Part 25 (1/2)

”Hey, guys! Hey, guys! How about some help?”

Ste and Kelvin were walking ahead of Jim. Kelvin had brought something from his backpack, which the two poured over. They had their backs to Jim, who had been left to carry all the fis.h.i.+ng equipment.

”Come on,” Jim protested. ”This isn't fair.”

”Just a second. We're busy.”

”What're you doing? What're you looking at?”

Ste and Kelvin laughed together.

”Nothing for your eyes, Jim. You'd get embarra.s.sed.”

”What is it?”

”Nothing. Just a magazine.”

They pa.s.sed into a small wooded area, then out again into another field. Leaving the dappled shade of the trees, Jim stopped in his tracks. The sun filled the whole of the next meadow. The gra.s.s was high and spotted with color: daisies, dandelions and other flowers Jim couldn't name grew in abundance. The meadow was a wide area of gra.s.s with the sky blue above. Jim was so struck by the place that he could have happily forgotten about fis.h.i.+ng and spent the day on his back in the middle of that meadow. It seemed to be the most peaceful, enticing place he had ever set foot in.

Ste glanced over his shoulder. ”Come on, Jim. Keep moving.”

”Can't we have a rest?”

”Jim-here!” Kelvin raised the magazine. He roared with laughter when Jim diverted his eyes. ”I wouldn't mind seeing Zoe Oswald lying down like that, eh?”

”Zoe Oswald!” Ste barked, punching Kelvin on the shoulder. ”She's way beyond your league!”

”No, she's not. I was thinking of asking her out next year.”

”What!” Now Ste was laughing, bent forward and clutching his stomach. The full act.

Kelvin looked off to one side. ”She wouldn't go out with you in a million years! She's a model, you goon. I've seen her in the Littlewoods catalogue. She wouldn't look twice at you.”

”Guys,” Jim interrupted, ”can somebody besides me carry something? These boxes are heavy.”

Kelvin stamped toward Jim and muttered, ”Give me something then.”

Ste was standing apart, untroubled by the s.h.i.+ft in Kelvin's mood. He glanced about the field.

”This is where I found the bone, jawbone, or whatever. It was right over there.”

Jim winced. ”You're kidding, Ste?”

”No. The river's over on that side. Past those trees. The bone probably washed up. Whatever. Hey, let's swim.”

Ste began striding off in the direction he had indicated. Jim and Kelvin exchanged a look that said 'here we go again' before wading across the field in pursuit.

The river was wide, but not deep. Standing on the bank, Jim could see the rocks and pebbles at the bottom of the water. He searched for movement. Could there be any fish in this river? He was turning around to tell Ste that maybe they should follow the river to see if they could find a deeper stretch, when Ste came hurtling past him, stripped down to his underwear and hollering at the top of his voice. He hit the water with a loud splash.

Jim dropped the fis.h.i.+ng equipment onto the gra.s.s.

Ste shrieked. ”Cold! Cold! It's freezing!”

”I'm coming in!” Kelvin said, already peeling off his t-s.h.i.+rt.

Jim sat on the bank, watching his two friends splash each other and frolic in the clear water.

”You're not coming in, Jim? It's not that bad once you get used to it.”

”Can't swim,” said Jim with a shrug.

Kelvin laughed. ”But it's only waist high. You're not going to drown.”

”If you go under, I'll save you, Jim,” Ste said.

Ste and Kelvin began chanting Jim's name, throwing water up at him until he relented. He stood and kicked off his sandals. He took off his s.h.i.+rt, then stood s.h.i.+vering slightly on the bank, looking down at the water where his friends seemed so at home. It was true it was only waist high, but Jim focused on the slight ripples on the surface, thought about how it pulled and dragged. He thought about himself submerged. He might trap his foot in a s.p.a.ce between the rocks and go under. He thought about himself grasping and fighting as he tried to break free, desperate, losing himself.

He took a step back. ”Can't.”

”Don't be a chicken. What's the matter?”

”I can't.”

Jim turned his back to his friends and began walking toward the trees, attempting to escape their calls of derision, which had already begun. He left them to it. He wandered through to the wide meadow and fell down in the cool gra.s.s. He lay staring at the sky. Sc.r.a.ps of clouds hung against the blue, barely s.h.i.+fting. A flock of white b.u.t.terflies jittered above, then away. Jim felt calm and relaxed. He could still hear his friends splas.h.i.+ng and shouting, but distant. He was happy to be alone. He lay still and let himself doze with the sun warm on his face and chest. He smiled to himself, remembering what Kelvin had said about Zoe Oswald. I'm going to ask her out next year.

No chance, Jim thought.

When school started again, Zoe Oswald would be out of reach of all the boys. The girls seemed to grow up so much faster. Every September they seemed further ahead. Suddenly they had a different shape, and styled hair, and make-up, and a certain maturity in their eyes. They had become strange and alien. Their conversations were somehow closed. They made boys feel foolish for doing the things they had always done, like chasing b.a.l.l.s and rolling in the dirt. That look in their eyes said, ”When are you going to grow up?” or even ”When are you going to get hair on your b.a.l.l.s?” A girl had actually said that to Jim once, to make her friends laugh. It was a girl he was fond of. Her name was Summer. Jim liked her name because she was blond and freckled and looked like summer-to him at least. He had teased her one day and she had turned around and said, ”When are you going to get hair on your b.a.l.l.s, Jim Stanley?” Jim knew he was being mocked, but somehow what she had said exited him. He had thought about it often since. He thought about taking Summer away from her friends, taking her to a quiet corner of the school yard. She would not protest. She would stand there giggling. And Jim would lean in close and say Wanna see? Wanna- There was a sound.

Jim opened his eyes. He looked into the blue sky. His face felt hot and flushed.

The sound came again. Abruptly, he sat up.

He looked toward the trees. He turned his head to one side, listening.

There it was again. Laughter. A girl's laughter.

He thought for a minute that Ste or Kelvin might be playing some trick on him, but he realized he could still hear the two of them down by the water. This laughter he had heard was closer. He scanned along the trees with his eyes. He hitched a breath when he saw a movement. Something had slipped between two tree trunks. Again, he heard a low giggle of laughter.

For some reason he felt his heart pounding. He realized he was frightened. Just as he had felt in his dream.

”Hel-h.e.l.lo?” he ventured.

The only reply was another t.i.tter of laughter. He saw a form slip between the trees. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw movement also to his right. He looked that way, thought he saw a girl or a young woman standing at the edge of the trees for a moment, looking back at him. She was wearing some rough white cloth that hung off one shoulder-just like the girl in his dream that morning. In seconds she vanished, but as Jim stood gazing, he realized that the wooded area was suddenly alive with figures, flitting between the trees, hardly letting themselves be seen at all, the only noise the odd giggle. They seemed to be dancing, moving together in the cover of the shade.

By now, Jim was paralyzed with fear. He managed to call out to his friends. He called out over and over again until he saw them stepping from the wood, looking at him baffled.

”What is it, Jim?”