Author: Mary Downing Hahn
Quotes of Author: Mary Downing Hahn
Our voices sounded small in the noisy darkness. We called her name again and again. We waved our flashlights in hope that she'd see their bobbing light. We were hoarse from calling. And desperate when she didn't answer. The faint trail gave out, and we began circling back to the house without realizing it until we saw the lights in the windows. "We need to call the police," Dad said. "We don't know the land the way they do. We'll get lost ourselves if we keep going." Wordlessly, we made our way home. Mom was on the front porch, shivering in her warmest down coat. "You didn't find her?" "No." Dad stopped to hug her. Mom clung to him. They stood there whispering to each other, as if they'd forgotten about me. I waited, shifting my weight from one frozen foot to the other, afraid Bloody Bones might be watching us from the trees. Not that I believed he actually existed, not in my world, the real world, the five-senses world. But with the wind blowing and the moon sailing in and out of clouds like a ghost racing across the sky, I could almost believe I'd crossed a border into another world, where anything could be true-even conjure women and spells and monsters. The police came sooner than we'd expected. We heard their sirens and saw their flashing lights before they'd even turned into the driveway. Four cars and an ambulance stopped at the side of the house. Doors opened, men got out. A couple of them had dogs, big German shepherds who book-quoteBrandishing a green mallet, Hannah grinned at John. "We'll take sides. You and me against Andrew and Theo."Hannah went first. Theo and I watched her knock her ball through the first two wickets and aim for the third. She missed and stepped back to let Theo take his turn.I leaned on my mallet and waited. It had taken me a while to understand the game, but once I learned the rules, I'd become a pretty good strategist. As soon as I had the opportunity, I planned to knock John's ball clear off the court, maybe all the way into the poison ivy at the bottom of the hill.In a few minutes, I saw my chance. My ball rolled through a wicket and hit his. To keep mine steady, I put my foot on it and whacked my ball hard enough to drive John's into the poison ivy."It's dead," I crowed. "I got you!"Hannah gave me one of her vexed looks. Turning to John, she said, "I swear he's getting more like his old self every day."At the same moment, Buster went tearing into the poison ivy and emerged with the ball in his mouth. Waging his tail proudly, he ran off with it. He'd lost Mrs. Armiger's hat, but he wasn't going to give up the ball. Ignoring our commands to drop it, he dashed under the rose trellis and disappeared behind the hedge."Drat," Hannah said. "That stupid dog must have buried a dozen croquet balls by now."I glanced at John, hoping he'd be a bad sport. Maybe he'd say I cheated. Maybe he'd say it wasn't fair. Maybe he'd disgrace himself by refusing to play. Instead, he slapped my back and said, "Well, it looks like you'll win this game, Andrew."Hannah glowed with admiration. Frank Merriwell himself couldn't have been a finer gentleman. book-quoteI told you before--you mustn't let Edward scare you. He's a bully and a coward. What would Frank Merriwell do if he were you?"Frank Merriwell--I was thoroughly sick of hearing that name. "I don't care what some dumb guy in a story would do. I'm not going to fight Edward.""Fight me then." Hannah raised her fists and danced around on her bare feet, bouncing, ducking, and swinging at the air around my head. "Pretend I'm Edward!"I ducked a punch, and she swung again. "Put up your dukes," she ordered, "defend yourself, sir."This time Hannah clipped my chin hard enough to knock me down. Her shirtwaist was completely untucked, her face was smudged, her hair was tumbling down her back and hanging in her eyes."On your feet, sir," she shouted. "Let's see your fighting spirit!"Hannah was making so much noise she didn't hear John Larkin push aside the branches and enter the grove. When he saw her take another swing at me, he started laughing.Hannah whirled around, her face scarlet, and stared at John. "What do you mean by sneaking up on us like a common Peeping Tom?""With the noise you've been making, you wouldn't have noticed a herd of rampaging elephants." John was still laughing, but Hannah was furious.Putting her fists on her hips, she scowled at him. "Well, now you know the truth about me. I'm no lady and I never claimed to be one. I suppose you'll start taking Amelia Carter for rides in your precious tin lizzie and treating her to sodas at your father's drugstore. I'm sure never brawl with her brothers."Theo and I looked at each other. We were both hoping Hannah would make John leave. Before he came along and ruined everything, we'd been having fun.To my disappointment, John didn't seem to realize he was unwanted. Leaning against a tree, he watched Hannah run her hands through her hair. "I don't know what you're so fired up about," he said. "Why should I want to take Amelia anywhere? I've never met a more boring girl. As for her brothers--a little brawling wouldn't hurt them. Or Amelia either."Hannah turned away, her face flushed, and John winked at me. "Your sister's first rate," he said, "but I wager I know a sight more about boxing than she does. Why not let me show you a thing or two?"Happy again, Hannah smiled at John. "What a grand idea! But go slow, Andrew's still weak."When John took off his jacket, I edged closer to Hannah. "I like lessons," I said to her, scowling at John. He was rolling up his sleeves, probably to show off his muscles. Next to him, I was nothing but a skinny little baby. He'd knock me flat and everyone would laugh at me. book-quoteWhen Dad pulled up in front of the house, the three of us sat still for a moment and stared at the gloomy pile of bricks my great-aunt called home. Up close, it looked even worse than it had from a distance. Ivy clung to the walls, spreading over windows and doors. A wisteria vine heavy with bunches of purple blossoms twisted around the porch columns. Paint peeled, loose shutters banged in the wind, slates from the roof littered the overgrown lawn.Charles Addams would have loved it. So would Edgar Allan Poe. But not me. No, sir, definitely not me. Just looking at the place made my skin prickle. Dad was the first to speak. "This is your ancestral home, Drew," he said, once more doing his best to sound excited. "It was built by your great-great-grandfather way back in 1865, right after the Civil War. Tylers have lived here ever since."While Dad babbled about family history and finding your roots and things like that, I let my thoughts drift to Camp Tecumseh again. Maybe Martin wasn't so bad after all, maybe he and I could have come to terms this summer, maybe we--My fantasies were interrupted by Great-aunt Blythe. Flinging the front door open, she came bounding down the steps. The wind ballooned her T-shirt and swirled her gray hair. If she spread her arms, she might fly up into the sky like Mary Poppins. book-quote
