The Children on the Hill(71)

“Great,” Julia said, looking up at the sky. “Perfect time for a monsoon.”

“What are you really?” Vi asked. “I command you to answer.”

“You’re really stuck on this commanding thing, huh? Like I said, my name is Julia.”

“And you expect us to believe you’re a human?” Iris asked.

Julia laughed. “What else would I be? An alien from outer space?”

“You’ve been spying on us,” Vi said. “For days now, right?”

“Shit. The little boy saw me. I knew it. And now you two. Are you going to tell?”

“Tell who?”

“Dr. Hildreth.”

“Maybe,” Vi said. “But maybe not. Tell us who you are and what you want.”

“Like I said, my name is Julia.”

“And? Why have you been watching us?”

“I’m a journalist. Well, actually, a journalism student over at Lyndon State. And I’m doing this project.”

“What kind of project?” Vi asked.

“Look, kid, in case you hadn’t noticed, it’s raining like hell. It’s nearly nine-thirty at night, we’re lost in the woods, and I’ve got a twisted ankle. What do you say we put our energy into getting out of here, and we can talk later?”

Vi shook her head. “Tell us now.”

Julia sighed. “Well, it started with me looking into Dr. Wilson Hicks. He taught at the University of Vermont and wrote a book called—”

“The eugenics guy,” Vi said.

“Yes!” Julia said. Her demeanor changed completely—she was excited.

“A Case for Good Breeding,” Vi said. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything, but she couldn’t really resist showing off a little to adults, even strangers.

“What’s eugenics?” Iris asked.

“It’s the scientific study of heredity and breeding and how to improve the human race by making everyone white and smart,” Vi explained.

Julia laughed. “Couldn’t have put it better myself.”

Iris shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

Julia got up on her knees, pulled herself up by holding on tightly to a tree. “God, that hurts,” she said. “Hey, do you think you could find me something I could use as a walking stick?”

Iris and Vi started looking around.

“Did you find him? Dr. Hicks?” Vi asked as she picked up a stick that looked perfect but was actually too rotten to use.

“He died back in the late fifties. Have you read his book?”

“Parts of it.”

“So you know about the study of the Templeton family?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s what I was going to write about for my project, see. I was going to interview surviving members of the family. Templeton isn’t their real name, of course.”

“Have you talked to any of them? Interviewed them and stuff?” Vi asked. She’d found a good sturdy stick and brought it over.

Up close, she could see how young Julia was. She looked like she could be one of the students at Fayeville High School who worked at the drive-in.

“Some of them,” Julia said, taking the stick, testing her ankle by putting a little weight on it. She took a shuffling step forward. “There were some I couldn’t contact, though. Because they were dead or… missing.”

Vi felt the skin at the back of her neck prickle.

“Weird,” she said. “So do you think you’re okay to walk with that? Iris and I can help you if you need it.”

“The stick is great. We’ll just go slow, okay?” Julia said. “You think we can find our way out of here?”

Vi shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think we might be near the highway. Or maybe the dump?”

“I can find the way back to the house,” Iris said.

“You can?”

Iris nodded. “Follow me.”

“I managed to track down Dr. Hicks’s research assistant,” Julia went on. There was no stopping her now. Vi recognized the excitement in her voice, the pride. She’d been able to follow the trail and uncover what she needed to know. A kindred spirit. “And it turns out she’s the one who runs the Inn here, Dr. Hildreth.”

“Gran,” Iris said.

“She’s your grandmother?”

“I’m Violet Hildreth,” Vi said. “My brother Eric and I live with Gran.”

“And what about you?” Julia asked Iris.

“Her too,” Vi answered before Iris could speak. “She’s our sister, Iris.”

“So Dr. Helen Hildreth is your grandmother?”

Vi nodded. “Yeah.”

“Maternal or paternal?”

“Paternal. My father was Jackson Hildreth.”

“Jackson Hildreth,” Julia repeated, saying the name slowly. “And all three of you live there, in that house with Dr. Hildreth?”

“Yeah.”

“For how long?”

“Since our parents died. Like…” Vi calculated. “Eight years ago now.”

“I’m sorry for asking… but would you mind telling me how your parents died?”