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A moment’s reflection proved her right. “Yeah, you got me there, but I have a good reason.” He leaned on the table and gestured for them to come closer. Keeping his voice down, he told them about the faceless man, the trackless snow, the disappearing truck and the major highway that ended in the middle of nowhere.
“Maybe you turned off the highway somewhere without knowing it,” Winter said.
Bryce shook his head. “As soon as I turned around, it quit snowing. I drove back slowly, and I kept an eye out for any other roads. The only one I saw was for the ski hill.” He looked at each of them in turn. “Besides, I was following that truck, and I was never more than two hundred meters behind it. Until it turned that last corner, I never lost sight of it.”
The silence grew louder, and the room seemed to get a bit colder.
Winter sat up straighter, and three pairs of eyes focused on her, making her fidget with her hands in her lap, but after a few seconds, she drew in a breath and said, ‘What did you do last summer?”
Bryce didn’t know what she was getting at, but he was the first to answer. “We were on a team together, and we played a lot of softball. And Misty was in a junior league.”
Crystal nodded. “And we went on more than one picnic at the lake with you.”
“Bryce and I went fishing, and we all went camping a couple of times.”
Winter nodded and smiled at each answer, but her lips were pressed tight. “Sure you remember summer, and doing summer things, but do any of you remember last summer?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah.”
“Think hard, take as long as you like, then tell me a single specific thing that you did last summer.”
Bryce thought hard, chasing elusive memories, trying to count the months back to last summer, but it was like trying to count forward when Misty asked about summer at the skating rink yesterday. He could remember lots of summer activities over a period of years but nothing he could actually pin down to last summer. He quit trying, glanced instead at Cole and Crystal, saw their faces twisting in confusion. So he wasn’t the only one.
Winter wore the same tight-lipped smile.
Bryce broke the silence. “What are you getting at?”
“I went to the library and couldn’t find anything in the papers about anything that happened last summer.”
“What do you mean? How could they not report what happened last summer?”
“There were no papers dated last summer. And when I complained to the librarian, she said I was the first person she knew that ever looked at back issues, but that she would look into it, which I didn’t believe for a second, so I called the newspaper office myself. Guess what? All their back issues from last summer are gone, too. And here’s another thing: when is the last time you got fresh vegetables?” Winter paused to catch her breath and take a drink of her peach wine cooler.
Crystal nudged Cole with her elbow. “Tell them. Now’s the time.”
Cole glanced at Winter, looked up at Bryce, and asked, “Here’s something else to think about. Do you have relatives outside the city?”
Bryce took the bait. “Of course I do. Everybody does.”
“And how do you know that? What proof do you have? A piece of paper with words on it? Anybody could have written that. A voice on the phone? It’s just a voice. It’s not the same as seeing a real person.”
“Do you have a point?” Bryce took a swig of beer and contemplated ordering another bottle.
Cole stood up. “Come here and I’ll show you.” He led Bryce to the pay phone, dropped in some change, dialed a number. “Listen to this.” He held the receiver away from his ear and turned up the volume so Bryce could hear, too. Somebody picked up, they exchanged greetings, and then Cole said, “Hey, Flo, it’s been a long time. You should come up and visit.”
“I can’t get away.”
“Then I’ll come down and visit you.”
“At this time of year? Are you nuts? You live in a snow belt, the snowplows can’t keep up. You’ll kill yourself on that highway.”
“Yeah, you’re right, it was stupid idea. Anyhow, it was nice talking to you. Catch you later. Bye.” He broke the connection, then handed the phone to Bryce. “Now you call somebody you know. Don’t let the conversation get too involved, just say what I did.”
About Rik Hunik
