Bitterroot Crossing (2 page)

    The townspeople had avoided it until the day they hung the Crush Gang. The havoc they’d wreaked had thinned the townsfolk’s patience. After a particularly nasty spell of thievery and plundering along with the death of my great-great-grandma at the hands of their leader, Zedekiah, they’d rounded up the gang and strung them up on makeshift gallows. Their bodies were never given a proper burial. Instead the corpses were paraded through town and dumped unceremoniously into the swamp. At the time, the citizens of Bitterroot had had no idea what their actions would lead to.

    Voices and laughter drifted through the maze of long branches between the swamp and the road Mandy trotted down. The loud buzz of motorcycles followed. I could see the red glow of cigarettes. Some of the kids from town were hanging out by the swamp, most likely taunting its inhabitants before school began.

    Some say the Crush Gang still haunted the town because they were so evil even hell wouldn’t accept them. Others say it was because they were never given a proper burial so their souls could never rest. But Mom, a true romantic, claimed it was because of love. Zedekiah Crush had been in a constant battle with the town’s lawman, Jack Bridger, not only because of his lawlessness but because they both loved the widow, Rebecca Colton. When Zedekiah pulled a gun on Jack, Rebecca jumped in front of the bullet and was killed by Zedekiah’s own gun. She left behind two broken men and a baby girl, my great-grandma. Mom always said that Zedekiah was stuck between worlds, tormented by what he’d done, and his loyal gang refused to desert him. Now several times a month, Bitterroot Crossing’s sirens sounded the alarm to warn that the gang, Crow, Steamer, Axel and Butcher, had risen from their sludge filled grave to torment the town. No one had died because of the hauntings, at least not since Zedekiah had appeared fifteen years before, sending two elderly citizens to an early death by heart attack. But the gang’s visits left plenty of destruction and frayed nerves.

Mandy and I’d come to the end of the path. I was about to slide off her back and send her back home when the three motorcycles came flying down the path. Two of them skimmed Mandy’s legs as they raced past. The normally steadfast horse skidded sideways nearly dumping me on the side of the road. The boys riding the bikes looked back at me and laughed loudly. The third bike slowed as it neared. I peered down at them from beneath the shade of my hood. The boy coasted past cautiously. He stared up apologetically at me with dark blue eyes. The girl wrapped around his waist had a huge grin. She was pretty with rose-colored lipstick and a long white pony-tail.

    Her mouth opened wide along with her eyes as she glanced up at me. “There’s the freak from the Sterling farm,” she said loudly as they rolled past.

    Once they were well ahead of me, I leaned forward and gave Mandy a pat on the neck. “Sorry about that, Mandy. It’s just some kids from town.” A lump formed in my throat when I thought about the girl’s words. I slid off of the horse’s back. The mare nuzzled my shoulder. I pulled her nose toward me and kissed the soft end. “Don’t worry about me, girl. After all, how bad can it be?”

Chapter 3

    Dylan, Johnny, and Tina were standing beneath the giant oak in front of the school, smoking a joint. The smell of it filled the air, and they took little trouble to hide the thing when Mr. Hammersmith, the principal, stormed out the office door. In fact, Johnny was doubled over in a coughing fit when Hammersmith marched past them and headed toward me.

    “Crush, I’ve told you before not to sit on that wall.”

    I glanced over at my friends who were laughing behind their screen of pot smoke then looked back at Hammersmith. “Seriously? You raced out of your office to tell me to get off the wall?” I shook my head and slid off.  

    Obviously feeling triumphant that he had thwarted another one of my fiendish plots, the jerk turned on his heels and returned to the comfort of his office and swivel chair. I hopped back on the wall.

    Tina ran over and jumped up next to me. She leaned over and kissed me. “Wait till you see my dress for the dance.” She leaned back on her hands, closed her eyes, and lifted her face toward the warm sunlight. “I will be dazzling.”

    I turned and looked at her. She was wearing the usual self-important grin she wore when she was thinking about how pretty she was. Being dazzling was all she ever thought about. It seemed to be her number one goal in life. And even with her turned up nose, spray of freckles, and round blue eyes, her personality dulled the dazzle right off of her.

    “My mom said the sirens have been going off all night. There won’t even be a dance Friday if the town’s on lockdown.”

    She lifted her head and thumped my arm with her fist. “Don’t say shit like that. You’ll put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Just because you hate school dances.”

    I shrugged. “I’m just sayin’.”

    “Well, stop sayin’. I swear Nick Crush, sometimes you are the biggest downer.” She dropped down from the wall. Something on the road caught her attention. “No way, the freak is actually showing up to school.” She giggled and ran over to Dylan and Johnny.

    I squinted up the road. The girl we’d seen on the horse was walking slowly toward campus. There was an odd hitch in her walk and even though the early fall air was heating up quickly, she was still wearing the heavy cloak and hood.

    No one knew much about the girl. Her crazy mom and grandma had kept her holed up in their little farm house on the mountain. I remembered the whole town watching as the ambulance raced up the hill to their farm only to return at a snail’s pace with no lights or sirens. Apparently the mom had died in her sleep and there was no attempt to revive her. And even then, the girl had not left the house.

    Dylan, Johnny, and Tina strolled over and leaned along the wall. They all stared down the road as the small figure drew nearer. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to stare?” I asked.

    Johnny pushed his black sunglasses onto his head. “Come on, bro, we’re all stuck in this friggin’ town. You’re not going to deny us some fun. I mean when do we ever see a new face at school? She’s supposed to be some kind of a freak of nature.”

     Tina giggled. “That must be why she’s wearing that hood. We’ve got to see what she looks like.”

    The girl fished a folded sheet of paper out of her bag as she stepped onto campus. She read it and stopped in front of us. Her face stayed hidden. “Pardon me, could you point me toward building two?”

    It was a sweet, soft voice.

    “It’s sort of hot to be wearing a hood,” Tina sneered.

    “Yes, it’s very warm,” the girl answered.

    “What are ya hiding under there, witch warts?” Dylan asked and the others laughed, Tina the loudest. Then my bitchy girlfriend focused on the girl’s boots.

    “Hey, I think my granny used to have boots like that. Tina leaned down to get a closer look then straightened. “Except hers weren’t creepy looking like that. One looks bigger than the other.”

    The girl’s head bent down to look at her own boots. “Yes, one is built bigger because my left leg is a bit shorter than my right. The boots are quite ugly, but they make it easier for me to walk.” She spoke matter-of-factly, no embarrassment, no shame.

    Tina nearly doubled over with laughter. She caught her breath long enough to show her evil side again. “Everyone in town thinks you’re a freak. And from what we’ve seen so far . . . .”

    The girl stood silently for a minute then her head turned toward Tina. “You are very pretty. I love the color of your hair.” There was no sarcasm in the tone, just plain, sweet honesty. Tina was dumbstruck. The unexpected kindness left her bitchy tongue tied in a knot.

    I smiled and jumped off the wall. “Building two is the green one over there.” I pointed to the building she was looking for.

    “Thank you so much,” she said quietly.

    “No way. I’ve got to see what’s underneath.”  Tina lunged toward her. She grabbed the girl’s hood and yanked it off her head.

    Stunned, the girl looked around at all of us. I sucked in a breath and I’m sure I heard the others do the same. Suddenly the ground beneath our feet began to vibrate, a swirling breeze drifted through the trees sending their branches into turmoil, and a shower of leaves rained down on our heads. A strange acrid smell filled the air. The girl returned her hood to her head and scurried as fast as her uneven boots could carry her to building two.

    The breeze disappeared and the ground stopped shaking as we stood speechless, watching the tiny figure shuffle away.

    Dylan grabbed my arm. “Bro, did you see that face?”

    “Yeah,” I answered quietly. I watched the girl disappear into the building.

    I glanced over at Tina. Her lips stretched into a thin line, and she looked like a kid who’d gotten coal in her stocking at Christmas. As I headed to class, I closed my eyes for a second trying to picture the girl again. She had the most incredible face I’d ever seen.

Chapter 4

   
When I was little I’d set up my stuffed animals and pretend to be their teacher. I’d always pictured how a schoolroom might look, cozy, bright, a place where the wonders of the world were revealed. But never had I pictured a cramped, stuffy room with a cold, scuffed tile floor, yellowed ceiling, and buzzing lights that made everything a ghastly shade of green. The desks were small and looked very unstable. The teacher, a tall, grumpy looking woman, was hastily scribbling some math problems on the white board in front of class. No other students had arrived yet. She finished writing the problem before stopping to address me. As she turned her eyebrows arched up higher for an instant.

   
“You must be Jessie Sterling. The office told me you’d be starting today.”

   
Her heels clacked loudly in the empty room as she walked over to shake my hand. “I’m Mrs. Hoffman. You’ll need to remove your hood. No hats or hoods allowed inside.”

   
I peeked over at the window. On the long walk up the hall, I’d tried to convince myself that the anomalies outside when the girl stripped me of my cover had been just a coincidence. I slid off my hood and smiled up at the woman. She stared down at me for a moment, open-mouthed.

   
“Oh, my. So the rumors are true. You do resemble your ancestor.” She peeked over at the window and shivered as though something had crawled up her spine. Then she grinned nervously at me and strolled over to her desk to shuffle through some paperwork. “Mind you, I’ve only seen a small, tattered picture of her. And it was one of those faded brown daguerreotypes but the resemblance is uncanny.” She found the paper she’d been searching for. “It says here you’ve been home schooled until today.” She moved to the front of her desk and rested her bottom against it. “I knew your mom. She was definitely the smartest girl in school, but I seriously doubt she was able to teach you everything you needed to know in high school. And with only two years left here, you may never be able to catch up.”

   
My enthusiasm for attending school had dropped significantly since I’d kissed Nana good-bye this morning. “I’ll work hard and try to keep up.”

   
Laughter and talking turned our attention to the door. It swung open. The students were arriving. Mrs. Hoffman pointed to a desk in the back. “No one sits there.”

   
I dropped my bag on the floor, removed my cloak, and slid into the wobbly seat. It took me a moment to realize that all the voices had muted. I peered up. Everyone’s eyes were on me.     Mrs. Hoffman broke the silence. “This is Jessie Sterling, our new student. Please make her feel welcome.” They scattered to their seats but most of them were still watching me as they plunked down.