The Night Parade(85)

“I’m sorry,” David said.

“He was a good boy.” Heck’s gruff voice hit a snag, like a piece of thread from a sweater getting caught on a hook.

“Was it the illness?” Ellie asked. “Some people call it the Folly.”

“It was,” said Heck. “He was one of the lucky ones. He went very quickly. I was on the road when it happened.”

“He was alone?”

“Come on, Ellie,” David said, squeezing her knee.

Heck raised a hand. “It’s all right,” he said. “No, dear, he was with his mama back home.”

“Oh.” She leaned forward, scrutinizing the photo of the handsome little boy. “When did it happen?”

“Last year.”

“Do you have any other kids?”

“No, pepita. Now we’re alone.”

Ellie looked up at Heck. The trucker glanced down at her, smiling, his eyes glassy and red. Ellie reached up and placed a small white hand on the man’s broad shoulder. David felt his heart racing a mile a minute.

The big man cleared his throat and said, “You wanna hear me blast this air horn, darling?”

“I heard it when you drove up behind us,” Ellie said. “It scared me, it was so loud.”

Heck chuckled. A single tear spilled down his cheek and merged with a crease at the corner of his mouth. “Well, now, I suppose that’s true. You’re a frank little lady, aren’t you?”

“I guess so,” she said.

“What you got in that shoe box?”

“Bird eggs. Three of them.”

“Yeah?”

“Oriole eggs, I think.”

“Now, where’d you go and find bird eggs?”

“In the bushes outside my house. The mother never came back, so I adopted them.”

“Well,” Heck said. “Isn’t that nice. I reckon something like bird eggs is about as rare as a dinosaur fossil these days.”

“I’m sorry your son got sick and died,” Ellie said.

“Thank you, baby. But ain’t nothin’ nobody could do.”

Ellie’s hand slid off Heck’s shoulder. She turned her gaze toward David.





45


It was ten after nine when Heck pulled his truck up the paved path that led toward the entrance of Funluck Park. David saw that condos had been built along the road leading up to the park, ugly brick buildings with only a few lights on in the windows. The surrounding forestry was overgrown and poorly maintained.

“Road’s a bit narrow,” Heck said. The truck’s air brakes whistled.

“We can walk the rest of the way from here,” David said. “Thank you so much, Heck. You were a godsend.”

“One good deed, and all that.” Heck tipped his hat at Ellie. “And it was a pleasure meeting you, little miss. You have fun camping with your old man, y’hear? And take care of them bird eggs!”

“Good-bye, Mr. Ramirez,” Ellie said. She held out her hand and Heck laughed, but he shook it. Then he patted her head.

David climbed out of the truck, then lifted Ellie out. “Thanks again, Heck. You saved our butts.”

Heck leaned across the passenger seat and said, “That really your little girl, Tim?”

David felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. “Yes,” he said.

“I ask, because I get the sense that something’s a little off-kilter with you both, if you catch my meaning. I mean no offense by it.”

“I appreciate your concern, but we—”

“Campground with no camping gear,” Heck went on. His tone was not accusatory; he was merely commenting on the truth as he saw it. “That gash on your arm you said you got from changing the flat. It would bother me if I didn’t say something, you understand?”

“All right, Heck. Then say what’s on your mind.”

“For one thing, are you really that girl’s daddy?”

“I am.”

“It also seems like you’re both in a panic to get to wherever you’re going.” Heck chewed on his lower lip, then added, “Or maybe you’re just trying to get away from someplace fast.”

“Maybe it’s a little of both,” David said. “But I promise you it’s for the good of my daughter. I hope you can understand that.”

Heck jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating his cargo. “Stuff back there don’t mean shit, in the grand scheme of things. Hell, this’ll probably be my last trip. Didn’t even want to take this one, truth be told, but it’s just so darned pretty out here, don’t you think?”

Again, David nodded.

“It’s takin’ care of your family that matters,” Heck said. He glanced down at the picture of his son. “I can give you both a ride to wherever you need to get. No questions asked.”

“That’s incredibly nice,” David said, “but this is our next stop. We’ll be okay from here.”

“In that case, I wish you luck.”

“You, too.”

“Just hold up a sec.” Heck leaned over the back of the seat and rummaged around in the cramped compartment in the rear of the cab. A moment later, his hand reappeared clutching a balled-up polo shirt. He tossed it out the door and David caught it. “Whatever is going on with you two,” Heck said, “you won’t blend in with your shirt smeared with blood like that.”