The Circle

Girl Next Door

August 1987

         Rachel Statler looked into the smudged mirror that hung over the sink in the bathroom. The face she saw reflecting back to her through the soap stains and oily smears made her angry. Her right cheek had been aching for 3 days, even after putting ice on it. After finally gaining the courage to look in the mirror, she was furious. She hated him, hated her own father, in the same way she hated bees. She wanted to squash him, to see him dead with his legs in the air.

         She softly reached a hand to her cheek, feeling lightly across the throbbing bruise. Despite the care she took, a sharp pain rang through her cheekbones. Her eyes welled with tears, flooding her vision and running down both cheeks. She wanted to go out but didn't dare. Her father could have cared less where she went and she knew that, but she didn't want Jack to see her face. Looking at the hideous lump high on her cheek, she almost wanted Jack to see. She secretly hoped Jack would kill her father and take her away from all of this. Maybe Jack would take her to see her mother. They would live on the farm where she had spent so many happy days running through the high grasses and the many different flowers that sprang from the endless fields. But then she realized she was just being stupid. Jack couldn't kill him, he was a monster and he would hurt Jack. And her mother was gone. Rachel knew she wouldn't find her mother if she searched the entire world. Her mother was in heaven now, she was beyond reach.

         She finished her business in the bathroom and wiped her face, flushing the toilet before shuffling out into the living room. The slippers on her feet scuffed along  splinters in the floor. Just as everything else in the house, the floor was falling apart. Jagged pieces of wood stuck up at every angle and dirt and small stones from her father's work boots lined every crack and channel in the wood. She hated the  house as much as she hated her father. The other house had been so nice. Her mother had kept it clean and the floors were made of something her mother called “linoleum” which was smooth and cool. She could walk around in her bare feet with her mother as they did the laundry. Her father didn't keep a washer and dryer in this house anymore. Rachel had to take the laundry downtown every Saturday in a big basket, making three trips to get it all. Jack had been helping recently though, so they both walked down only twice.

         How sweet Jack was! She just wanted to be with him and leave this dirty little house and her mean father. She wanted Jack to take her in, to let her live with him and his family who seemed so much nicer. Jack's mother would make them lemonade and cake when she visited. Jack's father, the big man with the beard, never said anything and Rachel rarely saw him except when he was in his little room by the bathroom. That room had many big guns on the wall and smelled strongly of something she could never name. Jack never talked about his dad. The one time she had asked Jack about his father, it had upset him so she didn't ask anymore.

         She heard her father's Desoto pull into the driveway. The car backfired, sounding like a firecracker, and she jumped. Before he was at the front door and fumbling with the key, she was already in bed and under the covers. Hopefully he would just check in on her, or simply go to sleep himself. Her father worked the afternoon shift and was never home during the day. Instead of finding a babysitter, he simply locked her in during the day.

         "Fuck!" The sounds of Greg Statler bounced off the dirty walls in the small shack they called home. Rachel heard his boots stomp past her room and held her breath. Thankfully, the sounds faded as he made his way to his room further down the little hall that connected the two bedrooms and bathroom. Within a few minutes there was no more sound from the hallway and she knew her father to be asleep.

         She lay awake for almost an hour thinking of the first time she met Jack. The shadows on the ceiling moved slowly in time with the trees outside her window. The window was partially boarded, but she kept the glass clean enough that moonlight could spill in through the gaps. Angled slants of silver ran up the opposite wall, casting uneven shadows across her bed.

         She had remained locked in the prison of the house for nearly three months when her father had first moved away from their home in Greendale. She spent the days watching The Price is Right and a variety of boring talk shows in the morning and gazing out the grimy windows of the house during the long orange afternoon. She spent her entire life in those three months in front of the television or in standing next to one of the few windows in the house. As far as she knew in those long months, she would live that way forever.

         One afternoon she had been staring out the window at the end of the small hallway. The window looked offered a view into her neighbor's yard and beyond. The old schoolhouse loomed to the right just across the street. From the angle of the view she could only see the north side of the building and part of the surrounding gravel lot. A few cars passed while she sat looking at the old structure. She had dozed off for a moment because when she opened her eyes, the day was growing darker. Suddenly noticing that someone was watching her, she turned quickly to see a boy standing just beyond the hedges that lined the small patch of grass next to the house. He smiled and waved. The nearby pine kept him partly in the shadows and in the broken moonlight it was hard to determine his features. She wasn't sure what to do, but the boy seemed nice so she waved back, then turned to walk back to the living room. She heard a tapping on the window a moment later and turned to see the boy at the window. He had cupped his hand over his eyes to look through the dirty glass and into the gloom of the house. Again, she wasn't sure what to do, but she did not feel afraid. She walked back to the window and waved again. Closer now, she could make out his face. His smile was bright against the dark, his eyes large and aware.

         "Hey." The boy responded and smiled again.

         "Uh...hi. What do you want?" She could not think of anything else to ask.

         "Wanna come out?" His voice sounded distant through the glass.

         "I can't." Her answer came quick. She realized it was getting dark and her father would be home soon. She didn't want him to find the boy still here, looking through the window.

         "Sure you can. I just want to show you something." He insisted. His voice did not sound threatening and she was almost tempted, but then she remembered the locks. Of course she couldn't leave. The house was always locked.

         "I can't. The doors are all locked up." The boy's expression changed to one of confusion. "The doors are locked inside and outside" she explained.

         "The window's not." He said, pointing to the little slide lock at the bottom of the window. The slide lock was on her side and there was no lock on the outside. She had remained in the house for the entire time feeling trapped and had never once looked to the windows for a possible escape.

         She suddenly felt very stupid and tried to cover her mistake. "It's not that easy. I can't lift the window." She did not know if this was true, but she thought it would be enough to make him go away.

         "I'll help. Just slide out the lock thing and lift it up a little bit." The boy was persistant. She moved toward the window, still unsure of this move, but the thought of some fresh air suddenly became too much to bear. She wanted to open the window. She knew her father would be back within an hour or two, but the moment got away from her and she slid the lock back. She began lifting the window a little, but then stopped. It was not too late, she could close the window, slide the lock closed, and tell the boy to just go away. Her father would never know. But then the window was sliding up. The boy had gotten his fingers under the small crack she had made and had already lifted it up without her help.

         The night air came in and her eyes widened at the smell. She could smell cut grass and flowers. Suddenly remembering her home in Greendale where she had last smelled those things, she leaned forward.

         "Come on out." The boy was still holding the window up by himself. She suddenly felt very afraid and backed up into the stuffy darkness behind her. The dark was stifling, but safe. The dark was all she had known for so long.

         "I can't. My dad'll be home soon." She darted off into the kitchen to check the time on the apple shaped clock above the stove. It was already after eight. Her father would be back by ten, eleven at the latest. She ran back to the end of the hallway next to her father's room. The boy still stood outside, holding the window.

         "My dad comes back in an hour. You have to go." But even as she said the words, she began to wonder if she could go out for just a little while. She had more than an hour to spare and she wanted to smell the wind again. She wanted to feel the wind.

         "It will only take a couple of minutes. You have to see it."

         Everything inside her told her not to go. If her father caught her outside and with a boy, she would get more than a slap on the cheek. But was she to be trapped in here forever? She needed to get out at least once. She needed to feel free for at least a few minutes if that is all she had. She hesistated, then took a few slow steps toward the window. The boy still stood firm holding up the window for her. She darted a look at the schoolhouse and at her neighbor's house. If her neighbors were home, they might tell her dad if they caught sight of her out at this hour. There were no lights on next door, so she felt somewhat safer. She leaned out the window and stretched one leg out and over the pane. For the first time in what seemed forever, her foot touched the soft grass. She reached the other leg over and was outside.

         The night sky looked as it had the last time she had looked upon it and she held her breath as she watched the little stars twinkle. There seemed to be even more here than in Greendale. She heard the window drop down and in a moment of horror remembered that it needed to be lifted from the inside.

         "Wait!" She spun immediately, thinking she was already too late and would be trapped outside to wait for her father's cruel punishment. The boy had stopped the window just before it shut all the way.

         "It's alright. Watch." He reached down for a small stick that was sitting below the window. He placed the stick between the window and the pane, leaving just enough space to slip his fingers in again. She sighed her relief and turned to face him.

         "Hi" was all she could get out after a moment of silence. His reply was an equally short "Hi". He quietly chuckled and raced off across the street to the schoolhouse.

         "Come on!" he shouted and she ran after him. He stopped just inside the gravel lot in front of the schoolhouse. The gravel pressed into her feet as she caught up to him. She looked down and remembered she was still wearing her house slippers.

         "What's your name?" The boy whispered, as if they were sharing some secret. When she answered, she realized that she was whispering as well. From her windows, the town had looked the same, day or night. But being outside at night, she could sense the hush that came over the place and it made her want to keep her voice down.

         "Rachel."

         "I'm Jack. Come on." He motioned toward the far side of the school house and started off in that direction. For a moment she felt conflicted. She turned back toward the house. It looked different from the outside. It looked small and dark, and a little haunted. She understood now why not many passed her house during the day. She turned back and saw Jack waving from just beyond the side of the schoolhouse. In a moment, he was gone and she hurried to follow. She rounded the corner and cried out.

         "Boo!" Jack said, barely raising his voice as her reached out and goosed her. Her cry was too loud and she looked around nervously, thinking she had woken one of her neighbors. Jack was already staring off again with a smile on his face. "Come on, Rachel!"

         She started off after him and then kept pace with him as he made his way through backyards and around fences and bushes. All of these places were unfamiliar to her, having never left the haunted little hovel at the end of the street. "Jack, where are we going?" she asked nervously, remembering to keep her voice down as they snuck away through the night. Jack did not answer but kept moving forward, picking his way right and left easily. The grass had not been cut and she felt the blades tickle her ankles. The yard they moved through was littered with dandelions, some the white puff balls she used to see back in Greendale. She watched Jack step through a few without looking and scatter the seeds into the light breeze that floated on the night air. They passed a large red fence that seemed to close off something on all sides, but she could not see over it.

         She was growing confused and wondered if she would ever find her way back to the house. The ground had been sloping downward, but now started rising sharply as they entered into a more open area. A small two story house sat at the top of the hill. The moon and starlight did not seem to touch this small dwelling as all of its sides were swallowed in the dark. They began moving in that direction. Jack plodded on up the small hill and onto the sidewalk that wrapped around the right side of the home. He turned and offered a hand to her.

         "Jack, is this your house?" she asked as she took his hand and was pulled up to the sidewalk.

         "Nah, this is a friend's house. He's not home this week. He's on vacation." He let go of her hand and started off around the house, turning back to her once. "Come one, it's right around the corner here."

         She understood immediately at least part of what he wanted to show her. Beyond the side of the house was a small road that had parted from the main avenue off to her right. She had seen the main road following their trek since leaving the house. That road intersected with Sheldon Avenue that ran in front of her house, but she did not know the name. The road shot straight through the center of town and then rose up the hill and into the dark woods that she sometimes watched from the front windows of her house. This small road in front of this house was one of the small roads that broke off from the main avenue. The road faded out into gravel and finally grass just beyond a small shed to the left of where they stood. Where the road ended, a large and open field rose up on an even incline. The field was as large as some of the fields she had seen in Greendale, but it rose on a tilt. The fields in Greendale had all been flat. There were no trees, save for those lining the field far to the north, leaving the sky open and brilliant above them.

         The stars dotted the night sky like diamonds and she almost stepped into a hole while gazing up at them. Jack reached out and pulled her to the side. "Watch out, there are holes up here. Groundhogs, I think." She looked down to see the hole he spoke of and saw only grass. She looked up to ask where he saw it, but he just shook his head. "Trust me, it's there. The grass just hides it a bit. They never cut the grass up here."

         She suddenly wondered whose yard they were tramping through. "Who never cuts it?" Jack simply shrugged. "You don't know?"

         "Nope. Either Faraday's or one of the Cunningham's up the hill. No one ever says anything though. We play ball up here all the time."

         She kept close to Jack until they had reached the center of the large field, careful to keep her gaze downward to watch for invisible holes. She only onced started to step into one before she realized it was there.

         "How do you play in a field with holes without breaking your neck?" She had stopped behind Jack who stood looking around at the ground for something.

         "Well, we sorta know where they are now. We have had some broken ankles though." He replied, laughing as if the thought of breaking your bones was funny. He continued to hunt until he had found the right spot. "Here. We can sit here." He plopped down on a piece of grass that looked like all the others. She simply shrugged and sat down next to him. He turned to her as she sat down and raised an eyebrow.

         "What?" She suddenly felt embarrassed, and thought Jack had played a trick on her, perhaps had her sit in dog crap or something. But Jack merely chuckled and pointed up to the sky. "Now you can look up without falling in a hole."

         "Oh. I thought I sat in something." She couldn't help but laugh. She felt more comfortable around Jack than she had ever felt around a boy. Her father had been partly to blame for that. If he caught her with Jack, she did not want to think of how he would react. The sky looked just as beautiful as before. Without any trees or buildings in view, the size of the open dark seemed to engulf her. She felt as if she were floating up into the twinkling lights.

         After some time passed, she felt a tapping on her shoulder and looked down into Jack's eyes. They were a dark green and she could see the stars reflected there. He was pointing out in front of them. "There's also all of this."

         She looked out across the field to the direction they had trekked and at first did not understand. He saw the look on her face and shook his head. "No, up higher, there above the trees." She understood now. The land at this point was high enough for her to see the entire expanse of the town beyond. That would have been enough of a scene, but she also realized she could see the lights of the downtown area and even places beyond. It seemed as if not only Cooley, but all of Fairville was spread out below them.

         "Pretty" was all she could say as she watched the lights of their little place in the world. The breeze coming in from the west felt warm and the only sounds were those of the crickets in the field. She was almost hypnotized by the soft glow of the town below and the stars twinkling overhead. She did not realize Jack had spoken until she heard him laugh again.

         "What? I'm sorry?"

         "I said I never see you outside." He seemed to be looking behind her, toward the dark woods that surrounded Cooley from behind.

         She did not know how to answer. "I...my dad, he just..." She stammered and put her head down to look at her hands. She had chewed her nails down to nubs in the past few months worrying about what her father may or may not do to her. Except for being locked up, the months had not been bad at all and she regretted worrying so much. Jack seemed to understand completely.

         "Yeah...I know" was all he said, keeping his eyes on the woods behind them. "You should come out more. My friend is gone this week. He's on vacation, I think. He lives in that house down there." He pointed to the house on the hill they had passed.

         "He didn't tell you were he was going?"

         "No. But he said something about going to Disney Land a couple weeks ago, I think." Jack dropped his head to the grass and began plucking the tall blades. He never looked to the town or the stars, as if he did not want to see them tonight.

         She watched the town for a while longer, while Jack plucked at the grass or stole glances back toward the woods. The way he kept looking back at the dark woods scared her a little. She was beginning to think there might be something back there he was looking for, something maybe hungry. It was only after some time of silence that she realize it had been some time since she left the house. Her father would be back very soon now and she had to go.

         "Jack, I have to go back. My dad'll be home soon. I have to be in bed before he comes back."

         Jack simply nodded, then stood and stretched out, taking a deep breath from the night air. "You know how to get back?"

         She suddenly felt very afraid. "I'm not sure. Can't you go back and help with the window again?"

         He only laughed again and started walking back down the hill toward his friend's house. "You coming?" he asked without turning.

         She got up and quickly followed. She stayed close again as they went back down through the open field and past the house on the hill. The house did look empty now and lonely still caught in a blanket of shadows despite the strong light of the full moon. She briefly wondered if Jack feared his friend might never come back. They passed the large red fence again and Jack wrapped a knuckle lightly on one of the red planks.

         "This is my house."

         He didn't say anything else, simply continued on. Rachel wondered why his house was surrounded by such a large fence. The other houses in the neighborhood were open and the boundaries from one yard to another could only be determined by whose grass was cut and whose wasn't. When they finally reached the gravel surrounding the schoolhouse, she cut ahead of him and raced around the side of the building only to find her house the way she had left it. There was no car in the driveway and the window was still propped open with the branch.

         When they both reached the window, she turned to Jack again and abruptly kissed him on the cheek. She did not know why she did it, but she felt good after doing it, she felt it was right. Jack mearly smiled again and lifted the window. When she was back inside, she felt safer, but lonlier than she had ever felt before. She had already decided that she would venture out again, even if a neighbor saw her. She simply would not stay in the house every day after tonight. She had to see the town during the day, when it was alive and busy.

         "I'll come out tomorrow if you come back." She was hoping that Jack would be happy and he was. The smile on his face was even larger than before. She wanted to know what had happened to her in the last hour. She barely knew who this boy was and yet she felt as if they had been friends for years. Age and wisdom hid the irony that Jack had felt this as well and would never feel the same about anyone in the life ahead of him.

         "That'll be good. I can come back in the morning sometime if you want. We can get some stuff from my house then head out around town. I'll show you some more places."

         There was a bang in the distance and Jack looked down the street behind them. "Was that a firecracker?"

         She knew what the sound could be and quickly shoved the branch off the windowsill. "That's probably my dad. Hurry up and help me close the window!" She was almost in a panic as she pulled on the window that Jack was still holding up.

         The window slid down, then stopped halfway. Jack was holding the window. "What are you doing?!" she half whispered, half pleaded.

         The smile never left his face as he asked, "Can I call you Raich? It's shorter." In spite of herself, she laughed and nodded her approval. Her mother had called her Raich. She was just fine with Jack using the nickname. The window slid the rest of the way down and she slid the lock into place. She stood in the window for a moment longer. Jack looked back at her, still smiling, and waved. She waved back and he turned and raced off into the night. She was still wondering whether he had gone home to sleep or had gone off on some other night adventure when she finally nodded off in her own bed. It was the first time she had slept soundly since arriving in Cooley. No nightmares visited her that night.



         The next day, Jack had come early as promised. A white haze lay over most of the town as pale as snow as they passed through a gravelly back alley. She had followed Jack down the street in front of her house, which he had told her was Center Avenue, and then to the right down this wide gravelly lane.

         "Is this someone's driveway?" She had asked after they had been walking for some time. The driveway appeared to be more of a road, but she had never seen one that was entirely gravel before.

         "It's just an alley. It leads over to May street behind Brickerville." Jack walked beside her now and kept looking around and behind them, as if they were being followed. She noticed that he did not even look ahead of them when the alley ended, but simply veered left and up a narrow road, this one made of the usual hard and flat stuff. Houses lined the left side of the thin street and this is where Jack kept his eyes. Every now and then he would steal glances over her head at the little patch of woods that followed on their right.

         "Are we supposed to be here? I mean, will we get in trouble if they see us?" She motioned toward the houses. Jack's wayward eyes were beginning to make her nervous. She felt as if they were being followed. More troubling was the fact that they were approaching the woods, which looked very much like the woods that waited at the end of Center avenue. Something in those woods had caught and held Jack's attention the previous night and Rachel was in no rush to visit its lair.

         Jack did not seem concerned when he followed her gaze to the houses. "No, that's Jerald's place and I think that one belongs to someone Nick knows." he pointed toward the house just up the street. "They don't care about anyone walking this road." He then gave a shrug and added, "Besides, its a road, they don't own it." Rachel felt little comfort in his responses. If they were not doing anything wrong, then why did he keep looking over his shoulder?

         They eventually reached the entrance to the woods, which seemed to be the same woods that one could enter from Center Avenue. Rachel stopped, suddenly thinking Jack would want her to follow him into the dark. The fog made it hard to tell what lurked underneath the canopy of leaves and tangle of roots that opened in front of her. Jack stood silent looking into the fog that spilled out from within that black hollow. In the half light, his blonde hair appeared almost white and his thin arms all but disappeared. Rachel noticed the bruise low on his right arm for the first time. Standing out purple and red in the soft morning glow, it wrapped around his forearm like a band.

         Before she could stop herself, she blurted out the question, "How did you get that?" Jack answered without removing his eyes from the woods, "Fell off my bike." The answer was automatic and simple and her stomach churned at the response. His voice told her that he was lying and the lie was so very similar to ones she had told. She had given similar responses already in her short lived time.

         Jack suddenly turned to her. "You want to go in now or wait for the air ta' clear up?"
         "How long before the fog goes away?" She did not know if she would be any more willing to enter those woods after the clouds had lifted. There was a lonliness that seeped from under the boughs. The milky fog twisted and curled as if it were reaching out for her.

         "The sun burns it up around ten-thirty or so. It's ten now, so it'd only be half an hour."

         "Do you usually wait for the fog to clear up?"

         Jack was already shaking his head. "Nah. It's actually better up there in the fog, but I mean, if you've never been in the woods before, then maybe you'll want to wait."

         "How far are we going? Where are we going?" She was growing more nervous. What if Jack wanted to go far away up into the woods? Did he know his way back?

         "Not far. See, the woods connect these three roads. Center over there, May street here, and Church over there." He said, pointing to his right to indicate Center and motioning far over to the left through a thin tangle of trees and underbrush that lay between May street and Church. She had never been close to Church street before, but knew that there was  a funeral home there. Her father had gone there once to pick up one of the men he worked with. The thought of a funeral home did not sit well with Rachel Statler. What if her new friend wanted to go over there?

         To her horror, Jack confirmed her fear. "We just enter here and it'll take us over to Church street. Then we can cut through my Grandma's place and head back here to May and over to Center."

         "Jack, there's a place for dead people over there, isn't there?"

         "Whitehail? Yeah, that's a funeral home. Why?"

         "I don't want to go over there."

         Jack smirked and put a hand to his forehead. "There isn't anything over there that can hurt you. Mostly old people on that road, and the dead ones in the funeral home." He wiggled his fingers as he said funeral, making her even more nervous.

         "Jack, I'm not going over there."

         "Don't worry, we're not going that far. Whitehail is way down the road, near the school. We're just going down the street a bit to cut through my Gram's yard." He then turned and started into the woods, motioning for her to follow.

         Tentatively and with mounting anxiety, she stepped off the road and into the darkness. Rachel Statler entered the womb of the Circle.



         The initial few moments in the blanket of fog and the sliding shadows of trees created a panic in Rachel that she had not felt since her mother had left her in the kitchen with a coloring book and had not come back. The memory of that summer day three years ago and the thoughts that raced through her young mind as the clock ticked away came back to her as she stared up at the roof of leaves and the gnarling and reaching roots around her feet. The ground was rocky and uneven for the first few minutes as they ventured further back into the soft white gloom. The chirps of strange birds filled her ears from almost the moment they had entered and the constant buzzing of insects made her want to swat at her arms and legs. She could feel the hair on her head tingling as if every strand were standing on end. Jack kept a brisk pace, keeping close to the little dirt path through the trees. For a tense moment he disappeared into the white and then reappeared off the path as he stepped between the trunks of two twisting trees.

         "Jack! The path's over here!" She called over to him. He looked back once, halfway across the small gap between the trees, then turned and pulled his other leg through.

         "No, this is a shortcut. Come on, just step through the trees here." His voice sounded a bit distant now and she hurried, hiking her skirt up to slip between the gap. She started foward a little too quickly and tripped over a root that had wormed its way across the path. Before she could go down, Jack was there and caught her.

         "Ahh...that damn root! It still gets me sometimes too..." He was laughing and the smile she had seen last night returned to his face. Her face was very close to his and she felt her heart jump. She tried to hide her surprise and embaressment by brushing off her skirt, though she had not fallen into the dirt. She regained her footing and felt Jack's arms leave her as he continued off down his shortcut. She quickly returned her eyes to him and followed through the mist.

         As they got closer to the other exit Jack had spoken of, the trees thinned and pulled back. She also noticed that the day was getting brighter, the sun had finally come out to burn away the morning fog. Her first impression of Church street was that it looked similar to Center avenue back home. The street fell softly and then sharply down a small little hill before running flat. In the distance she saw the road bend quickly to the right and disappear.

         Jack had stopped just as they entered the clearing. She could see the place where the road turned off in the distance. "Where does this go?"

         "The intersection downtown. You know, by the VFW?"

         Rachel nodded recognition, although she had no idea what the VFW was. She remembered an intersection near the store where her father had her pick up groceries while he waited in the car, but she was not sure if it was the same. Jack smiled again and strolled off down the middle of the road. There were no cars and the houses that lined either side seemed quiet. As they passed a white house on the right, Jack pointed to it without looking.

         "Rhoderick's lives there. He's an asshole."

         "Jack!" She couldn't hide her shock at  his response. Jack stopped and turned, confused.

         "What?"

         "You said a bad word..."

         He suddenly began laughing and didn't stop until he was bent over holding his knees. She began to feel embarressed and a little angry.

         "What's so funny?"

         Jack shook his head and whiped his eyes. "Sorry. You'll have to learn how to throw around some bad words if you're gonna hang out with us." He started forward, then turned and added, "It's alright, there's no parents here."

         The last time she had cursed, her father had smacked her hard enough to leave her entire left cheek an aching read mess and had then made her put half a bar of soap in her mouth. The soap had tasted awful and her cheek had burned while she stood crying at the bathroom mirror. Even with only Jack here and no parents, she could not bring herself to curse.

         Only a few steps beyond the next house on the right, Jack turned suddenly into the yard of another large white house. The house had a large star tacked above the doorway with the title 'Marshall'. Before she could ask, Jack turned to her. "This is my gramma's house. Down at the end of the yard and over this little creek and we'll be back on May's street."

         The yard they passed through was shaded by many large trees. The trees were unlike anything she had seen before. The first they passed under was not very large and had leaves with three points to them. She had seen the leaf on one of her father's baseball caps.

         "Jack, what is this tree?" She had stopped to pick up a few of the green leaves that had fallen from the tree.

         "Oh...my grandpa said its the maple tree. I like the leaves."

         "They're pretty." She was still admiring the pattern on the leaf she held.

         "You should see them in the fall, they're all over the ground and they look like fire...red and yellow, kind of like little flames."

         She wanted to see the leaves in the fall. She could almost image the whole ground covered with the red and yellow leaves. She put the leaf in her pocket and hurried after Jack. The other trees were mostly taller, the tallest of which had long green sticks hanging from nearly every branch. The green sticks all hung downward. A few were on the ground and she watched as Jack bent over to pick one up. He began swinging the green stick. He looked as if he were swinging at something in front of him.

         "What is that?" She was beginning to think that Jack would get annoyed at her questions, but he answered her just as quickly as before.

         "Tobies. It's a toby tree." He said, pointing with the green toby at the tree from which it had fallen.

         "What is a toby?" She picked up one of the green sticks. It looked to her like a big green bean.

         "Fuck if I know." He saw her eyes widen at his response and then was laughing again.

         "Come on, Raich. We're almost there." He absently tossed the toby off into a group of small pine trees to the right. She only now noticed the large garden on the left. The garden was ripe with big red tomatoes and tall stocks of corn. She decided not to ask about the garden, though she was curious about the strange horn-shaped vegetables growing from green stalks on the far side.

         They passed through a thin group of trees and were then faced with the small creek Jack had mentioned. There was a small wooden bridge that spanned the little creek. Jack didn't use the bridge, instead leaping over the gap and landing on the other side. The creek was not large, but the gap still seemed too far for a jump. She used the bridge to cross. Passing through the uncut grass on the other side, she saw that they were indeed back on May's street. She saw the large house Jack had called 'Jerald's place' and the gravelly alleyway they had passed through earlier.

         The day was brighter now and the sun was finally beginning to turn up the heat. She saw that some people were out and about in their yards down the street. Along the alleyway, they passed some kids on bikes. One gave Jack a weird look and kicked out at him. Jack turned and grabbed the kid, the bike continued on and twisted off into the ditch.

         "Shriver!" The kid yelled as Jack held him by the collar.

         "Problem Sanders?" Jack held the Sander's boy close and then shoved him back into the ditch with his bike.

         "Ow, dammit man! What's your problem?!"

         Rachel was beginning to feel nervous again and grabbed Jack on the shoulder.  "What are you doing? Just stop!"

         "You're lucky today Sanders, you little shit. Get out of here!"

         The Sanders boy got up and grabbed the handles to his bike, yanking it up out of the ditch. He circled around behind them. Off at a safe distance, Rachel saw the boy who had been riding with him standing in the middle of the alley with his bike. Jack had turned and started up the alley again. Rachel turned to follow, but felt something grab at her butt from behind. She reeled around and swung out before she could stop herself, slugging the Sanders boy in the jaw. He hit the gravel hard.

         "Damn bitch!" But that was all he could get out. He saw Jack turn and start back toward them. He was up quickly and peddling off to his friend, who had already gotten back on his ride and was beating an escape down the alley.

         "You alright?"

         She nodded and wiped at her skirt again to avoid looking at Jack. Her hand was hurting a bit from the punch. He didn't say anything as they walked back together and she hoped he had not seen. There was no more talk until they reached Center again. Jack was the first to break the silence.

         "That Sanders kid is a little jerk. He's always runnin' his mouth. I mean, we've tried to be nice to him, but he just acts like an ass all the time. I can't stand him." Jack said somberly as they walked through a little three way. The road split at this point, continuing straight and up a steep little hill, and breaking off to the left. The left branch ended near a small two story house with a front porch. The house stood in the shade of a large oak tree, the leaves blanketing the top of the little shingled roof and lying scattered around the front yard. Where the road ended, a wide gravel driveway hooked around to the north and ran up an incline to a very large and expensive looking house. Rachel had seen houses that her dad referred to as "Mansions" back in Greendale. This house fit that description quite well.

         "Who lives there Jack?"

         Jack looked up to where she was pointing, squinted his eyes against the sun, and once again dropped his head to the road. "That's Maybrooks' place. Doesn't fit in this little dinky town does it?" He was smiling again.

         The sun was extinguished for a time behind a large cloud and the world became cool, shaded. Rachel began to worry for the first time about how far she had come from home. Looking behind her, she could see the dark little shack, her prison, sitting in the usual spot at the intersection of Sheridan and Center. The house looked much too far away, though they were closer than they had been earlier on Church street. She began to feel eyes, knowing eyes on her. They might tell her father, might go to him later and tell him what his daughter was doing today. Not only had she left the house, but she had been with a boy. She shuddered to think how her father would react. Jack, meanwhile, seemed content as they walked. She did not see happiness in his face, only a quiet concentration, as if he were thinking really hard about something. What that might be, Rachel had no idea. He still stole little glances around here and there, but he never seemed to be looking at anything in particular, or anything close by for that matter. His eyes seemed distant, as if he were trying to see what was just over the edge of the world.

         They had just passed parf of the large red fence from the previous night when Jack stopped. The big red spikes of wood fitted together with only little cracks between each and the entire wall of wood ran beside the house behind them. At the street, the wall met with a smaller green fence that looked like plastic from where Rachel stood. Unlike the large planks of the red fence, this one had large square holes where the plastic covered wire ran across and then down. The fence ran along the little road, broken in two places by small wooden gates, also painted red. On the opposite side of the road was a large lot surrounded by yet another fence, this one made of metal and of the same type of lattice design as the little green fence. This fence was a bit taller than the little green one, but still only half the size of those large red planks. The metal fence surrounded a large lot of land that stretched back far into a dark little wooded area. Rachel could not see where the fence ended, but she noticed Jack watching key areas near the back, his eyes scanning the underbrush and trees. He took a few hesitant steps forward, then turned back to her.

         "Stay here for a minute." He trotted forward and quickly glanced down a little driveway that stood next to the house Rachel now assumed must be Jack's. The house looked very nice, very clean, unlike the little shack she shared with her father. There was however something uninviting about the place. Rachel thought it may be the large red fence that encircled the house on three sides like castle walls, but she realized there was more. Jack seemed unsure of his movements in this area. On their early morning journey, he had never taken a wrong turn or stopped to consider where they were going. For the most part, he didn't even watch the road, Rachel thought to herself, remembering the way he always seemed to be looking further, perhaps waiting for something. Jack returned quickly after surveying the driveway and taking one last look across the street.

         "Ok, come on Raich." Again he had used her nickname. Her mother had always called her 'Raich'. Her father always called her Rachel, never Raich. She liked Jack using the name and she knew that she liked Jack already. She wanted a friend, needed a friend in this place. She needed something from it. Had she been old enough to understand, she would have realized that her imprisonment for the last few months had altered her, damaged her in a way that could only be fixed by connecting with someone, by feeling important, by knowing she had something to call family. As they entered the little gate and she heard the hinges creek and the catch clasp shut as the heavy wood snapped back into place, she felt at home again for the first time since the farmhouse in Greendale. Jack led her around the side of the house, following a narrow sidewalk to a little square porch where some loose odds and ends were piled up and a bike stood tiled against the black iron railing. Music was coming from the screen door on the porch, along with the unmistakable smell of home cooking. Her stomach rumbled, half from the food she could smell and half from the butterflies she felt at meeting whoever was cooking. Thankfully, Jack didn't seem to hear the grumble and didn't look back as he grabbed the door handle. Rachel paused for only a moment to look back at the road and the sky. She thought she would end up liking it here. If she could make it home without her father learning of this, she knew she would be back out tomorrow, with or without Jack, but she hoped he would come for her. She followed Jack into the smells of potatoes, cooked ham, and fresh vegetables.