window and took hold of the bars and looked out. Still busy over there.
The sound of the wind in the bottle tree came to me, like the faraway hooting of ghostly owls. I listened to the bottles and thought about going to get a drink, then, behind the sound of the bottle tree, I heard a scraping noise. It was coming from the next room.
I found my jockey shorts and slipped them on, then my jeans. I had brought a little .38 revolver from my house, and I got it out of the dresser drawer from under my socks and eased over to the bedroom door and listened.
No sound.
I opened the door carefully and looked into the living room. I didn’t see Leonard on the couch. I heard the scraping noise again.
I slipped into the living room and saw there was a light coming from the open door of the newspaper room. I held the gun down by my leg and went over there and looked inside. Sitting on the floor, damp newspapers pushed in a heap behind him, was Leonard. He was pulling at the rotten boards in the flooring, prying them loose with a crowbar, stacking them by the papers. The little fan was pointed in his direction and was set not to rotate. It hummed pleasantly, like a bee at flower.
I went inside.
“I was going to shoot you,” I said.
He looked up at me.
“Who the hell did you think it’d be?”
“Guess I’ve got the jumps a little, those guys next door.”
“Did it come back to you? The sex stuff, I mean?”
“Yes, but we did some things I don’t remember doing before. I guess it’s OK, though. Neither of us got hurt.”
“What do you think of her?”
“Well, we haven’t sent out wedding invitations, but I like her. She’s smart. Witty. Fun to be with.”
“And she’s fucking you.”
“There’s that.”
“Come here and give me a hand. I’ve found something interesting.”
I put the gun on the table next to the little fan, went over and got down on my knees and grabbed hold of the board he was holding and helped him pull it up. There was a screech of nails as it came loose.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I came in here and started looking around, moved some papers and found this spot. You’ll notice, not all these boards are rotten.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning what happened was the floor was repaired here with untreated wood to replace old wood, and some of that has rotted because of the roof leak. I think Uncle Chester took advantage of replacing the floor to make a hiding place.”
He pointed. “For this,” he said.
In the gap in the floor I could see something large lying in the dark against the ground. There must have been about four feet between the floor and the dirt.
“When I moved the papers, I spotted it through the hole and got busy pulling the rest of the lumber out,” Leonard said. “I didn’t wake up Florida, did I?”
“From what I can tell, she doesn’t sleep. She hibernates.”
“Help me get this out of here, would you?”
I leaned down and got hold of the heavy metal trunk, for that’s what it was, and we pulled it out of there and set it on the floor beside us. It was army green and there was a padlock on it. It had CHESTER PINE stenciled in white letters on the lid. It smelled of damp earth.
Leonard got the crowbar and put it inside the loop of the padlock and started to give it a flex, but I grabbed his arm.
“Before you do that,” I said,. “I was thinking there might be another way.”
He looked at me, and slowly it dawned on him.
10.
Leonard went to get the key while visions of outdated coupons danced in my head.
When he returned, he tried the key and the lock sprang open. Leonard removed the lock and lifted the lid. There was a puff of dust and a smell came out of there I couldn’t quite identify. Musty, a little sharp. Leonard leaned over and looked inside, and stared. I looked too.
It wasn’t coupons.
There was a small, yellowed skeleton, blackened in spots. The skull was turned toward me. Some of its teeth were milk teeth. Probably a male,
The sound of the wind in the bottle tree came to me, like the faraway hooting of ghostly owls. I listened to the bottles and thought about going to get a drink, then, behind the sound of the bottle tree, I heard a scraping noise. It was coming from the next room.
I found my jockey shorts and slipped them on, then my jeans. I had brought a little .38 revolver from my house, and I got it out of the dresser drawer from under my socks and eased over to the bedroom door and listened.
No sound.
I opened the door carefully and looked into the living room. I didn’t see Leonard on the couch. I heard the scraping noise again.
I slipped into the living room and saw there was a light coming from the open door of the newspaper room. I held the gun down by my leg and went over there and looked inside. Sitting on the floor, damp newspapers pushed in a heap behind him, was Leonard. He was pulling at the rotten boards in the flooring, prying them loose with a crowbar, stacking them by the papers. The little fan was pointed in his direction and was set not to rotate. It hummed pleasantly, like a bee at flower.
I went inside.
“I was going to shoot you,” I said.
He looked up at me.
“Who the hell did you think it’d be?”
“Guess I’ve got the jumps a little, those guys next door.”
“Did it come back to you? The sex stuff, I mean?”
“Yes, but we did some things I don’t remember doing before. I guess it’s OK, though. Neither of us got hurt.”
“What do you think of her?”
“Well, we haven’t sent out wedding invitations, but I like her. She’s smart. Witty. Fun to be with.”
“And she’s fucking you.”
“There’s that.”
“Come here and give me a hand. I’ve found something interesting.”
I put the gun on the table next to the little fan, went over and got down on my knees and grabbed hold of the board he was holding and helped him pull it up. There was a screech of nails as it came loose.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I came in here and started looking around, moved some papers and found this spot. You’ll notice, not all these boards are rotten.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning what happened was the floor was repaired here with untreated wood to replace old wood, and some of that has rotted because of the roof leak. I think Uncle Chester took advantage of replacing the floor to make a hiding place.”
He pointed. “For this,” he said.
In the gap in the floor I could see something large lying in the dark against the ground. There must have been about four feet between the floor and the dirt.
“When I moved the papers, I spotted it through the hole and got busy pulling the rest of the lumber out,” Leonard said. “I didn’t wake up Florida, did I?”
“From what I can tell, she doesn’t sleep. She hibernates.”
“Help me get this out of here, would you?”
I leaned down and got hold of the heavy metal trunk, for that’s what it was, and we pulled it out of there and set it on the floor beside us. It was army green and there was a padlock on it. It had CHESTER PINE stenciled in white letters on the lid. It smelled of damp earth.
Leonard got the crowbar and put it inside the loop of the padlock and started to give it a flex, but I grabbed his arm.
“Before you do that,” I said,. “I was thinking there might be another way.”
He looked at me, and slowly it dawned on him.
10.
Leonard went to get the key while visions of outdated coupons danced in my head.
When he returned, he tried the key and the lock sprang open. Leonard removed the lock and lifted the lid. There was a puff of dust and a smell came out of there I couldn’t quite identify. Musty, a little sharp. Leonard leaned over and looked inside, and stared. I looked too.
It wasn’t coupons.
There was a small, yellowed skeleton, blackened in spots. The skull was turned toward me. Some of its teeth were milk teeth. Probably a male,
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