Free The Summer Is Ended and We Are Not Yet Saved by Joey Comeau Page A

Just practise moving the pieces the way I showed you.”
    The girl nodded, and picked up the knight. Sherri-Lynn led them away along the path toward the Flying Fox.
    “Our friend Courtney wants to be in our cabin,” Melissa said. “She gets homesick. It’s better for her if she’s with people that she knows. She feels more comfortable, you know?”
    Courtney was making a face, and it took Martin a second to realize that this was her “sad” face. He had to look away from her to keep from laughing. Sherri-Lynn didn’t look very convinced, either.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, that’s part of the camp experience. You get out on your own, and that’s how you make new friends! It’s a bit scary, but it’s also—”
    “—She wants to learn how to play chess,” Joan interrupted.
    Melissa and Courtney looked at their friend in surprise. But Sherri-Lynn was grinning now.
    “Oh,” she said. “You could have just said that!” She gave Courtney a playful push on the shoulder. “You didn’t have to pretend to be homesick. I’d be happy to teach you how to play chess. Who’s your counsellor? Let me go find her and tell her that you’re gonna change cabins.”
    Father Tony pointed to one of the chairs in front of his desk, and Mitchell sat down. His office always looked nice at this time of day, with the sun coming in the window. He kept meaning to look into stained glass for his window. That would be something.
    “My father is going to call the police on you,” Mitchell said. He had stopped crying, and now he was staring at Tony defiantly. “I’ll tell him what you did, and what you said, and he’s going to call the police.”
    “Sure,” the priest said. “He would be crazy not to.” He picked up the phone and offered it toward the boy. “Oh, don’t get up,” Tony said. He stood and started bringing the phone to where Mitchell was sitting. Part way there he reached the end of the cord, and stopped short. He looked down at the phone in his hand and smiled. “Hang on a second,” he said. He set the phone on the ground and dug around in his pocket for his utility knife. Mitchell watched in silence as he folded the blade open and cut through the phone cord. Then Tony closed his knife and put it back in his pocket.
    “Have you ever been in love, Mitchell?” he said.
    “I love my dad,” Mitchell said. He looked down at the phone that Tony set in his lap, and the disconnected cord that dangled from it.
    “Don’t be slow,” Tony said. “I mean, have you ever been in love with someone and all you could think about was seeing them again? And you felt like nothing in the whole world mattered?”
    “No?” Mitchell picked the phone handset up, and then hung it back up uselessly.
    “It feels like you could do anything. It’s intoxicating, Mitchell. It feels like there are no rules in the whole world, as long as you are in love. Anything you do is justified, because you’re doing it for love. I feel that way today.” Tony walked to the window and looked out over the trees. He could see the roof of the chapel. “I feel that crazy-in-love feeling, but I’m not in love with anyone. The world just seems full of possibility and excitement.”
    “There are other phones,” Mitchell said. “You can’t stop me from calling my dad.”
    “I can’t, you’re right. I can’t stop you from calling your father. And I can’t break your fingers in a washing machine. This is all very true. I can’t tie you to that chair and duct tape your mouth, either, can I? I can’t put down a bunch of garbage bags and then cut your throat just because it seems funny.”
    Mitchell pushed the chair back and stood up. But Tony was right there, taking the phone out of his hands.
    “Just another minute,” he said. “Then you can go.”
    Mitchell shook his head, but Tony put a hand on his shoulder and sat him back down.
    “I’ve never tied anyone up before,” Tony said. “I don’t know how I would do it