After Midnight

  “Other than the cheetah? Just one of the cheerleaders from our class,” I told him. “She was walking ahead of me.”

  He asked for her name, and then said something to his deputy, who left the room. To me, Yamah said, “Would you like me to call your brother, Ms. Youngblood?”

  I tried to keep a straight face. “No.”

  “The cat handlers told me what you did kept that cheetah from attacking the kids from Sunshine,” he said, sounding a little sheepish. “It was a very courageous, unselfish thing to do.”

  The deputy returned with Tiffany Beck in tow, who scowled as soon as she saw me.

  “Is this the student you saw outside the exhibit before the cheetah got loose?” Yamah asked.

  I nodded.

  “What are you talking about?” Tiffany wrenched her arm out of the deputy’s grip. “I didn’t go anywhere near her or that cat exhibit.”

  “I saw the back of your jacket when you ran away,” I said.

  “Really.” Tiffany spread out her bare arms. “What jacket?”

  “You were wearing it when we got here.” If we’d been in school and this had been another prank, I might have let it go. But if Tiffany had opened that gate, she had deliberately endangered everyone in the park. “I know what I saw.”

  “Where is your jacket, Ms. Beck?” the sheriff asked.

  “I don’t know.” She dropped her arms. “I took it off and put it down for a second, and someone stole it. And I don’t care what she says; I didn’t open that stupid gate.”

  “How do you know a gate was opened?” the sheriff asked.

  “I heard what happened from my friends.” Tiffany wrapped her arms around herself. “Someone must have told them.”

  “So someone stole your jacket, and someone told your friends about the gate.” Yamah sounded skeptical. “But you don’t know who it was. That sounds a little too convenient, young lady.”

  A sullen look came over Tiffany’s face. “It was probably her. It’s not the first time she’s lied to get me in trouble. I bet she’s the one who opened that gate, just so she could blame it on me.”

  “If Ms. Youngblood was the one to open the gate,” the sheriff said, “then why would she stay there after the cheetah got out?”

  “So you’d believe her,” Tiffany shouted.

  “Yes, that’s it. I wanted you to get a detention so badly that I was willing to die for it.” I climbed off the exam table. “Can I go now, Sheriff?”

  He never got a chance to answer because the cheerleader shrieked and rushed toward me. Jesse pushed me behind him while the sheriff grabbed Tiffany and pulled her back.

  “Yes, Ms. Youngblood, I think we’re finished here,” Yamah said. “Jesse?”

  “I’ll take her home.” He put his arm around my waist, guiding me around Tiffany.

  “Does your boyfriend know that you’re cheating on him?” Tiffany sneered as she fought the sheriff’s grip. When Jesse looked down at her, she smirked. “That’s right. She’s been sneaking around with Aaron Boone, my ex-boyfriend, since the beginning of school.”

  “You’re mistaken,” Jesse told her. “Catlyn is not seeing anyone else.”

  “How do you know? She lies about everything.”

  He gave her a pitying look. “I know because she’s been too busy sneaking around with me.”

  I managed not to make a sound until after we walked out of the infirmary. Then a giggle escaped me.

  “I think,” Jesse said in a grave voice, “that girl does not like you very much.”

  “You noticed.” I was not going to give into the laughter bubbling up inside me, because I suspected it was mostly hysterical. “Thank you for setting her straight.”

  His arm tightened around my waist. “You’re welcome.”

  My thoughts were still in a muddle, so much so that I didn’t notice where we were headed until we reached the turnstiles. “This is the exit for the park.”

  “It is.” He stood aside so I could go through first.

  “I should go back with my class.” I made a face. “We took a bus here.”

  He gave me a gentle push through the turnstile and followed after me. “I told James that I would take you home.”

  “I appreciate the offer,” I said, “but it’s kind of a long walk from here.”

  “We’re not walking.” He took my arm and steered me toward a shiny dark green convertible. “I am driving you home.”

  “You’re driving.”

  He opened the passenger door. “I was not exactly honest. I did not spend all my time thinking about you. While we’ve been apart, James taught me how to drive, and obtained a license for me.”

  I got in and sank back against the leather seat. “So I got grounded, and you got a gorgeous, brand-new convertible.”

  He went around the car and got in behind the wheel. “I think my parents purchased it as an incentive.” He glanced at me. “Don’t worry. James says I am a good driver.”

  “That’s terrific.” I fastened my seat belt. “Do you think your parents would adopt me?”

  Jesse proved to be a very good driver, but when we reached Lost Lake I remembered my brother and touched his arm.

  “Trick was coming to the school after the field trip to pick me up,” I told him. “Can you drop me off there?” At his frown I added, “It’s okay. He won’t be there for at least a half an hour.”

  “I’m not worried about meeting your brother.” He slowed down and turned down the road that went past the school. “I was hoping that we would have a little more time to be together. To talk.”

  That reminded me that I was still grounded. “Don’t you have a phone on the island? I mean, besides the one in the property management office?” I could probably sneak down to the kitchen and call him after my brothers went to sleep.

  “There is one in the main house, but my parents never use it.” His expression turned rueful. “They don’t care for the new technology.”

  “Jesse, the phone has been around for like a hundred years. It’s not exactly what you’d call new. It doesn’t matter; Trick probably won’t let me get near the phone.” I thought of my mother’s letters. “What if we write to each other? Will your parents let you receive letters?”

  “They don’t accept postal deliveries.” He slowed to make the turn into the pickup area at the school. “You could leave letters for me in your hayloft. Hide them under the blanket over the old trunk.”

  “There’s no … ” I paused to swallow hard. Jesse’s joke made me feel so nauseated I thought for a moment I might throw up.

  The hayloft. The old trunk. The hayloft. The old trunk.

  At first the words hammered inside my head like two sledges, and then I remembered all the conversations I’d had about the hayloft and the old trunk. Jesse kept telling me that the old trunk was in the back the hayloft, and then when I asked my brother about it … I’d forgotten it again. Why was I having the same lapse in memory over and over?

  By that time Jesse had parked, and I looked out at the cars of parents who were already there and waiting for the bus. Trick hadn’t arrived yet, which was probably a good thing. I decided to keep my recurring amnesia to myself, at least until I went up into the hayloft and saw for myself whether or not the old trunk was there.

  “Assuming my brother ever lets me out of the house again,” I said, “would your parents be okay with us seeing each other?”

  “I don’t know.” He shut off the engine. “I haven’t spoken to them about you, but I don’t need their consent.”

  “Jesse, you’re their kid,” I reminded him. “Whether you like it or not, they love you. And until you’re eighteen, they own you.”

  He started to say something, and then a passing car grabbed his attention. “Perhaps it’s time that I introduced you to them.”

  “You don’t have to. I mean, if you don’t think it’s the right time.” I glanced at the car he was watching, which was a beautiful old-fashioned Rolls Royce. “Wow, great car. Like some
thing out of an old movie, isn’t it? Do you know those people?”

  He nodded.

  The Rolls pulled into the lot next to Jesse’s convertible, and a driver wearing a formal chauffeur’s uniform got out to open the rear door. I tried not to stare, but as soon as the young couple sitting in the back emerged it was hard not to.

  The girl, a petite brunette with a lovely face and large, cornflower blue eyes, looked like a perfect little porcelain doll. The handsome guy with her was big and dark and exotic-looking, with narrow brown eyes and a thick mustache that framed the corners of his mouth. Both wore formal evening clothes that were suitable for a much older couple, which seemed odd.

  Maybe they’re college students who had to dress that way for a costume party, or prom. Except it wasn’t Halloween, and it would be another eight months before proms started.

  Jesse got out of the car and came around to open my door, and then took my hand and walked with me over to the young couple, who were watching us.

  “Jesse.” The woman smiled. “James told us you might be here.”

  He nodded. “Catlyn, this is Sarah and Paul Raven.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” I shook hands with both of them before I glanced at Jesse. “Are these your cousins?”

  “No.” His mouth tightened. “They’re my parents.”

  “Sure they are.” I waited for him to say he was joking, but no one but me was smiling. “They are?” I turned to stare at them. “But you—you’re both—”

  “So young-looking?” Sarah suggested. When I ducked my head, she chuckled. “My husband and I have always appeared much younger than we are. The illusion is something of a family curse.”

  “Mother.” Jesse didn’t say anything else, but I could feel how tense he was.

  “I am very happy to meet you, my dear,” Sarah continued. She had a pretty voice and a faint accent I couldn’t quite place. “I’ve wanted to personally thank you for saving our son’s life.”

  “Indeed.” Jesse’s father regarded me with a far more reserved expression in his slanted eyes. “I have been curious about you as well.” He spoke English with a stronger version of Sarah’s accent. “How did you meet our son and become such a good friend to him?”

  “Well, we sort of bumped into each other one night.” Jesse hadn’t told his parents anything about me, but they could clearly see he was holding my hand, so I felt a little embarrassed. “We started talking and found out we have a lot in common.”

  “Such as?”

  “We both love traveling, and old houses, and horseback riding.” I smiled at Jesse. “I’m not quite the accomplished rider he is, but I can usually keep up.”

  “So you have gone riding together.” Paul Raven didn’t sound as if he approved. “What more have you done?”

  “Paul, really.” Sarah gave me apologetic look. “Excuse my husband, he likes to interrogate more than converse.”

  “I have a brother who’s exactly the same way,” I assured her. “Our parents died when I was young, so he’s my guardian.”

  “This brother, he allows you to go out alone at night?” Paul frowned. “A proper guardian would not, I think.”

  Jesse saved me from having to answer him. “Father, Catlyn’s family is not your concern. Neither is our friendship.”

  “Have you made yourself known to this brother?” His father glared at him. “I thought not.”

  I saw Gray’s truck pulling into the parking lot. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem any longer, Mr. Raven.”

  Trick parked on the other side of the Rolls and came toward us, only to stop short and stare at the Ravens. He seemed to recover a moment later and came straight to me.

  “The sheriff called me from the zoo and told me what happened,” he said, and took my hands in his to look at the fingernail marks. “You’re all right?”

  “I’m good. Trick, this is my friend, Jesse, and his parents, Sarah and Paul.” I turned to them. “This is my oldest brother, Patrick Youngblood.”

  I saw Mr. Raven’s lips move as he silently repeated our name. Sarah also went still.

  Trick didn’t offer his hand to anyone, and the measuring look he gave Jesse stopped just short of insulting. “I appreciate you bringing Catlyn back to the school.” To me he said, “It’s late. We’d better go.”

  “It was very nice meeting you,” I said to the Ravens before I turned to Jesse. “Be careful with that new car.”

  “Catlyn.” He almost took a step toward me, but his mother put her hand on his arm, and he subsided. “Good night.”

  Trick didn’t talk to me on the way home, and I guessed he was angry over finding me with Jesse. I considered trying to explain things, but his silence felt like a warning sign in a library: No talking.

  With every mile that passed, I missed Jesse a little bit more. I’d thought being grounded and not knowing how he was had been bad, but this was worse. I’d had a night filled with terror and wonder; Jesse had saved my life and given me the most amazing first kiss of all time. After tonight, how was I going to bear being locked in my room forever?

  When we arrived at the farm I went into the house and started for the stairs, but Trick asked me to wait for a minute.

  “Tomorrow morning I want you to start packing up your room,” he said, stunning me. “Use the suitcases in your closet for your clothes, and the plastic bins in the laundry room for your books and things. I’ll go into town early and pick up some empty boxes.”

  I thought of how I’d joked about military school, but surely he wouldn’t … “Where am I going?”

  “We’re all going,” Trick said. “You liked California best, didn’t you?”

  “We’re moving again?” I couldn’t believe it. “Why?”

  “It’s not safe for us to stay here any longer.” He looked over as Gray came out of the hall. “Grayson, we’re going to pack up and head out to California. Would you mind … ” He stopped and watched my brother stomp off into the kitchen.

  We both heard the kitchen door slam.

  “You could tell him that he can play football at our next school,” I suggested. “Maybe then he won’t hate you so much.”

  Trick rubbed a hand over his scalp. “I have to protect you and your brother, Catlyn.”

  “From what? Did Grandma and Grandpa drop in while I was at the zoo? No?” I put my hands on my hips. “You can’t do this to us. You told us that we were staying, that we were settling down. Now that we have, suddenly it’s not safe. Are we in imminent danger of becoming happy, normal kids for the first time in our lives?”

  Trick’s jaw clenched. “Go to your room and get some sleep. We have a lot to do to get ready for the move.”

  “What if I don’t pack?” I snapped. “What if I refuse to go?”

  “Then I’ll leave your things here and take you to California with the clothes you’re wearing. This is not your decision, and the discussion is over,” he added when I started to protest. “Go to bed, Catlyn.”

  He waited to watch me go upstairs, but once I slammed my bedroom door shut I heard him walk through the kitchen and go out the back door. I went to my window to see him heading out to the barn after Gray.

  The hayloft. The old trunk.

  As soon as he was out of sight I ran downstairs to grab his key ring from the rack in the kitchen. I removed the key to his desk and hurried back to his room.

  All I took from Trick’s desk was the old key from the box that had held my mother’s letters. I locked the desk, left his room, replaced the key on his ring, and was back upstairs before my brothers returned to the house. I hid the key under my pillow and switched off my lamp.

  As I suspected he would, Trick came upstairs to check on me. He didn’t bother to knock this time, but opened the door and looked in on me.

  I rolled over in bed, turning my back on him.

  “I’m sorry about this, Cat,” he said, and the regret in his voice sounded genuine. “But someday when you’re a parent, you’ll understand.??
?

  When my brother closed the door, I slipped the key out from under my pillow and held it in my hand as I listened to the sounds downstairs. As usual Gray locked himself in his bedroom, but I heard him slam something into one of his walls, so hard it made the house shake a little. Trick walked down the hall, said something to my brother, and then went around the house switching off lights and checking the locks. The last sound he made was opening and shutting his bedroom door, and then the house fell silent.

  I didn’t make the mistake of leaving just then; I waited for another hour until I felt sure my brothers were asleep. Then I opened my window, climbed over the sill and jumped to the pine tree.

  I hadn’t been in the barn for so long that all of the horses put their heads over their stall doors to whinny at me. Even the surly Flash nuzzled my hand when I stopped to give him a pat.

  I lingered with the horses until they all got bored of me. Although I’d come here on a mission, I didn’t want to go up in the hayloft. The thought of it made me feel frightened and sick, as if it were the worst thing I could do. It made my skin crawl, as if I were covered in bugs. I could even picture it, armies of them swarming out from under the old horse blanket.

  Strong as they were, I knew the feelings and sensations and mental images were completely wrong, especially when I remembered Jesse’s voice telling me about the old trunk that Trick said was there. And wasn’t there. And was there. And wasn’t there.

  If I kept thinking about it I was going to be sick, so I forced myself to walk over to the ladder and start climbing up the rungs. The feelings of dread only got stronger from there, and by the time I reached the top sweat drenched my clothes and I was shaking all over.

  I knew I wouldn’t see the trunk because it wasn’t there.

  But I could see that something was under the old horse blanket. Something big and rectangular and waiting for me.

  I couldn’t seem to lift my feet anymore, so I shuffled through the loose hay toward it. I reached down and with both trembling hands I tugged the horse blanket away.

  The old trunk sat there, its black-painted wood scarred with scratches and gouges and stains; its gray metal fittings pitted and dull. I took the key from my pocket and crouched down to slip it into the lock stamped with the letters AVH.