Chapter Twenty-four

Thunder rolled through the farmhouse, chasing the lightning down darkened hallways and thrashing its way through every chamber of the house. The only other light came from the children’s searching flashlights and the ghostly glow radiating from beneath closed doors marked: ENTER…IF YOU DARE. It was truly a creepy affair, if you did not know that the thunder was courtesy of a system of speakers threaded throughout the house, or that the lightning was thanks to the magic of a couple of strobe lights set on a timer.

Children were children, and they dared to enter the places they were warned not to go—or at least, they tried to dare. Duncan watched his group of three huddle before yet another closed door, debating which of them would grasp the doorknob in their tiny hand and lead the others into whatever came next. This was their fourth such doorway, and they were filled with an equal mix of anticipation and trepidation, having been through this all before. There was something waiting for them on the other side of the door to be sure, just as there had been the previous three times, something designed to scare even the mightiest of pirates and Jedi Knights. Of course, it was the pirate and Jedi who now wavered in their bravery, which left the fairy princess, in all her pink-taffeta glory, to finally and with a dramatic sigh push the boys aside and bound once more into the unknown.

The haunted house had been Taylor’s idea, much to Duncan’s, and everyone else’s, surprise. In fairness, part of that surprise had come because no one had recognized that the approach of October 31 had meant anything other than November was just around the corner, which meant the first snow would soon be on its way. As for the rest, well, of all the people who would have remembered Halloween, it had been a bit of a shock to have it be Taylor, let alone for her to have suggested they put together an old-fashioned haunted house for the kids.

Everyone had been a bit skeptical when she had broached the idea a week earlier, everyone except the farm’s teenagers of course, who embraced the concept with all the enthusiasm of their foregone youth. But Buck had just smiled and nodded his head, and pretty soon Duncan and some of the boys found themselves on official scavenging duty, sent off in search of cotton to make cobwebs and hay for scarecrows and any other supplies that could be turned into costumes for young and old alike.

For nearly a week most other work on the farm stopped. It was not that they could really afford to waste limited resources or to turn their attention to something as frivolous as Halloween. But they needed to show the children, and themselves, that there was something still to look forward to in this life, something beyond the day-to-day. That was how Duncan thought about it, anyway. He did not know if that was why Taylor had suggested it, or why Buck had agreed, but the reason sounded right in his own head, so he went with it.

Duncan stood in the hallway of the farmhouse, listening to the children’s screams and shrieks give way to delighted giggles and laughter, and smiled. All the work they had put in over the last week to turn the farmhouse into a ghoul-filled world of frights and fun had been completely worth it. Since it had been Taylor’s idea, Buck had put her in charge of the design and construction of the house, and although she had tried to feign indifference at the responsibility, she attacked the task with gusto. She ran the project with the authoritative air of a battlefield commander. Although everyone’s ideas were considered, every suggestion heard, at the end of the day she called the plays and expected perfection. Duncan thought she would have made an excellent general.

Of course, a general was only as good as her commanding officer, and Taylor had an excellent CO in Kate. The two had been practically inseparable, ever since the day Kate had confronted her out on that work detail. From that point on, Taylor had been a different person. She still carried a certain amount of sadness with her, still harbored some of the pain that had weighed her down, but she seemed to have found some amount of happiness. She certainly smiled a lot more, anyway.

Duncan held no illusions that most of the goodness in Taylor’s life came as a direct result of Kate. There was no announcement, no declaration of intent, but everyone knew that Taylor and Kate were together now. They were fairly private about their relationship, but the little things were obvious enough for anyone who cared to notice. The shared smiles, the stolen looks, the whispered words, the way their fingers would brush when they thought no one was looking. Duncan figured it was not that they were trying to hide anything, but instead that they were simply a little confounded by the newness of it all, and they were protective of what they had found together.

If they thought they were being sneaky, however, they had a lot to learn about subterfuge. No one said anything, but everyone knew darn well that Kate was not sleeping in her own room anymore, at least not most nights. He had not asked, and he silenced any such speculation with a stern glare. It was nobody’s business what went on between Taylor and Kate after dark. Not even his.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31