Jeff Gunhus - Night Chill

Kidnapped—I’m in the trunk of a car.

Panic followed close behind realization. She screamed through the duct tape covering her mouth. She kicked and thrashed her body against the walls of the trunk but accomplished nothing except to inflict more pain on herself. Finally, her body went limp again from exhaustion and frustration, the only movement coming from the sobs that shook her small frame.

Doreen Johnston hadn’t whispered a prayer since she was a little girl in Sunday school, but she closed her eyes and had no problem recalling how it was done. Sweet, merciful Jesus, please let me get out of this alive. Over and over, she recited the same words, trying to find strength in them, trying to find hope. But she knew she was in real trouble. The kind of trouble where no amount of praying was going to help her. Tremors shook her limbs and she squeezed her eyes tight as if it could block out what was happening to her. Sweet, merciful Jesus, please let me get out of this alive.

Ice cream was a hit. The girls settled easily on a flavor, pink bubble gum. Sarah waited until Becky made up her mind and then copied her. Jack was happy that the girls enjoyed being around each other. Becky and Sarah fought every now and then but they generally got along. He just hoped it lasted. The thought of having two teenage girls in the house at each other’s throats over boys and clothes made him cringe.

After ice cream and the ritual cleaning of faces and hands, he herded the girls back into the car and headed to the Dahl’s house. Kristi and Max Dahl had two girls the same age as Becky and Sarah and they took turns having play dates. The girls were confused the first time they arrived for a visit. “This is just a regular house. I thought we were going to a doll’s house,” Becky had complained. It was one of those moments that was now firmly fixed in Tremont family lore, trotted out and retold at family functions.

Kristi Dahl must have seen them drive down the tree-lined driveway that led up to their property because she was already waiting for them at the base of the stairs as Jack rolled the car to a stop. As he threw the Jeep into park, Kristi walked to the passenger door, her arms hugged across her chest. Jack rolled down the power window as the girls unbuckled themselves from their car seats and climbed out.

“Hi girls. Julie and Jesse are waiting for you.” Kristi Dahl pointed to the side of the house. “Go on back.”

The girls slammed their doors shut and took off running without saying goodbye. Jack, still in the car, hung out of the window and called out to them, “I’ll pick you up in a couple of hours.” Becky waved a hand but didn’t turn back.

Kristi smiled. “So independent.”

“Yeah, they’re growing up fast.” Jack turned his attention to Kristi. Usually the type of woman who wore make-up and designer clothes for even a trip to the grocery store, Kristi’s appearance took Jack by surprise. Her hair was pulled back tightly, revealing a pale, splotchy complexion, her cheeks burning red as if from a fever or from walking outside on a brisk day. The skin beneath her eyes tinted an inky purple; the edges of her eyelids looked raw, like they’d been scrubbed with a wire brush. Wore out from crying, he guessed. Her arms were back across her chest, hands clutching her sides for added security. Jack wanted to ask how she was doing, but it felt too awkward, too much like an intrusion. And, in truth, he was afraid he already knew the answer.

“Is Max around?” he asked.

“Are you kidding? You know where he’s at.”

“Piper’s?”

“Where else would he be? I swear to God they’re going to hang a picture on the wall to honor his perfect attendance record.”

Kristi looked down and an uncomfortable silence hung in the air between them. Finally Jack decided he had to ask, should ask, the question. “How’re you doing, Kristi? You hanging in there?”

Kristi nodded and forced a brave smile. Her eyes welled with tears. “It’s hard but…” she shrugged and looked away. “No, I’m good. Really, I am. Think everything’s going to be all right, you know?”

Jack pretended not to notice her wipe a tear away with an angry flick of her finger. He and Max had become close friends in the short time they had known each other, but the tragedy the Dahl’s were living through was nothing friendship of any length could prepare someone to handle. “Lauren told me to say hi. Told me that if you need anything to call her. No matter what time it is.”

“Yeah, she called earlier today. It helped to talk.”

“Hey, what do you say I hang out and watch the kids? Give you some time to yourself, you know?”

Kristi smiled, a hand patting her hair as if checking the position of a stylish curl. “I look that bad, huh?”

“No, it’s not that…”

Kristi cleared her throat and rapped her knuckles on the side of the car. “Go on. Get out of here. I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine. It’ll do Max good to see you.”

Jack hesitated but finally nodded.

Kristi smiled, fingering her necklace and pulling together the sides of her blouse. “It’s supposed to storm tonight,” she said looking up at the sky.

Jack was about to answer but he realized she wasn’t really talking to him. Her mind was far away, drifting among the dark clouds gathered above the tree line, lost to her own thoughts, her own problems. He waited a few beats, not sure what to say. “Right, then. I’ll be back soon.”

Kristi snapped her head toward him as if he’d snuck up on her. The flash of anger in her eyes was quickly replaced by a self-conscious smile. “Sorry, I guess I was drifting.”

“You sure you’re all right?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m looking forward to seeing the girls have some fun. I’ll see you soon.”

Jack shifted the car into drive, mumbled a quick goodbye, and headed back toward the main road. When he glanced in the rear view mirror he saw Kristi standing in the same spot, her arms across her chest, staring up into the sky. Jack wondered if he ought to turn around and stay with her, maybe watch the kids and force her to take some time to herself. He hesitated at the end of the Dahl’s long driveway and watched as Kristi turned and walked around the side of the house to where the girls were playing.

He didn’t like seeing her that way, but what did he expect? He wondered if he would be able to hold it together if the roles were reversed. Kristi was actually holding up well considering the circumstances. Besides, Jack thought, the kids were old enough now not to be much of a bother.

And he thought of Max, likely well into his bar tab by now. He would need someone to talk to, maybe someone to drive him home. Mind made up, Jack accelerated down the driveway, took a right turn on the main road and headed toward Piper’s.

Prescott City sat in a shallow valley surrounded by two mountain ranges: to the south and east, the rolling hills of the Allegheny Mountains, to the north and west, the Appalachian range, ancient mountains that stuck out of the earth like worn down nubs of once sharp teeth. The mountains created a false sunset a full half hour before the sun reached the true horizon. The long twilights that resulted gave evenings a stretched feeling, as if night were something to be put off, as if Nature herself feared the dark and held on to the day as long as she could.

Jack arrived at Piper’s just as the rain started. He glanced up at the sky as he headed toward the front door. The ambient light that filled the sky was a peculiar yellow hue, like tornado weather he’d been in once during a trip through the Midwest. He could make out the storm front coming in, low wall of dark clouds tumbling down the mountains toward them. A wick’d blow cummin’ on would have been his grandmother’s proclamation. The old lady never had use for weather stations but relied on her internal barometer which never seemed to be wrong. Until her dying day, neighbors checked with her first before they made plans. Jack preferred science to Grandma’s old country intuition and wished he had watched the weather report that morning to see what was in store for the area.