Chapter Seven

Quinn

"I'm not trying to ruin your life, Clive Joseph!" I shout as I enter the bedroom again. "In fact, I'm trying to give you a life, to let you have fun. Most kids beg their parents to go trick-or-treating, you know."

I drop to my knees on the floor and look under the bed. No one's there.

"Great," I mutter under my breath. "Looks like I've been talking to myself this whole time."

I sit on the edge of the bed and lean on my thighs. My hands dangle between my knees and I let out a sigh.

I thought Clive and I had talked about this already. He agreed to go trick-or-treating - well, he didn't expressively agree, but he did nod and he's stopped complaining about it - and in exchange, I was going to buy him a comic book. We were going to have lots of fun.

Why then has he gone missing now that we're about to leave?

I stand up. "Clive, come out right now! This isn't funny!"

No answer.

I grab the comic books on the shelf. "I'm going to confiscate your comic books!"

Still no answer. Either he doesn't care about his comics anymore or he's not within earshot. Where on earth is he?

I head downstairs and continue shouting. "Clive, I'm not playing games with you, okay?"

"What's wrong?" my mother asks from the kitchen.

I can smell her pumpkin pie.

"I can't find Clive," I tell her. "Have you seen him?"

She shakes her head. "I was busy taking the pies out of the oven. You're bringing two to Ellen, right?"

"If I can find Clive." I go to the living room. "Clive!"

Still no sign of him.

I walk out the front door. "Clive, why are you doing this to me? We already talked about this, remember? You're being mean! And unreasonable! And selfish! Come out right now, or I swear I'll..."

I stop as I see Steven walking towards me.

"You'll what?" he asks me.

I just sigh.

"You look like you're about to cry," he teases.

I ignore that. "Have you seen Clive? We're supposed to be leaving now."

"I know. Well, I saw him a few minutes ago when he went out of the house."

My eyes grow wide. "He left the house?"

"Yeah. I thought you sent him to get a pumpkin or something."

I shake my head. "Why would I do that?"

Steven shrugs.

I hold my hand above my eyes and glance in every direction. Now, where can that boy have gone?

"He had his backpack," Steven mentions suddenly.

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I start walking off. "If he comes back before I do, tell him to stay put and that he's caused enough trouble." I look over my shoulder. "And if I'm not back in five minutes, call Ellen and tell her we might not get there for lunch."

"Okay."

I start searching for Clive around the farm. The problem is that he could be anywhere. He could be hiding in the fields. He could be up a tree or behind a log. Who knows where he might be?

"Clive?"

Still no answer.

"If you can hear me, just answer me, please."

Still none. I'm getting near the end of my patience, not to mention my wits. As the seconds tick by, I begin to worry. What if something happened to him? What if he had an asthma attack? I put his inhaler in his backpack, but what if he can't get to it in time?

"Clive, just come out, okay? I won't be mad anymore. I won't even force you to go trick-or-treating anymore. I promise."

Still, I hear nothing. Fear floods my chest. I try to keep it down, though. I shake my head as I push all the negative scenarios away.

No. He's fine. He's just hiding because he doesn't want me to find him. And he's probably not coming out because he can't hear me. I have to stay calm.

Breathe, Quinn.

"Clive?"

If he's not here on the farm, maybe he went somewhere else? Most of the properties around here have tall barbed wire fences, though. But I can think of one that doesn't.

The Carmichael property. Or maybe I should be calling it the Strauss property now.

Can Clive have gone there? There's only one way to find out.

I head to the Strauss farm and up to the house. Mr. Strauss is sitting on the bench in front carving a pumpkin. He looks up when he hears me approaching.

"Quinn?" His eyebrows crease. "What are you doing here? I thought - "

"Have you seen Clive?" I ask him.

He looks puzzled. Right. He hasn't seen him.

"He's about this tall..." I hold my hand slightly below my shoulder. "And he has dark brown hair, like hickory brown, that's a little long."

Mr. Strauss shakes his head. "Sorry, I haven't seen him. Is he missing?"

"Unfortunately." I sigh. "I guess he really doesn't want to go trick-or-treating. I should be looking for him."

I turn around. As I do, something shiny in the bush by the front door catches my eye. I take a closer look and see a tiny helmet, the exact same one on Clive's keychain.

"He's here."

He used to come here before when the house was still unoccupied. He said it was a good place to read because it was so quiet. Now that the Strausses are here, he must have sat by this bush waiting for a chance to get inside. When he had that chance, he bolted in.

I almost rush in as well, but I remember this is private property.

I glance at Mr. Strauss. "May I?"

He puts down the pumpkin he's carving. "Let me help. I'll look on the third floor. You look on the first and second."

We part ways. I don't want to shout when I'm in someone else's house, so I simply try to scour every room, looking in every potential hiding place - behind each curtain, under each table, inside each cabinet.

When there's no sign of Clive on the first floor, I start looking on the second. I bump into Janice.

"Is everything alright?" she asks me.

"I'm just looking for my son," I tell her as I open another cabinet in the hallway.

She looks puzzled. "You have a son?"

I guess I haven't mentioned it to her.

"Yes. I'll tell you all about it later." I close the cabinet. "You didn't see a boy walking around here, did you?"

Janice shakes her head. "Nope."

"Quinn!" Mr. Strauss calls from upstairs.

I leave Janice and run up the stairs.

"Where are you?" I ask when I reach the top.

"Here in the attic," he answers.

I run in the direction of his voice. After a few seconds, I reach a large but crowded room with boxes covering nearly every inch of the floor. A breeze blows in through the lone small window and the dust it scatters nearly makes me cough.

Mr. Strauss points to the pile of mattresses against one wall. On top of them, just like the girl in "The Princess and the Pea", Clive sits with his backpack pressed to his chest.

"Clive, thank goodness." I breathe out a sigh of relief. "Do you have any idea how much you made me worry?"

He doesn't answer. As he moves further against the wall, he lets out a cough.

Shit. His lungs might not be able to take the air in this room much longer. I know mine barely can.

I force myself to calm down. "Clive, please get down from there before you get an asthma attack. Let's talk. Again."

"I don't want to go trick-or-treating," he says.

I knew it.

"Your Aunt Ellen and your cousins are waiting for us."

"I don't want to go," he repeats. "Why won't you listen?"

He gives another cough. I let out a sigh.

Fine, I give up.

"Okay. You don't have to go. Just get down from there, please."

"Promise?"

I nod. "Promise."

Clive glances at Mr. Strauss. I'd forgotten he was in the room.

"You heard her."

"I did." He nods. "And I know your mother is a woman of her word."

I throw him a glance of gratitude. "Now, please come down?"

Clive descends using the boxes beside the mattresses. I hold my breath. Finally, his feet land on the floor.

Now, I can really be relieved.

I try to hug him, but I notice how dusty his clothes are. I frown. "Go and wash in the bathroom downstairs and then we'll talk."

He nods and leaves the room. I follow. I can't stand being in the attic for a moment longer. Once outside, I draw a deep breath.

"That room needs cleaning."

"I know," Mr. Strauss agrees.

He falls silent. When I look at him, he has a grin on his face.

"What?"

"Nothing." He shrugs. "I was just thinking that you and I might be in the same boat."

My eyes narrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your son doesn't like listening to you either, does he?"

I frown. "And that makes you happy, does it?"

"No. It just makes me think that I should really listen to you because you do understand what I'm going through."

For some reason, that makes me happy.

"Yeah. We parents all have it hard. You might look at a mother and think she's got it under control or that she has it easy, but no one does. Some are just better at pretending. Oh, but I wasn't trying to pretend or anything, though."

"Doesn't it get easier?" Mr. Strauss asks.

"I used to think that, but the challenges just keep coming. They might stop throwing tantrums, but then they'll start arguing with you. They might not be running around anymore, but then they get lazy. You don't worry about them falling down the stairs, but you worry about them not having friends. They cry over their shoelaces, and then one day they grow up and they start throwing a fuss about you treating them like a baby and forcing them to do baby stuff."

"Like trick-or-treating? I thought kids only stopped doing that when they reached 12."

"Well, kids seem to be growing up faster these days." I let out a sigh. "I guess we're not going to town anymore."

We head downstairs. I look for Clive in the bathroom, but he isn't there.

Not again.

Then I hear voices. And laughter.

I follow the sounds and end up in Marianne's bedroom. My eyes grow wide as I see her and Clive sitting on the floor. Clive seems to have something between his cupped palms.

"Now, look." He lets Marianne sneak a peek.

She gasps.

"See. It glows in the dark."

Marianne smiles. "I want to glow in the dark."

"Silly. Only phosphors glow in the dark. And fireflies. And glow worms. And some deep sea creatures."

I grin. When did my little boy start to sound so cool?

"And pixies. I want to be a pixie." Marianne stands up and flaps her arms like they're wings.

I finally make my entrance. "I think they sell pixie costumes on Halloween."

Marianne's face lights up.

"But only trick-or-treaters wear costumes, Mom," Clive says.

"Says who?" I ask him. "Anyone can wear costumes on Halloween."

"What's this I hear about costumes?" Janice enters the room. "Are we having a Halloween party?"

"A Halloween party?" Marianne echoes. "Can we have one? Please?"

I glance at her father. "Why don't you ask your dad?"

She just purses her lips and gives him a hopeful look.

"I think a Halloween party would be nice," I tell him. "Now that Clive and I aren't leaving, we could all have some fun right here."

"I could drive to town and get everything we need," Janice offers. "Even the costumes."

All eyes turn to Mr. Strauss. He lets out a deep breath.

"Fine. We can have a Halloween party."

Marianne cheers. Even Clive throws his fist into the air. I smile at the thought that Halloween might still end up being exciting this year.

"But on one condition."

I throw him a puzzled glance.

"I'm not wearing a costume."