Бри Деспейн - The Dark Divine

The sheriff extended his hand toward Daniel. Daniel flinched--then stared back in disbelief as the sheriff gave him a hearty handshake.

"Well done," the sheriff said. He shined his flashlight along the back fence. "You should get that fixed," he said to Dad. "You're lucky this case turned out for the best. If it hadn't been for your son here ..." At first I thought he was talking about Jude, but then I realized he was smiling at Daniel.

Dad did not correct him.

"We'll wrap up a few things here and then get out of your hair." The sheriff clapped Daniel on the back. "My wife had a conniption when I left dinner early. Her parents are in town... They wanted her to marry an accountant."

"We'll get to work on that fence right away," Dad said, and shook hands with the sheriff. "Daniel, you're handy, aren't you?"

Daniel nodded.

"I'm going to take James inside." Mom smiled slightly and squeezed Daniel's arm. I think it was her way of saying thank you.

I couldn't help smiling. It may have taken some twisting of the truth, but my plan to help Daniel get his life back was working--the lifeline I'd offered seemed to be reeling him in.

But then I heard a deep rumbling coming from the direction of my older brother. He was positively shaking.

"Ju--"

Jude lunged at Daniel. "You did this!" he shrieked, and smashed his fist into Daniel's face.

Daniel fell back, knocking me to the ground with him. Jude went in for another blow, practically stepping on me to get to Daniel, But then the sheriff was on top of him.

He pulled Jude back. Mom shouted.

Jude flailed and screamed, "He did this! He did this! Don't you see?"

Daniel scrambled up from the grass. "Jude?" He reached for his former best friend. "I swear I didn't do this."

Jude wrenched out of the sheriff's grasp and tried to fly at Daniel again. Dad stepped between them. The sheriff grabbed Jude from behind.

"Calm down," Dad said.

"He did this. He stole James." Jude looked up the sheriff. "Arrest him. Get him before he runs away!"

Daniel stepped back. I knew he could be a quarter of a mile away by now, but he made no attempt to escape. He let Deputy Marsh seize his arm.

"Stop it," I yelled at Jude, and tried to stand on my aching legs. "Stop lying. Daniel saved James. He saved him from drowning in the creek."

"You stop lying!" Jude's face looked twisted like it had the night he found Maryanne's body and then couldn't find me. I was afraid he was going to punch me, too--even though I hadn't known he was capable of hitting anyone until just now. "The creek's dried up and you know it," he said.

Mom gasped. The noise was echoed by the bystanders who'd edged closer to us when the deputy left his post. The sheriff must have loosened his grasp because

Jude pulled away.

"Arrest him," Jude said. "Arrest that monster." He lunged at Daniel.

"Stop!" Dad grabbed Jude's arm and swung him away.

Jude stumbled back on his heels and fell to the ground.

Dad stood over him, one foot planted on each side of Jude's prostrate body. I'd never seen Dad look so domineering. "Back down!" he commanded. "Stop these lies now."

Jude moaned and rolled onto his side. It was like hitting the ground had knocked some sense into him. His face and fists relaxed.

"What do you want us to do?" Deputy Marsh asked. He still had Daniel by the arm. "We can take this one down to the station if you want."

"On what charges?" Dad turned to the crowd, his voice raised. "The baby simply wandered away. Daniel brought him back to us. That's all there is to it." He inclined his head to the deputy, telling him to release Daniel. "Thank you, everyone, for helping us in our time of need," he said in his best pastor voice. "I'm sure you all have festivities waiting for you. And if you don't mind, my family has a few things to attend to."

Dad turned to my mom. "Meredith, take James inside. I'm going to see what I can do about the fence. Daniel, Jude, come with me."

Jude was standing now, but he cowered from Dad's touch. He shook his head and then jogged into the house. April appeared from the crowd and padded after him.

"Daniel?" Dad asked.

Something was very wrong with the look in my father's eyes.

Daniel gave a slight nod and went with him.

Dad must have sensed my longing to follow. "Gracie, go help your mother," he said. His voice was so strained it sounded like he was holding his breath as he spoke.

I stood in the grass and watched them go around behind the house. The deputy and sheriff grumbled and trudged over to their car. Our friends and neighbors trickled away-just like my hope for fixing Daniel and Jude.

Chapter Twelve

Questions unanswered

IN THE HOUSE, ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES LATER

My mother flipped into full Florence Nightingale mode. She refused to let the sheriff take James to the hospital in Oak Park, insisting that she and Dr. Connors were quite capable of looking him over. After a very thorough examination by the doctor, she finally let James out of her arms and ordered Charity to get started on a bath to warm him up. Then she put Superman Band-Aids on the scratches Don Mooney had somehow gotten up his arm, and sent the last of our lingering guests home with leftovers from our abandoned dinner. I was about to sneak out the back door to try to find Daniel when Mom called me over to the kitchen table.

"Let's take a look at your hand."

I winced as she picked a few rocks out of the cut.

She clucked her tongue. "You're lucky you don't need stitches."

I let her clean my hand and tried not to squirm. I figured the less I protested, the faster I could get to Daniel. He'd promised to explain things to me. But what if he decided to slip away? I'd seen the things he could do, and with Jude's false accusations, Daniel could be out of the state before I could even start looking for him.

Mom placed my hand in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide. "Just relax for a minute," she said, and unpacked the gauze and tape from her first-aid kit.

Little bubbles tingled up from all over my skin. My mind wandered, replaying the things Daniel had done in the woods--and how it felt to run with him in the dark. I barely noticed as Mom dried my hand and wrapped it with gauze.

"All done." She patted down the last piece of medical tape and held my hand for a moment. "Gracie," she said without looking up at me. "Please do not invite that boy into our home again." She laid my hand on the table between us and busied herself packing everything back into her kit.

I nodded even though she probably couldn't see.

"Mom," Charity called down the stairs. "James refuses to get out of the bath until he has his blanket."

"I'll get it," I said, glad for the momentary distraction.

Mom nodded. "I'll be up in a minute," she called back to Charity.

I checked James's room first, but Aunt Carol was asleep in the guest bed in his room. She'd excused herself with a headache as soon as Dr. Connors announced that James was in perfect health. I remembered that

James's blanket was probably still in the study.

The doors were slightly ajar when I slipped inside. James's Portacrib was still on its side. I tipped it upright and found the blankie. I picked it up and was about to dash off to the upstairs bath when a sudden thought stopped me. If James had really wandered off, wouldn't he have taken this with him? That blue rag of a crocheted blanket went everywhere my little brother did. He never left it behind.

Daniel's words when I said that James couldn't have gone so far into the woods echoed in my ears: On his own, no.

Was it a mistake to send the sheriff away? It seemed like they had just arrived when Daniel and I returned with James. Had they taken pictures or looked for any clues?