Good Neighbors(28)
Doubt crept: What if they needed the adults and not the police? What if this plan was dumb?
Rhea screamed again, angrier this time. “Shelly! Come back here NOW!”
Like a spooked horse, Shelly pulled ahead of Julia, running blind and straight for the slab—the shortest distance between the park and the road. She pounded wood. It cracked with every step and she didn’t stop. She didn’t seem to know she was running on it.
Julia stopped short, afraid the added weight would bring them both down. In the cab of the excavator was Larry, watching out the window. He’d probably gotten scared and hidden there. Now he poked his hands out and squinted, that perspective game kids play, as if trying somehow to catch her.
Shelly’s steps made hollow bangs! The rivets sang, loud and dissonant. The entire slab groaned toward the mouth of the hole like a board game folding in half.
“Shelly!” Julia shouted. But she didn’t seem to hear. She was stuck in the fold the wood made, unable to climb high enough to get out. She flailed, an animal trapped in a snare.
Cold settled over Julia. She pictured herself flying through the air and rescuing Shelly. She willed the wood to hold, as if life were wishes.
The folded wood cradled Shelly as she struggled to stand. She didn’t look for Julia or shout for help. She didn’t seem to know where she was or what was happening. She pushed hard with her hands, unfolding the board, but it was too heavy. She let go and it all slammed back.
Oh, God, no, Julia thought.
CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCK!
The entire slab collapsed. It was there, and then it wasn’t.
Julia looked over, just as Arlo arrived at her side, the first adult to reach them. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her back. Together, they saw.
Shelly Schroeder fell. For a moment, it seemed as if the broken slab would hold her. A magic, midair cradle. But no. She plunged through the center, even as she reached for its muddy, useless edges. Down, down, down, into the murk.
BRICK
July 11–July 25
Map of Maple Street as of July 15, 2027
*116 Wilde Family
*118 Schroeder Family
INDEX OF MAPLE STREET’S PERMANENT RESIDENTS AS OF JULY 15, 2027
100 VACANT
102 VACANT
104 The Singhs-Kaurs—Sai (47), Nikita (36), Pranav (16), Michelle (14), Sam (13), Sarah (9), John (7)
106 VACANT
108 VACANT
110 The Hestias—Rich (51), Cat (48), Helen (17), Lainee (14)
112 VACANT
114 The Walshes—Sally (49), Margie (46), Charlie (13)
116 The Wildes—Arlo (39), Gertie (31), Julia (12), Larry (8)
118 The Schroeders—Fritz (62), Rhea (53), FJ (19), Ella (9)
120 The Benchleys—Robert (78), Kate (74), Peter (39)
122 The Cheons—Christina (44), Michael (42), Madison (10)
124 The Harrisons—Timothy (46), Jane (45), Adam (16), Dave (14)
126 The Pontis—Steven (52), Jill (48), Marco (20), Richard (16)
128 The Ottomanellis—Dominick (44), Linda (44), Mark (12), Michael (12)
130 The Atlases—Bethany (37), Fred (30)
132 VACANT
134 VACANT
TOTAL: 42 PEOPLE
From Newsday, July 12, 2027, page 7
A local thirteen-year-old fell through the Sterling Park sinkhole Saturday morning. Rescue teams were immediately called to the scene. Says Kirsten Brandt, spokesperson for the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management, “We’re looking and we’re going to keep looking. That’s all I have for you right now.”
The Maple Street sinkhole is about 180 feet deep, penetrating Long Island’s water table. Hofstra University geology professor Tom Brymer says, “The complication with this kind of thing is that the underlying aquifers extend through the length of Long Island. If she hit her head or anything like that, it’s very possible that she traveled.”
Authorities at the Garden City zoning office, which had the Maple Street sinkhole scheduled for sand fill beginning today, have postponed the work until the child, whose name has not yet been released, is found.
A spokesperson at the EPA reiterated today that the air remains safe. In addition to the bitumen seen upswelling throughout the area, it is believed that the sinkhole’s high metal content is interfering with radio and satellite reception.
From the TMZ website, December 6, 2014:
Arlo Wilde of Fred Savage’s Revenge was taken into custody last night for attacking his manager and father, Hawshawn Wilde. He is charged with felony assault and battery. Hawshawn is in critical condition at New York–Presbyterian Hospital. The Wilde men have a notoriously rocky relationship, first reported here, when Arlo sued his father for back wages.
It’s a fall from grace for Arlo, who won a Best New Artist Grammy last year. Sources say that as part of his plea agreement, Arlo plans to enter rehab for heroin addiction.
Click for mug shots!
From Believing What You See: Untangling the Maple Street Murders, by Ellis Haverick, Hofstra University Press, ? 2043
Investigators have researched Rhea Schroeder’s past exhaustively. We all know about the event at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. Franklin and others have tethered this incident to the subsequent Maple Street Murders. But that connection is tenuous at best.