Haunted Shipwreck Read Free Page A

off her knees. “Why didn’t you ride your bike, silly?”
    “It’s locked up.” The boneshaker was still fresh on Jack’s mind. Then he remembered his Huffy. “My mom won’t let me ride it.”
    “How come?”
    “Beats me. She’s in one of her snits today.”
    “That time of the month, huh?” Chelle grinned as if she had recently learned firsthand of the cycle.
    “Uh…I think she lost track of that time awhile ago. Listen, I got to go.”
    “Have you seen Bobby around?”
    “Blue? I’m on my way to his house. You want me to have him call you or something?”
    “I’ll be by later, silly.”
    “All right then. Later, Chelle.”
    “Bye, Jack.”
    He followed the curb past Chelle’s house. His gaze drifted southward. Halberd Park sat in the middle of the circle formed by Rivulet Road. He considered taking a shortcut and crossing through the woods to Blue’s house. He squashed that thought as soon as it formed. He would rather walk barefoot on hot coals than risk hearing that melody from the grave or running into the robed woman. He shook off a tremble.
    “Jackie!”
    Jack looked up as he passed Lisa Lynd’s house. She beamed at him from her third story bedroom window.
    “Wait up!” She waved and then disappeared.
    “Shit.”
    Lisa was a nice girl, and Jack’s age, but she was on clearance in the looks department. She had a teen idol crush on him. In truth, it was flattering, though the guys heckled him. It was one thing to have jailbait such as Chelle ringing your phone off the hook. It was quite another thing to have a geeky, bucktoothed Pippie Longstocking look-alike chasing you down the block.
    Lisa rushed out her front door with a slip of paper in hand. She stopped at the curb and adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses.
    “How are you, Jackie?”
    “All right.”
    “What’s that?” Lisa pointed as she twirled her right pigtail. She then giggled behind her hand.
    “A porkpie. Glad you find it funny.”
    “Oh, Jackie, I’m sorry. I’ve never seen one before. It sure has a funny name, though.”
    “Yeah. Ha-ha.”
    “You’re not mad at me, are you? I’m really sorry, Jackie. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Do you want to see what Daddy gave me yesterday?”
    Lisa’s father was the postman. He delivered mail to fifty mailboxes, the fiftieth being his own. Whatever Lisa had in her hand was not going to get more exciting than a check from Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
    “Sure,” Jack deadpanned.
    “Limited edition Michael Jackson stamps! Aren’t they awesome?”
    Jack eyed them with raised brows. The stamps depicted the Thriller years, for the King of Pop was dark-skinned with a glistening jerry curl.
    “That’s, uh…cool, Lisa. Well, I’d better beat it.”
    “Hold on, Jackie. Don’t you want a couple? I thought we could send each other postcards or maybe even…love letters.”
    Jack gaped at her, taken aback. The word “love” had never escaped her mouth before. It was obvious that her crush had reached a new depth. He shook his head. As bad as he wanted to tell her off, he lacked the heart to hurt her feelings. So instead he walked away.
    “Why don’t you mail them to me, Lisa? I got to get going. I’m supposed to meet Blue in a few.”
    “Just don’t forget to use the stamps!”
    Jack followed Rivulet Road to the fork where Bodkin Bend intersected the circle, all the while dwelling on the recent conversation. What would it take for Lisa to get the hint? Maybe he should tell her outright. That thought gave him butterflies. He did not want her going Fatal Attraction on him or, worse yet, her father going postal. His fear was rooted to the fact that he had never dumped a girl in his life. Even though they were not together, he would still be kicking her off the curb into oncoming traffic. Boy, relationships were a hassle.
    He passed Bodkin Bend, his eyes roving the line of makeshift mailboxes - nine rusted oilcans on fence posts. He sighed. It was a further reminder of