“I never said, that,” Stephen said. “You said that.”
“Yeah, but you were thinking it,” said Jack.
Stephen couldn’t argue that point, but didn't want to admit that to Jack. Ben had made a stand about the hotel, and Jack turned on him. Alone with Jack, Stephen felt safer not arguing about going to the hotel.
Neither boy said anything for several seconds. Stephen broke the silence — “Hey, let’s get some lunch.”
Stephen didn't do much on Saturday afternoon and Sunday. As far as Jack’s parents knew, both boys spent the day in the basement, reading, watching television, and playing video games. In reality, Stephen did those things but Jack disappeared for substantial stretches. One minute, they both watched a program about sharks, and then the next, Jack wandered off. An hour or so later, Jack reappeared and settled back down on the couch. He timed his absences when his parents were otherwise engaged, so they were never the wiser.
During one of Jack’s recesses from the television, Stephen headed up to the second floor to pretend to get something out of the guest room. As he expected, he spotted Jack sitting in his room, looking at the computer. When he came back out of the guest room to go back downstairs, Jack had moved on — neither at his computer, nor in the basement. It remained a mystery for Stephen, and Jack walked in twenty minutes later as if nothing had happened.
“Where do you keep running off to?” Stephen asked him.
“Nowhere. Just reading about something on the computer,” said Jack. That was the closest Stephen would get to a direct answer all day.
Jack’s luck ran out midway through Sunday afternoon. Stephen sat alone, watching television when Jack’s mom came down the stairs.
“Jack?” she called when she was still about halfway down the stairs.
“Uh, he’s upstairs I think,” said Stephen.
She paused, one step from the bottom. “Huh. I just came from there. I didn’t see him.”
Stephen smiled and shrugged. “Was he in the bathroom?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” she said as she turned. “Tell him to come up when you see him.”
“Okay,” said Stephen.
Jack came in from the back of the basement a few minutes later. His shirt looked slightly wet — drops of rain stained his shoulders and chest.
“Your mom is looking for you,” said Stephen. His tone was clipped — annoyed at being left out of Jack’s activities.
“Okay, thanks,” said Jack. He dug through the cabinet and pulled out one of the spare shirts hidden there after the dye incident. The wet shirt went in the dryer and he pulled on the dry shirt as he walked up the stairs. “Be right back,” he said. Stephen flipped through the channels and tried to stop guessing at what Jack had been up to. He wanted to be aloof, and he suspected that curiosity about Jack’s activities and the hotel would only lead him to danger.
A program about snakes had almost captured his full attention when Jack came dashing back down the stairs and flopped down next to him.
“Hey,” said Jack.
“Hey,” Stephen replied.
“My mom wants me to visit my grandparents at the beginning of August,” said Jack.
“Oh yeah?” asked Stephen.
“Yeah, they live down your way kinda — western Mass,” said Jack.
“You’ll have to come to the city,” said Stephen, politely but without much enthusiasm.
“I’m not going down there,” said Jack. “I’ll come up with a reason to not go.”
“How come?” asked Stephen, secretly relieved. The feeling surprised him a little, but he had grown a little scared of Jack since Ben had left.
“I’ve got too much to do here before the school year starts,” said Jack. “I can’t waste any time.”
He opened his mouth to question Jack’s itinerary, but then decided against it. “Huh,” Stephen said instead.
“I’ll tell you someday,” Jack replied to the question that Stephen hadn’t asked.
Stephen tossed and turned that night, his sleep troubled by disturbing dreams. He woke in the middle of the night wondering if he was coming down with a cold. When getting a bad cold he would always have the same dream over and over again, like he was stuck in a loop until his fever broke.
In the worst dream he rode a bicycle down hill and couldn’t find the brakes. The bike had curved handlbars, like his touring bike, but where his bike had levers, this one had nothing but white grip-tape. He spun his feet backwards thinking maybe the bike had coaster brakes like his dad’s antique bicycle. Looking down, he couldn’t see any mechanism to slow himself, and the ground kept streaking by faster and faster.
To make matters worse, the smooth asphalt road gave way to gravel and eventually to hard-packed dirt. He would wake up from the dream just as he steered the bike into a tree or over a cliff. About two AM he woke from this dream and sat straight up in bed. Something besides the dream had woken him up, but he didn’t know what was wrong.
Through the window he saw a thin moon shining between the maple leaves. He thought he saw a shadow move near the foot of his bed, but as soon as he blinked twice, the shadow disappeared. Closing his eyes tight, Stephen slid down in his bed until just the top of his head poked out from under the covers. There might be something in his room, but he decided to ignore it and wait for morning.
Despite his fear, he fell asleep again within ten minutes and returned to the same terrible dream.
Stephen slid halfway out of bed before completely waking up. His cell phone, perched on the end table and plugged into its charger, was ringing its alarm.
He planted a hand on the floor and pulled himself the rest of the way out of bed. His feet hit the floor and he straightened up to grab his phone. Pulling out the charging cord, he flipped it open to read the alarm.
“Meet me near salamander rock. Come right now,” said the display. Stephen shut off the alarm and thought about the message. His clock read seven AM.
The salamander rock part was easy, he remembered that rock. A few weeks earlier, before the hotel adventure, the boys spent an hour trying to catch a salamander in the creek. Ben caught it on a rock which became known as “salamander rock.”
Stephen couldn't guess why Jack wanted to meet him at seven in the morning, or why Jack put the appointment on his phone instead of just asking.
He had to make a quick decision, and thought about the fourth of July. Jack stood up for Stephen, even though they didn’t like each other then and he had no reason to risk his neck. Stephen decided to return the favor and settle up with Jack. He pulled on his pants and got ready to meet Jack in the woods.
Heading down the path, Stephen felt like a bundle of nerves. He felt like he was waiting to take a test and he had forgotten to study. Breath shallow and heartbeat fast he tried not to rush — he wanted to be ready for whatever Jack was calling him towards. Despite his resolve, he accelerated until he heard voices up ahead. He stopped and listened.
“Listen kid,” a raised voice said and then trailed off.
Stephen darted off the path and followed a thicket of pine trees closer to the creek. Hunched over, he could make it under the dry branches. The pine needle carpet let him approach silently. He stopped when he heard the voices coming from the other side of a burm.
“Do you want the deal or not?” someone asked. The voice sounded firm and forceful, but young. It took Stephen several moments to realize that the voice belonged to Jack.
“First you gotta tell us how you got my phone number,” answered a deeper voice.