Free Homing by John Saul

when he heard Julie's voice from above.
    "Don't come up!" she called, her words strangled by the sob he could hear in her throat. "Just leave me alone!"
    Kevin hesitated on the ladder, then climbed up until he could see into the loft. Julie was sitting on a bale of hay fifteen feet from the top of the ladder, and as Kevin's head and shoulders came through the hatchway, she turned her back to him, her shoulders hunching defensively. "Didn't I just tell you not to come up?" she demanded.
    "I came anyway," Kevin told her. He climbed into the loft and moved tentatively toward her. "I just wanted to-I don't know - .." He shoved his hands deep in his pockets and stared at his feet. "I guess I just want to apologize," he mumbled. "I mean, I never meant I thought Molly wanted to wreck the wedding, and I guess it was a really dumb thing to say. Jeez! I like Molly. She's really neat.
    And Grandpa shouldn't have said what he did, either. I don't know why he says things like that."
    "Well, maybe he's right," Julie said, still not -turning around, but shifting slightly as her shoulders relaxed "Maybe we shouldn't have come. it sure wasn't my idea."' Though the pain in her voice caused Kevin's stomach to tighten, he resisted his sudden urge to move closer to her.
    instead he sat down cross-legged on the floor of the loft and picked up a piece of straw, which he twirled nervously between his fingers as he spoke, "You mean you didn't want to come here?"
    "Why would I?" Julie demanded, still not looking at him. "Why would I want to leave all my friends and change schools to come here? I mean, do you know how boring this town is?"
    Kevin's jaw tightened, and if Julie had been looking at him, she would have seen-just for an instant-an eerie resemblance to Otto. But then Kevin carefully checked his anger. "I-I guess I never thought about it," he admitted, choosing his words carefully, not wanting to make Julie any more miserable than she already was. "I guess just because I love it here, I thought everyone else did, too. That was kind of stupid, huh?"
    Julie nodded, but said nothing.
    "Well, anyway, I'm sorry," Kevin said. "I'm sorry Molly got stung, and I'm really sorry she has to stay in the hospital. And I'm sorry Dad and Karen's party got wrecked, too." He hesitated. "And I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings." He waited a moment, hoping Julie might say something. When she didn't, he got to his feet, embarrassed at having exposed his feelings, and started back down the ladder. "I guess I was just really stupid, and I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me." His head was about to disappear through the hatchway when Julie turned around.
    "Kevin?"
    He paused on the ladder, waiting.
    Running the fingers of her right hand through her long dark hair, Julie tried to smile. "I-I guess-I don't know-it's just that everything's different here, and I don't have any friends, and-"
    Quickly, Kevin climbed back into the loft and went to her, crouching down on the floor next to the hay bale on which she sat, "You've only been here a few days," he told her. "And I know lots of kids. I was going to introduce you to them at the party, but you were hiding in the kitchen."
    Julie felt herself blushing. "I-I was worried about Molly," she stammered. "What if she dies?"
    Kevin took her hands in his own. "She's not going to die, Julie. People don't die of bee stings. They'll just give her a shot and she'll be fine. You'll see. Now come on.
    Let's go meet some people."
    Still Julie hesitated.
    Her worry about Molly hadn't been the only thing that had kept her in the kitchen.
    First there had been Carl Henderson. She had caught him staring at her at least three times before he'd left to fly Molly to the hospital, and each time she'd felt even more disturbed by the intensity of his gaze. Should she ask Kevin about him? But she already knew he was a good friend of her new stepfather's. If she asked if he was some kind of pervert or something, Kevin would just