The Ghost of Graylock (11 page)

L
ATER
, C
LAIRE ASKED
N
EIL AND
B
REE TO COME
to the pie shop with her. Anna had an eleven o’clock phone conference with an art gallery in Woodstock.

Neil decided not to take it personally that Anna clearly wanted them out of her hair. It was just as well. He knew he needed to persuade his sister to help him do something about the strange occurrences — starting with convincing her that he wasn’t insane. At least this way they’d be stuck together for the day.

After breakfast, Neil had twenty minutes to get ready. In the upstairs bathroom, he turned on the faucet in the purple claw-foot tub, then twisted the asterisk-shaped knob above the silver spout so that a heavy stream sprayed from the showerhead. Before Neil even had a chance to strip off his shirt and sleep shorts, steam began to rise from the basin where the water was quickly collecting.

The drain must be clogged
, Neil thought, stepping into the hot, shallow pool. The previous night’s dream flashed briefly through his mind, but then he remembered Bree’s attempt to contact their father. His annoyance pushed any other anxiety aside.

If Dad took them away, what would they do about the mystery of Nurse Janet? It would be much more difficult to learn the truth about the asylum in the woods all the way from California. Besides, according to Alexi and Mark, you can’t escape a haunting. Spirits travel in the same way memories do. And Neil had been haunted by his parents ever since the beginning of the year — it didn’t seem to matter where he went.

Why was Bree insisting on being so blind? How come she refused to place blame where it belonged?

Rick Cady, their father, had lost his job as a high school theater teacher two years ago. He’d looked for work every day until the daily grind grew too exhausting. Then he found solace in rehearsals for
Annie Get Your Gun
, a local production in which he’d been cast as the male lead. It didn’t bring in any money, but it made him happy.

Everything changed when, one night, Rick came home late, missing dinner. He explained to his family that he’d met with a casting agent that afternoon in New York City. From the coldness that filled their house over the next few weeks, Neil understood that what was happening between his parents was not merely about acting. Months later, that same agent convinced Rick that Los Angeles was where he needed to be.

Neil believed that everything that had happened since his father went away — this Nurse Janet nonsense included — was his father’s fault. The fact that Bree wouldn’t admit it was a poison cherry on top of an already toxic sundae. Neil knew what Bree was thinking:
Dad is the only sane parent we have left.
But, Neil wondered, what kind of sane person would leave his family suffering on one side of a continent to go off and pursue a fantasy on the other?

Someone knocked on the bathroom door, snapping Neil back to reality. “We’re heading out soon!” It was Claire.

The shower was all steam now. Neil glanced down at his fingertips. They were pruning. “Sorry!” Neil called out, beginning to rinse what was left of the shampoo suds from his hair frantically. “Gimme a minute!” Soapy white residue coated the surface of the water, which had risen halfway up his calves. Neil turned off the faucet, and the water slowed to a trickle from the spout. He swung the shower curtain open and reached for his towel, hanging on a nearby hook.

Wiping his face, Neil felt something brush against his leg. Glancing down at the water, he noticed a ripple of minuscule waves bouncing off the far side of the basin, but the disturbance quieted as quickly as it had begun. The opaque water was difficult to see through, even when Neil bent over to get a closer look.

Something long, thin, and dark squirmed just below the surface.

Neil stood quickly, scrambling to leap from the water. His feet slipped out from under him. His knee hit the edge of the tub, and he toppled to the bathroom floor with a resounding crash. The plush purple bath mat broke his fall, but it didn’t stop Claire from rushing back upstairs.

She pounded on the door. “Neil! Are you okay?”

Neil’s left shoulder and hip pulsed with a dull pain. He kneeled, his brain scanning the rest of his body. “I tripped,” he said, when he was sure he hadn’t broken any bones. “Sorry, Aunt Claire.”

He cautiously peered over the edge of the tub. The water had dropped a couple inches and had cleared a bit. The bottom of the basin appeared to be empty. Whatever he’d seen moments ago had either been in his imagination, or had slipped down the drain.

“Did you hurt yourself?”

He almost called out to tell Claire what he’d just seen, but the previous night’s conversation rose up in his memory.
I’m beginning to wonder if they wouldn’t be better off with my brother in Jersey City.
He didn’t want to worry her any more than he already had. “I’m fine.” He wrapped the towel around him, swiftly wiping away the water that still clung to his skin.

“For goodness’ sake, be careful.”

By the time Neil was dry, the tub had fully emptied, and he forced himself to peer into the drain itself. The hole lacked a catch-all filter, so he was able to see directly into the pipe below. The water level hovered a few inches down, as if something was, in fact, keeping it from sinking. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Neil reached down. Sticking his finger into the opening, he felt something slimy. Somewhat fuzzy, like a hair clog. Gross, yet familiar.

He managed to catch part of it. He pulled. What came out of the hole made Neil feel faint — a long piece of dark green weed. The kind he’d dreamed about the night before. He dropped it into the tub, where it landed with a disheartening
splat
.

Slipping quickly into his clothes, Neil went out into the hallway. “Aunt Claire? Aunt Anna?” he called out. Moments later, Claire peeked out from her bedroom door. “Can you come here?” he asked.

Neil turned around and swung the bathroom door wide. “There was another piece of lake grass. This time in the tub. I thought you should —” But, of course, the tub was now empty. Of course. Claire raised an eyebrow, and Neil’s skin prickled with embarrassment. The feeling reminded him of waking from the nightmare the night before. “Sorry,” he said quickly, hoping he hadn’t just made things worse for himself. “I guess I’m seeing things.”

N
EIL AND
B
REE RODE SILENTLY
in the backseat of Claire’s car as she drove into Hedston. He did not speak of the bathroom again. When they arrived, the pie shop employees greeted them with enthusiasm. Neil asked Claire if he could use the shop’s phone.

An hour later, Wesley arrived on his bike. The boys sat on the curb out front. Neil told him about the lake weed appearing and then disappearing. “I’m getting sort of jealous,” said Wesley. “Why hasn’t anything strange happened to me or Eric?”

“You want strange?” Neil raised an eyebrow. “You can have some of mine. I don’t know how much more I can take.”

Wesley kicked a pebble into a nearby storm drain. “You guys can stay at my house if you want. We don’t have a lot of room, but I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind.”

“This isn’t about our
house
.” Neil smacked Wesley’s knee. “It’s about me and Bree. Besides, your mom doesn’t even know us.”

“I told her about you, though. She thinks it’s great that we’re hanging out. Other kids in this town … well, let’s just say they think I’m a little weird.”

Neil managed to laugh. “Only a
little
?”

Wesley thought about it, then he laughed too. “Yeah. They haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Everyone can be weird if you watch them long enough.”

A loud engine rumble echoed from around the shop. Seconds later, a large pickup truck roared out of Jameson Way — the thin, alley-like road at the nearest corner — and screeched to a halt in front of them.

Neil pulled his feet out of the front tires’ path just in time. He was about to shout a piece of his mind, when a familiar face peered down at him from the driver’s window.

“Whoa, there,” said Andy. “Almost gotcha! Sorry!”

Immediately, Neil felt bad for what he’d been thinking. Andy opened the door and stepped onto the curb. He held out both hands to the boys and helped them up. “Neil,” he said, shaking his head in what appeared to be astonishment. “You’re just the person I was looking for. And here I was about to run you over!” He pressed his lips together, sheepish. “Don’t tell your aunts. They’ll torture me.” He nodded hello at Wesley. Wesley nodded back.

“I won’t say a word,” said Neil, smiling slightly. “You were looking for me?”

“I feel awful about the other night,” said Andy. “At the party.” Neil felt his lungs tighten. “I know you heard us all talking…. I wanted to apologize.” Neil didn’t say a word. “Whatever is going on with your parents —” Andy stopped himself and glanced uncertainly at Wesley. “Your personal life is none of my business.” He reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulled out a scrap of paper, and handed it to Neil. “But, having gone through something similar with my own family, I wanted to let you know that if you ever wanted someone to talk to, you know, someone other than your aunts, you can always call me.” Neil opened the note to find that Andy had written his phone number. Andy really
had
been looking for him, and he’d come prepared. Neil felt his face flush. “I can meet you here. Anytime.”

“Thanks,” Neil heard himself say. He folded up the piece of paper and tucked it into the pocket of his shorts. “That’s really … nice of you.”

“I hope I’m not stepping on toes. I’m just close by, that’s all.” There was something in this old man’s eyes, something sad, that reminded him of his family. It was the kind of thing he’d wished his father had said to him back when he was still around.

Neil glanced down at his sneakers. “My toes are fine.” Wesley laughed nervously.

Andy smiled, and then reached out for the café door. Holding it open for them, he said, “Now if I don’t get some coffee in my stomach soon, you guys will see me turn into a monster. Not pretty. Trust me.”

A
FTER
A
NDY TOOK HIS EXTRA-LARGE CUP TO GO
, the boys asked Claire if they could borrow her computer. They didn’t mention that they planned on looking up as much as they could about the history of Graylock.

“I need to place some orders for the shop,” said Claire. “But your sister is heading over to the library. You guys can use the computers there instead. If you’re back around one, I’ll make you some lunch.” She didn’t even hint that Neil’s bathtub stunt that morning had freaked her out. Maybe he was in the clear?

Bree insisted on walking five steps ahead of them. She hadn’t said a word to Neil since their fight about their father. Yes, he wanted her help, but if she was so intent on leaving behind the haunts of Hedston, Neil couldn’t force her. Let her read her romance novels. He and Wesley had work to do.

The library was a few blocks ahead. It sat across the street from the expansive hillside view where Neil had first experienced Wesley’s Green Man. One story tall, the building had been constructed in the nineteen thirties from local stone of varying size and color. It reminded Neil of a life-sized gingerbread house in a fairy tale. He wondered how the town managed to fit an entire collection of books inside.

As if reading his mind, Wesley said, “There’s a big basement. Totally creepy. The computers are down there.”

“Great,” said Bree, over her shoulder. “That’s exactly where I won’t be.”

As a car came up the street from behind them, the trio moved farther away from the road. The small red hatchback slowed as it passed them, and someone shouted from the open window, “Hey look! Two freaks and a geek!” Then the car sped off, burping out a lick of grayish exhaust.

“Eat dirt!” Wesley stepped forward and shouted. After the sputter of the engine disappeared past the top of the hill, Wesley realized that both Neil and Bree were staring at him in confusion. “Members of my brother’s band,” Wesley explained. “They’ve been harassing us the past few days.”

“That’s terrible,” said Bree, looking truly concerned. “Is Eric okay?”

“Eric seems to be handling it fine,” said Wesley. “And, uh, I am too, in case you were wondering.” He raised an eyebrow, and Bree blushed. “Just gotta stand up for ourselves a little more now. But that’s all right. I’m used to it even if Eric isn’t.”

“What happened between them? Eric and the band, I mean,” Neil asked.

“I’m sure it had something to do with a girl,” Wesley said, rolling his eyes. “It always does.”

Bree cleared her throat and pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ears. “Well,” she said in a strange, businesslike tone, “I hope he’s able to sort it out.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Wesley. “I’m all for prank phone calls and everything, but not when I’m the one who’s getting them. I mean, I know what me and Eric are dealing with is nothing compared to the scary stuff that’s been happening to you guys, but —”

Bree cut him off with a deathly glance that told him she didn’t want to talk about it. “Let’s just go.”

Once they reached the library steps, Neil said, “The one question I have is: Who of us are the freaks, and which one’s the geek?”

“Personally?” said Wesley, taking two steps at a time. “I’d be proud to be called either.”