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.We were just in time, the last toarrive.Cindy Slater from thecomparative religion seminar waved atus like a maniac when we entered thelecture room.She motioned us over tosome empty chairs by her.I didn t seeDr.Barton anywhere. I m sorry I couldn t make theparty last week, Cindy said.She lookedat Brad. I heard it got pretty wild.You could say that. Thank you all for coming. JaneMarks presented the seminar. I ll try toget through this material quickly. Shewas dressed utterly unlike at school, injeans and a white tank top under a bluecotton work shirt with her hair tied backin a red and black cotton scarf.Shelooked like a giant Rosie the Riveter. Ms.Marks? Cindy raised herhand, but she didn t wait to be called on. Is Dr.Barton going to be here? Not today.Dr.Barton hasFriday office hours at the university untilthe end of June.If everyone wouldplease hold all questions until the end,this will be more efficient.After an hour of do s and don ts,including a precise and stern admonitionto not pollute the dig site or remove anymaterial from it whatsoever, she sent usto lunch. They re serving acomplimentary luncheon in the cafeteria.Be back in half an hour for a tour of themain tunnel.Cindy monopolized Brad throughthe meal, which was fine with me.I waspreoccupied, caught up in an ethicaldilemma.I didn t want to do the internship.From the moment Jane Marksstarted waxing philosophic about the joyof finding archeological treasures, Iknew I was in the wrong place.I didn tcare.I realized I d taken the internshipfor one reason only: money.First the sixthousand dollars, and then the chance toget my loans paid off and the othermoney Steve offered.Money.If I didn t need money, Iwouldn t be here.I hated the place.The good news was: I didn t fearit.I had absolutely no fear of the groundsaround the dig or the trees or the smellor any of it.My aversion came from mythoroughly honest and absolutelydefensible non-pathologic dislike of dirtand grime.And excuse me, but it s true I didn t care about finding buriedartifacts.Foresthill was a bogey man nomore.I was free.Except for that ethical dilemmapart.Free or not, I still needed themoney.The scanner Steve gave medidn t actually remove any dirt.It justanalyzed what was there, so I was goodon that score.But would it be wrong ofme to take the tunnel tour, knowing Iwasn t coming back next Monday?I thought of Stacey and herfocused determination to go to Stanford.I could be focused.I could put myselffirst.I could, I could.We entered the tunnel in abunched-up group, but as we walked wespread out and I lingered at the back.Brad kept dropping behind with me, andCindy kept finding reasons to be next tohim.It was never obvious before inclass, but here at the dig I saw whatSteve meant about her.Chatty.Beyond.Belief.And she wanted Brad.Shetrailed him like an eager puppy.I d loveit if he found someone to take his mindoff Lisa, but clearly Cindy wasn t doingit for him.He ducked down a side tunnelto get away from her, and she hurriedafter him.I was alone.I quickly dug thescanner out of my bag and pushed one ofthe buttons until it blinked then jammedthe probe into the dirt wall.The lightwent steady, and I started on the nextone.Could it be this easy? I got throughthe second light.While the third lightwas still blinking, I heard Jane Marksfrom around the corner. Let s all keep together now.Wedon t want anyone I stuffed the scanner into my bagjust as Brad and Cindy returned from theside tunnel and Jane Marks appeared.  lost in here. Jane Marksgave me a squinting frown. Are youcoming, Ms.Deven? Um, no, actually.Ms.Marks, Ican t do this. My heart raced.I hadn tdone anything wrong.Anything illegal,anyway, though I suspected Dr.Bartonwouldn t like it.And I knew Jane Markswouldn t. I m going to have to turndown the internship.If she asked why, I was ready toexplain that I must be claustrophobic.But she didn t, and I was relieved toescape telling a lie. I m sure the next person on thewait list will be happy to hear it, Ms.Deven.Well.You can go now, if youlike.I wanted to be cool about it, but Inearly ran through the tunnel.I was likea thief who got away with it, guilty andthrilled.Brad caught up with me at mycar. Nora, what happened? Were youclaustrophobic or something? Exactlywhat I hoped people would assume. I m fine now.But I have to go. I can t leave yet, he said. Ihave to finish something. It s okay, Brad.Really, I said. I have to finish something too.I mgoing to face an old dragon.I drove away feeling fantastic.Iwas free.The cake was baked and out ofthe oven.Now I was going to ice it.Iturned right onto Sugar Pine instead ofleft and headed for the cabin.The scent of pine was differenthere.Stronger the closer I got.As if sixyears had never happened, the bends ofthe road came back to me, familiar asyesterday.I always hated coming uphere.It was boring.The cabin wasn twell insulated, and there were alwaysinsects and dirt everywhere.I made thefinal bend, my heart pounding, and itcame into view.It looked nice.Grandma had soldthe lease to pay for all the funerals.Itlooked like the new owners had madeimprovements.There was a new roof.Our tree house was gone from the oaktree with a bigger, nicer one in its place.I parked and got out of the car.I didn tsee any other cars.It seemed no one wasthere.I got as far as the tree housewhen a dog started barking.A black andwhite border collie came boundingaround from behind the cabin and racedpast me into the woods. Trillian, stop! Stacey calledout. Aunt Nora, Trillian ran away! That s okay, Stacey, I said. We ll get her.We went after the dog.Within afew minutes we caught up to her peeingnext to a bush.I grabbed her leash whileshe was still squatting. Good girl, Trill. Stacey pattedher on the head and we started back.As we reached the tree house, aloud popping sound came from over bythe campfire. What was that? I said. Your dad knows we can t havefireworks up here.Danny yelled,  What the hell areyou doing? My mom screamed, but theywere no words I could understand.The popping went on, and Iknew.It was a gun.I pushed Staceydown behind the tree.Her momscreamed, and the gun fired again.Thescream stopped.I had to keep Stacey safe.Ipushed her up the doggy steps Danny hadput in then scooped up Trillian in myarms and followed up into the treehouse.The screaming went on.My momwas hurt bad.Where was my dad? Close your eyes tight and coveryour ears, I whispered to Stacey.Theshots stopped.I could hear whimpering.I peeked through an opening, and when Ilooked down the bile rose in mystomach.They were all dead or dying.Aguy with long filthy hair and blacktattoos on his face was reloading a rifleon the other side of the fire.Stacey smom lay next to Danny on the ground,neither of them moving.Mom moaned.I spotted Nick hiding behind abush.He wasn t hurt, and the gunmandidn t seem to know he was there.ThenI saw my dad, struggling to his feet.Helunged for the guy but it was too late.The gun was loaded.The guy shot Dad in the face andthen shot Mom in the head.Trillian started barking andjerked loose.I felt the burn of her leashas it ripped out of my hands [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]