The Crimson Brand (23 page)

“Don’t be a buzz-kill, Penny,” Zoe said, showing much more spirit than she had of late.  “Spring break is almost here!”

Zoe shoved her bike into the rack on the other side of Penny’s and locked it.  Under her breath she said, “You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep it on the ground this morning.”

“Actually,” Penny said, “I do.”

“Zoe!”

They turned to see Trey Miller striding toward them, a gaggle of unhappy girls marking his progress.  A few of them directed openly hostile looks at Zoe, but she ignored them as completely as she did Trey’s fawning.

“Hi, Trey.”  Zoe remained friendly but aloof as ever. 

He slipped in between them, draping a casual arm over Zoe’s shoulder.

Zoe dodged his attempted embrace with an almost athletic artfulness and, retaining her air of obliviousness, gave him an almost curt wave.  “Later, Trey.”

Penny was almost alarmed by Trey’s continued reaction to Zoe’s brush-offs.  Her constant polite rejections seemed to be shoring up his determination rather than undermining it. 

“Talk to you later, Zoe!”  Then, almost as an afterthought it seemed: “Bye, Red!”

“You’re breaking his heart,” Penny whispered to Zoe.

“Oh, shut up,” Zoe snapped.

They saw Katie waiting for them at the front entrance, a change from the polite but distant public front she’d kept up since her grounding.  She’d obviously been watching for them, and when she saw them she abandoned her perch against the railing.

“Hi, Kat!”  Zoe’s good mood seemed unaffected by Penny’s teasing.

“Over here,” Katie said by way of greeting, grabbing them each by an arm and dragging them down the steps and into the schoolyard.

Zoe had no trouble keeping up with Katie’s hurried strides, but Penny had to scramble not to be pulled off of her feet.

“I thought we weren’t talking in public anymore,” Penny said, half-pleased, half-concerned with Katie’s abandonment of the “no public contact” rule designed to get her out of trouble sooner instead of later.

Penny heard only part of Katie’s mumbled reply, in which the words
bite me
were clear, but got the idea.

Katie dragged them around to the mostly deserted side lawn and behind a large unruly hedge that hid them from a majority of the students trudging up the front steps.  Once out of sight, Katie released them, slid her book bag from one shoulder onto the grass, and leaned against the aged brick wall below the school office window, arms crossed and face almost manic.

“I talked to Michael,” she said, sparking Penny’s interest.  “You will not believe it.”

*   *   *

Penny did believe it, but she didn’t like it.

“The Prices?”

“Shhhh,” Katie warned, peeking around the side of the hedge to make sure there were no eavesdroppers. 

Penny took several deep, calming breaths before daring to speak again.

“That’s great,” she said at last, keeping her volume, if not her anger, in check.  “Rooster’s dad put him up to it then.  That guy’s been trying to get my land for years!”

“I don’t think so,” Katie said.  “Michael says they definitely know each other, but Ernest Price isn’t even in this guy’s league.”

Zoe paid keen attention to the exchange, her gaze moving back and forth from Katie to Penny, but was silent.

“They own half of this town,” Penny said. 

“No,” Katie corrected, “Ernest owns half of this town.  His brother the sheriff doesn’t own squat.  He’s just another employee.”

“Sounds big league to me,” Zoe said.

“Ernest Price is small-town rich,” Katie said with forced patience, as if explaining that two plus two equals four.  “My dad has almost as much money as he does.”

“Then why does everyone around here treat him like Donald Trump?”  Zoe was clearly struggling to understand the distinction Katie was trying to make.  Penny thought she already knew it.

“Because he owns land,” Penny said.  “He owns the building Susan’s shop is in.”

Katie nodded vigorously.  “Land and buildings.”

“Still seems pretty rich to me,” Zoe grumbled.

“He’s a big fish in a little pond,” Katie said, and smiled.  “That’s what Dad calls him.”

“And Morgan Duke …,” Penny prompted, wanting to get to the point before the bell rang for first period.

“I don’t know how much money he has,” Katie said with a shrug, “but he owns land all over the country … all over the world.  He lives on a private island in the Florida Keys.”

“Ohhh,” Zoe intoned, clearly getting it now.

“So if Ernest Price is just a big fish in a little pond …,” Penny said, but Katie finished for her.

“Then Morgan Duke is a shark.”

Penny stood silent for a moment, absorbing it all, coming to the same conclusion Katie already had.

“Price is working for Duke!”

Katie shrugged, then nodded reluctantly.  “Probably.”

The first bell sounded. Katie swore under her breath, then bent and grabbed her bag.

“There’s more …,” Katie said, but Zoe interrupted.

“More?”  Zoe sounded nervous.  “What?”

“Later,” Katie said, dashing off without a backward glance.

Zoe looked like she might shout after her, but Penny grabbed her arm and tugged her into motion.  “Come on … we’ll be late.”

Zoe reluctantly followed, and they ran up the now-deserted steps, past the disapproving gaze of the office receptionist, and joined the throng in the hallway rushing to beat the last bell.

*   *   *

In Social Studies, Katie had reverted to her polite indifference to Penny, offering a single apologetic look when Penny caught her eye on their way to their seats.

Math with Miss Riggs was mostly unchanged. Miss Riggs’s unwanted attention seemed a little less focused than during the previous weeks, but when she did glance in Penny’s direction, which was still too often for Penny, her dislike was as strong as ever.

Ellen gave her a weak smile and a distracted wave by way of greeting and didn’t talk to her during or after class.  She gathered her books and fairly ran from the room when the end-of-period bell rang.

Penny gave a silent thanks for Mr. Cole’s fourth-hour English when it arrived.  Mr. Cole gave her his standard smile as she passed his desk, always a nice balm for Miss Riggs’s scorching scrutiny.  She took her seat, already looking forward to lunch at Susan’s shop, and Zoe arrived a few seconds later.  Before the bell could ring and Mr. Cole called the class to order, she leaned in close to Penny.

“So?”

“So … what?”

“Did Kat tell you anything else?”  Zoe seemed frantic with impatience.

“No.”

Zoe slammed her English book onto her desk, drawing eyes from all around.

When the bell rang for lunch, she seemed to have calmed a little.

They hurried through the halls and out onto the grounds.

“Hey, there’s Kat and Ellen!”  Zoe looked from them to Penny, then back to them.

Penny sighed.  “Go on.  I’ll meet you at Susan’s.”

Zoe dashed off to meet Katie and Ellen without another word, and Penny started toward the street.

“Ooops, sorry, Little Red.”  Someone had slammed into her from behind, almost knocking her over.  She turned to find Rooster standing behind her, grinning happily.  A few of his friends stood behind him, laughing in amusement. 

Tucker “Rooster” Price had abandoned the Stetson he used to wear and had gained a few more inches on Penny, but he was otherwise exactly the same as the day she’d first met him.  He had the same perpetually greasy mullet, the same dirty cowboy boots, and a sweat-stained T-shirt.  He took a step closer to her, well inside her personal space, and crossed his thick arms over his pudgy chest. 

Penny shot a quick glance at Zoe, who had just joined Katie and Ellen and appeared to be dancing in place like a kid who needs to use the bathroom.  In their own little huddle, they didn’t see Penny and Rooster.

“Not so brave without the gang to back you up,” Rooster said, grinning unpleasantly down at her.

  “I don’t need help with you,” she said.  If he took another step toward her she was going to kick him where boys don’t like being kicked.

His grin widened a little and he unfolded his arms, his hands clenching into fists.

“Hey, little bro!” 

Penny and Rooster turned in unison to see his older brother James, tall and lean but with the same hostile eyes and unpleasant grin, standing beside his car in the senior parking lot.  It was no surprise that his was the newest and best in the entire parking lot.  His black Charger had been the envy of the school since the end of Christmas break.

Rooster seemed to deflate a little at the sight.  He lowered his fists and forced them to relax, but when he turned back to Penny his cocky grin was still in place.

“You should watch where you’re going, Little Red.  You don’t want to go bumping into the wrong people.”

He turned and walked back to his friends.

Resisting the urge to jump on his back, grab a handful of that greasy hair, and ride him around the school grounds like an upright pigmy bull, Penny continued to the sidewalk.

She had to pause before crossing, giving an approaching car time to pass her on the otherwise deserted main street. It slowed as it passed her, and she recognized the black Charger.  Loud rock music blasted through the open windows.  James Price gave her a quick disdainful look.  The man in the passenger’s seat watched her without blinking, his unpleasant scrutiny making her skin crawl.

It was Joseph Duke.

He faced forward again as they passed.

“Come on, James, show me how fast this thing can go.”

The Charger sped away, chirping its tires as it rounded the bend in the road leading out of town.

Penny watched them go out of sight, not wanting them anywhere close by when she finally stepped out onto the road.

*   *   *

“Hey, kiddo!”  Susan’s spirits seemed too fine for a Monday, Penny thought, but that was just Susan.

Penny glanced surreptitiously at the table in the reading corner, to see if Susan was sticking with the new lunch menu.

Sandwiches again, but Penny saw two chocolate doughnuts sitting on a second plate next to them.  Penny sat down and tore into her sandwich with genuine enthusiasm, grateful for Susan’s ability to compromise. 

“Hi, Susan. Hi, Jenny!”  Zoe practically sprinted to Penny’s side, the light of unshared news shining in her eyes.  She saw her lunch and forgot everything else.  “Thanks, Susan!”

Zoe tore at her sandwich with indecent enthusiasm.

A few seconds later, Susan glided up to them and sat next to Penny.

Penny surprised herself by not cringing away from Susan’s lightning-quick embrace.

“I hope you’re not making any plans for spring break,” she said, beaming at Penny.  “Morgan is taking us to Long Beach for the week!”

Penny felt her jaw drop as she tried to formulate a reply.

Zoe spluttered and choked on her first bite of doughnut.

“
What
?”  Penny managed at last.

Susan’s smile faltered, then faded.  Clearly this was not the response she had expected.

“I thought you’d be excited,” Susan said, looking a little deflated.

Zoe was concentrating hard on the next bite of her doughnut, as if wishing she could get up and go somewhere else, but not quite daring to.

“I …,” Penny managed but got no further.

“Don’t you like Morgan?”  Susan tried but failed to hide her disappointment.

“I … uh.”  Penny realized she had hesitated too long.

“Well, I like him.”  Susan rearranged her face into a weak smile.  “And I know he likes you.  He was really hoping to get to know you a bit better next week.”

Penny felt a slow blush warming her cheeks and prayed that she wouldn’t burst into flames during Susan’s peak business hour.

Zoe had risen to her feet and wandered to the magazine rack.

Coward
, Penny thought.

“It’s not that, it’s....” But what was she going say?  That Morgan Duke was just playing with Susan’s emotions?  That he was working with Price?

That wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have in public.

“Well, what is it?”  Angry thunderhead lines creased Susan’s forehead.

Penny’s blush deepened. 

“Well, you haven’t known him
that
long.”

Susan stared blankly at her for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Of all the reactions Penny could have predicted, this was not one of them.

“Little Red,” Susan said, and Penny felt the tension between them ebb.  “We would have separate rooms.  One for the girls, one for the boy.  It’s been a few years since I’ve had a boyfriend, but I’m not going to be a total pushover.”

“Susan!  A little help, please?”  Jenny called from the counter, nodding at a growing line and rescuing Penny from the uncomfortable conversation. 

“Just think about it, okay?”  Susan gave her another quick squeeze.  “We’ll talk about it tonight.”

Then she was off, leaving Penny alone with her mixed thoughts.

*   *   *

Thoughtfully, Zoe had not broached the subject of Susan’s planned spring vacation with real-estate shark Morgan Duke.

They crossed the street in a rush, falling in behind the students streaming toward the school.  Zoe spoke hurriedly, almost frantically, while they walked.

“Duke’s son, the creepy one, he works at the town dump now.”  Zoe’s expression was almost triumphant.  If there was any spectacular revelation to be gained from this knowledge, however, Penny was missing it.

“Okayyyy …”  Penny waited for the conclusion, if one was forthcoming.

“Ernest Price owns the property the dump is on,” Zoe said.  “He leases it to the town for almost nothing.”

“That’s very generous of him,” Penny said sarcastically, still not getting the point. 

“Come on … it’s like having a brother as sheriff.  The city council wants to keep him happy so he doesn’t raise their lease.”

Penny paused in midstride, then rushed to catch up.  Now she was beginning to understand.  Ernest Price had been using the same tactic to try to bully Susan into selling Clover Hill, only Susan had not given in.