From Ant to Eagle(8)

Raquel picked up on this immediately.

“Oh, thank you, Sammy! I bet if we put them in the fridge they’ll be as good as new in no time. It’s boiling out here. Why don’t you guys come inside and have a drink? I have fresh lemonade.”

“Okay!” we agreed.

As we walked down the driveway toward the house, I noticed the curtains in one of the rooms upstairs close quickly—someone had been watching us.





CHAPTER 6

THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE SHOWED EVIDENCE OF A RECENT ARrival. Unpacked boxes were scattered around the kitchen while piles of wrapping paper lay in the corner. Raquel went about getting Sammy and I lemonade while we sat at the table.

“So where did you guys move from?” I asked.

“We just moved from London,” Raquel replied, rooting around in the fridge as she spoke, “Have you guys always lived out here?”

“No, we’re from London too. We moved here two years ago so my parents could have a change of scenery,” I said, with much more disdain in my voice than I’d meant.

“Yeah? I guess you could say the same about us. We needed a change of scenery.”

Raquel placed a tall glass of lemonade with ice in front of each of us, then walked toward the back hall. “Stay here a minute, okay? I’ll be right back. I want you guys to meet someone.”

I sat drinking my lemonade in silence for a minute, staring at the pulp floating aimlessly in the glass. When I looked up at Sammy I noticed he was doing the same, but not in the anxious way I was—his face had gone back to looking upset. I knew why.

“Jeez, I thought you were a goner back there,” I said, trying to force a laugh.

“Yeah…”

Sammy’s voice was quiet and he didn’t look up from his glass.

“As soon as I saw that dog coming, I didn’t even think, I just pedalled as fast as I could.”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh come on, Sammy, you can’t blame me for riding away. I thought you were right behind me.”

No reply.

I hated when Sammy was upset. He’d adopted the same guilt trip method Mom used on us when she was mad. No matter what I said or did he would continue to sulk and time was the only Band-Aid.

Raquel walked back into the kitchen. She paused momentarily before speaking, as if what she were about to say required planning. “I wanted you to meet my sister, Aleta, but she’s…not feeling too great today so she’s going to stay up in her room.”

“Maybe she’s got the flu,” Sammy suggested. “I had it and Mom said I had a feber.”

“Fever,” I mumbled under my breath.

Raquel gave a thin-lipped smile. “No, she doesn’t have the flu. She, well, she’s just not feeling herself today.”

Sammy seemed to be mulling this over in his head. While he did, Raquel turned to me.

“How old are you, Cal?” she asked.

The question caught me off guard. I felt like an idiot when I had to stop and think before I answered.

“Eleven,” I said.

“So you’re going into grade six next year?”

“Yep.”

“And you go to Huxbury Elementary, right?”

“Yep.”

“Do you think you boys can keep something between just the three of us?”

“Sure,” we both answered simultaneously.

“I’m a little worried about my sister. She’s going to Huxbury Elementary at the end of the summer and she won’t know anyone. She hasn’t spoken much since…well, for a few months now, and I think it would be really good if she got to know someone before school started, especially someone in her own grade.” She looked at me. “She’s shy though, so maybe it would be easier if you’d just go up and try to talk to her. Would you mind?”

I shrugged and said I didn’t mind.

Raquel led me up a set of blue-carpeted stairs to a hall of doors. She knocked on the first and a quiet voice replied, “Who is it?”

“It’s me again. I brought someone who wants to say hi.” She gave me a nod toward the door.

There was a long, awkward pause while I stood waiting. Finally, the door creaked open and the same girl I’d seen in church stood looking at the ground in front of me.

“Hi, umm, I’m Cal, I think I might be in your class next year so I just wanted to say hello.”

“Hi,” she practically whispered back, her eyes still on the floor.

Raquel retreated back down the stairs, leaving the two of us alone.

“Umm, so I hear you are going to Huxbury next year,” I repeated. “I thought maybe it would be cool to get to know each other. I only started there last year and, man, I’d wished I’d known someone beforehand. It’s not an easy place to fit in, especially being from the city. Most of the kids grew up out here and know each other pretty good. If you wanted to, you know, hang out or whatever, we only live a few kilometres down County Road 11.”

She didn’t speak but I thought I saw her head nod slightly. At least a few hairs on her head seemed to shake a little. That was enough for me.

“Maybe we could go for a bike ride or something? Do you have a bike?”

Again, only a slight nod, this time a little more obvious.

“I could come by tomorrow morning and meet you. We could bike into town and I could show you the school. It’ll be empty and locked, but at least I can show you the playground.”