known her grandmother.
Juliet talked a lot about the changes in the world in forty-six years. Although she was careful not to express amazement around other people, with Megan she was more open.
“You have so many fun things now. Stereos and videos and MTV, and your supermarkets are unreal! When I lived here, the lake was our only entertainment.” Juliet shuddered. “I never liked it here, but my father did. He wouldn’t move back to the city, even though we were much happier there.”
“The accident must have been horrible for him.”
“Yes, it was. He was devastated. He loved me very much. And I him.” Juliet was silent for a moment. Then she added softly, “I warned him about this place. Martha told me there had been deaths here. But he wouldn’t listen.” With a regretful sigh, she changed the subject to more pleasant things like compact discs and hot rollers.
Megan’s mother continued to improve and was up and around, relieving Juliet of the heavy house-work burden. Although that allowed her more free time, Megan’s father stuck to his rule about no one leaving the house in the evening.
“Sheriff Toomey hasn’t learned anything new,” he said when Juliet begged for permission to go out for pizza. “You can order pizza in and eat it here.”
“It’s so frustrating!” Juliet complained later, sitting on the bed with a pizza box at her side. “I think your father’s being silly. Nothing’s happened since Saturday night. And I don’t think anything is going to. Whoever did all that stuff must have decided it was too risky.”
“You don’t know that, Juliet. Dad isn’t taking any chances, that’s all.”
Megan felt sorry for Juliet. This week couldn’t be what she had hoped it would be. No one was giving any parties, the mall was deserted, and nothing fun was going on in town. Not that Juliet was complaining. She had Justin.
“I told you, Juliet, that this wasn’t a good time.”
Wiping a blob of tomato sauce off the blue print comforter, Juliet sighed heavily. “I know you did, Megan. But I didn’t have any choice. It was either before your birthday or never. Anything is better than never.”
“I guess.” Megan wished she could believe that Juliet was right about no more harm coming their way. The tom-tom note had been placed in her cubbyhole on Monday. This was Wednesday. If something were going to happen, wouldn’t it have happened by now? None of the other drawings had appeared so far in advance.
But she didn’t believe for a second that it was over. The sheriff hadn’t arrested anyone. Jenny’s accident and her mother’s attack and Hilary’s fall off the catwalk couldn’t be dismissed just because there were no clues. There had been someone out there when those things happened, and that someone was still out there.
But what was he waiting for?
And who would be his next victim?
Megan got her answer the very next day.
Chapter 16
T HE L OGAN HOUSE, LIKE other homes facing the lake, backed up to the boulevard. An enclosed back porch with a row of windows across its width looked out over the wide street, Thomas’s route home from school. It was there that Megan went Thursday afternoon when she realized that her brother was fifteen minutes late.
The tom-tom drawing danced across her mind, taunting her.
I should have gone to school to follow him home. Justin is bringing Juliet, so I was free to leave her, and Dad is still at the office. I could have gone to Thomas’s school to make sure he was all right.
Peering out into the drizzle through the faded yellow curtains, she hoped that her mother, peeling potatoes in the kitchen, wasn’t watching the clock. If she noticed that her son hadn’t arrived yet even after repeated warnings to come straight home from school, she’d become frantic.
Megan saw the truck before she saw Thomas. It was an eighteen-wheeler. They didn’t ordinarily come through the village, preferring instead the open highway circling Lakeside.
Juliet talked a lot about the changes in the world in forty-six years. Although she was careful not to express amazement around other people, with Megan she was more open.
“You have so many fun things now. Stereos and videos and MTV, and your supermarkets are unreal! When I lived here, the lake was our only entertainment.” Juliet shuddered. “I never liked it here, but my father did. He wouldn’t move back to the city, even though we were much happier there.”
“The accident must have been horrible for him.”
“Yes, it was. He was devastated. He loved me very much. And I him.” Juliet was silent for a moment. Then she added softly, “I warned him about this place. Martha told me there had been deaths here. But he wouldn’t listen.” With a regretful sigh, she changed the subject to more pleasant things like compact discs and hot rollers.
Megan’s mother continued to improve and was up and around, relieving Juliet of the heavy house-work burden. Although that allowed her more free time, Megan’s father stuck to his rule about no one leaving the house in the evening.
“Sheriff Toomey hasn’t learned anything new,” he said when Juliet begged for permission to go out for pizza. “You can order pizza in and eat it here.”
“It’s so frustrating!” Juliet complained later, sitting on the bed with a pizza box at her side. “I think your father’s being silly. Nothing’s happened since Saturday night. And I don’t think anything is going to. Whoever did all that stuff must have decided it was too risky.”
“You don’t know that, Juliet. Dad isn’t taking any chances, that’s all.”
Megan felt sorry for Juliet. This week couldn’t be what she had hoped it would be. No one was giving any parties, the mall was deserted, and nothing fun was going on in town. Not that Juliet was complaining. She had Justin.
“I told you, Juliet, that this wasn’t a good time.”
Wiping a blob of tomato sauce off the blue print comforter, Juliet sighed heavily. “I know you did, Megan. But I didn’t have any choice. It was either before your birthday or never. Anything is better than never.”
“I guess.” Megan wished she could believe that Juliet was right about no more harm coming their way. The tom-tom note had been placed in her cubbyhole on Monday. This was Wednesday. If something were going to happen, wouldn’t it have happened by now? None of the other drawings had appeared so far in advance.
But she didn’t believe for a second that it was over. The sheriff hadn’t arrested anyone. Jenny’s accident and her mother’s attack and Hilary’s fall off the catwalk couldn’t be dismissed just because there were no clues. There had been someone out there when those things happened, and that someone was still out there.
But what was he waiting for?
And who would be his next victim?
Megan got her answer the very next day.
Chapter 16
T HE L OGAN HOUSE, LIKE other homes facing the lake, backed up to the boulevard. An enclosed back porch with a row of windows across its width looked out over the wide street, Thomas’s route home from school. It was there that Megan went Thursday afternoon when she realized that her brother was fifteen minutes late.
The tom-tom drawing danced across her mind, taunting her.
I should have gone to school to follow him home. Justin is bringing Juliet, so I was free to leave her, and Dad is still at the office. I could have gone to Thomas’s school to make sure he was all right.
Peering out into the drizzle through the faded yellow curtains, she hoped that her mother, peeling potatoes in the kitchen, wasn’t watching the clock. If she noticed that her son hadn’t arrived yet even after repeated warnings to come straight home from school, she’d become frantic.
Megan saw the truck before she saw Thomas. It was an eighteen-wheeler. They didn’t ordinarily come through the village, preferring instead the open highway circling Lakeside.
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