Twisted (18 page)

Mr. Peterson had laughed and they'd known for sure. He was Pete, the totally off-the-wall guy who'd starred in the Central Motors used-car commercials. They were on every Saturday, right in the middle of the
Night Owl Movie
, and Pete had done some incredibly funny things.

In the first commercial, he'd driven through the front door of a church to scoop up the bride in a used Ford Bronco. He'd also taken four couples to the prom in an old black hearse, and herded cattle in a beat-up Cadillac convertible with steer horns wired to the front bumper. Pete had dressed up like Santa and driven around with five decorated Christmas trees in the shovel of a battered snowplow, and he'd pulled up to the drive-in window of a bank on a tractor-lawn mower. Pete was a drama major who'd put himself through college by doing television commercials, and everyone was glad he was their student teacher.

Jennifer noticed that Pete looked unhappy, and so did Miss Voelker. Everyone in class seemed to realize that there was something wrong, because there was silence as Miss Voelker walked to the front of the room and sat down at her desk.

“I've got some bad news.” Miss Voelker sounded very upset. “Pete? Why don't you tell them?”

Pete walked to the front of the room. “I'm sorry, guys . . . but we're going to have to cancel the fall play this year. We just found out that the new theater wing won't be finished until after Christmas.”

There were predictable groans from the class. They'd all been looking forward to performing in the new theater. Jennifer raised her hand. “Isn't there another theater that we could use?”

“We tried to find one,” Pete answered her. “Miss Voelker and I called every decent-sized auditorium in town, and they're booked up solid until Christmas. We even tried the other schools in the area, but they have their own fall plays.”

Jennifer sighed. “That's awful news! I feel really bad about disappointing the kids.”

“The kids?”

Pete looked puzzled and Miss Voelker explained. “We always open on Halloween night with an early show for the children. They love being the first ones to see the fall play. The curtain goes down around eight at night, and that leaves them plenty of time to go trick-or-treating.”

“This is going to be a bad year for the kids,” Dale spoke up. “They won't have a play and trick-or-treating's not allowed this year.”

“No trick-or-treating?” Jennifer turned to Dale in surprise. “Why not?”

“The city council voted to ban it. It's just too dangerous. Most kids get so excited on Halloween, they forget about watching for cars. The mayor was hoping that we could do something, and I said we'd let the kids come to the play in costume and give out prizes for the best outfits. It was supposed to be like a party so the kids wouldn't miss trick-or-treating, and now that's out, too. Maybe we should just cancel Halloween this year.”

“We can't do that!” Jennifer looked shocked. “Kids love Halloween. Next to Christmas, it's their favorite holiday. We just have to do something.”

“I agree with Jennifer,” Miss Voelker said. “But what can we do?”

There was total silence and Jennifer began to blush as everyone stared at her expectantly. “How about skits? We could write them and act them out. They could be about ghosts and witches and monsters and murder . . . anything that's scary and spooky. You could even grade us, Miss Voelker, and they could be part of our class work.”

“That's a good idea,” Miss Voelker said. “But where would we perform these skits?”

“Anywhere. We could do them in the park, or on the playground, or even in the library.”

“Wait a second . . .” Pete looked thoughtful. “Why don't we do a haunted house? It'd be a great setting for the skits, and Brian could rig some special effects.”

“Sure.” Brian looked eager. “I could do a hand coming up from a grave, and ghosts moaning and groaning, doors opening and closing by themselves, all sorts of stuff like that.”

Dale started to grin. “Why don't we use my uncle's lodge up at Saddle Peak? It's closed until ski season, and I'm almost sure he'd let us have it for a week.”

“Saddlepeak Lodge?” Miss Voelker was clearly impressed. “But, Dale... it's huge!”

“I know. There'd be plenty of room if we wanted to bus the kids in and let them stay overnight. And there's a full, restaurant-sized kitchen. I'll call my uncle right now and make sure we can use it.”

After Dale had left, Miss Voelker opened her notebook and started to make a list. “We'll need chaperones if we plan to keep the children overnight. I'm sure I can get some of the parents and teachers to help us. The children can bring their sleeping bags and spend the night in the lobby by the big rock fireplace.”

Susie raised her hand. “My parents'll send up some food from the deli. If we do something simple like hot dogs and potato salad, it'll be easy.”

“I'll bring cookies,” Ronnie offered. “We always give them out as treats at the bakery. Since nobody's going trick-or-treating this year, we'll just pack them up and take them to the lodge. After the entertainment is over, we can read ghost stories and have cookies and hot chocolate.”

“Let's plan out the entertainment.” Pete walked to the blackboard. “Does anyone have any suggestions?”

Everyone did, and they kept Pete busy writing on the blackboard. They decided they'd work in groups and each group would have fifteen minutes to do their skit. Brian and Ronnie would coordinate the lights, the sound, and the special effects, and every group would be in charge of their own props and costumes. The kids would “stumble” on the skits as they were escorted through the haunted lodge by Pete, who would act as their narrator.

“It's all set.” Dale came back into the room with a smile on his face. “My uncle thinks it's a great idea, and he's going to pick up the tab for the food and the transportation. We can use the lodge for two full weeks and we can decorate it any way we want, just as long as we clean it up when we're through.”

Everyone started to cheer, but Dale held up his hands for silence. “I saved the best news for last. My uncle says that if our haunted lodge is a success, he'll let us hold it every year. The kids are going to have the time of their lives, and we're going to start a new Halloween tradition!”

J
ennifer knew she'd never been so terrified in her life. Her knees were weak, her stomach was in knots, and her teeth were chattering so loudly she was surprised that her friends in the lobby couldn't hear them. This wasn't about being timid, which she knew she was. This was flat-out fear, much worse than anything she'd ever experienced before. She was going to die. Right here. Right now. She was frozen in place, paralyzed by fright, and death was staring her straight in the face.

Somehow, Jennifer managed to force her clenched jaw to open. But before she could scream for someone to help her, a familiar voice called out. “Hey, Jen. I'll do that.”

Jennifer felt a hand on her shoulder, and suddenly she could move. She backed down the ladder and turned around to give Tim a grateful smile.

“Hand me the cobwebs, Jen. I'll hang them if you steady the ladder for me.”

Jennifer didn't quite trust her voice so she handed Tim the basket of cobwebs. She wasn't shaking quite so much now, and the floor felt wonderfully solid beneath her feet. She'd only been on the third rung of the ladder, but she still felt dizzy and her head was spinning. Thank goodness Tim hadn't noticed how frightened she'd been!

Her fear of heights was one shameful secret that Jennifer hadn't shared with anyone. She knew her friends would think she was a coward, and she'd decided not to tell them. Her fear had a fancy name: acrophobia. And there was a treatment called aversion therapy, but it sounded so scary when Jennifer had read about it, she knew she'd never be able to do it. It really didn't matter, anyway. She didn't want to work as a house painter or a window washer on a high-rise building. She planned to be an elementary school teacher, and if she was very careful not to get near any ledges or ladders, no one would ever guess that she had a problem.

Jennifer sighed as she watched Tim climb the ladder. She was very lucky that he was here. They'd all driven up to Saddlepeak Lodge right after school on Thursday afternoon. The supplies they'd ordered had come in the mail, and they had two weeks to decorate the haunted lodge. Pete had given everyone a job to do, and he'd put her in charge of hanging the fake cobwebs on the grand staircase that led to the second floor.

The bottom part had been easy. Jennifer had draped the cobwebs carefully over the rail. But when Pete had come to look at the work she'd done, he'd asked her to hang a few up higher, from the rafters at the top of the stairwell. Of course, Jennifer had been too embarrassed to tell him that she was afraid of heights, so she'd tried her best to do it. And she would have failed miserably if Tim hadn't come along to bail her out.

Jennifer bit her lip nervously as Tim stood on the top step of the ladder and draped a lacy cobweb from the rafter. Tim didn't seem to mind heights at all. He even looked down, something she couldn't have done in a million years, and then he did the unthinkable. As Jennifer watched, Tim let go of the ladder and waved at her!

Jennifer gasped and gripped the sides of the ladder tightly to keep from screaming. Tim was going to fall! She just knew it! Since she couldn't bear to watch what was about to happen, she shut her eyes and prayed. Tim just had to get down safely! If he didn't, it would be her fault!

The seconds ticked by and the waiting was an agony. Jennifer held her breath and kept her eyes shut. And then, miraculously, she heard a voice very close to her ear.

“Jen? You can let go of the ladder now.”

Jennifer's eyes flew open and she took a deep gulp of air. Tim was down! And he was safe! Jennifer was so thankful, she threw her arms around him and gave him a big, shaky hug.

“Hey . . .” Tim started to grin. “Maybe I ought to take up climbing ladders as a career. You've never hugged me before.”

Jennifer could feel her cheeks turning hot. Thank goodness everyone else was working in the lobby! “I'm sorry, Tim. I was sure you were going to fall. And then, when I saw you were safe, I was so glad I just . . . well . . . I just hugged you, that‘s all.”

“Don't apologize. I liked it. But you didn't have to worry. I'm used to heights.”

“You . . . you are?” Jennifer hoped she didn't look as surprised as she felt. How could anyone get used to heights?

“Sure. Tommy and I worked for my cousin all last summer.”

Jennifer gave a sheepish grin. She'd completely forgotten that Tim and Tommy's cousin owned a roofing company.

“What do you think?” Tim stood back and looked up at the rafters. “Are those cobwebs straight?”

Jennifer pretended to look up, but she didn't. Just the thought of how high Tim had climbed made her knees feel weak. “They're perfect, Tim. Thanks for helping me. Did Pete tell you what we're supposed to do next?”

“He said we could work on our skit until Ronnie gets here with the rest of the decorations.”

Jennifer sat down on the stairs. They were having real trouble with their skit. They'd tried a ghost story, but it hadn't seemed scary enough, and now they were looking for something new. Time was running out. They only had two weeks until Halloween and they had to settle on an idea soon.

“How about an escaped lunatic?” Tim sat down next to her.

“Maybe . . .” Jennifer frowned slightly. “But Melanie's doing something about a crazy actress.”

“A witch?”

“Lexie's a witch. And Brian's a vampire, so you can forget about that. Most of the good stuff's already taken.”

“Okay. How about murder? We could do a psychotic serial killer.”

“That sounds too much like Susie and Dale's skit. What's Tommy doing?”

“Something with Cheryl. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but she does a lot of screaming. They've been practicing in the living room.”

Jennifer frowned slightly. “Your living room?”

“Right. Every time Mom and Dad go out, Cheryl comes over to practice her bloodcurdling screams. That's why I've been spending so much time at the library. Cheryl's really loud.”

Jennifer took a deep breath. She didn't want to ask, but she needed to know. “Are Tommy and Cheryl dating?”

“Not really. I think it'll be a while before Tommy starts dating again. He's still too upset over Kelly.”

“That's what I thought. He looks so sad. Sometimes I wish there was something I could do.”

“You like Tommy, don't you?”

Tim turned around on the step so he was facing her, and Jennifer tried her best not to blush. “Tommy's a friend. I've known both of you since kindergarten.”

“Then you'd help him if you could . . . wouldn't you?”

“Of course. But what can I do?”

“Ever since the night that Kelly died, Tommy's been having nightmares. My room's right next to his, and I hear him sometimes, calling Kelly's name in his sleep.”

“That's so sad!” Jennifer blinked back the tears that came to her eyes.

“I know. If I tell you something in confidence, you won't repeat it, will you, Jen?”

Jennifer didn't hesitate. She just shook her head. “No, Tim. I promise I won't repeat it to anyone.”

“I asked Tommy why he was so upset. And he told me that he can't help thinking about Kelly's state of mind the night she died.”

“You mean . . . the suicide?” Jennifer winced a little as she said the words. She'd heard the rumors, but she didn't like to repeat them.

“Tommy really needs to know whether Kelly committed suicide or not. It's driving him crazy, Jen. He's going over everything they said to each other, everything they did, trying to figure out if he's to blame.”

“But that's . . . that's crazy!” Jennifer frowned deeply. “Kelly loved Tommy. I know she did!”

“Tommy knows that, but he thinks there was something wrong. The night she died, Kelly called Tommy and asked him to meet her at Jerry's Roadhouse, out on the highway.”

“But . . . why?” Jennifer's frown deepened. “Jerry's Roadhouse is a dump!”

“She said she needed to tell him something that was very important to their future. And Jerry's Roadhouse was a place where they wouldn't run into any of their friends. Kelly said she couldn't take the chance that someone might overhear.”

“That sounds serious.” Jennifer frowned. “What did Kelly tell Tommy?”

“She didn't tell him anything. Kelly died on her way to Jerry's.”

Jennifer sighed. “That's awful! But doesn't Tommy have any idea what Kelly was going to tell him?”

“He hasn't got a clue. And his nightmares just keep getting worse, the closer it gets to Halloween.”

“Kelly's birthday. That was the night Tommy was going to give her his engagement ring.”

“Right. I've got to do something, Jen. Tommy's really hurting. You'll help me, won't you?”

“Yes. Of course I will. But . . . how?”

“All you have to do is talk to Kelly. Ask her what was on her mind the night she died, and tell Tommy what she says.”

Jennifer's mouth dropped open and she turned to stare at Tim in utter disbelief. “You—you've got to be joking! That's really not funny, Tim!”

“I know it's not funny. And it's not a joke. I'm desperate, Jen. You told me you want to help Tommy, and so do I. And talking to Kelly is the only way we can help him.”

“But . . . Kelly's dead! I can't talk to someone who's dead!”

“Why not? People do it all the time. They hold séances and they hear voices from the grave. Remember Whoopi Goldberg? She did it.”

“You mean in
Ghost
?” Jennifer couldn't believe her eyes when Tim nodded. “But, Tim . . .
Ghost
was a movie!”

“Right. And this is a skit. Don't you see, Jen? If we do a séance for our skit, you can contact Kelly. And then Kelly can tell Tommy that she didn't commit suicide.”

Jennifer frowned. “But what about the important thing that Kelly was going to discuss with Tommy?”

“We'll make up something. Maybe you could have Kelly say that she was having second thoughts about the wedding, that it was so much of a hassle, she wanted to elope instead.”

“That might work.” Jennifer looked thoughtful. “But I don't know if Tommy will believe that I really contacted Kelly.”

“He'll believe it if you're convincing enough. And you're a good actress, Jen.”

“But . . . why me?” Jennifer was still puzzled. “Why don't you get someone like Melanie? She's a much better actress than I am.”

“But everyone knows that Melanie's an actress, and that makes her less convincing. You can do it, Jen. I know you can. And you're the only one I can trust.”

Jennifer felt warm inside. It was good to know that Tim had confidence in her. “Okay. I'll do it if you think it'll help, but we've got a problem. I don't know how to hold a séance.”

“Neither do I, but there's a psychic bookstore on Seventh Street. We'll go down there tomorrow and buy a couple of books. Remember, Jen . . . our séance doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to look real to Tommy.”

“Right,” Jennifer agreed, but she was already having second thoughts. Lexie's great-grandfather had a Yiddish word for a person who could be talked into anything, no matter how foolish it was. Lexie would say she was being a total schnook, and Lexie would be absolutely right.

 

Just as Jennifer expected, there was a crowd waiting for her when she got to her locker the next morning. It was clear that Tim had spread the word about their séance.

“I have to talk to you, Jen.” Lexie rushed up to grab Jennifer's arm. “You're being a total schnook!”

“Are you talking about the séance?” Jennifer put on her most innocent expression.

“That's exactly what I'm talking about! You don't really believe in that stuff, do you?”

Jennifer nodded. She had to nod. Everyone was watching. “Of course I do. This is the best time of year to contact the souls of the dead, and everyone has questions about Kelly's accident. Tim and I are going to clear up the gossip surrounding her death, once and for all.”

“You've got to be kidding!” Lexie's mouth dropped open in shock. “Are you telling me that you're actually serious about trying to contact Kelly's spirit?”

“That's right. Tim's going to help me, and we're going to hold our séance on Halloween night. I was really hoping that you'd be a part of our group.”

“That's ridiculous! I don't understand you, Jen. How could you possibly expect me to participate in such an insipid, superstitious—” Lexie stopped in mid-sentence and stared at Jennifer. “Did you say that you're going to hold this séance on Halloween night?”

Jennifer nodded. She could tell that Lexie was catching on.

“Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this pagan ritual going to take place at the haunted lodge?”

Jennifer nodded again. “The spirits of the dead are very strong on Halloween night. I can almost guarantee that Kelly will speak to me, especially if all of her friends are there.”

“I see.” The corners of Lexie's mouth began to twitch. “Well . . . I've never done the ‘up table' thing before, but I guess there's always a first time.”

“Great! I knew we could count on you, Lexie.” Jennifer picked up her books and started to walk down the hall. She could tell that her friend was dying to ask questions, but Lexie managed to contain herself until they'd rounded the corner.

“Okay. Spill it.” Lexie pulled Jennifer into an empty classroom. “This séance is your Halloween skit, right?”

“Not really. Since we have to do so much research, Miss Voelker agreed to grade it the same as a skit. But our séance is going to be totally authentic. I have no idea what's actually going to happen.”

Lexie looked very suspicious. “And you're telling me that you and Tim didn't write a script for this séance?”