my chin on my hands, stuck my feet in the air, and absorbed the story. I had a layout to put together for the paper and should've forged ahead with that, but I was suddenly very glad Abby had mentioned Appomattox Court House to me. The mysteries behind this town were fascinating. I was curious to find out how such a huge war could end in this small place, which was basically in the middle of nothing. If I'd been alive back in the 1860s, I'm sure my investigative journalism would've taken me right to Appomattox Court House.
This was where it'd all ended, where the dramatic climax of the war came to a head. If Lee hadn't surrendered or if 51
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Grant hadn't been civil, things would've turned out differently. The country might not have been united as one any longer. If I'd been alive, I would've gone to Mr. McLean himself, and quizzed him till his throat was raw. I would've inspected every inch of his farm and the whole town. I mean, it was nothing major, not a capitol or even booming with population. It wasn't an important city at all. It was a "nowhere" just like Stillburrow. And look at what it had become. It made me think all the nowheres and even the nobodies of the world might stand a chance after all. Suddenly, I felt an uncommon connection with the town in which I lived. It was like I was Stillburrow...in a way. I barely noticed the phone ringing in the other room—
maybe because it only got in one ring before Mom snatched it up. I flipped the page of my history book and stared at the picture of the two-story red building where papers had been signed to end the Civil War. I wondered what it would feel like to flip through a history book and see my childhood home on one of these pages were I to ever become famous.
"Carrie?"
I looked up as Mom entered my room with the telephone in her hand. "It's for you," she said. Her eyes held a strange glow.
I wasn't a socialite. I didn't waste time on the telephone and I didn't have any close friends who would bother calling. I knew it couldn't be Marty. He wouldn't want to talk to me. It might be my cousin, Jordan, on the Burke side. She lived with her mother in Paulbrook and we sometimes hung out when she visited her dad every other weekend. But she wasn't 52
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around this weekend. I figured it might be my buddy, E.T. But I didn't know what he would want. I only talked to him at school.
Before I could ask though, Mom put her hand over the speaker end of the phone and mouthed two words: Luke. Carter.
I could feel my thoughts drain as the blood rushed out of my head. I took the phone. It felt heavy in my hand, weighing like bricks. I stared at the phone as if it were some kind of UFO. This had to be a mistake. But then Mom was pushing it to my ear. She gave me the go-ahead wink. I sent her a Well, leave me alone look and she nodded, quickly backing out of the room. When the door quietly clicked shut behind her, I licked my dry lips. My mouth was so close to the receiver, I could almost taste the plastic it was made of. I sat up and quickly brushed my hair out of my face. I glanced down at my clothing and then stopped, realizing he couldn't see what I looked like.
Finally, I decided I could talk.
"Hello?" I heard my own voice echo along the fiber optic wires. It sounded weird and distant, like I hadn't said it at all but like some kind of echoing radio speaker had spoken for me.
Why in the world was he calling me? I thought I'd never hear from him again after what happened in the park. When Luke spoke, I knew this was really happening, though. It was definitely his voice.
"Did he bring the groceries home?" 53
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I could tell he was smiling by the amused inflection in his voice. He was relaxed, probably on his bed, leaning back against the pillows with his feet stretched out in front of him, legs crossed at the ankles. He wouldn't be wearing his gray church suit anymore but maybe some windbreaker pants and an old cleaned-up practice shirt—white with grass stains on the elbows and a red brave printed across his chest.
"What?" I asked. I shook my head and tried to get the image of Luke Carter sprawled across his bed out of my brain.
"Your brother," he said. "You told him to bring the groceries home. I was just wondering if he ever got around to it."
"Um." I sucked in a breath, hoping it would help bring oxygen back to my brain. "No. He never did."
"Really? And here I was certain he would. I know I definitely would've if you'd laid into me like that." My mouth fell open. Had Luke Carter just said what I heard him say? Of all the rude things.
"I did not lay into him!"
"Oh, yes you did." I could hear him laughing. "I felt sorry for the poor guy. If that's how you usually treat him, I can't blame him for moving out."
Stunned motionless by his words, I instantly retorted,
"Marty deserved everything I told him."
"Sure. Just like I deserved your attack yesterday, right?" I could hear him sigh. It sounded like he was stretching out in a hot tub. "You know what I'm beginning to think about you, Carrie Paxton? I think you just like to fight." 54
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I gave a little cry of denial. "You're the one that called and attacked me."
"But it was way too easy to egg you on. So, thank you."
"If you thought that was...Huh? Thank you? Thanks for what?"
"I'll see you in school tomorrow. Bye, Carrie."
"Wait a second."
I thought he'd already hung up, but then he came back.
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"You're dang right I did. What was all that about?"
"You seemed fresh full of fighting today." I pictured him shrugging and flashing his dimple. "Just thought I'd get my jab in."
Luke sounded like he was having fun. I could tell he wasn't mad or bitter. He was purposely baiting me for his own amusement. I frowned.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, and waited for an answer, thumping my foot on the carpet. Luke took his time to respond and I said, "Well?"
Just when I thought I knew what he was about, he went and changed things. My life felt like it was getting crazier and crazier. First I made the mistake of thinking I had a crush on Luke Carter. Then he came to walk in the park with me. And just when I was thinking maybe he liked me back, he hid me to make sure no one saw me with him. And now. Now he was calling me on the phone?
When he spoke, he said it carefully, "I'm not sure what you mean."
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"I mean—" I gritted my teeth as I spoke, "what do you mean by calling me?"