See Shells, Sea Shells

Chapter 8

Richard and Colton didn't waste any time when the Thornberry SUV pulled up to the Holmes' residence to take them home. They piled into the back seat and urged Mr. Thornberry to get going before Mrs. Holmes had a chance to talk to them. Disappointed, she merely waved from the front stoop, with Little Willy clinging to her dress as they drove away.

"So, did you two have fun today?" asked Ginger.

Richard scrunched up his nose. "Fun? How could we have any fun? All we did was clean up all day."

"Really?" Ginger turned around to face her son. "That's funny. When we called just after noon, Evette said that you had already left for the beach. Would you care to revise that statement?"

"Richard means it just seems that way. You know how it is," Colton interjected.

"I don't believe we were talking to you, Colton," Ginger replied.

"I just..." Colton gave up. He punched his cousin in the arm and Richard winced.

Richard coughed. "We were on the beach but we didn't have much fun, Mom."

"It was too hot!" Colton explained.

"So, why did you stay out so long, then?" asked Ginger.

Richard shrugged. "There was nothing else to do."

Ginger and Morton looked at each other. They decided that they simply weren't going to get a straight answer as to where their boys had been. They knew the kids were hiding something but the answer evaded them...for now. That didn't stop Mr. Thornberry from trying to get an answer one last time. "I wonder what Jake would say if we got him alone," he said to nobody in particular. Richard and Colton exchanged worried glances but didn't say a word.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Richard decided to change the subject. "Um," he began, "did you guys have any luck looking at houses today?"

Mrs. Thornberry sighed. "Oh, we saw a few places but nothing spectacular. We'll try again in a few days."

"It'd be nice if you found a new place before the Holmeses have their housewarming next Saturday," Colton volunteered.

"Oh, are you tired of us already, Colton?" Morton laughed.

"Oh, no, not you. Just Richard."

"Hey!"

"Well..." Colton grinned. "It's true."

Richard clenched his fist. "I ought to..." he snarled.

"Well, regardless, Colton," Mr. Thornberry replied, "it looks like you're stuck with us for the duration, so I'd be nice to your cousin if I were you."

"Nice? To Richard? I'd rather have a whipping!"

"That can be arranged very easily, young man," Mrs. Thornberry reminded him before being distracted by a "For Sale" sign just a block from their destination. "Hmmm, I wonder why our agent didn't mention this house. She knows we were looking for something around here."

"Pull in, Dad!" Richard urged.

Mr. Thornberry stopped at the end of the driveway and craned his neck so he could see past his wife. "It doesn't look like anybody's at home."

"It looks like it's vacant," Richard added.

"I can see the water from here!" Colton exclaimed excitedly.

"What do you think, dear?" Ginger asked. "Should we get out and have a look around?"

That question was futile since Colton and Richard had already abandoned the vehicle in favor of exploring the grounds. "Cool! There's a swimming pool!" Richard exclaimed as his parents rounded the corner to the backyard. Richard was pointing to the much-neglected pool stagnating in the collapsed screen house on the veranda.

"And a pond!" Colton added as he removed several large palm fronds from a suspiciously spongy area of the garden.

"And an alligator!" Morton laughed as he pointed to the diminutive beast sunbathing on a fallen branch in the pool. Colton came running when he heard his uncle. "Excellent!" He shouted. "You should go for a swim, Richard."

Richard tried to push his cousin off his feet. "Yeah, well, you're welcome to use the pond any time if you're so anxious to go swimming, Colton."

Mrs. Thornberry rolled her eyes. "You had to let them watch that movie, didn't you?"

"What?" Morton protested. "Caddyshack is a classic."

"Whatever. We should get out of here before somebody reports us."

"So what do you think, Dad?" Richard asked as he joined his parents. Mr. Thornberry looked around. "Well," he began, and then his eyes settled on the roof. "Look at that! The roof is half caved in. I don't think anyone has lived here in years."

"Yeah," Ginger sighed as she turned to leave. "Too bad!"

"It would probably take months to renovate and I don't think the Grants would put up with us for that long."

"I know for a fact that we wouldn't," Colton grinned.

"And how do you know that?" Richard challenged.

"Because I'm going to make sure that we don't."

"Regardless, I'll mention it to our realtor," Morton put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Maybe, if we can get it for a song," Mrs. Thornberry mused.

Colton climbed into the SUV. "What song?"

Richard untangled his seat belt from his cousins. "It's just an expression, Colton."

"Yeah, but if you could get it for a song, what song would it be?"

The next day was a repeat of the one before. The trio spent the morning sprucing up the Holmes' residence for the party, had a quick lunch, got paid, and then hit the beach. They were bound and determined to make it to the pier this time but were distracted when they decided to check in on Mrs. Beecher.

They peered over the fence and much to their surprise, the house looked as if the woman had left, and probably for a long time. The hurricane shutters were drawn shut and the house was locked up tight. "Too bad," Colton sighed. "I would have liked some more of those cookies. They were great."

"Yeah, she was a nice old lady. I wonder how she ended up with such a grumpy old man like Mr. Beecher," Jake mused.

"I don't think he was always that way. I think he was just worn down by events. Especially the war. Did you see all the memorabilia he had collected?"

"That made me sad," Colton sighed, turning away.

Richard turned to his friends. "Yeah, like that house we saw yesterday."

"What house? You guys saw a house yesterday? What was it like?" Jake asked.

"It was broken and decrepit, just like Mr. Beecher," Richard replied.

"And there were alligators in the pool," Colton added.

"Oh, you don't want to mess with gators!" Jake laughed. "They're bad news!"