Tread Softly

  "Arnold!"

  "I'll stay and help," Nick said.

  "This is absurd," his mother muttered.

  "Hell, let 'em satisfy their curiosity, Alice. You said yourself they won't find anything."

  "That's right," she said. "They won't. But if they want to waste their time and energy, far be it from me to stand in their way."

  "Atta girl."

  She gave him a quick, humorless smile.

  "Don't stay too long, kids," Dad said.

  "We'll catch up as soon as we can."

  Heather gazed at Nick with wide, frightened eyes. "You gonna dig it up?"

  "Probably nothing there but an old shoe," he told her.

  Rose narrowed her eyes. "You'll be sor-ry," she said in a singsong.

  Both girls turned away and hurried to catch up with their mother and father.

  "You want to stay?" Scott asked Benny.

  The boy made a face as if he'd been invited to taste a worm. "I don't want to see any stiffs," he proclaimed.

  "I don't blame you," Karen said.

  Scott turned to her. "Shall we be off and leave Burke and Hare to their grisly chore?"

  "I'm with you."

  The three of them started up the trail, leaving Nick and Julie by the grave. "Mission accomplished," Julie said. Nick grabbed her pack while she slipped her arms out of the straps. "Thank you, sir," she said, then took it from him and set it down. He swung his own pack to the ground. "I've got a little shovel in here someplace," she told him, propping her pack against his. Crouching, she slid a plastic clamp down its tie cord and peeled back the cover.

  Nick stepped behind Julie as she rummaged inside. Her T-shirt clung to her back with sweat. The tint of her skin was visible through the fabric. So was the narrow white crossband of her bra, and the thin straps running up to her shoulders. He could see the bumps of her spine pushing out the material and remembered the way her nipples had shown last night. Hey, you can look at me all you want. I was looking at you.

  "Here we go." She stood up, a green plastic trowel in her hand.

  "Perfect," Nick said.

  They stepped over to the mound. "Where'll we dig?"

  "In the middle?"

  "Good a place as any." She smiled, looking a bit nervous, and knelt beside the border of stones. Nick stepped around her, and dropped to his knees. Her shoulder brushed against him as she reached out with the trowel. Using its edge, she scraped away a layer of pine needles to expose a patch of earth. With its point, she scratched out a pair of crossing lines. "X marks the spot," she whispered. She pushed the plastic blade into the soil, and hesitated. "You don't . . . you don't really think anyone's down there, do you?"

  "Naw."

  "Me either." She pried out a heap of dirt, and dumped it next to the small hole. "I mean, who'd bury someone out here?"

  "I don't know." Nick's mouth was dry. His heart beat fast. He didn't know whether he felt so tense because of the grave or because Julie was so close to him.

  "What if we do find a body?" she asked, frowning at the tiny hole.

  "It's unlikely."

  "It's possible, though." She turned her face toward him. Her eyes were so blue that even the white seemed to have a faint bluish color. There was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. Her tongue curled out from a corner of her mouth and caught a trickle of sweat. "It is possible," she said.

  Nick felt breathless. "Yeah," he managed.

  "Oh, what the hell." Her face turned away, and she reached out with the trowel. Its tip hovered above the hole, quivering slightly. She sighed. "You know, I'm not sure this is such a hot idea after all."

  "We don't have to do it," Nick told her.

  "We said we would."

  "That doesn't matter."

  "They'll say we chickened out. Not that I give a rat's ass what anybody says, but ... I don't know, if there's a real live actual corpse — "

  "A live corpse?"

  "Okay, a dead one. It'd be sacrilegious to mess around with it."

  "Not to mention gross."

  She laughed softly. "Yeah, that too." She looked at him again. Her eyebrows lifted. "What do you think?"

  "Let's forget it."

  She shook her head a bit. "This is really weird. I mean, we both know there's nobody under here. So what're we afraid of?"

  "I don't know."

  With the edge of her trowel, she brushed the small pile of soil back into the hole. She patted it down. "There you go, Digby. Rest in peace."

  They stood up. Julie brushed dirt and pine needles off her knees. "I guess that's that," she said.

  "Guess so."

  They returned to their packs. Nick watched her crouch down to put away the trowel and close her pack. Like before, he stared at the way her T-shirt clung to her back.

  I'm a chicken, all right, he thought. If I weren't a damn chicken, I would've kissed her.

  Do it now.

  No. I can't. I just can't.

  "That's quite a scar you've got there," Flash said, taking a trail cookie from the bag in Karen's hand. The scar was a pale horseshoe on her forearm. "How'd you pick it up?"

  "A car accident," she said. She looked away quickly, and offered a cookie to Benny, who was sitting at the other end of the fallen trunk. "Want to pass them around?"

  Benny took the bag. "Was it a bad accident?" he asked.

  "Very bad," she said.

  Benny got up from the log, and gave cookies to the others sitting on the ground against their packs. There was an uneasy silence. Flash bit into his cookie and chewed. Obviously, he shouldn't have mentioned Karen's scar. "I've got a couple of doozies myself," he said. He started to tug his shirt out of his pants.

  "Arnold," Alice said in her warning voice.

  Ignoring her, he pulled up his shirt. He stood up and turned so Karen and Benny could see the small puffy crater in the flesh just above his hip. Karen wrinkled up her nose. Benny looked impressed. "That's from an AK-47 bullet I caught in 'Nam." He turned around. "See there? That's the exit wound."

  "How'd it happen?" Benny asked.

  "Well, your dad and I were on a strafing run when I caught a SAM. A surface-to-air missile. Knocked me right out of the sky. I hit the silk — ejected, you know — and found myself behind enemy lines." His head suddenly felt light. He let his shirt fall, and took deep breaths, fighting the dizziness. "Anyway, I spent nine days alone in the jungle . . . working my way south, dodging pa — " He blinked. Benny's silhouette was surrounded by a brilliant blue-silver halo. Shit, he thought, I'm gonna ... He staggered backward, sat down heavily on the log, and lowered his head between his knees.

  "Are you all right, honey?" he heard through the loud ringing in his ears. Alice. "I knew he shouldn't get started on that. He tries to put on that it was a big adventure, but — "

  "Stop," he mumbled.

  "Well, you shouldn't have brought it up."

  He felt a hand on his back. "Here." Scott. "Drink some water."

  Flash nodded. The ringing faded. He raised his head, and blinked. His vision seemed okay again. The girls, beside Alice, were staring at him with wide eyes. Alice was frowning. "Just a little dizzy spell," he said. "Probably the altitude." He took the canteen from Scott, nodded his thanks, and drank a few swallows of cold water.

  "Maybe you'd better lie down," Alice suggested.

  "I'm fine. Think I'll just. . ." He gave the canteen back to Scott and stood up. He still felt shaky, but the dizziness was gone. Walking carefully, he made his way to the shore of the lake. He stepped out on some low, flat rocks. Crouching, he dipped his hands into the chilly water and splashed his face.

  Damn, but he'd made a fool out of himself back there. Should've known better.

  He heard the crunch of footsteps behind him. Scott stood on a rock to his left. "You okay?"

  "Shit."

  "What was it, the sweats?"

  "Yeah. Happens now and again. Shit, you'd think fifteen goddamn years'd be enough to get over it. The damn thing's fucked up my whole life.
"

  Scott tossed a pebble into the water. It made a soft plip. "I guess none of us got out of it unscathed. I have plenty of bad times myself, and I wasn't even shot down."

  "God, I used to love to fly."

  "You were one of the best."

  "I'd probably be a captain, now, like you, if . . . You know what really gets me? It's all in my head. All in my fucked-up head, and there's not a thing I can do about it. Like there's some damn stranger inside here." He tapped his fingertips against his temple. "Just hiding in here, scared shitless, and every once in a while he has to pop up and let me know he's still at the controls." Flash forced a smile. "Could've been worse. I'd been a grunt, I might be scared to walk."

  Scott smiled. "Always a bright side."

  They stood up, and turned away from the shining lake. As they walked back toward the others, Flash saw Nick and Julie coming up the trail. "Dig him up?" he called out.

  "Sure did," Nick said.

  "Boy, was he a mess!" Julie added.

  Flash sat down on the log and watched the two approaching. Nick's hand was out, closed as if he were holding something.

  "He was all dismembered," Nick said.

  "What?" Karen asked, looking stunned.

  "All cut up in little pieces."

  "That's not amusing," Alice said.

  Nick and Julie smiled as if it were. Nick stepped in front of the twins, who were resting against their packs with their legs outstretched. "I brought you girls a souvenir," he said. "One of Digby's fingers."

  "Nick!" Alice snapped.

  "Catch, Rose." He made an underhand toss. His sister shrieked as a finger-sized object fell on her lap. Julie cracked up.

  "Nick!"

  "You creep!" Rose yelled, and hurled the stub of wood back at him.

  Heather started to laugh. Everyone laughed except Rose and Alice. "Really juvenile,." Alice said, scowling.

  "So," Flash said, "what did you really find?"

  "Nothing," Nick told him. "We decided to leave the thing alone."

  "Poor Digby's been through enough," Julie explained.

  "You didn't find out what's buried there?"

  "I guess we'll never know," Nick said.

  Julie nodded. "One of life's unsolved mysteries."

  Flash looked at Scott and shook his head. "Our kids, I'm afraid, are a couple of chickens."

  Scott grinned at him. "As my pappy used to say, 'Better a chicken than a ghoul.' "

  Chapter Twelve__________

  Must we?" Alice complained. "Why don't we play cards instead? Do you play bridge, Karen?"

  "Not very well, I'm afraid."

  "I want a story," Rose protested.

  "Me, too," said Heather.

  "You girls were frightened out of your wits last night."

  "It was neat.'"

  "Too windy for cards," Arnold said. He broke a dead branch over his knee, and placed both pieces on the fire. "I'm for a story."

  Alice sighed. She didn't want to be a stick in the mud. On the other hand, she certainly didn't want a repeat of last night's shenanigans. The story itself hadn't bothered her. Not much anyway. But her idea of fun did not include being startled from a half sleep by the hysterical screams of her daughters. "It's all right with me," she said. She stared across the blazing fire at Nick. "No funny stuff tonight. Promise?"

  "Cross my heart," he said.

  "Who's got a story?" Scott asked.

  "A real scary one," Benny added.

  "Karen?" Arnold asked.

  "Someone else's turn. I did my damage."

  At least she had the good sense to realize she'd caused all the trouble.

  Scott leaned toward the fire, grinning. "There is, of course, the true story of Digby Bolles." "Oh, Dad." Julie smirked at him.

  "Go on," Alice urged. This story should be harmless enough.

  "Is it scary?" Benny asked.

  "Listen and find out. Digby came to the mountains, insane with grief, to look for his missing daughter, Doreen."

  "The Doreen?" Karen asked.

  "The very Doreen who vanished with Audrey so mysteriously earlier that summer. Well, Digby wandered the trails and woods and the high, barren passes, looking everywhere. Soon, his food ran out. But he didn't turn back. He kept searching. He lived on chipmunks and squirrels, which he ate raw."

  "Yuck," Rose said.

  "Squirrel tartare," said Julie.

  "October came, and a terrible blizzard hit. But Digby continued his search. He couldn't find any more squirrels. He was starving to death. Then one night he saw the light of a campfire in the distance. He trudged through the knee-deep snow, and came upon a lone camper. He staggered up to the man, who was kind enough to offer him a bowl of stew. But Digby had lost his taste for stew. The man, who happened to be a surgeon on a fishing trip, looked very appetizing to Digby. And he tasted as good as he looked." Scott leaned back, folded his arms across his chest, and grinned.

  "Is that all?" Benny asked.

  "Great story, Pop," Julie muttered, shaking her head.

  "What happened next?" Rose demanded.

  "Well, poor Digby eventually starved to death. He ran out of Dr. Scholl's."

  "Boo," Julie said.

  "That's awful," Karen gasped as she laughed.

  "Wasn't even scary," Benny complained.

  "The best I could do on short notice."

  Heather looked up at Alice, frowning. "I don't get it."

  "That's all right, honey. It's just as well."

  "He ate the guy, stupid," Rose explained.

  "I know that. What I mean is, if he ate up Dr. Scholles and then died, who buried him?"

  "We'll never know," Scott said. "One of those great, unsolved mysteries of life."

  "It's just a story," Alice told the girls. "None of it really happened."

  "But we saw his grave," Heather said.

  "Don't be a dork."

  Alice glared at Rose. "Watch your language, young lady."

  "I want a real story," Benny said. "That wasn't even scary. It was okay, but it was just a joke. I want a scary one."

  Nick suddenly sat up straight and slapped his knees. "I've got it! Let's all get our flashlights and go on a Doreen and Audrey hunt!"

  "Neat!" Benny blurted.

  Julie looked eager. "They've gotta be around here someplace."

  "Can we, Mom?" Rose asked.

  "Not me. I'm perfectly comfortable where I am."

  Arnold turned to Scott. "What do you think?"

  "I'm all for letting the kids go, if that's what they want."

  "Somebody might get hurt," Alice said. She wanted to protest more strongly, but since Scott seemed to think it was all right . . .

  "We'll be real careful," Nick told her.

  "And no funny stuff. I don't want you trying to scare the girls."

  He raised three fingers. "Scout's honor."

  "Don't go wandering off too far," Arnold said. "We don't want to lose you."

  "We'll just circle the lake."

  "Maybe one of us should go with them," Alice suggested. "Just in case."

  "Jeez, Mom, nothing's gonna happen."

  "Nick's old enough to take care of things," Arnold said.

  She sighed. "Well, be very careful. Somebody could fall and break a leg."

  "We'll be careful," Nick assured her.

  A flashlight shined in Benny's eyes as he hurried through the darkness. "What took you so long?" Julie asked.

  "I couldn't find my flashlight." He shielded his eyes from the beam.

  "Have you got it?"

  "Yeah."

  Julie lowered her light. It made a pale disk on the ground at her feet.

  "Okay," Nick said. "Let's stay close together." Benny heard a slight tremor in the older boy's voice.

  He was shivering himself. It was partly the cold, but he felt shriveled and shaky inside. I'm not scared, he thought. Just excited.

  "Now watch where you're walking," Nick said. "We'll catch hell if someone gets hurt, a
nd they won't let us do it again."

  "Maybe we can do it every night," Benny said, thrilled by the idea.

  They started walking single file along a footpath near the shore. Nick was in the lead, with Julie close behind him. The twins followed Julie. With hoods up, their hair was out of sight, so Benny couldn't tell which was which.

  Looking over his shoulder toward the clearing, he saw the glow of the campfire. He wished Karen had come along. It would be a lot more fun with Karen, even if she was a grown-up.

  He took his flashlight from a pocket of his parka, and turned it on. The beam lit up the red jeans and sneakers of the girl in front of him. He shined it into the trees to his left. The weird, lurching shadows made him nervous. He swung his light down across the path, over pale rocks along the shore, and onto the water. The surface of the lake was rough from the wind. He swept the beam back and forth over the waves. He made curlicues. It was fun at first. Then he thought, What if a hand reaches up out of the water and nobody sees it but me? That's stupid, he told himself. But the image of a dead pale hand rising out of the murky lake wouldn't go away and he began to feel certain he would see it if he kept watching. His skin was prickly with goosebumps. He turned off the flashlight.

  "Doreeeen," Julie called in an eerie voice. "Audreeey! Come on, everybody."

  Nick took up the call. Then the high voices of the twins joined in. With a shrug, Benny started calling out, too. Their voices rose, mingling with the noise of the wind.

  Somebody'll hear, Benny thought. But he kept on shouting, unwilling to be the only silent one of the group. Besides, he told himself, there's nobody around to hear us. Nobody we know about. He glanced over his shoulder, but saw only darkness behind him.

  He began to wish he weren't last in line. It'd get him first. Nobody would even know. He'd yell his head off, but with all the others calling for Doreen and Audrey, they wouldn't even hear him. It'd drag him away and . . .

  Benny jerked his foot back, but it was too late. The girl yelped and stumbled forward, leaving her sneaker behind. She crashed into the other twin, and they both fell sprawling. "Jeez, I'm sorry!" he blurted.

  "Get off me!" snapped the one on the bottom, pushing at her sister.

  Benny picked up the shoe.

  "What happened?" Nick asked. "You okay?" He and Julie helped the girls to their feet.