DarkNet by John R. Little

Author:John R. Little [Little, John R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JournalStone Publishing
Published: 2014-10-08T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Earlier that day, Avril had chewed a peanut butter and jam sandwich while at Mrs. Estahazy’s house. It wasn’t very good, but she was hungry, and the babysitter wasn’t particularly prompt about serving lunch, so Avril often just helped herself to a sandwich. Mrs. Estahazy was much more interested in her soap operas, which was generally just fine by Avril. She liked the freedom.

Once she finished her sandwich, she walked over and said, “I’m going outside now.”

Mrs. Estahazy jerked her head sideways and nodded, then snapped back to the television.

As she left, she said, “I might go play in the traffic or go find some quicksand to swim in. Hope that’s okay!”

The older woman wasn’t listening, of course, and again, that was just fine with Avril. She knew enough to be back before her mom came to pick her up, but other than that she had her choice of how to spend the afternoon. She just had to be careful of the stupid cast on her wrist.

She thought about going to see Laurie, but Laurie’s mom stayed home with her, and she knew word would get back to her own mom that she had wandered off during the day. That wouldn’t do, so she just headed over to the park, hoping to find somebody to play chess with.

It was a warm sunny day, and Avril wore a light green cap that perched on her head like a bird in its nest. She liked how it kept the sun out of her eyes, and she imagined she looked very mysterious as she pretended to be a secret agent, darting from behind one tree to the next, getting ever closer to the park.

There was nobody in the park, though, except for the man who had bought her ice cream a while ago. He was looking at her, not smiling, and Avril thought she could cheer him up.

“Johnny, would you like to play?” she asked.

He stared at her and forced a smile. “I saw you play, kid. I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I can spot you a rook.”

He laughed. “I’d need both rooks and the queen to have a chance. I may not be much of a chess player, but I can recognize someone who is.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She really just wished he’d offer her another ice cream cone. It was getting hotter as the afternoon wore on.

Avril pushed her hair back behind her ears.

“Did you know the youngest-ever chess champion was four years old?” she asked.

“Really?”

She hesitated. “Well, maybe not exactly a champion, but he played in serious tournaments and stuff and won lots of games.”

She licked her lips trying to escape the heat and then continued. “He was in nursery school but liked to read The Manual of Chess Combinations. I want to read that book sometime, but my mom and dad haven’t gotten it for me.”

“Not yet. Maybe they will.”

“Maybe.”

They looked at each other in silence. He didn’t look like he was going to offer her an ice cream.

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