|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
hem in his pocket as he got to his feet and held a hand down for Oliver. “Co me on,” he insisted, realizing a strong urge to get out of there. “Let’s get back to my place, okay?” Oliver took Frank’s hand, accepting the assistance off the forest floor, b ut seemed put off when Frank placed a firm hand on his shoulder to guide h im back the way they’d come with a noticeable amount of force. “Is somethi ng the matter, Frank?” he asked, looking around curiously when Frank began to look over his own shoulder. “No... I mean... I just get the creeps out here, you know?” Oliver shook his head. “No, Frank.” Frank sighed. “Let’s just go. You have to be home at four, right?” “Yeah. Four o’clock, Frank.” “Okay, well, maybe we have the time to watch a movie or something before then.” Oliver smiled. “Okay, Frank.” ..................................... “Frank! Dad wants to talk to you!” Rudy called through the house, her voic e nearly fading before it reached Frank’s bedroom where he calmly pushed b ack his bed sheets, walked barefooted across his bedroom floor, and slamme d his door so hard that he was certain that the people in town could hear it. That should get the point across , Frank decided as he yawned, stretched, a nd headed back to bed for another hour of sleep. It was another Saturday mo rning, and for days now, ever since their phone had been connected, Rudy ha d been making a point of calling their father. He’d even called them a few times, which made Frank rather eager to avoid answering the telephone. He d idn’t want to talk to his dad, and the fact that the man suddenly wanted to talk to him didn’t make a whole lot of sense to Frank. It wasn’t as if the man had wanted to talk when they’d been in the same city, and there was no way that Frank was willing to set himself up for more disappointment by al lowing his dad to think that he wanted to talk to him after all that. He’d just crawled back into bed, pulling the covers nearly over the top of h is head, when there was a soft tap on his door. His mother didn’t wait for h im to answer before she stepped in to check on him, and Frank was forced to open his eyes. “Are you alright?” Jessica asked. Frank frowned and wiped some more sleep from his eyes. “Why do you let her talk to him? She’s just gonna get hurt.” “I think he’s trying, Frank,” Jessica replied. “I’m not saying that you have t o forgive him if you’re not ready to, but maybe...” “I’ll never forgive him.” Jessica sighed. “Okay. Listen, I’ve got to go to work pretty soon. There’s some more pancakes out here if you’re hungry, and you don’t have to worry about Rudy today. I’m taking her with me so she can meet a friend from ca mp.” “I thought she didn’t have any friends.” “Well, I guess she does now. Seems like a nice enough girl. Do you want to come, too? You’ve been asking to go.” “No. Oliver’s coming over again today.” Oliver had been coming over just ab out every day, a small fact that had helped ease Frank’s mind. It was reass uring that Oliver’s parents were allowing the visits, and Frank had no inte ntion of missing one. “Well, you guys have fun, then... just remember, if you go out, or even if you ’re here...” “We’ll lock the doors,” Frank promised. “Can I use the car tonight when yo u get back?” “I guess so,” Jessica replied, leaning back on the doorframe as she regarded her son. “Where do you plan to take it?” “I don’t know,” Frank said grumpily. “I just wanna get out of here for a whi le. I’ll probably shop or go to a movie or something.” “You’ll let me know before you leave?” “Fine. I’ll let you know before I leave,” Frank agreed with all the hostility of a seasoned teenager. Jessica just smiled, loving him anyway. Frank stared at the cracks in his ceiling as he waited for his mother to le ave, and then he reached into his nightstand drawer and removed the plastic bags of photographs which had been there for nearly a week. Frank had done a lot of staring at them lately, and did some more after removing them fro m their plastic bag. He’d become quite familiar with the eight images over the last few days. They were beginning to frighten him less and less, only because he’d been walking around his property every morning attempting to d iscover where David could have hidden to take some of them, and had come up with a range of possibilities. That at least convinced Frank that David di dn’t have some mutant ability to turn invisible. Very reassuring. Other thi ngs, though, were not. Frank abandoned the idea of getting more sleep as soon as he heard his mom’ s Subaru drive away from the house, and twenty minutes later he was dressed and outside, staring across the lake at the red roof of Oliver’s house wit h a pair of binoculars borrowed from Rudy. There was too much in the way to get a good view of anything other than the roof and the barn, but when a f [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
Odnośniki
|