Shiloh Season by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Read Free Book Online Page B

you've got yourself some trouble," says Judd. And hangs up.
    Ma and Dara Lynn are staring first at Dad, then at me. Even Becky's stopped her squalling and is standing outside the door, nose pressed flat against the screen, 'fraid she'll miss something.
    "Marty, let's you and me go outside and have a talk," Dad says.
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    Boy, I want this talk about as much as I want poison ivy on the roof of my mouth. But Ma brings Becky in, we go out, and we sit on the porch swing on this cool September night, one square of yellow from the window shining on the floorboards.
    "That true what Judd says-that you and David were over there on his property, spying on him?"
    "We were just playing," I say. Even my voice sounds guilty.
    "What did you do?"
    "We were crawling along in the grass-making like spies. David wanted to see what Judd does at night." "What does he think he does at night?"
    I'm looking down at my hands, rubbing my two thumbnails together. It's so silly it's embarrassing. I shrug. "See if he turns into a werewolf or something."
    The swing jiggles slightly as Dad half turns and stares at me.
    "Judd was sitting on his steps with a shotgun, and we saw him shoot a squirrel," I go on. "When he started to shoot another one, I yelled, "No, don't!" Couldn't help myself. But David pushed my head down and we stayed hid that way. Judd tried to find us there in the weeds, but he was too drunk."
    This long, long sigh comes out of my dad-almost like it's got no end to it. He sounds plain tired. Worn down.
    "If you tried, you couldn't have picked a worse time to do something like this," he says. And then, "Marty, did you have anything to do with Judd's mailbox, or scratching up his truck?"
    "No! I already told you!"
    "But how do I know you're telling the truth? Because
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    you say so?" He's looking at me there in the dim light, and I'm remembering how I kept Shiloh secret from him when the dog first come to me. Thinking how I'd told Dad I hadn't seen Judd's dog in our yard when he asked, not mentioning I'd seen it up in our woods. Not for one moment letting on that I had him up there.
    "You lied once, you know."
    "I know. I lied then, but I'm not lying now."
    "So, I've got to decide whether what you're saying now is the truth," says Dad.
    Neither of us is pushing the swing. I can see Dara Lynn's shadow just inside the door, standing close as she can get to hear what we're saying.
    "What we've got here," Dad goes on, "is a man who's drinking heavy, doing things when he's drunk he don't even remember, and getting ready for hunting season, if he hasn't started shooting already. Until I give the word, I don't want you so much as crossing that bridge. I want you as far away from Judd Travers as you can get. I've got enough problems on my hands without you making more. You got that understood?"
    "Yes," I tell him.
    Dad gets up from the swing and starts inside. "Dad?" I say.
    He stops.
    "I didn't mess around with his truck or mailbox. If there's some way to make you believe that, just tell me." "Keep out of trouble," Dad says. "That's all I ask."
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    Eight
    Sunday we're restless. Shiloh's tried our times to lure me up to the far meadow where he runs himself in circles, and each time I say, "No, Shiloh!" He's confused. We all hear a gun go off somewhere that afternoon. Don't think it's in our woods, but we can't be sure.
    Even Dara Lynn's got an ache to go up there, 'fraid as she is of snakes. Last summer you couldn't lure her there with ten ice-cream sundaes. But today there's something in the air tells us fall is coming. The wind'll get cold, and the path to the meadow will be ice all the way up. If we don't go soon, we'll lose our chance. But we can't, and that's why we've got the jumps.
    It's just after Sunday supper, still light in the sky. Becky's getting cranky, and Dara Lynn's pestering me to play hide-and-seek with her. I'm hanging on the bag swing, listless like, twirling myself around and around and letting one toe of my sneaker drag the