Backtracker (35 page)

"
Right,
"
nodded Dave.

"
It was near the end of the party, and we were all sitting around talking in the kitchen.
"

"
I remember,
"
confirmed Dave.
"
I don
'
t remember what we were talking about, but I remember being there.
"

"
Well, you guys were talking about when the next party would be. Billy said it was Ernie
'
s turn to have one, and then Ernie told us about...about his parents going out of town for the weekend.
"
Darlene paused, took a deep breath and slowly released it.
"
He said he was going to have a party originally, but his sister wanted to have one instead, so he couldn
'
t go through with it.
"

"
Y
'
know, I vaguely remember that,
"
said Dave, eyes narrowed as he strained at his memory.
"
I remember him saying he couldn
'
t have a party at his place for a while.
"

"
Right,
"
nodded Darlene.
"
Do you remember what Larry asked him?
"

Dave frowned in concentration, struggling to pry the pertinent data from his mind. Though he could picture the scene in Billy
'
s kitchen, could recall isolated sensations and snippets of dialogue, he
couldn
'
t
summon the details or even the gist of what Larry had said. Sighing, he shook his head in surrender.

"
Well, he asked Ernie all kinds of questions,
"
supplied Darlene.
"
He asked all about his parents
'
trip to Lancaster.
"

Dave searched his memory again, came up empty again.
"
What all did he ask?
"

"
It seemed like he wanted to know everything about the trip,
"
said Darlene.
"
He asked Ernie why his parents were going, who they were going to see, how they were going to get there, how long it would take. From the way he was talking, it sounded like he was thinking of going to Lancaster sometime.
"

Dave listened intently to what she was telling him. Slowly, his mood started to change; something new began to form at the outer edge of his mind.
"
What else did he say?
"

"
Just more about the trip,
"
she replied.
"
He asked all about the trip, and Ernie told him that if he ever needed a ride to Lancaster, his parents could take him, because they went out that way a lot. Larry said he wasn
'
t ready to go yet, but he might do it sometime.
"
Darlene paused for a beat and her features contracted in a worried frown; her eyes dipped away from his and she struggled with her next words.
"
Normally...I wouldn
'
t give a second thought about any of this,
"
she said slowly,
"
but...he just asked so many questions. He even...he even wanted to know what time Ernie
'
s parents were going to leave Saturday.
"

Dave blinked; his head bobbed backward.

"
What else
?
"
he mumbled.

"
He asked...he asked about accidents.
"
Clearly, Darlene was reluctant to go on. Sighing, she looked away from him, then back, then away again.
"
He wanted to know...if there were many accidents on the way to Lancaster this time of year.
"

Too much; it was too much for Dave to handle. He was shocked, overloaded, simultaneously understanding yet unable to comprehend.
"
What else
?
"
he asked in a low voice, his glazed eyes trained on the babbling television.

"
Nothing else,
"
said Darlene.
"
Just what I
'
ve told you. Like I said, it didn
'
t bother me at first, or I would
'
ve mentioned it sooner. I mean, it didn
'
t seem like anything at the time...it didn
'
t seem like anything at all.
"
Her voice shook and trailed off and he felt her tremble against him.

"
That
'
s okay,
"
he said dully.
"
I
'
m glad you told me now.
"

Shivering, she dropped her head to his chest. When she spoke, she sounded as if she might be about to cry.
"
I
'
m sorry,
"
she told him.
"
I should
'
ve said something earlier.
"

"
No no,
"
Dave said distractedly.
"
You did the right thing, Darlene.
"

"
I should
'
ve told you,
"
she said, finally letting out a sob.
"
I...you
told
me he could see the future.
"
She choked, began to sob more freely, twitching against his chest as the emotion took her.

Looking down at her, Dave realized just how upset she was.
"
Hey,
"
he said softly, trying to sound comforting.
"
You did the right thing here. All I said was that I
thought
he might be able to see the future.
"

"
He
can
see it,
"
sobbed Darlene.
"
He
must
be psychic. There were all those things you told me about...and Boris trying to kill himself...and now
this
.
"
Her voice caught and she took a long, shuddering breath.
"
He must have known...what was going to happen to Ernie
'
s parents...but I didn
'
t get the hint.
"

"
Hey, listen,
"
said Dave.
"
There was no way you could
'
ve known that what he said might be important. I asked you to tell me if he said anything weird, but the things he asked Ernie sure wouldn
'
t seem weird when you first heard them. If I
'
d been sober enough to pay attention Friday night, I probably wouldn
'
t
'
ve thought anything of it, either.
"
Though he thought that his testimonial sounded convincing, Dave
couldn
'
t
help but wonder if it was accurate; maybe, if he
hadn
'
t
been so drunk, he would have picked up on Larry
'
s clues. Maybe, he would have caught on before it was too late.

"
Dave...,
"
she sputtered, gripping a fistful of his shirt.
"
I keep thinking...I could
'
ve
done
something...
somebody
could
'
ve done something...if I
'
d just
told
someone. He even asked if there were ever any accidents...
"

"
We still don
'
t even know for sure,
"
he told her, tendering support even as his own feelings of guilt and regret flourished.
"
We still don
'
t know if he
'
s psychic.
"
Sighing, he dropped his head toward hers, let her hair brush his chin.
"
Look,
"
he said, keeping his voice steady yet gentle.
"
There
'
s nothing you could
'
ve done.
"

"
Maybe I could
'
ve saved them,
"
sobbed Darlene.
"
I...I could
'
ve told you...and you could
'
ve stopped them from going...or I could
'
ve stopped them myself.
"

"
I don
'
t think we could
'
ve done a thing,
"
he said firmly, doubting the truth of those words even as they left his lips.
"
They had their minds made up to go, so how could anyone have talked them out of it? Do you think they would
'
ve stayed home if we
'
d told them to, just because a guy we know said something which may or may not have hinted that they
'
d die on the way? They wouldn
'
t
'
ve taken us seriously, Darlene. We wouldn
'
t
'
ve been sure enough to take
ourselves
seriously.
"

"
We should
'
ve done something,
"
she said hoarsely.
"
It
'
s all...my fault.
"

"
Listen,
"
Dave said to the weeping girl in his arms.
"
It
wasn
'
t
your fault, you hear me? If it was anybody
'
s fault, it was Larry
'
s.
"

Darlene took a deep, shaky breath, forced back her sobs.
"
Why
?
"
she said woefully.

"
If he could see what was going to happen,
"
said Dave,
"
he could
'
ve stopped it. If he knew that Ernie
'
s mom and dad were going to die, he should
'
ve saved them.
"

"
But the things he said Friday night...,
"
sniffled Darlene.
"
He was...trying to tell us...
"

"
No,
"
Dave said firmly, shaking his head.
"
I don
'
t know what he was trying to do, but he sure wasn
'
t trying to save Ernie
'
s folks. That wasn
'
t much of a warning, if that
'
s what he meant it to be...and not only that, but he could see how drunk most of us were, so how could he expect any of us to get the message?
"

"
Maybe...he thought you understood,
"
said Darlene.

"
Why would he take a chance with something as serious as this? Why wouldn
'
t he do as much as he did to keep Boris from killing himself?
"

"
I don
'
t know,
"
said Darlene.
"
You said he might not want anyone to know...he can see the future.
"

"
If he can see the future, and if he doesn
'
t want anyone to catch on, then he sure didn
'
t do a very good job of keeping it secret when he got me to help Boris. When Boris
'
life was in danger, Larry didn
'
t seem to care if I thought he was psychic or not, so why would he worry about it when Ernie
'
s mom and dad were in danger?
"