Darkness by John Saul

Author:John Saul [Saul, John]
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-307-76801-8
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2010-11-09T16:00:00+00:00

15

“It’s time for you to go to bed, young lady,” Barbara Sheffield told Jenny, who was curled up on the end of the sofa in the family room, all but asleep already.

Instantly the girl’s eyes opened wide. She sat up. “I don’t want to go to bed. I want to stay up until Michael and Kelly come back.”

“Well, you’re not going to,” Barbara replied, glancing meaningfully at the clock. It was almost ten, and already Jenny had been up an hour and a half past her regular bedtime.

“But they said they’d be back by now,” Jenny argued.

“I know what they said,” Barbara agreed, her own annoyance etching her voice. When the two teenagers had left on Michael’s motorcycle, it had been only a little after eight, and they’d promised to be back by nine-thirty.

“We’re just going down to Arlette’s for Cokes,” Michael had told them.

Craig had eyed his son sternly. “See that that’s the only place you go. Stay away from the park.”

Michael had rolled his eyes scornfully. “Why would we go out there? I don’t even like those kids.” He was well aware of what went on out at the county park at the other end of town, where a lot of the teenagers of Villejeune gathered in the evening, drinking beer and playing their boom boxes at top volume. Most of the time they didn’t do much but hang out, but every now and then the phone rang late at night and his father had to go down to the police department to help bail out someone else’s son. And always, the next morning, Michael had to listen to a lecture about staying out of trouble. On this evening, he had seen his father’s eyes shift meaningfully toward Kelly Anderson, and suddenly he’d understood. “Aw, come on, Dad,” he groaned, his voice dropping so no one else would hear him. “Lighten up, okay? Kelly doesn’t even know those kids.”

Craig had finally agreed to let them go.

Now, as the clock in the corner struck ten, Mary Anderson stood up. “Well, Jenny may not be tired, but I am,” she announced. “And look at Carl—he’s sound asleep.” She smiled fondly at her father-in-law, who was sprawled out in Craig’s favorite recliner, snoring softly. “Come on, Ted, wake up your father and take us home.”

Ted’s jaw set stubbornly. “I think we should wait for Kelly.”

“I’m sure you do,” Mary observed. “And I’m sure that when she comes home, there’s going to be a scene. So why don’t we have it at our house, instead of here?” Though she tried to keep her tone light, the tension she was feeling showed clearly. “Please,” she went on. “Michael or Craig can bring her home. And I am tired.”

For a moment she thought fed was going to argue with her, but then he stood, moving toward his father. “Come on, Dad,” he said, shaking the older man gently. “The boss says we’re going home.”

Carl’s snoring stopped and his eyes opened. “I wasn’t sleeping,” he said.

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