thoughtâtoo monstrous to ignoreâslid into my mind. âNo,â I whispered frantically. âNo, no, no!â
My curiosity and fear got the better of me; I untied the bag and looked inside.
CHAPTER
eight
The trash had been picked up before Mark and I set off for school, but the remains of the strong, rancid fish odor clung to the air. I didnât tell Mark about Mr. Chamberlin. I couldnât bring myself to recount what Mr. Chamberlin had said.
However, before our first class began, I told Lori everything that had happenedâwell, everything except about the tree âmoving.â I still hadnât come to terms with that.
At first Lori was indignant at Mr. Chamberlinâs accusations, but she softened when I said, âThere was no sign of Peaches anywhere in the neighborhood.â
âPoor Mr. Chamberlin,â Lori murmured.
âMom and I looked everywhere.â
Lori shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she said, âI donât know how you had enough courage to look in that trash bag, Jess. What if Peaches had been inside, all stiff and dead?â
âI had to look,â I answered. âYou donât knowhow glad I was that Peaches wasnât there.â I slowly shook my head as I thought about it. âThereâs something weird about that trash bag, though. The can was filled to the top with tuna. Only a small amount was gone. Why would anyone throw away a whole can of tuna?â
âMaybe it got left out of the refrigerator. Maybe it smelled bad when the Maliks opened it. Thatâs not such a mystery.â
âI guess youâre right,â I admitted, but I still felt uncomfortable about it. The first bell rang. I pulled my textbook from my locker, slammed the door, and put Peachesâs disappearance out of my mind.
It wasnât until noon that I realized I hadnât taken time to make my lunch, so I had to go through the cafeteria line. By the time I plopped down my trayâwith its cardboard pizza, lukewarm applesauce, and runny red Jell-Oânext to Lori, she was just finishing telling Scott and Mark what Mr. Chamberlin had said about us.
I climbed over the bench and groaned. âWhy did you tell them?â I asked.
Lori looked surprised. âYou didnât say not to.â
I glanced first at Mark, then at Scott. âMr. Chamberlinâs a bitter, crazy old man. He was just ranting and making up weird stuff because he was upset about his cat. Please donât pay any attention to what he said.â
âWhich one of us?â Scott asked.
âWhich one what?â
âWhich one did he say was evil?â
âHe didnât,â I said. âLetâs not talk about it. Letâs not even think about it.â
Mark ignored me and said to Scott, âMaybe we should ask him.â
âOh, donât!â I pleaded. âI told you, heâs strange. Heâll just go off on a tirade again and wonât give you a sensible answer. Calling you evil certainly wasnât sensible.â
âBut Iâm interested,â Scott said. âHe told you he could recognize the evil. Did he say how?â
âHe didnât know what he was saying!â I leaned across the table, gripping the edge. âPlease! Forget about it! I donât want to talk about it, now or ever again!â
When neither Scott nor Mark answered, I stood up and reached for my tray.
Mark stood up, too, came around the table, and put an arm around my shoulders. Smiling, he said, âDonât lose it, Jess. If you donât want to talk about that nutty old man, then we wonât.â
As I sat down on the bench again, Markâs smile stretched into a broad grin. âYou might say that Scott and I were just being curious. Youâd be curious, too, if somebody said either you or Lori was evil but wouldnât tell you which one. You do understand the word
curious
, donât you?â
I had
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