Moon Crossed

Chapter 6

Aunt Martha invited Hannah to stay for dinner. The four of us squeezed around the small kitchen table and spooned up big bowls of steaming chicken soup.

"You make the best soup !" Hannah told my aunt.

Aunt Martha smiled. A little broth dripped down her chin. She reached for her napkin. "Thank you, Hannah. I just throw everything in it I can find. "

"Sorry we were late for dinner," I said. "I lost track of time. I didn't want to leave the woods. It was so interesting ".

Uncle Collin's eyes moved to the kitchen window. He stared up at the rising moon. Then he lowered his gaze to the Marlins house next door.

"I photographed an awesome- looking tree," I told him. "It was wrinkled and bent over like an old man ."

Uncle Collin still didn't reply. His eyes were still focused out the window.

"Collin ---- Alex is talking to you, " Aunt Martha scolded.

"Huh ? Oh. " He turned back to the table shacking his head as if shacking away his thoughts.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"
I told him again about the old tree.
"I'll help you develop those shots" he offered.
"Maybe tomorrow. I set up a dark room in the little bathroom in the attic. We really need a bigger house. Especially with all the work we've been doing lately. "

"What are you photographing now ?" I asked.
"Creatures of the night," he replied.
His eyes wandered to the window again. I followed his gaze to the Marlins back window. It was totally dark.

"We are photographing nocturnal animals, " Aunt Martha explained. "Animals that come out only at night"

"You mean like owls?" Hannah asked.
Aunt Martha nodded. "We have found some wonderful owls in the woods---- haven't we, Collin ?"

Uncle Collin turned back from the window. Silver light from the full moon washer over the windowpane. "The night creatures do not like to be photographed," he said, spooning up the carrot and chewing it slowly. "They are very private. "

"Sometimes we wait in one spot for hours," aunt Martha added. Waiting for a creature to poke its head up from its hole in the ground. "

"Can I come with you one night?" I asked eagerly. I can be real quiet. Really."

Uncle Collin swallowed a chunk of chicken.
"That's a fine idea, " he said. But then his expression turned solemn. And he added, "Maybe after Halloween"

I turned and saw Aunt Martha staring out at the Marlins house. "The moon is still low," she said thoughtfully. "But it's so bright tonight."

"Almost like daylight out there," Uncle Collin said. What was that expression that quickly passed over his face? Was that fear ?

My aunt and uncle are acting so weird tonight, I decided. So nervous.

Why do they keep staring out the window? What do they expect to see at the Marlins house?

I couldn't hold it in any longer. "Is everything okay ?" I asked them.

"Okay?" Uncle Collin narrowed his eyes at me.
"I guess ----"

"Are you two thinking about your Halloween costumes?" Aunt Martha demanded, changing the subject.

"I think I 'm going to be a pirate again this year," Hannah replied. She finished her chocolate milk. "You know I will wrap a bandanna around my head and wear a patch over one eye".

"Collin and I might have some funny old clothes that you can wear," Aunt Martha offered. She turned to me. " How about you, Alex?"

I still wanted to be a werewolf. But I remembered the last time I had told that to my aunt and uncle. Uncle Collin had nearly cracked up the car!

So I smiled and quietly told them, "Maybe I'll be a pirate too ."

I spooned up the last of my soup.
I had no way of knowing that in a few hours, when the moon rose to it's peak in the sky, I'd be face- face with a real werewolf .

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