Wolf Hollow

Chapter 25

Two weeks later. Troy Cohen hadn't made a second appearance in Wolf Hollow, even though he called their telephone several times, edging them into constant worry.

There wasn't anymore snowfall, which was awfully shocking in the North.

Darren's first baseball game of the season would be coming up soon. Luckily, his gunshot wound had healed already.

Darren, Eleanor, Felix, and their newest friends, Wayne, Ryder, and Pat went bowling. It was the first normal they had in a while.

The six got their shoes and the cashier told them they would be on lane five, next to a family of three, a couple and their toddler son.

The total cost for six of them was $67.91. Ryder paid for all of it, and said they didn't have to pay him back. He came from a rich family.

They set up on lane five. The man on the other side pushed his stuff aside when he saw them coming.

After they put on their shoes, Darren went to get himself a fourteen pound ball. The others followed after.

The order to bowl was Pat first, then Ryder, then Darren, then Eleanor, then Felix, and last Wayne. It was in random order.

Pat's first go was a gutter ball, and on the second turn, he got down five pins.

Ryder got the only strike for the first frame. He went back to high five them all. It was no surprise, because he went bowling often.

Around the sixth frame, they ordered pizza, wings, and a liter of coke. Ryder was in the lead, with Darren and Felix not far behind.

By the tenth frame, Felix crept up on Ryder's score and won. There would still be another game.

Darren stuffed pizza in his mouth and made his way down the lane. This game, the scores were much higher. They joked with each other and high fived. It was the most fun any of them had in a while.

Ryder came up with the win for the second game, to no one's surprise. They all high fived and cleaned up the table and took everything to the trash.

Darren drove Wayne, Ryder, and Pat home. They exchanged numbers with the other three to keep in touch.

After Darren passed by Felix's house, Felix demanded he take him back, because his parents would get suspicious.

There was no point in asking Felix's parents if he could stay over at Darren's house. Felix had been spending a lot of time away from home and with Darren and Eleanor.

"How about a real date?" Darren asked Eleanor.

He took her to eat cheesecake at a fancy dessert restaurant across town. He looked in the corner, and saw his father eating with a strange woman.

__________________________________

"We gotta leave." Darren muttered.

Eleanor was confused. "Let me finish this last bite really quick."

After she finished eating, he didn't hesitate. He didn't wait around for the waiter to come back. Instead, he went up to the counter and asked to pay for the bill, and put his arm around Eleanor and walked her out of the door.

Unfortunately, Troy spotted Darren staring at him like a Hawk. He was in no hurry to chase after his son though, because he had his own plan.

"Want to tell me what that was about?" Eleanor said, demanding the truth.

Darren explained everything about his father and how he'd just seen him dining with a strange woman he had never seen before.

Before they got to the car, Troy started walking to the door. He speed walked up to them and put his hand on the back of Darren's shoulder. His heart skipped a beat.

Troy went back to holding hands with the woman he sat with at the table. "Darren, this is my fiancé Maria."

She was a tan Hispanic woman who was about 5'2. She gave a slight wave.

"Why are you here?" Darren scolded.

"I'm looking out for you," Troy sighed. "don't be mad at me."

"I can look out for myself." Darren turned away and took Eleanor's hand.

They went out to the parking lot. Darren's heart was still racing. They got to the car.

He took her home. Eleanor pulled his face in for a kiss face to face. Their mouths met. After separating, they went in for another before she got out.

The taste of berry was left on Darren's lips. Eleanor opened the door and walked to her house.

He decided not to explain to Kent and his mom about his accidental meet up with his father. Troy was putting them through enough.

__________________________________

Darren decided to walk up the stones in the woods. Daylight was gone. A chilly breeze had blown by him. He had a stone with him.

In the back of the woods, at the top of the stones, were the tombstones. As he predicted, Albert's tombstone washed away.

"I'm sorry Mr. Shepard," He called him that for the first time. "you'll have a real tombstone."

He dug out a small area and put the stone in. He scraped the stone to make letters with Albert's name and the time he was born to the time he died.

It was hard. His hands felt rough and blistered by the time he was done.

A clear shadow came close after rattling through the trees. It looked as if it were coming to sit next to the tombstone.

It started to speak. "I know how you feel."

The shadow wasn't so clear anymore. It had the recognizable face of a teenage boy. The boy from the photo Darren had seen the first week he'd come to Wolf Hollow.

It was Henry. He wasn't so much of a shadow anymore. He spoke words and sat next to Darren, staring at the tombstone. Darren thought he was dreaming. There was no way he could be seeing Henry Swick.

Henry didn't bother introducing himself. He knew that Darren knew who he was. Henry disappeared. The only one speaking was the wind now.

Darren was ready to head home until a familiar voice caught him off guard. It was Clara, who had just climbed up with a glass of wine in her hand.

"Ah, you've started to grow on me." She smiled, though it wasn't an ecstatic smile.

Darren shook. "You scared me ma'am."

"Drop the ma'am stuff," Clara sat down next to him. "it's just Clara. By the way, you did a great job on this. You're healed, huh?"

"Yea."

They spoke to each other for a while before she invited him back for a drink of wine at the Shepard house. It was clear how she loved Albert, even though he was old.

He told her about his father and how he was in town looking for him, and possibly thinking of killing him. Clara was understanding.

Darren went home and found his dog 'Bertie' waiting for him. His mom allowed him to keep it.