Free Campbell Wood by Al Sarrantonio Page B

to think about her because you don't know how to feel about her now."
    He began to protest, and then with a shock realized she was right.
    She kissed him again. "Give it time, Mark. You'll be able to deal with it. But don't try to run away from it. Whatever she was she was, and you'll just have to make up your own mind about her. And if she turns out to be something other than what your father told you she was, that doesn't mean you have to change your mind about him, either. He was human, like all of us. Your mother was a real person, Mark, and you have to face that fact and the fact that she may not have been the monster your father told you she was." She took his hand in hers. "Since the day we moved in here I could see it stewing in you. You're living in her house and you feel guilty about it because you didn't know her at all." She ran her hand through his hair, thinking how boyish he really was—and how naive sometimes, too. "The real problem, Mark, is that you're so wrapped up in your own confused feelings that you don't see what's going on around here."
    "What do you mean?"
    Now there was genuine worry in her voice. "Don't you see how weird this town is?"
    "Sure it's weird, but we're new here—"
    "That's not what I mean, Mark. We've lived here almost two months, and the only contact I've had with anyone was with Kaymie's teacher. And she was one of the strangest people I've ever met in my life. They're scared, Mark—there's something scaring the people in this town so badly they won't come near us. It's like we have the plague. Seth's been playing by himself in the backyard every day. None of the kids his own age will go near him."
    "What about that kid that showed up that one morning?"
    "He's dead, Mark. He died in an accident the same day."
    "My God."
    "Maybe it was a coincidence. I don't know. But Kaymie doesn't have any real friends at school; the only thing she's been able to get involved in at all is the play she's doing. I thought things would get better for her, but if anything they're worse. She has a big part in this thing, and nobody else even really works with her. Even that teacher stays away from her as much as she can. And now Seth says he's been seeing someone up in the trees around the house and I'm starting to worry, Mark. And remember Feeney getting killed?"
    "That was an accident, Ellen."'
    "Was it? A lot of strange things have been happening around here. One day all the drawers were pulled out in the kitchen, and Seth swears he didn't do it. I found broken branches all over the backyard another day, some as big as your arm."
    Mark saw how frightened she was getting. "Oh, come on. What do you think we've got, ghosts?"
    "No. But something or someone maybe doesn't want us here."
    "I never thought you'd want to run out on anything."
    "I don't, Mark. But this is just a little ridiculous. Nobody seems to want us here. I was starting to really fall in love with this house, but I can't go on living like this. It's not natural. It's like living under a microscope or something. And the house alone just isn't worth it. I want to live in a place where my kids have friends and at least have the chance to be popular. Hell, I'd like some friends myself." She suddenly took his arm. "Maybe your mother was a good person, maybe she wasn't. But who was she that everybody's so afraid of going near us?"
    “I—“
    There was a piercing scream and a muffled explosion.
    "Oh my God," said Ellen. Mark ran ahead of her to Kaymie's room.
    Mark threw open the door and his heart nearly stopped beating. Ellen began to scream.
    It looked like a bomb had gone off.
    Kaymie lay at the foot of her bed, bloody and dazed. Seth was draped over the edge of the bed, covered with debris. There was blood running from a gash behind one ear.
    Kaymie said, trembling, "I moved it. I moved it and then it blew up."
    Ellen bent down to her. "Kaymie, are you all right?"
    "I moved it and then it blew up." She looked up at her mother and began to