Bitterroot Crossing

  I glared up at Steamer. “I’ve been keeping to my end of the bargain, now let her go, you dead piece of crap.”

  Steamer laughed angrily. “You fool. Don’t you know never to strike up a bargain with the ghost of an outlaw?” He laughed again and his grip seemed to tighten on Jessie. She stared down at me with those incredible green eyes and it was all I could do to keep myself from jumping up there and ripping Steamer’s head off.

  “Nick, please, check on Nana,” her voice was so weak and shaky it made my throat tighten. I ran to where Nana lay. She stirred and moaned. I took her hand and she wobbled some as she sat up. When her eyes found Jessie, she nearly passed out again.

  I looked at the terrorized people standing along the wall. No one was willing to help, it seemed. Even my family had backed away. That’s when I had a thought. “Are you O.K.?” I asked Jessie’s grandma.

  She nodded. “Just get my Jessie out of his clutches.”

  “Believe me, I will.” I leapt up and ran to the small kitchen where the seniors of the town spent their mornings playing Bingo and talking about weather.

  Steamer’s loud laughter followed me. “Lookie there, sweetheart, the boy’s running away. He’s not even gonna try to save you.”

  I was in luck. The small kitchen had not only one but two fire extinguishers. Footsteps landed behind me. I twisted around. It was Dad. I shoved a fire extinguisher into his hand. “Don’t ask. Just follow me and when I say go shoot this thing right at Crow’s ugly head.”

  I raced to the main hall and Dad followed. Steamer saw the fire extinguisher and his expression hardened even more. He floated up, carrying his tiny hostage with him. I pulled the pin. “Now, Dad.”

  We fired the white foam straight at Steamer and Crow. Their ghostly particles shot in every direction. I dropped the canister, leapt on stage, and caught Jessie in my arms.

  The doors burst open and everyone pushed out nearly trampling each other in an effort to get away. Dad helped Jessie’s grandma to her feet.

  Jessie smiled up at me. “Nice catch.”

  Reluctantly I lowered her to her feet. She shivered still recovering from Steamer’s icy hands. “Of course, I could have handled this all by myself, Nick Crush.”

  “You know, I’m sure you could.” I motioned to the back of the room. “But the rest of the town was getting kind of anxious about the whole thing, so I decided to step in and speed up the process.”

  Dad joined us. “How did you know about the fire extinguishers, Nick?”

  I placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s kind of a long story, Dad. I’ll tell you all about it at home after we give Jessie and her grandma a ride to the farm.”

  “Are they gone for good?” Dad asked. Mom and Bobby stepped back inside looking like they were in a complete state of shock.

  “Not a chance,” I said. “And now, I think they’ll be angrier than ever.” I glanced around the room that was packed with people just minutes ago. Now it was a sea of upturned metal chairs. “Dad, wasn’t there a preschool in this building?”

  “I think your mom used to take you to it.” He motioned with his head. “It used to be down that hallway.”

  I headed in that direction.

  “Where are you going, Nick,” Dad called.

  “Looking for fire extinguishers. We need to arm ourselves before we head up that hill.”

  Chapter 24

  We’d taken Nick’s mother and brother home before heading up the mountain. Nick sat in the front seat with his dad clutching a fire extinguisher, and Nana sat in back with me. We all watched vigilantly out the window for ghostly predators. Nana had thanked Nick’s dad four times for risking the drive up the hill. We had walked down without incident, but now the air seemed to pulsate with trouble.

  The streets were dark and completely deserted. An odd, silver mist floated lazily over the town. It had not been there earlier. It was amazing how quickly the citizens had returned to the quiet safety of their homes. Although they’d had plenty of practice. Most of them had never been that close to one of the town’s infamous haunts, and Steamer was particularly menacing. It may well be several days before any of them left their homes.

  Twice Nick took a surreptitious peek back at me. I pretended not to notice and continued to keep watch out the window. He’d saved me tonight and just those few moments in his arms had convinced me that his affection for me had not been an act. But I was angry at him for the way he’d treated me at school. I still had no explanation for how cold he was to me that day, and until I had one, I wasn’t ready to let down my guard.

  The entire mountain was shrouded by the strange mist, which seemed to thicken with each moment. Nana reached over and took my hand as the car’s headlights skewered a glowing path through the bizarre haze. Poor visibility slowed us to a snail’s pace.

  “Something sure isn’t right with this fog.” Nick’s dad broke the silence.

  “It looks angry, if you ask me,” Nana said confidently. “There’s something happening with our swamp dwellers. Something has them stirred up.”

  Nana’s words made me nervous. I stared out into the swirls of moisture and thought she was right. It looked like a vaporous cloud of ghostly rage. The car lurched to the right suddenly, and Nana’s hand gripped me tighter.

  “Sorry, that was a hole in the road,” Nick’s dad said.

  Now was my turn to sneak a peek at Nick. He kept a watchful eye out but didn’t look scared. In fact, I had never seen him look scared, only brave, confident and wholly wonderful. I was in the middle of my peek when he glanced back at me. This time I didn’t look away. I couldn’t. It was as if his gaze held mine. We exchanged a long look until a low moaning sound outside the car broke it apart.

  The headlights bounced up and down on the wavy road. We watched out the front window in the direction of the unnatural sound. Then the yellow light flashed on something ahead in a tree that jutted out over the road. We drew nearer and gasped simultaneously when we were close enough to recognize it.

  “That is not pretty,” Nick said quietly.

  Axel, or to be more precise, the upper half of Axel was tangled in the trees branches. The bottom half of him wriggled blindly about on side of the road looking for its better half. A horrible low moan flowed from his mouth. A sound so horrible I had to cover my ears as we passed by.

  “We’re all going to have nightmares about that tonight,” Nana said with a perceptible tremor in her voice.

  “What on earth happened up here tonight?” Nick’s dad asked.

  Nana shook her head. “Never seen anything like it in all my years.”

  Nick turned back to both of us. “Will you be safe up here?” He looked genuinely concerned, and I was almost ready to forgive him completely. Almost.

  “Once we’re inside, we’ll be fine,” Nana said. “They can’t penetrate the house.”

  Nick didn’t look convinced. His worry was almost too cute to bear.

  “We’ll be fine, Nick, really,” Nana said.

  He faced forward, and after what seemed like an eternity, the farm came into view. Nick’s dad pulled up to the house.

  “Wait,” Nick said. His face pressed closer to the side window. “I see something out there.” His hands scooted up the fire extinguisher and pulled the pin from the top.

  I leaned across Nana’s lap to peer out into the fog. A tiny red light glowed near the pasture. It was the tip of a cigarette.

  Nick opened the car door and jumped out with weapon in hand.

  I flew out my door after him. I grabbed Nick’s arm. “No! That’s Zedekiah.”

  Nick looked completely devastated by my reaction. He dropped the fire extinguisher to his side, defeated and hurt. His arm yanked out of my grasp. “That’s just great.”

  “Nick, don’t be mad. It’s just that . . .” My words fell on deaf ears. Besides I really had no idea what I was going to say. I did have feelings for Zedekiah, but they were nothing like the feelings I had for Nick. Of course, he didn’t k
now that. Nick got back into the car and slammed the door shut just as Nana exited.

  I glanced over at the pasture. The glow of the cigarette had disappeared but I had no doubt that the smoker remained somewhere out there in the angry vapor. My eyes ached with tears that wanted to flow as I watched Nick’s dad turn the car around and head back down the path.

  Nana put her hand on my arm. “Come inside, dearest.”

  I nodded and followed. “He’ll never speak to me again, Nana. I could feel it in the way he looked at me.” Some of the tears broke free and I wiped them with the back of my hand.

  “We’ll see, Jessie. Sometimes people can surprise you.”

  Nana was tired and went straight to bed after I promised her several times that I would not leave the house. She needn’t have worried. I had no intentions of wading through that wretched fog. And, at the moment, Zedekiah was the last person I needed to see. Something bizarre had happened tonight. The horrible vision of poor dismembered Axel sent a chill up my spine. I wondered if Zedekiah had been responsible. But why would he destroy his loyal gang member? Or was he loyal? There seemed to be more to the Crush Gang story, and I intended to find out what it was. Once I felt brave enough to venture outside again. At this time, I was feeling more like the other citizens of Bitterroot Crossing. There was no place like home.

  I was still agitated by the whole evening, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. The moment that plagued my thoughts the most was the incredible hurt in Nick’s face when I rushed out to stop him from firing the extinguisher at Zedekiah. For a moment things seemed right again between us. Now I was feeling as blue as ever.

  Jasper curled up at my feet and Anna in my lap as I sat at the kitchen table with the cookie jar. I intended to drown my sorrow with molasses cookies.

  I reached inside but instead of Nana’s thick, sugar sprinkled cookies my fingers found a box. I lifted it out. The cookie jar was apparently Nana’s idea of a safe hiding place. I dusted the sugar from the velvet covering and lifted the lid. The locket glistened back at me. I lifted it out, opened the clasp, and tried it on. It looked beautiful dangling on its sparkly chain. I leaned over to the toaster on the table and looked into it like a mirror. Zedekiah had nice taste in jewelry. I almost wished I could wear it sometime.

  Jasper yawned and I caught the yawn. Deciding it was time to go to bed, I fingered the chain to find the clasp and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge and it wouldn’t fit over my big head. It seemed as cemented shut as the locket itself. I tucked it under my nightgown and decided to have Nana help me open it in the morning. I was sure that the clasp was stuck because it was old. Or at least that’s what I tried to convince myself of as I headed to bed.

  Chapter 25

  I dropped the red canister onto the car seat and collapsed back. My stomach felt as if someone had just punched it with brass knuckles. But it hadn’t been brass knuckles and I hadn’t been hit in the stomach, only the heart. The look on Jessie’s face when she thought I might spray the extinguisher at her dear, sweet ghost ripped a hole in me. What a freakin’ loser I was. I lost to a dead guy who was nothing but a cloud of icy, sour smelling gases.

  “I’m going to floor it, so hold on,” Dad said. “Might damage the tires some, but I just want to get the hell off this mountain.”

  I didn’t answer.

  “What happened out there, exactly? You haven’t been the same since you jumped back in the car.”

  “Nothing happened,” I said. We were nearing the spot where Axel had been tangled in the tree. I stared out the window. There was no sign of either half.

  “I guess he pulled himself back together,” Dad said with a small laugh. It was the first time I’d heard him laugh in months. “Not much you can do to harm a guy who’s already dead.” “Unfortunately.” My jaw clenched as I thought about Zedekiah. He’d forced me away from Jessie then swooped in and stole her, and there was nothing I could do. And to think I used to like living in a haunted town.

  Dad and I released a collective breath when the car left the mountain path and reached Main Street. We’d made it down without incident, and the strange fog seemed to be disappearing as if the ghostly tempers had cooled. The whole night had been weird, and now it had ended like a stinging slap in the face.

  “I was thinking I might travel over to Sweet Grass tomorrow. I heard there was a construction crew looking for a foreman.” Dad looked at me. “What do you think? Do I have a chance?”

  “I think you should go for it, Dad. It can’t hurt to try. You have solid job experience in construction.”

  He grinned to himself and it was like I was looking at the old dad I’d known before. I’d hoped he was still in there somewhere. Putting the citizens of Bitterroot in their places and obliterating a ghost with flame retardant seemed to have revived some of his self-confidence.

  “But, Dad,” I said.

  “Yeah, Nick?”

  “Lose the friggin’ robe.”

  “What? You don’t think it will work in my favor on an interview?”

  “Not even if you were trying out for an underwear commercial.”

  He laughed. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the sound of it.

  The town was deserted like a true ghost town. Of course, there could be no truer ghost town than Bitterroot Crossing.

  “I imagine the town will be closed up tomorrow. People aren’t going to leave their homes for a while. Our town spirits gave us quite the show tonight. They’ve never done anything like it before,” Dad said. “Least not in my life time.”

  I looked at the town hall as we drove past. Some of the metal chairs littered the sidewalk. It looked like a tornado had blown through it. “They are definitely getting far less entertaining and far more aggressive.”

  “Might be we’ll all have to leave town if we can’t figure out how to get rid of them.” Dad turned the corner and red flashing lights greeted us. “Wonder where Sheriff Fielding is going?”

  “Some sheriff. Sure didn’t see him tonight at the meeting when the trouble started,” I said.

  “Not his territory. He and the mayor have been enemies since high school. Sheriff Fielding rarely gets involved with the mayor’s business. Besides, he has no more control over the gang than the rest of us.” He glanced over at me. “Although you sure showed them a thing or two tonight.”

  “You did too.”

  He returned his eyes to the road. “Yep. Maybe we’ll start our own Crush Gang.”

  I peered through the windshield. “Sheriff Fielding turned on our street.” Dad sped up.

  The flashing lights were now in front of our house. Dad and I leapt out of the car.

  “Fielding, what’s up?” Dad called.

  As we reached the front door stoop I could see someone else standing next to Sheriff Fielding. It was my boss, Mr. Mitchell. His face was pale.

  The Sheriff nodded in greeting. “Evening Frank, evening Nick. We’ve got a problem. Nick, do you have any idea where Baxter might be?”

  My heart jumped into my throat. “Baxter?”

  Mr. Mitchell grabbed my arm with cold shaky fingers. “They’ve got my boy, Nick. They’ve got Baxter.”

  Chapter 26

  Nana had been right. My sleep was filled with nonstop bad dreams. I kept reliving my fall from Steamer’s cold fingers, and each time, I jumped up in my bed, waking myself with a start. The horrific scenes of Axel wandering about with his pieces in disarray had crept into my nightmares too. When I was not tossing about in restless sleep, I was lying awake staring at the ceiling, listening to Jasper snore, and wondering if Nick would ever talk to me again.

  The clock in the hallway struck midnight when I pulled myself from my warm covers and tiptoed to the kitchen to get Anna some milk. It would take more than my footsteps to wake Nana. She had gone to bed fully exhausted and sore from being thrown to the floor. It was rare for her to go into town and this had not been an ordinary visit. I still had a hard time believing that any of it had happened.
br />   I heated some milk in a pot and decided to put some extra in for a cup of cocoa. Outside a gray drizzle and only the faintest moonlight had covered the mountainside, but it was a real drizzle from real clouds. I couldn’t figure out why it was so easy to tell the difference but real drizzle seemed like natural wetness, nourishment for the trees and grass. Ghostly darkness and moisture left behind a lingering sadness and an ache that could travel through your whole body. It was completely unnatural and I hated it when I saw it. And the fog that had penetrated every corner of Bitterroot Crossing just hours before had been the most horrid yet.

  I stirred my cocoa and sipped it as I stared out at the pale, dreary night. The ghostly fog was gone but it had left behind a grim atmosphere. Even looking out now over the pasture where Mandy usually stood, I felt heavy-hearted with a despair that seemed to have penetrated my soul.

  A movement outside caught my eye. Zedekiah was leaning against the fence with the brim of his black hat pulled low over his brow. I could not see his face but it was easy to see by his stance that his mood was somber. I debated with myself whether or not to go out to him. There seemed to be many unanswered questions. Nana would definitely throw a fit but curiosity won out. I threw on my jeans and grabbed my coat. Then I remembered the locket hanging around my neck. I swung it around to my back and pushed it under my coat.

  Zedekiah was standing in the same place and position when I came out to the yard. The brim of his hat lifted and he looked at me for a long time. “I thought I’d lost you for sure,” his words were as chilling as the first word he’d spoken to me on the trail when he thought I was Rebecca.

  I held my hands out to my sides and glanced down at myself. “All here, and in one piece, thanks to Nick.”

  He nodded. “That’s my great-great-grandson, you know.” There was an edge of pride in his voice.

  “I know. And he’s just as cocky and hard-headed as his great-great-grandfather.”

  His cigarette lit suddenly. He brought it to his mouth and took a long draw. “I couldn’t get inside. There was no one left outside the building. I knew they were up to something those bast--” He moved closer to me.