Free Blackwater by Eve Bunting Page B

a tree planted in memory of Pauline at the corner of the school playground, where the basketball court was. “I guess it will be for Otis, too,” he said. “If he’s…you know …”
    Alex opened his eyes wide. “For Otis, too?”
    “Sure,” Bobby said. “Why not?”
    “Well.” Alex paused. “Everybody’s saying—”
    I butted in. “Nobody should be saying anything. Nobody knows.” Except someone, I thought. My heart hammered.
    “Let’s just keep hoping and praying that Otis will be found alive, and he won’t need any monument,” Dad said.
    “Yeah.” Bobby shuffled uncomfortably. “Anyway, Brodie. There’s going to be a sort of ceremony down at the river, five P.M. ”
    I looked at my watch. “It’s twenty after four now.”
    “You might want to go,” Bobby went on. “It’s supposed to be just kids from El Camino, but it would probably be OK if Alex went, too.”
    “Gee, thanks,” Alex said. “What is it? Maybe I don’t even want to go.”
    “You know Sim Corona?” Bobby asked me.
    I nodded.
    “His dad has one of those big inflatable rubber boats, you know the kind?”
    “I’ve seen it,” I said. “He had it down at the Gainsville dock one time.”
    “Right. Well, the idea is that all you kids bring flowers, and Sim and his dad will row them out to the Toadstool and put them on it. It would be a sort of good-bye from you guys.”
    I tried to keep from meeting Bobby’s eyes, to act normal, to not let my face tremble.
    “I heard Mrs. Manuel thinks it’s a good idea,” Bobby said. “A closure.”
    There was that word again.
    “Who’s Mrs. Manuel?” Alex picked at his thumbnail, examining it intently.
    “The school counselor. Everyone was a bit worried that Otis’ mom would be upset because they were doing this for Pauline when there’s no definite news yet about Otis. But Mrs. Manuel talked to her and she said go ahead. She thought it was great, and that Otis would want it, and when he comes back he can put his own flowers on the Toadstool for Pauline. And my boss man better send
him
two hero sandwich coupons.”
    I nodded.
    Alex stopped picking at this thumbnail and looked up. “I’ll go.”
    “You should go too, hon,” Mom told me. “I think Mrs. Manuel’s right. It will help you say good-bye to Pauline, there with all your friends around you.”
    “OK,” I said.
    “I brought some flowers for you to take,” Bobby said. He’d left them on the front steps before he came in, just where the person had left thetowel bundles yesterday. “I didn’t want to come in, carrying them,” he said. “I’d look like a dork.”
    His flowers were really nice. There were big ones with heads like red daisies, and white baby’s breath, and the kind that are purple and have flower bells hanging from them. “Foxglove,” he said, touching one with his finger.
    “I didn’t know you knew so much about flowers,” Mom said.
    “Yeah, well.” Bobby grinned.
    Mom and I cut a big bunch of her prized yellow roses.
    “Don’t give us all of them,” I said halfheartedly, but Mom just smiled and kept on clipping. She divided the bunch between Alex and me.
    We walked down the hill toward the river. The late-afternoon sun slanted over the trees and the sky was pinkening in the distance. I felt as if the houses we passed were staring at me with their window eyes, nudging each other.
He’s the one. He’s the guy who did it.
I hunched myself small inside my sweatshirt.
    Isabel Moreno and Jill Aikens were just ahead of us. Isabel was carrying a bouquet too, and Jillswung two red and white pom-poms. They waited for us.
    “Pauline was really into being a cheerleader,” Jill said. “She was good, too. Remember the way she could do cartwheels?”
    We were quiet, remembering.
    I was remembering too how the summer hopes John and I had included Jill Aikens. John and Jill and me and Pauline. Was it only a couple of weeks ago that we’d been scheming how to make that happen?
    Isabel and Jill