The Three Spots

Bob's Hardware

For a while, the forest remained restless with critters that were excited with the rustling all around them. Then when they had gone, and the leaves had settled on the ground, Sophie sat up and realised that Noah was already walking down towards the town. "Wait for me!" she said grabbing her backpack. "I don't know the way.""I thought the dying carcasses of nature would help you!""Aha, you got me. I'm a smart mouth.""I don't disagree."So they walked in the silence that she thought they had managed to sidle away. It was like a déjà vu. Except it was quite literally from ten minutes ago, and twenty minutes ago, and yesterday, and that morning."Hey, I'm sorry." She mentioned after no one spoke for a while.Noah hemmed in question. "What do you mean?""You know, for your mouse.""Cricket.""I'm sorry. Cricket, right. Are you ok?""Uh-huh.""We had a dog, too, once. Ollie.""From Garfield?""We named her after the cartoon, yes! She was quite literally Ollie. She was just a heaving dropping mess of joy. We used to joke that the only way she could keep off intruders would be by licking their faces off. I guess you just had to leave at some point in that constant licking process. Or as my Uncle Hogan used to say, 'Lick 'em till ye' leave, kid,'" and she did the best impression of what could only have been a hoarse pirate with one eye. "That's a- weird thing to say." Sophie nodded wholeheartedly. "Sounds like a nice dog.""Yeah, she was. But she ran away. One day, I got back from my school and my mom had left the door open. I was devastated. I locked myself in my room for days, wouldn't come out, wouldn't eat.""Did you ever find her?""Who?""Ollie."Sophie stopped. Noah turned around and looked over at her questioningly, her face was almost smiling at this point. "I was six. But you can't be that naïve, oh come on. Ollie 'ran away'. She didn't actually run away.""Oh.""Yeah.""I'm sorry.""You can't look sorrier than you do! That has got to be some sort of a record, don't you think?"Noah gave a weak smile. "I'm just- I'm just tired.""And he goes on for the final round." Sophie held up a non-existent mike close to her mouth. "Only two more hours and the upsetting championship will be his! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a miracle boy here!""Stop it or I'll blush." he said in a dead tone. But he did manage to crack a fake polite smile. More forced. But wider.They had been walking for a while, now. And the both of them had reached almost the end of the patch of the forest. This way, meaning through the forest and ditching bus and living life as they say 'dangerously', was especially easier for them because Neandle Street was only a few blocks away. They had to go through the alley across the road, cross a couple of streets and walk down the road around the corner. But as soon as the forest became thinner, and the canopy widened enough, they realised that someone was doing the rain dance again. That's the way they said it, not me. And they knew it would get worse in a minute. Sophie stopped under the part where the canopy was still dense to not drench your soul wet. "What now?""I didn't bring my mackintosh. You should go. I know the way from here. I'll wait it out for a while."Noah shook his head and grumbled as he pulled out his raincoat. Then holding it over his head he calmly turned to face her, "This," he said with a pause, as if deciding it was worth it, "is how snails travel.""Oh my god, you are not wrong. This is how snails travel! But keeping that big fantastic revelation aside, I think we're both gonna get wet with that." "Don't worry. The hardwares store is right across the street, at the end of the Patch. We'll rent out an umbrella.""Wouldn't it be dangerous to cross the road covering ourselves with that?""No, I think you're thinking of snails again.""That must be it."What's peculiar was that while they had crossed the road, the rain had grown from a slow drizzle to big round drops of steel. At least that's what it sounded like over their heads. The rain almost knocked away the coat at least twice. So it was a relief to be inside. The air didn't change, it was still humid, but the winds had stopped blowing. And their faces which were wet with the splashes of the rain on the mac weren't shivering anymore. It turns out, a waterproof coat is not the most efficient form of protection when held overhead like a caveman. The water, you see, collects and trickles down the small of your back until you're cold and wishing death. And what better way to learn that."I have been thinking," Sophie remarked as they entered. "That's probably not how snails travel.""Think faster next time," Noah replied with a great appreciation of that thought. "Hey, Mr Robert, how are you doing?"Robert Jonson was a plump man. His face was a mash of red tomatoes and a pinch of sugar. And that is quite a great description for a lot of his qualities. In many ways he was a mash of red tomatoes with a pinch of sugar. His smile was jovial. And his threatening presence, which the massive build suggested to anyone, almost instantly gave away to a human.Presently he only looked concerned. "Oh golly, forget about me, you are all wet! You should have used your raincoats!" He said matter-of-factly."That's true. But little miss dumdum here, quite conveniently, forgot to bring hers."Sophie reddened a bit, then just as quickly she reached out her hand, "Sophie Brooke. The one and only little miss dumdum. Two years in a row!"Bob shook her hand awkwardly. Shaking hands didn't come natural to him. But awkward or not, he gave a deep rumble of a laughter. That was the most natural thing he was capable of. "Nice to meet you miss, I'm Robert. But you shouldn't call such a nice girl, such rude things, master Crawford!""That's ok. Don't mind him, he's a silly goose. But I was wondering if I could rent an-" Sophie's face froze and began to turn pale. And for more than minute, she didn't move, awkwardly staring at Bob whose face grew confused at the change. Sophie looked even more nervous with that, which made Bob guilty along with bewildered. Which made Sophie guilty.Noah looked back and forth between the passing of the emotional ball. Then hitting upon a thought, he slowly said, "You don't have to pay for the umbrella right now.""Oh! Don't worry about paying!" Bob said breaking out of the weirdest stare game first. "You must be the family who moved in the Neandle Street, ah yes. I'm silly. The whole 'rent an umbrella' thing is just a thing we have, ya see, ma'am. This isn't a big city, but we occasionally do things that looks like we are," Bob said paddling towards the umbrella stand. "Everyone lives in this here small perimeters, and everybody has their own umbrella. So we never get to actually 'rent' the umbrellas. And the one or two every year that we do, it'd be stupid to actually charge you for it. It's fantastic that I got to meet you! You never see two new faces in less than eight years.""I can't take it, but that's very kind of you.""Please! I was all sold out of our sale umbrellas anyway. This is one of my spare ones. Don't look at it like a gift. Think of it as a promotional investment. Competition's been tough since they opened up another hardware store in the town market. But we," and here he took a long pause leaning down at them, and sweeping the empty air with one hand he said, "care." "Thank you," Sophie said smiling uncomfortably as she took the umbrella. "I'll bring the money when I return it.""If that's so important to you, then do so. But then we'll have to give you a new housewarming gift!" And Bob sent out another deep-seated laughter.They were out into the rain again in a minute, after refusing a blow-dryer and a vacuum cleaner and a snow blower. Herring didn't even get snow. Noah was wearing his raincoat again, as it was meant to be worn. Sophie was sheepishly carrying the umbrella she didn't pay for. Bob was also there, absolutely rejecting the idea that they cross the road on their own. They taught road safety in schools for a reason, and Bob would be a fool not to pass it down. Just because Herring didn't have a lot of people doesn't mean that they can cross the roads willy-nilly. So, the three of them walked towards the alley beside Bob's Hardwares. And while they were walking through the alley Sophie thought of something Bob had said, and she wondered whether that was a weird thing to say."Two new faces in eight years?" she asked. "You don't get many new visitors?"Noah chuckled. That was probably true. But he told her that wasn't entirely it.You see, the town of Herring was a well-decorated trap for most of the people that came there. No one usually got out of it. Generations had seen its lineage go down in the village of people living in the same lives through years of its existence. There was a road that led out of it. It was in the northeast. It was next to the town dump. But it was a facade. It led a way out of the town, but it didn't lead you away from it in principle. The only way you could get out, and the way the few rebels did get out, was by leaving to never return. Any face that showed itself twice on the road, showed itself more than twice.The only house that didn't give a flying chicken about it all was the House on the Corner, and even it cycled through its families in only eight years.So when the family in the next house down from the House on the Corner of Neandle Street moved in, such an unheard phenomenon was shocking to see. The town which never talked, murmured with excitement and reproach at this strange little thing they had on their hands. "Normally, the only new family that moves in the town is a flock of birds. And I honestly don't think even that's true.""He isn't wrong, ya know. But we love new people!" Bob remarked eagerly."Oh. Well, the theory isn't all dead, though," said Sophie thinking about something. Both of them furrowed their brows. "It's my great grandmum's house. She used to live here before she married. And I think my dad used to live here too, at some time, I think. We share the ownership with my Uncle's family.""But Frank never married before he died. He didn't have a son, let alone a grandson, or a great granddaughter!""Frank is the person who lived there before us? He must have been my great granduncle or something. Well, my father didn't 'live' with him. He just- spent some time here, I think. At least, that's what I have pieced. He's very busy right now, so he hasn't told me all about it.""Frank, living with children?" Bob said thinking out loud. "That's unfortunate.""Why?" asked Sophie."Frank wasn't the nicest person you'd meet." Noah said before Bob could answer. Bob didn't mind, he was trying to go through all the names in his head right then. "I wouldn't be surprised if you guys found some pentagrams books in the attic."Bob cleared out his thought in disagreement. "We shouldn't speak ill of the dead. They are not here to defend themselves."Noah crossed the road first, without a response, and the others followed looking around to make sure the street was clear. Then they were walking in another alley."Dad never said anything about it.""What's your dad's name, ma'am?" Bob asked Sophie."Alexander Brook.""Alex!" Bob jumped up with the revelation. Then his face dropped going deeper into thought. "You know him?""Yes! But he never told me he moved in.""Yeah, he's working on this really big case. He doesn't come out of his room for days. I don't think he has talked to anyone in the town; he even ordered the food over the phone. He's kinda working overtime.""Alex is a lawyer?" Bob said perking up as if that was the best news he had ever heard. "That's great! That's great for him! I won't interrupt him if he's busy. But when he is done with his big case, make sure to tell him to drop by. I haven't seen him in years.""Sure will. Thanks for crossing the street with us, Mr Robert! And thanks for the umbrella." Sophie said handing over the umbrella. "The rain is gone, now. And we are almost there, I'll walk home without it.""No! Oh no, you're Alex's daughter. You have ta keep the umbrella, now. It would be poor of me to not leave you with a gift. In fact, you should come with me and pick a new umbrella. This one's used."Sophie laughed. "No, that's fine.""Alright, I'll leave you two, then. And don't forget to tell me when he's free. I would love to come over with an actual present.""That's okay, Mr Robert. Thanks again!"Bob nodded with a perfect smile and turned around. He might have even added a skip to his walk as he strode back to his shop."Seems like your father and him were close," Noah started while they both stared at the big heap of a man walking down the street."I have no idea. Maybe he's just excited to see an old face.""That's true. You never do."The kids walked along the other corner, through the bend, and appeared on Neandle Street right where the House on the Corner stood. Sophie glanced at the house and then did a double take. Noah didn't question it, that was quite normal.But Sophie, unlike any sane person, didn't ask him about the spots. She just smiled at them and bid goodbye towards her own house. Besides, if Sophie wanted to ask about them, she would've done it the day she moved in. The spots directly faced her room's window, right below Noah's window.But she didn't ask. Even when she appeared in the middle of the night, out of the darkness, on his window, with nothing but a flashlight and a weird grin.