Forest Ghost Read Online Free

Chicago Bears T-shirt now, and around his neck hung the greenish-blue metal pendant that his late mother always used to wear, in the shape of a large teardrop. The goat on the brick wall opposite stared at him with yellow-eyed malevolence, more like a demon than a goat.
    ‘OK,’ he said at last. ‘Come down when you feel like it. Duane’s made cherry soup, or
zhurek
, if you’d prefer it.’
    He went back downstairs. As he crossed the restaurant, the front door opened and Corinne Cusack walked in.
Oh shit
, he thought.
And I haven’t even called Sally yet, to tell her that Sparky and I won’t be coming to Muskegon
.
    ‘Jack!’ called Corinne. She was quite tall, nearly as tall as he was, and she had a fashion-model figure, flat-chested but with very long legs, although she always seemed to walk in an uncoordinated way, like a new-born foal. Her long reddish hair was tied back with a gray silk scarf, and she wore a loose gray silk sweater and a black knee-length skirt. Her face was long and narrow, with hooded green eyes. She was wearing no make-up.
    ‘Corinne,’ said Jack. He came over and embraced her. Underneath her sweater she felt unbelievably thin and bony. ‘I don’t know what to say to you. I’m so sorry for your loss.’
    ‘He was looking forward to it so much,’ said Corinne. ‘Especially since it meant that he could take a week off school. Do you know what he said to me?’
    ‘Corinne, please. Why don’t you sit down? Can I get you a drink? A cup of tea, maybe?’
    They sat on stools at the bar, Corinne awkwardly crossing her legs. She looked up at all the bottles behind the bar and said, ‘Maybe a vodka-tonic. No ice.’
    Henryk the barman hadn’t started his shift yet so Jack poured the drink for her, with Polish vodka, and a Jack Daniel’s for himself. Ordinarily, he didn’t drink alcohol when he was at work, but today was no ordinary day.
    ‘He said he was going to go to camp like Clark Kent and come back like Superman,’ said Corinne. Her green eyes were sparkling with tears. ‘He was scared to go. I knew he was scared. But he felt so much that he had to prove that he was tough. I think he wanted to prove it to
me
much more than the boys at school. He wanted to prove that he could take care of me.’
    ‘I’m so sorry,’ said Jack.
    Corinne took a tissue out of her pocketbook and wiped her eyes. She took a sip of her vodka-tonic, and then she said, ‘Detective Faulkner asked me if I knew anybody who could come to Owasippe with me. I hope you don’t mind but I said
you
, and Sparky. I couldn’t think of anybody else, and Malcolm and Sparky were such good friends.’
    ‘Yes, she told me. The only problem is … well, you know that Sparky has Asperger’s?’
    Corinne nodded. ‘That was what made it so amazing, that he helped Malcolm so much.’
    ‘The problem is, Corinne – he doesn’t want to go. It’s irrational, I know, but he thinks that something killed Malcolm and, whatever it is, he’s scared of it. I’m sorry.’
    ‘I just can’t make sense out of any of this,’ said Corinne. ‘I know Malcolm was being bullied at school, and he was grieving for his dad … but
why
? I was always there for him. And all of those other scouts killed themselves too. Why did they do it?’
    ‘I really don’t know, Corinne. I’m just sorry that we can’t come with you. I would, myself, but I can’t leave Sparky here on his own. My mother keeps an eye on him, usually, when I have to go away, but she’s in Florida right now, visiting my aunt, and she won’t be back for a couple of days.’
    ‘It’s OK. I understand. It was presumptuous of me to ask, really. It’s just that I didn’t know who else to turn to.’
    Jack said, ‘You have family, don’t you, back in – where was it?’
    ‘Seattle. Yes. But we never got on too well. Jeff was about the only real friend I ever had.’
    She finished her drink while Jack sat and watched her. He didn’t know what else to say to her.