Chapter 39

I didn’t want to wait for a ride, so I decided to walk home. I was a few blocks away when I realized I’d left my phone at the library. I debated leaving it but figured I might need it for my plan. I almost didn’t mind all the walking; it was one of those perfect late fall days. For a change it wasn’t raining. The sun was shining and the leaves were blowing around, streaks of red and gold.

The cranky librarian was setting a pumpkin down on the stoop to the building. I gave her a smile as I walked past. She didn’t look too thrilled to see me. I was willing to bet she thought visiting once a day was plenty. I looked behind the circulation desk and then up and down the aisles, but I didn’t see Mandy. I grabbed my phone off the table.

“Can I help you find something?” the librarian asked.

“Um, no. I just forgot my phone. Will you tell the other librarian I’ll stop by tomorrow?”

“Other librarian? There’s no other librarian. I’m the only one.”

Was she trying to make some sort of joke? “You’re the only librarian,” I repeated. She nodded. I walked past her to the wall of photos behind the low magazine racks. I pointed to a picture of Mandy where she was sitting surrounded by a circle of young kids, all holding up picture books. There was a tag on the picture that said Nairne Island Young Readers Program.

“What about her?” I asked. “She looks pretty librarian to me.”

“You mean Mandy?” She took a step back. “Mandy’s gone.”

“Gone? Where did she go?”

“She’s been missing for years. She and her sister were the girls who disappeared”—she paused—“up at your house twenty years ago.”

Every bone in my body turned to liquid and I slumped to the floor. The blood rushed out of my head and I felt a clammy sweat break out on my forehead. The librarian rushed over and bent down.

“Are you okay? Put your head between your knees.” She pressed my head down.

“Mandy’s dead.”

“Well, no one knows for sure. She and her sister went missing, but I knew their family and there’s no way either of those girls would leave their mom and dad without saying something. Not after all this time. My best guess is some sort of accident happened.”

Not some sort of accident. I knew exactly what kind of accident. She’d told me. My breathing was low and shallow. Things started clicking into place. I thought of all the dirty looks the librarian had always been giving me. No wonder I was disturbing the library patrons. I must have looked like I was chattering away all by myself in the stacks. Mandy hadn’t been there. The only person anyone would have seen was me.

“I have to go.” I pushed myself up. The room spun for a moment before things began to steady.

“Why don’t you wait here and I’ll call your mom to come get you?”

“No, I’m okay.” I wasn’t okay, but there was no way I was waiting another second. I pushed past the librarian and hurried down the steps. I started walking fast and then broke into a run.

Sweat was pouring off me when I finally got to the driveway. I didn’t even stop to put a Band-Aid on the blisters that had sprung up on my run home. I ran into the kitchen and yanked out the drawers, looking for something that would work. I pulled out the meat mallet.

I ran back out of the house. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find it. The wind was starting to pick up and leaves were blowing around. I followed the tree line along the south side of the house. I was sure it was there, but I couldn’t find it. I broke through the trees and faced the cliff. I must have missed it. I turned around and walked back slower, forcing myself to scan the ground. Nothing. I turned around in a full circle. I felt like screaming in frustration.

I forced myself to close my eyes and slow my breathing down. It would have been dark. It was night when they were here. From here they should have been able to see the house. I opened my eyes and let them skim across the side of the house. The largest bank of windows were those that belonged to Dick’s office. It might have been his dad’s office then. Twenty years ago Dick would have been college age, but he would have been plenty old enough to do what Mandy described. If the lights had been on in the house, it would have been the brightest point in the night.

The leaves crunched under my feet. I closed my eyes and tried to will myself back to that night. I imagined myself walking through the trees with my sister. We would have been scared, but sort of excited, too. It was an adventure. We would have been holding hands. I let my right hand drop as if I were leading someone behind me. We would have wanted to get closer to see if we could peek in the window. I took a few more steps forward. Then I felt it.

The ground was just a bit higher under my foot. I scraped my foot, clearing away the pine needles and blanket of leaves. The leaves were dry on top, but the bottom layer was still wet from the night before, and they stuck like glue to the wood. I dropped down to my knees and used my hands to clear the rest of the leaves away. The well. I gave the wood a shove, but it didn’t move. There were four planks across and they were nailed down to a wooden frame. I pulled out the meat mallet and began whacking at it.

The wood was harder than it looked. I must have pounded on it for at least twenty minutes. My shoulder muscles were screaming every time I lifted the mallet, and blisters were covering my palms. I was panting and sweating from the effort. I was going to have to find something else to break through the wood. There was an axe in the garage. I gave one more whack and a piece of wood cracked off the corner. I shoved my hands in the hole and began to pull the plank back. For a beat nothing happened, but then I could feel the nails starting to give. I kept pulling, grunting. Splinters of wood were cutting into my palms and I could feel them slicing open the blisters. There was a sting of pain as the salt from my sweat trickled into the open wounds.

With a loud crack the wood finally gave way, and I fell back onto my butt, holding the plank in both hands. I tossed it to the side and crawled closer to the hole. It was still too dark. I grabbed ahold of another plank and pulled it back, letting the late-afternoon sun crawl down into the well. At first there was nothing, but then I saw it, a flash of white. A skull. My hands were shaking. I panned around again and saw more bones. There was a glint, and although I couldn’t be certain, I was pretty sure it was the heart-shaped locket I’d seen on Mandy’s neck.

I lay in the mud, my face pressed against the worn wood, looking through the hole.

“Mandy,” I whispered. “I found you.”

There was no answer. Not a sound except the wind filtering through the branches above.

“I’m going to make sure you get home, okay?”

I rolled over so that I was looking up. I could see the trees waving back and forth and a corner of the roof of the house. My hands were bleeding and I was filthy. Mandy had done me one more favor. This was going to make my plan perfect. If I called the police, the bodies weren’t enough to convict Dick. He could act as if he had no idea they were there. However, if he tried to hide them again, it would be an admission of guilt. It was just the proof I needed.