Wanted (24 page)

I wandered to a lawn chair and sat down, putting my elbows on my knees and cradling my chin with my hands. The Bostwicks had managed to get grass to grow and I sat for a few moments just staring at it.

My mom had always wanted grass…

“What am I going to do without her?” I moaned out loud, dropping my hands and putting my head on my knees. I didn’t hear the door open, so I was surprised when Robert came out and wrapped me in his arms.

“Beth? Are you okay?” He kissed my hair and brushed it away from my face.

“No. I don’t think I can be here. I can't take any more of this. I’m either going to cry or I’m going to scream.”

“Okay. I'll let Lizzy know to grab your—things—and then we'll leave. Let’s get you home.” He took my arm and gently led me around the house to the car, avoiding all the people in the house.

My energy was spent. I waited patiently while he went to speak to Lizzy, and then he drove me home in silence…for which I was grateful.

Chapter Two

Later that evening I was bombarded with well-wishers bearing food—in addition to the food that was brought over the past week—and the rest of the flowers from the funeral. The living room and kitchen looked as though they’d been taken over by a botanist and a glutton.

Pre-cooked dishes covered the kitchen counter and table; the pantry literally overflowed with non-perishable goods. There was no way it would all get eaten in the few days we had left until our departure.

The police had finished gathering what they needed and left the house the week before, leaving their own share of the mess. Coupled with the new mess, the entire house was a disaster area, and I knew it needed it, but I hadn't been in the mood to clean it at all. I’d been stubborn and insisted on staying in my own filthy home, continuing to wallow in self-pity while my friends looked on, not really knowing how to comfort me.

Lizzy had been staying with me, ignoring me when I told her I was fine. Other than Rob, she knew me better than anyone else.

“You said that last time and you know as well as I do that you didn’t get any sleep that night,” she accused, referring to the first night I’d attempted to sleep on my own. The next day was when the Sheltons had decided staying on Earth was officially too dangerous for me and for them, and they had to take me with them to Evelon. I didn’t argue with her after that—it was pointless to deny it.

I was concerned Creeper would come back, though. Part of me thought he wouldn't dare. It had taken him so long to appear the first time, I figured we had a little bit of time…but he wouldn't stay away forever.

If it weren't for the Sheltons, I'd be glad to see Creeper again. He wouldn't know what hit him…

The Sheltons were helping me dispose of all the extra food. Lizzy was by my side, sorting things to be eaten, tossed, or taken with us.

“Don’t throw that out, we can take that.” She grabbed a pack of cookies I was about to toss. Her hair was out of its earlier tight bun, surprisingly straight where I would’ve expected it to be kinked. Her flannel shirt was becoming increasingly grubby as she spilled food on it and her jeans.

“Lizzy, we can’t take all of this with us.” I caught something that looked like fruitcake before it fell off the top of its pile on the counter and destroyed the grey sweatshirt I wore.

“Anything that won’t expire anytime soon will be valuable. You don’t think there’s food on the ship already, do you? We’re going to need something to eat until we reach the first planet.”

“Junk food?” I raised my eyebrows, trying to distract her while I put the fruitcake into the toss pile. She saw me before I could hide it.

“Beggars can’t be choosers,” she replied, stuffing the fruitcake and cookies into a box marked “trip”.

“All right, what about this?” I countered, holding up a glass dish of what looked like homemade, burnt macaroni and cheese.

“I’ll eat that.” Robert came out of nowhere and grabbed the dish, digging in with a fork he already had.

“Ew, gross.” Lizzy laughed.

“Beggars can’t be choosers, Liz,” he retaliated.

“He’s right, Lizzy. We need to get all of this stuff out of here before we leave. The house is being auctioned, remember?”

My house. That I’d been in for as long as I could remember.

Stupid bank.

“All of it?” Lizzy asked, incredulous. She started looking around the kitchen at all the appliances.

“Not everything. We can take the food and some personal belongings. Everything else will be sold with the house.” I crammed some carrot cake into the garbage disposal. It had been a rough week, and I needed to destroy something. I didn’t think it would get better anytime soon, so I was roughly shoving the cake in when the doorbell rang, startling me. I dropped the spoon into the disposal, where it rattled with a horrible clanking sound.

“Who’s at the door now? I’ve got enough cards, flowers and food to bury myself!” I stomped over to the door, pulling it open with enough force to cause an inward draft of the cold night air. My hair swirled around my face, temporarily blinding me, but I didn’t need eyes to know who was there.

“Beth, lassie!” A large red-haired mass wobbled into the hallway, nearly knocking me and the sofa table over.

“Tommy? What are you doing here?” I asked, trying vainly to get out of his way. I got my answer when Victor followed him in. I’d only met him twice before when Robert had taken me with him to the Bridges. His large frame didn’t make sense as a park ranger, but he managed to hold the head position there.

“What’d ya mean, why? I’m here ta make sure ya okay. Sorry it’s taken me a bi’, bu’ I do still hafta run tha park.”

“Tommy.” Lizzy squealed, running around the corner and into his arms.

“Ah, Lizzy! Careful, lass, I’m no’ as sturdy as I used ta be.”

She giggled, letting go as Tommy slowly moved into the hall and entered the kitchen. He turned to Robert, who was hastily trying to finish the last bite of macaroni. “Rob, m’boy. How are ya?”

“Surviving, Tommy. But it’s not me that needs the comfort,” he said between bites.

“Aye,” Tommy answered, suddenly serious. “Wee Beth, is there anythin’ tha’ ya nee’?”

I looked around the kitchen and gave my best chuckle. “Need? I’m good. But do you think you could take some of this food off our hands?”

Tommy’s booming laughter filled the kitchen while he rubbed his stomach. “Jus' tell me where ta star’, lass.”

With Tommy’s help, half the mess in the kitchen and in the refrigerator that had piled up over the past week was gone in less than an hour. I perused what was left, seeing what else I could get rid of.

“Tommy, care to finish this?” I held up half of a Dutch Apple pie.

Tommy seemed to ponder for a moment, before answering. “I dinnae know, Beth. I’m tryin’ ta watch me figure.” He ran a hand over his rotund shape. Laughter erupted, filling the room with the jovial sounds I’d long missed.

I realized why Victor brought him. It was for the same reason Lizzy had brought me to him in November…which, oddly enough, seemed much more than one month ago. Tommy could make anyone laugh, even when they really didn’t want to.

I walked over to where he sat, set the pie down along with a fork, and wrapped my arms around his large shoulders.

“Thank you, Tommy,” I whispered. He patted my arm in response, not saying a word before he dug into the pie. Lizzy put whipped cream on top, and we all started cleaning up while he ate.

Putting his fork down and letting out a contented sigh, Tommy asked, “So? When ya plannin’ on headin’ ou’?” He was rubbing his full stomach slowly, oozing with mirth.

Victor and Robert exchanged glances and I realized that neither of them had actually told Tommy they were quitting and we were leaving Blanding. We all looked to Lizzy; she was scrubbing a plate so hard it cracked and shattered in the sink. Robert went to help her clean it up, avoiding Tommy’s concerned gaze.

Victor turned back to Tommy. “I’m sorry, Tommy, we meant to tell you sooner, but there are still some things we need to get in order.”

“An' where ya headin'?”

Oh boy…

We hadn't covered that. What were we going to tell people? We didn't want them knowing where we were really going, just in case Creeper came back and started asking questions. The last thing we wanted was for Creeper or the agency he worked for to find our ship and take it before we could.

Stick to what you told Clare. Be safe. Be consistent.

“Canada,” I said as quickly as I could. The silence between Tommy's question and my answer was barely noticeable.

“Canada, eh? Aye, tha’s a nice country. Which par’?”

“We don't know yet. Probably close to where they used to live. Sorry…”

Back to where the Sheltons come from? Creeper's agency wouldn't expect that, certainly…or maybe they would think we would think that…

That would throw them completely off the trail if they were to ask around.

“Aye, na' a problem,” he said, waving a hand. “I jus’ wan’ ta know wha’ I can do ta help. Ya know, there’s a nice RV place up in Monticello. My half-brotha Mike owns i’. Tis' Mike’s Used Car Lo’.”

An RV? Instead of a car?

That would be much more comfortable.

Despite the comfort I knew it would bring, I answered Tommy in the negative.

“I don’t think we could afford that, Tommy.”

“Well, he’s go' all kinds. Ya could fin' a lil used one fer abou' ten thousan’.”

“Dollars?” Lizzy spat, dropping the plate she’d been washing with a loud clank, breaking her second dish of the evening.

“Aye. I can give ya abou' five hundred, bu’ tha’s no’ near enough.” He pulled a sweaty wad of money out of his pocket and onto the table. “Dinnae argue. Now, Beth, lass, are ya sellin’ any o' this stuff?” he asked, waving his hand to include the whole house.

“No, most of it will go to the bank.”

It’s not like I’d need any of it. Not where I was going.

I looked calmly over my—or rather, my mother’s—possessions and realized with a sharp pang that the reason I had to leave all of this behind, the reason she was gone, was my fault.

If I hadn’t latched onto the Shelton family, basically forcing Lizzy to tell their secret, my family would’ve never gotten involved and Creeper would’ve never come to my home.

The fact remained, I
had
gotten involved. I knew they’d been forced off of their home planet, Evelon, and they’d eventually have to go back to reclaim it. I knew they couldn’t take me with them and I’d stubbornly insisted until it seemed Fate had given me my way.

What was that saying?

Be careful what you wish for…

Because you might just get it.

I thought I’d killed Creeper that day on the mountains, when Lizzy’d revealed all to me, but he came back months later and found me…and my mother.

Now that she was gone and he’d escaped, I
had
to go with the Sheltons. Creeper would come back and kill them if I was still in Blanding. I was his only link to the Sheltons. Without me, he had no clue where they were. I knew he’d come back…it was only a matter of time.

You should find him first.

Yes, but Robert will never let me. He wouldn’t let me come to harm.

He’ll understand.

“Beth?”

“Hmm?” I’d been staring off into space and apparently Lizzy had been trying to get my attention.

“Are you okay?” she asked, a look of concern on her face. I could understand that. They were afraid I’d lose it at any given moment. I was fairly certain I already had.

“I’m fine. Just wondering how long it’ll take for the bank to finish up here.”

“Well, actually, Mr. Bostwick and I spoke the other day, and he’s going to wrap this up for you, Beth,” Victor spoke up. “He knows about our plans.” Victor shot a glance toward Tommy. “As it seems most people do…and he said that he’ll take care of everything with the bank, and any debts left over he’ll rectify.”

“Really?”

“That’s what he said.” Victor shrugged his shoulders.

“Huh. Why’s he being so…nice?” I was thoroughly confused. I was beginning to wonder just what relationship my mother had with Richard Bostwick.

A grunt from Rob’s chair informed me he was asking himself the same question. And the look of remorse on his face told me he regretted not being able to help me himself. I went over to where he sat and put my hands on his shoulders, giving them a light squeeze.

His hand came up to mine automatically, slowly rubbing my fingers. I bent down and gingerly kissed his chestnut hair, breathing in his heady scent. I gave his shoulders another squeeze, my fingers pulling lightly at the flannel shirt he wore—a stark contrast to the suit he’d worn hours earlier.

I realized I was still in my black dress. Somehow I felt like changing would be saying goodbye; admitting that it was over.

No one else seems to have trouble saying goodbye. The Bostwicks are even making it easy on you. Stop pitying yourself.

“It’s very generous of him, and I’ll need to thank him.”

“The whole family will be out of town for a few days. Truth be told, Bethie, we may very well be gone by the time he returns. But he’s aware of that, and he’d actually prefer not to have any awkward ‘thank you’s’.”

What? A few days?

I thought we had at least another week or so. There was still so much to do, and I’d already wasted so much time. In the week waiting for the funeral, I’d done nothing. Prepared nothing. If I was going to leave Earth and travel to Evelon, I had to tie up some lose ends. First and foremost, I wanted to find Creeper and silence him.

But there were steps I needed to take to put that into action. First thing, travel to Monticello and buy an RV. With four of us and enough belongings and supplies to last the journey, we’d need it to get everything to the hangar in Nevada. We’d just have to find the money somewhere.

Then I’d wanted to let my school know I wouldn’t be back in January so they wouldn’t come looking for me. Graduating early was a better option than telling them I was relocating.

And then I’d find Officer Mallard. I was positive he’d have some information about who Creeper really was: where he lived, his name, age, etc. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could convince him to divulge that information to me. And then…