Closed For the Season by Mary Downing Hahn

Author:Mary Downing Hahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780547394138
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2010-09-06T00:00:00+00:00

After dinner, I was watching an old Sopranos rerun when the phone rang. Thinking it might be Arthur, I ran to answer it. To my amazement, it was Nina. First of all, she asked if my knee was okay. I couldn’t believe she’d called just to ask about a cut, but I told her it was fine. Mom had doused it with something that stung like mad and then slapped a big Band-Aid on it. “They won’t have to amputate after all,” I joked.

Nina laughed politely and asked if she could speak to Mom.

“Did you find out something new about the murder?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I just want to talk to her.”

There was something odd about her voice. With some misgiving, I handed the phone to Mom and went back to the living room. On TV, a bunch of guys were shooting at each other from speeding cars. The noise of the show drowned out Mom’s conversation with Nina.

After a while, Mom walked into the living room and turned off the TV.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked. “I’m watching that!”

“I want to talk to you,” she said. “Right now.”

She stood over me, her arms folded across her chest. I didn’t like the look on her face. She knew something, I was sure of it—but I didn’t know what. The situation made me very uncomfortable.

“Nina Stevens just told me you and Arthur got into trouble at the library today.”

My heart dropped to the bottom of my belly. “She wasn’t there. How could she possibly—”

“Someone told her all about it.”

“Nina knows Mrs. Bunions?” I stared at Mom, amazed.

“It doesn’t matter who told her,” she said. “What matters is that you and Arthur slung file folders all over the library and scattered maps and pamphlets on the floor. Then you vandalized the men’s room.”

My amazement turned to disbelief. “Nina told you this?”

“And that’s not all. You stole valuable material from the local-history file.” Mom stared at me, her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Logan, how could you behave like that? You were brought up properly. You come from a good home—”

“Wait, wait.” I held my hands up. “All Arthur and I did—”

“Arthur, Arthur, Arthur!” Mom spoke so loudly, I was scared Arthur would think she was calling him and come running. “Do you know how sick I am of seeing that boy stuffing my food into his face? He has no manners, he comes and goes as if he lived here he—”

“But, Mom—”

“I don’t want that boy in my yard or in my house.”

I stared at her, bewildered by her anger. “What do you mean? He’s my only—”

“Nina is also concerned about your friendship with him,” Mom cut in. “She and I agree it would be best for you to—”

“Don’t believe Nina. She’s lying, she—”

“Arthur is off limits!” Mom talked right over me, as relentless as a steamroller flattening asphalt. “His grandmother pays no attention to where he goes or what he does. And he drags you along with him. He’s a bad influence, a—a—”

She caught her breath, her face red with anger.

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