Chapter Six

Evan and Jackson were already back in their places when I walked up behind them. I watched Evan ready his first shot, and had to stifle a laugh when I saw Tanner creeping up behind him. The second before Evan took his shot, the end of Tanner’s bow thumped Evan’s elbow, making the arrow spring out of his hands and land at my feet. Evan took a swing at Tanner, but was smiling as he did it. I tossed the arrow back to Evan and decided to move much further to the side of them.

Staying safely out of the way, I watched the guys practice. The quiet Jackson hit the target more often than the others, even if Evan celebrated his few successes louder than any of his friends. Tanner ended up practicing on the target nearest me and managed to question me about Manhattan and what kind of activities I liked while he worked. Despite the cloud hanging over me, I actually started to enjoy myself. I clapped when one of the guys hit the center of the target, but left the ribbing to them.

“Do you want to try?” Tanner asked suddenly.

I stared at him stupidly. Was he joking? Evan snorted, rolling his eyes. That was all it took. Throwing a withering look at Evan, I jumped up. “Sure,” I said, reaching for the bow. The weight of it surprised me. Heavier than I expected, the metal bow dipped my hand slightly. I wanted to hold it with two hands, but I was pretty sure that would make holding the arrow quite a bit harder. “If you’ll help me, that is.”

Tanner smiled and stepped in closer to me. Was he hoping I’d say that?

“No problem. Come over here,” he said. Tanner showed me where to place my hand on the bow. “This is the riser. You want to look right along the top of the riser to sight the target.”

“Okay,” I said. Tanner’s two friends moved back, a few yards behind me. Jackson looked a little worried. Evan just looked like he was getting ready to laugh. “Are you sure you want me to try this?”

Tanner laughed, bringing a shy smile to my face. I really didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of him. “You’ll be fine,” he said. He readied an arrow for me, which brought him right up next to me and seriously messed with my ability to concentrate. “Just let the arrow rest on the top of your hand. Now pull it back as far as you can.”

Pulling cautiously at first, I struggled against the tension in the string. My arm strained, but the arrow only moved about eight inches. Evan was doubled over with laughter. Even Jackson covered his mouth with the back of his hand. I gritted my teeth and let the arrow drop for a moment. “Let me try again.”

“Here, I’ll help,” Tanner said. His smile was soft, but a little crooked. I could tell he was trying not to laugh as well. I felt like a huge wimp.

Tanner stepped behind me this time and brought his hands up to my shoulders. I had not noticed how much taller than me Tanner was until he looked down at me over my shoulder. Now I felt like a midget too.

“Bring your elbow up, like this.” He pushed my elbow up a little higher and covered my hand that was holding the bow with his own. Bringing his other arm around me, his hand tightened around my fingers and the end of the arrow. “Now pull it back towards your ear.”

I pulled as hard as I could. The arrow moved a little further than before, and then Tanner took over, pulling the string taught and holding it. “Do you have the bull’s-eye sighted?” he asked.

I tried to concentrate on the bull’s-eye instead of Tanner’s closeness, but that was easier said than done. After inching the bow slightly to the left, the black circle came in line with the riser. “Yeah, I have it now.”

“When I say ‘now’, let go.”

“Okay.”

“Now.”

I released my grip and watched the arrow slide past my hand. It veered from where I had intended it to fly, sliding past the target and into the tall grass, but I was at least pleased to see how far it had gone. Evan hooted at my miss. Jackson pushed him to the ground, but looked glad he had moved behind me.

“That was good for a first try,” Tanner said.

“I couldn’t even pull the arrow back far enough,” I said. I handed the bow back to Tanner. “Thanks for the help. It probably wouldn’t have gone ten feet without your help.”

“Did you like it?” he asked.

I smiled. I doubted I would ever be able to draw the arrow on my own, but watching it fly away had been breathtaking. Having Tanner as a teacher wasn’t too bad either. Knowing that my mom would kill me for doing something so dangerous, as I was sure she would see it, only added to my smile. “It was neat. Thanks for letting me try.” Tanner’s smile brightened. I turned away from him, heading deeper into the meadow.

“Where are you going?” he asked catching up to me in a few short steps.

“You want your arrow back don’t you?” I asked.

Together we searched through the tall grasses for the misguided arrow. Tanner was, of course, the one to spot the bright red fletching. It had stuck in the dirt just outside the line of trees surrounding the meadow.

“Sorry.”

“No problem.” Tanner wiped the dirt off the arrow head on his pant leg before returning it to the quiver tied around his waist. “Hey, a bunch of us are getting together at the beach on Saturday.”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “for the bonfire.”

Tanner cocked an eyebrow. “You’ve already heard about that? I thought you’d only been here a few days.”

I grinned. “You country kids must be hard up for company. It was practically the first thing out of that girl’s mouth at the grocery store. I think her name was Anne or Amy.”

“Dani,” Tanner corrected. “I should have guessed it was her. She usually meets the new arrivals first. Everybody needs to restock the fridge after moving in, I guess.”

I smiled again. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“So are you going to come?” Tanner asked. “I could give you a ride if you want.”

“I don’t know, Dani seemed willing to show how to get there, too,” I teased.

“She doesn’t even give me a chance,” Tanner said. The breeze flipped a stray piece of hair into my eyes and Tanner reached up to brush it away. His fingertips brushed against my forehead and I literally felt my skin tingle. Tanner looked at his fingers and quickly dropped them, his cheeks turning a shade pinker than before.

My earlier concerns tried to drift back into my mind, but I pushed the unpleasant thoughts away immediately. “A ride would be nice. As long as I don’t have to sit by Evan, that is,” I said. “I think he’s still laughing at me.”

“Evan can drive himself if he can’t behave,” Tanner promised.

By the time we made it back to Tanner’s friends, Evan had managed to calm himself down. “Good try,” Jackson said politely. Evan stifled another chuckle, but managed to keep his hysterical laughter in check this time. Normally I might have stomped away from his childishness with my nose in the air, but here the teasing didn’t really bother me that much. Standing next to Tanner might have been part of the reason for that.

“Shooting like a girl suddenly has new meaning to me,” Evan said. He just couldn’t resist.

It was such a relief to be around people my own age again. Not having my mom hovering overhead, trying to gauge whether I was moving towards well-adjusted quickly enough was a huge relief. I was not sure how I would survive the summer without a few distractions to get me out of the house. Evan’s playful attitude gripped me, and before I thought too much about it, I punched Evan in the shoulder, grinning while I did it.

“Ow,” he exclaimed. He rubbed his shoulder, pretending I had actually done some damage. “She hits better than she shoots at least.” That earned him a punch from Tanner as well. “Alright, alright, it was a good try, Arra. Actually Tanner’s bow is way too big for you. I would have been shocked if you had been able to draw the arrow on your own.”

I turned on Tanner. His grin was his only answer. I smirked, feeling a little foolish, but still happier than I had been in a while. “Well it’s not like I carry around extra bows just in case a pretty girl walks in while we’re practicing,” he said in his defense.

I did not miss the ‘pretty girl’ thrown in so casually. I turned away, hoping he didn’t see me blush. Looking up into the sky I suddenly realized how low the sun had dipped. My mom had been thrilled to see me leave the house, but I knew I would be in for a lecture if I didn’t make it home on time. “What time is it?”

Tanner pulled a cell phone out of his jeans pocket. I was more than a little surprised to see it. I would have bet a week’s allowance that you could not get reception out here in Grainer. Actually my dad had claimed that was the big reason for cancelling my cell phone before we moved. We might have to talk about that tonight. Tanner caught my shocked look and laughed.

“What, you’ve never seen a cell phone either? I would’ve thought you’d have three or four, being from Manhattan and all,” Tanner said.

I completely ignored that comment. “The time?”

“It’s a quarter to six,” he informed me.

“Oh crap,” I said. My mom would be calling dad away from the hospital early if her mopey daughter did not appear in time to help prepare dinner.

“What’s wrong?” Jackson asked.

“Oh, it’s just that I’m supposed to help my mom with dinner tonight.” I looked around the forest, my brow crinkling. Which way was I walking when I ran into these guys? “Um, I’m not even sure where I am. I was just kind of wandering.”

“Go get the targets, guys,” Tanner said to his two friends. Evan grumbled something about doing all the work as he walked away, but he went anyway. “I’ll drive you back if you want.”

“Thanks,” I said, “that would be great.” My mom might not think so, taking rides from strangers and all that, but it was a tossup on which one she would be more mad about, being late and making her think I had died somewhere, or taking a ride from a sweet and good looking gentleman like Tanner. Maybe I could have Tanner drop me off a block away and avoid having to find out. “My mom really freaks out if I’m late.”

Tanner flashed his teeth again. “Well, we can’t have you getting grounded before the bonfire, now can we?”

“You just want to know where I live,” I teased. “I think you might be a stalker.”

“I think you might be the one stalking me.” He pushed me playfully towards his car. “Get in the truck.”

The ride home didn’t last long enough. All too soon my house came into view. The awkward moment between pulling up to my curb and saying goodbye was instantly filled with a few more jabs from Evan. A quick goodbye was all I could get out. And then I was forced to get out and face my mom.

“Where have you been?” she demanded as soon as I stepped through the door. “And whose truck was that?”

I knew I should have had Tanner drop me off a block away.

“Relax, Mom. I was taking a walk in the woods and ran into some guys who live around here.” I consciously decided not to mention the archery lesson. I knew that would trump the ride home with Tanner without a doubt. My mom wouldn’t even carry a pocket knife. When my dad had wanted to get a gun to keep in the apartment in Manhattan, my mom had all but threatened divorce when he mentioned it.

“Guys? What guys?”

“Some boys I’ll be going to school with in the fall. We hung out for a while and they gave me a ride home.” I really hoped my mom would drop the topic. “What are we having for dinner?”

“Arrabella, you know better than to accept rides from strangers,” she said, her stance moving into the nagging mother position.

“Oh good grief, Mom. Give it a rest. You’re the one who wanted me to make friends, remember? There nice guys. One of them lives a few houses down from us. Their names are Tanner, Evan, and Jackson. I’m sure you’ll meet all their parents by the end of the week.” I relaxed a little as I watched my mom’s stance soften.

“You just scared me, that’s all. I’m just not used to being in a small town yet. I still feel like we’re in Manhattan sometimes. I just worry about you.”

I smiled at her. I knew my mom had been the biggest push to move the family out to Grainer. She never felt safe in Manhattan. Having grown up in a small town herself, she just never adjusted to big city life. “So, do you still want some help with dinner?”

Dad was still at the hospital when dinner was finally on the table, but me and my mom enjoyed sharing the meal regardless. Eating without my dad was hardly a new thing, although living in Grainer promised to make it a much less frequent occurrence than usual. That, at least, was something to look forward to. I watched my mom carefully prepare a plate for my dad and place it in the oven to keep it warm, just as I had watched her do so many times before. Together we washed the dinner dishes and talked about our day. It felt nice. It felt normal. We had barely talked at all in the past week. Stacking the last dish in the strainer, I kissed my mom’s cheek before excusing myself to my room.

More tired than I realized, I found myself laying on my bed wondering where I had left the novel I’d been reading, but too lazy to get up and really look for it. Opening the nightstand drawer because it was the closest place I could think of, I was startled to find the photos staring back at me. The afternoon out of the house had practically erased my earlier uneasiness. The peculiar eyes in the photos struck me deeply. I could swear that I could feel their eyes on me, watching me and waiting. The unsettling shiver returned immediately.

I had pretty much forgotten about my plan to visit my grandpa, but now I felt like I needed to keep that appointment. Setting the photos back on my nightstand, I could not forget them when I made my way over to the bathroom to get ready for bed. I took my time, but found myself back in bed too quickly. Climbing under a light blanket, thoughts of dying young girls swirled in my mind.

I laid in bed staring at the ceiling. Knowing by now that the dream would come again, I tried to keep my eyes open as long as possible. The problem was that there was nothing up there to hold my attention. Debating about what I could hang on the ceiling that would keep me awake the longest I felt my eyes start to close. Against my wishes, the dim light of the moon faded from my sight and I fell asleep.