Northwoods by Amy Pease

Author:Amy Pease [Pease, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

21

Bella wasn’t a wolf, of course, but the massive, shaggy gray dog, with her quiet, lupine watchfulness was mistaken for one often enough that she’d been shot at a couple of times when she’d wandered out of the yard. Since then, Eli had outfitted the oversized Siberian husky with a thick blaze-orange collar to identify her as a pet, rather than a backyard menace. The dog watched, panting, tongue lolling, from the cool garage as Eli and Andy puttered with the lawn mower on the hot driveway.

“You read the manual, right?” asked Eli. He planted himself against the garage doorframe and crossed his arms across his chest. His morning interview with Dan Simons had sobered him up, both by virtue of sweating out the residual alcohol in the heat of Dan’s front yard, and because the man had—unintentionally, perhaps—given him some answers. First and foremost, it was clear to Eli that Dan Simons had not killed Ben, that the man, in fact, had a certain amount of fondness for the boy. Next, Dan seemed absolutely certain that Ben hadn’t used drugs, which supported Marge’s assertion. And finally, it was clear to Eli that the man had more to say; something he hadn’t told Eli that morning but clearly wanted to get off his chest.

“I couldn’t find the manual,” said Andy. The boy’s face and arms shone with sunscreen. He wore a pair of banged-up fishing sunglasses Eli recognized as his own and a baseball cap he had gotten in Little League that spring. The sight of the cap tugged at Eli’s heart. He had attended exactly two of Andy’s baseball games this summer and had been drunk for both of them. He managed to push the memory away for a moment.

“That’s strange,” said Eli, “seeing as how your mom told me she gave it to you last night after dinner.”

Andy muttered something and looked away.

“Hmm?”

He rolled his eyes. “Dad, seriously.”

Eli pushed away from the doorframe and joined Andy next to the old push mower. “You know how mad your mom would be at me if you got your leg chopped off?” Eli wasn’t sure how much angrier Michelle could be with him than she was already, especially since she was adamantly opposed to Andy mowing the lawn.

“He’s only eleven,” she had said. “That’s too young, even for a push mower.”

“He’s mature for his age,” Eli had said, though both he and Michelle understood that Andy had been forced into accelerated maturity by having an absent father for two years, then, far worse, by having another year and counting of a father who couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone his family. In the end, Michelle had grudgingly agreed to let Eli show Andy how to use the mower, on the condition that Eli be there, on time and sober, the first few times Andy mowed. He’d been late today, admittedly, but he hadn’t had a drop of alcohol since last night.

“I’ll read the manual tonight,” said Andy. “I promise.”

Eli pulled his sunglasses off, wiped the sweat from his face, and then put them back on.

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