The Bell Bandit (12 page)

"C'mon, Jess," said Evan. His sister was hanging on the outside of the circle, staring at the path that led back to the house. "What are you waiting for?"

"Three minutes!" shouted Maxwell.

Suddenly Jessie broke away from the circle and started running toward the woods. "It's Grandma. She's here. She made it!"

Everyone in the circle turned to look. It really was Grandma! Evan couldn't believe it. And his mother was right behind her.

Jessie had already grabbed hold of Grandma's good arm and was pulling her toward the circle. A cheer rose up from the crowd as everyone on the hill burst into muffled mittened applause. The sound bounced off Black Bear Mountain and ricocheted back to the top of Lovell's Hill.

"Two minutes, thirty seconds!" shouted Maxwell.

"I'm guessing I'm the oldest?" said Grandma, breathing hard as she broke through the circle.

"Yes, ma'am," said Pete. "And Kayley here's the youngest."

"Well, then we're good to go!" said Grandma. "Except—" She looked around her, searching the crowd. "Except this year, I want—" She spotted Maxwell and waved him over. "Maxwell. And Jessie, you, too. And ... and..."

"Grandma, we can't all ring the bell," said Jessie. "It's not the tradition!"

"I don't care!" said Grandma. "This year I want something different. I want..." She continued to look at each face in the crowd. Evan shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Grandma's eyes finally came to rest on his face. "You!" she said. "Come here. I want you here, too."

Evan walked forward, miserably. It was awful to be forgotten by Grandma at all, but even worse to have it happen in front of so many people. It made him feel like he had done something bad, something he was being punished for.

Grandma grabbed his shoulder with her good hand and pulled him in close to her. She bent her face down so that her forehead touched his. In the bright moonlight, he could see the spidery wrinkles around her mouth, the fine lines that trickled from her eyes. Her face looked frightened. He was frightened, too. What would she do? What would she say?

"I do know you," she whispered. "I do. I just can't ... I can't quite put it all together. But I
know
you."

Evan nodded his head. "It's okay, Grandma. It's okay."

"Ten, nine, eight..." shouted Maxwell, his face lit up green by the glow of his digital watch.

They had to crowd together: Pete, holding Kayley, Evan, Jessie, Maxwell, and Grandma, each one grabbing a few inches of the rope that hung from the bell's heavy clapper.

Everyone on the hill joined in the countdown. "...five, four, three, two, one!"

Evan swung his hand back and forth wildly. The five of them pulled in different directions, and the first few peals of the bell were weak and halting. But then they found a rhythm, and they swung the rope back and forth in perfect unison, until the noise of the bell filled the snow-covered valley below and the echoes of each peal bounced off of Black Bear Mountain and came racing back to them.

Evan listened to the bell and thought that it sounded different this year. Maybe because he was ringing it? Maybe because it had been taken down and then hung again? It sounded lower, a little bit sadder. Then he listened again and thought, no, it sounded the same as always.

Different and the same.

In Pete's arms, Kayley pumped her legs wildly and then threw her head back and crowed at the night sky.

"You don't see that every day!" shouted Maxwell, and Grandma laughed just like she used to, loud and rumbly.

Evan smiled at Jessie, and she smiled back at him. "Happy New Year, Jess!" he shouted, above the wild clamor of the bell.