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Taped to the handlebars was a note with a sucker glued to it. He could barely read the typed words in the moonlight:
Please remember to put your bike away at night. Your parents would be very sad if they accidentally ran over it in their car. Love, your Secret Friend.
Kent wasn’t surprised when, a few minutes later, he investigated a different bike Phae had fiddled with and found another note. This bike hadn’t been carelessly left behind a car. The note read:
Good job! You put your bike away. You should be very proud of yourself. Love, your Secret Friend.
Instead of a sucker, this note had a chocolate bar glued to it. Kent frowned in annoyance. How did she know this kid didn’t have allergies or diabetes?
He continued to follow Phae on what he could only term “her rounds.” Unused to the stifling humidity, he found it difficult to maintain Phae’s pace. He lost sight of her several times, but she always appeared again, sometimes half a block or more away from where he’d last seen her.
She traversed a route that wound up and down and around what must have been half the streets of Zeke’s Bend. Her good deeds consisted mostly of checking locks on doors and windows.
At one house, he watched in irritation as she lugged three big trash cans to the curb. He could only assume that she’d done this so the homeowner wouldn’t miss pickup. Important work indeed, Kent thought.
Steadily, though circuitously, they made their way toward the outskirts of the town. Phae had no particular destination that Kent could discern, so he was surprised when she picked up speed, stopping at fewer and fewer houses until at last, Kent had to jog to keep up with her.
In no time, his shirt was soaked with sweat. He felt like he was racing through a rain forest as he tried to inhale the heavy, moisture-laden air.
They soon left Zeke’s Bend behind. Kent could barely see Phae in the moonlight as she loped silently through the undergrowth alongside the deserted country road. She leapt and bounded and covered ground at a steady pace.
Kent opted to run on the road itself since it was easier, and he couldn’t travel as quickly and quietly through the underbrush as Phae. Twice, he had to dive into the ditch to avoid being seen by passing cars.
Kent cursed when Phae veered into the dense woods at the side of the road. He had no idea how he could find her in the nearly complete darkness under the trees, but he trudged behind her nonetheless. At this point, what option did he have?
Chapter 12
DRY LEAVES AND TWIGS CRACKLED loudly under Kent’s heavy feet, forcing him to attempt a tiptoe through the forest. He clearly heard Phae ahead of him, loud enough to be heard over the shrill calls of bugs and frogs, making it easy for him to follow. She must have let down her guard since this area appeared to be devoid of human life.
Fanning his heavy, wet shirt, Kent came to the edge of the woods, stopping behind a tree to scout ahead for Phae.
The tree line broke on the top of a low hill overlooking a paved road which fronted a small lighted building. Kent heard the faint strains of country music.
A large sign stood in the parking lot. He squinted to read it: Trapper’s Tavern. He knew where he was now. He’d been there a few times with James in the past. If he remembered correctly, it was several miles outside of town. Running in the dark had made it seem much farther.
He kept looking for Phae as he picked off the debris he’d accumulated during his forest jaunt. He snarled as he pulled small twigs and leaves from his hair and clothing. And stick-tights. Oh, how he hated stick-tights.
A small piece of paper clung tenaciously to his knee. Lifting a corner of the paper, he was disgusted by what he saw as he peeled it away from his jeans. Gum. He must have picked it up during one of his ignominious dives into the ditch.
He flicked the scrap of paper away and steadfastly ignored the gooey mess that remained on his knee. Phae was going to have a lot to make up for, he thought darkly. And gum was just the beginning.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone moving in the parking lot. He stared closely at the vehicles parked in front of the building. The interior light came on in an old pickup truck. Phae leaned inside the vehicle and the hood popped up.
Kent could only watch and wonder as she raised the hood and bent over the engine.
He muttered softly, “Phae Jones, if I’ve run all this way to watch you give somebody a free oil change, so help me …”
She reached inside the engine, then after a few seconds, stood up straight and lowered the hood quietly. Kent inhaled sharply when the tavern door swung open.
The soft light from inside the bar silhouetted the outline of a stocky man big enough to nearly fill the doorway. He lurched drunkenly into the parking lot.
Where had Phae gone? He couldn’t see her now.
Another, smaller man exited the building. He trotted after the man who was making a bumbling attempt to enter one of the parked cars.
Kent heard their voices but couldn’t make out the individual words. The smaller man pulled the drunken man to a different car, then shoved him into the passenger seat.
Kent didn’t relax until the smaller man got into the car and drove away, tail lights fading into the distance. He watched Phae reappear magically from around the side of the tavern and run spryly across the parking lot. Once on the other side of the road, she stopped on the side of the ditch nearest Kent and hunkered down into the undergrowth.
He couldn’t guess what she was waiting for, but he took advantage of the time by sitting down and resting. He checked his watch. It was shortly before two a.m. The bar would be closing soon.
Minutes later, the strains of music filtering out of the tavern abruptly ceased. Two more men left the building then drove off in a beat-up truck. Three vehicles remained in the parking lot, including the one Phae had tampered with.
Her dark figure remained immobile in the bushes as two more men left the now dark and noiseless tavern. One of the men locked the front door while the other man walked in less than a straight line to the old truck.
He’d reached for the door handle when the other man called something to him that Kent couldn’t understand.
Part of the obviously inebriated man’s shouted reply was clear. “I’m not in any hurry to get home to …” then it faded away.
The man’s voice sounded familiar.
Kent watched in disgust as the sober man got into his jeep and drove away. The drunken man collapsed into the driver’s seat of the truck, not bothering to close the door behind him.
When the man turned his head to the side, Kent recognized him in the glow of the cab light. Phae’s Uncle Leon.
This was an interesting turn of events.
A faint clicking sound
coming from the truck was soon overwhelmed by Leon bursting out into a loud string of curse words. He stumbled out of the cab and pulled up the hood.
Kent smiled. Phae had disabled her uncle’s truck. Leon wouldn’t be driving anywhere tonight. She’d finally done a good deed that made sense.
Cursing wildly, Leon fumbled with the engine, the beam from his flashlight bobbing haphazardly in the darkness. With a cry of disgust, he slammed down the hood then stomped his way back into the cab of the truck.
Kent watched him pick up what looked like a bottle and began to drink from it. More beer, perhaps? More beer was the last thing he needed.
Leon quickly finished the drink and flung the bottle into the bed of the truck, then attempted once more to start his truck.
All the while, Phae couched unmoving in the bushes below Kent.
Before long, Leon’s swearing began to die down. Less than ten minutes had elapsed when he slowly slumped over the steering wheel and slid to his side across the seat.
“Finally,” Kent whispered. Leon had passed out. Maybe now Kent could go home.
His wish did not come true. He watched in surprise as Phae eased herself out of the undergrowth and padded across the paved road toward the tavern’s parking lot.
What did she think she was doing? Leon could wake at any moment and Kent didn’t want to think about what might happen if Leon saw a mysterious midnight ninja poking around his pick-up truck.
Kent exploded out of the forest and rushed down the slope. He was battling his way through the roadside bushes when he noticed Phae standing less than five feet in front of him.
She whispered angrily. “Be quiet! If you wake him up and ruin my plans I’ll never forgive you. Now sit down and be quiet until I come back.”
Kent watched in stunned (and outraged) silence as Phae crossed to the parking lot and her uncle’s truck. Something wasn’t right, he thought as she popped up the hood. She hadn’t acted surprised to see him.
