Page 41 of From the Ashes
The moment I saw it, I caught myself wondering if Charlie had been there recently. There was one sure way to find out of course. Ducking behind the log, I found a large flat stone that Charlie always hid supplies under in a waterproof bag. Lifting it away, I found the bag was still there, although it looked much more beat up than I remembered. However, as I pulled the drawstring open, I didn’t find ancient marshmallows rotting in a bag. Instead, I found a journal sealed in a plastic bag with a pencil, a fire-starting kit, some scrap pieces of leather, and what looked like a whittled down antler.
I furrowed my brows together, trying to figure out who the items could possibly belong to. For a moment I thought to take them. Ididn’t know why. Maybe I was hoping that the journal would have some information in it, and I could solve the mystery of who had taken overmyspecial spot and sullied it with their presence. I reached for the journal, ready to tear it open.
But I stopped before my fingers touched the plastic. This place was no longermine. It hadn’t been since high school. I didn’t visit it while Charlie was in the hospital, and I never came back to it after I left for college. The tiny paradise of my childhood was no more, and it wouldn’t do me any good to pretend otherwise.
My stomach twisted into a cold knot as I stared down at the items. I knew they couldn’t belong to Charlie. He’d wanted me out of his life the moment he woke up from that accident. The last thing he would do was come back to this place to relive old memories. My life had changed.Ihad changed. And without a doubt, so had he. There was no use clinging to that past anymore. It wouldn’t make me happy, and itdefinitelywouldn’t bring him back to me.
So, tucking everything back into the bag, I placed it neatly under the flat stone once more and headed back up the bank to my bike. My parents were waiting for me and there was no use making them wait any longer.
The quicker I got into town and got this started, the quicker I could leave this place and never come back.
CHAPTER 17
Phoenix
The bus was already parked in our driveway. Well, not really in the driveway as much as it was taking up the entire front lawn. Squished between two mountains, Creekside wasn’t really known for having sprawling estates. In fact, most of the houses in town were positioned on barely more than a tenth of an acre. Between the house, the garage, and the backyard, that meant the only place the bus could go was the front lawn.
Tedprobablywasn’t going to be happy about that.
He and my mother were already standing in the driveway talking with Tony. We’d worked it out that the driver would stay at a hotel in the next town over. Meanwhile, Tony and I would stay with the bus at my parents’ house. Tony had agreed to stay on the bus even though my parents had a guest room. Or so I thought.
“Hey!” Tony called out as I pulled into the drive and clicked off the bike engine. “Your mom said I can stay in the guest room!”
My mother furrowed her brows at me, clearly confused by thishooliganon a motorcycle in her driveway. But once I stepped off the bike and pulled my helmet off, her eyes went wide in horror.
“Phoenix Gregory McKean! What thehellis that?!”
Ted, on the other hand, stared with his jaw hanging open. “Nice ride!” he said before my mother elbowed him in the stomach. “Uh... I mean. What?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Ted did always have a tendency to take my side on these things. It was one of the reasons I loved him so much. Talk about the best second dad a guy could ask for.
“It’s a motorcycle, Mom,” I replied, flashing her a smile. “And it goes from zero to sixty in about two seconds.”
“Hot damn!” Ted cut in, forgetting himself. “Can I take it out for a spin?”
I tossed my helmet to him. “Be my guest, hotshot.”
“Theodore!” my mother spat. “Don’t you dare!”
“Laura,” he replied, kissing her on the cheek. “I’m fifty-seven years old. If I don’t do it now, I never will. Besides, if I eat pavement, you’ll be a rich woman.”
“That’s not funny!”
“Nope,” he grinned. “But I’m gonna do it, anyway.”
He gave me a high five as he pulled on the helmet and threw his leg over the bike. I showed him where all the buttons and knobs were. Then, he started it up.
“Oooh,” he grinned, his visor flipped up. “She definitely purrs.”
“Just be careful. The throttle is a bit touchy.”
“Yeah, yeah.I got it.”
He turned the bike around and immediately popped a wheelie for a few feet. He cried out and slammed on the brakes, the bike’s front tire hitting the pavement once more. I heard my mother’s soul leave her body behind me, but Ted just laughed. He gave me the thumbs up, flipped his visor down, and with a gentler touch, he took off down the road like a bat out of hell.
“You’ve done it now,” Tony grinned, stepping up next to me.
“Eh. He needs some fun now and then.” I lowered my voice, leaning into his ear. “You’re gonna learn real quick how overbearing my mother can be. You would’ve been better off on the bus.”