Family Skulls by Luc Reid

Author:Luc Reid
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-12-20T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Seth dropped one foot to the ground as he got close and let his toe drag the bike to a stop. Chloe stood behind her own bike, glaring at him. In the trees to either side, birds twittered and the wind brushed through the leaves with a sound like rushing water.

"What?" Seth said.

"I can't believe you went to their house. What did you think you were doing?"

"I told you. I was invited. I happened to be in the woods the other day—"

She made a faint gagging sound of disbelief. "I'm not stupid, Seth. You don't just make friends with someone when you ..." She trailed off. "Do you believe in this curse or not?"

Seth didn't respond. Did she think he could be cursed and not be aware of it?

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. "So why does a person go to the house of someone who they think cursed their family?"

Seth still didn't respond. She knew his answers as well as he did. He didn't need to play whatever game she was playing.

"Do they even know who you are?" Chloe said. "Do they know you think you're cursed?"

Now she was making it sound like he had made the curse up. "They know," he said. "They pretend they don't, but they know. Just like you pretend you don't. What did they tell you to do? What's your job? Do you help them?"

Chloe took a step back involuntarily, almost dropping her bike. "You think they're ... didn't you see how Tessa treated you? I'm surprised she didn't send you home with a batch of cookies and a twenty dollar bill! You really did save Junie, didn't you?"

"Of course I did."

"And you still think they're cursing you? That they hate you?"

Seth looked at Chloe hard for a moment. Could she have been just following him after all? Is it possible she didn't realize her own relatives kept curses? He looked at the battered diving watch on his wrist, took it off, and pointed to the side of the road, where ferns grew thickly. "Watch the ferns," he said, and when he was sure she was watching he turned his head away and threw the watch into the undergrowth. He heard it hit the leaves, but waited a moment before turning his head back, so that he wouldn't be able to make out any telltale movement of plants.

"Did you see where that fell?" Seth said.

"Of course," Chloe said.

"Where?" Seth said.

Chloe's gaze wandered away from him and down the road. "Maybe we should get out of the road. A car might come."

"It's a private road. Nobody's coming. Can you tell me where my watch fell, so I can find it?"

"I ..." Chloe looked confused. "Why do you think they ..." She looked down at the ground, her brow wrinkled. "What were we talking about?"

Seth pulled his bike over to the side of the road, lay it there, and walked to the ferns. He hated forcing this on Chloe. Whenever he'd tried to show anyone the curse—only a few times in his life—it had been uncomfortable, frustrating .

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