The Pricker Boy by Reade Scott Whinnem

Author:Reade Scott Whinnem [Whinnem, Scott Reade]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-375-89299-8
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-08-28T04:00:00+00:00

I reach into my pocket and pull out the ring. I press it hard into my palm and pull it away. There’s an imprint of a circle left behind. It’s way too big for a kid to have worn, but that doesn’t mean that one of us didn’t treasure it for some reason. Found it in the leaves or in the shallow water of the pond. Picked it up and gloated about our lucky find. But if it was so important that it was sacrificed for a widow’s walk, then someone should remember it.

“So I guess it’s just a normal summer from now on,” I say to the others.

Light from the Japanese lanterns flickers off the ring. Earlier in the evening, my father pulled me aside and told me that we couldn’t have a fire out at Whale’s Jaw. I was going to say, “What are you talking about, Dad? We don’t have fires out at Whale’s Jaw.” Instead I said, “We keep buckets of water out there. Just like you used to when we were little. We’re careful.”

“It’s been dry,” my father said. “So use the lanterns.”

The lanterns are a pain in the ass, and I told my father so.

“I wouldn’t even let you use the lanterns if there was a breeze. Look, I don’t care what you guys do out there. Roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories, curse and call your parents assholes … whatever. But if I take a walk into the woods and see a fire tonight, then I’m coming out there, and the party’s over.”

“I’ll make a deal with you, Dad. Ronnie’s planning on telling a pretty scary one tonight. Lots of blood and gore in this one. Could you keep the Cricket home tonight?”

A little white lie never hurts, and if it keeps the Cricket from hearing anything about what’s really going on, then it’s worth it.

“That won’t be easy,” he said.

“Just one night. And I won’t be out late, so it’s not like you’ll have to hold him for long.”

Dad agreed. I carried the lanterns out to Whale’s Jaw, Boris wheezing and panting by my side. I hung them by Christmas-tree hooks on the branches around the fire pit and lit them with votive candles.

Now we’re sitting by the fire pit and watching dusk fall. The lanterns are becoming red and green and yellow orbs glowing in the trees. They’re pretty creepy. I’d really rather have a fire.

I close my fist tightly around the ring and look up at Vivek, Ronnie, Emily, and Robin. “How about it? Normal summer? Catchin’ fireflies and swimmin’ in the pond and playin’ tag?”

Emily reaches over and pinches one of the accordionlike rice-paper folds on a green lantern. “There was nothing that happened out in the woods that can’t be chalked up to overactive imaginations,” she says. She releases the fold and then gently taps the side of the lantern.

I have a tough time holding back my anger. “Overactive imaginations! The package, the words carved in the stone, even

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