Jewelweed (47 page)

Danielle came in then, and said they had to help Mrs. Roebuck in the garden at three o'clock. That gave them just two hours.

The boys went out back and walked around the pond, skipping stones. August told Ivan about Milton coming back, and showed him the little piece of rolled-up paper that had been wrapped around Milton's leg.

“Do you have Milton with you?” asked Ivan.

“No, I had to leave him home. It's too bad; he would love this pond.”

Ivan pointed out the floating tube and told August more about the giant turtle that he and Wally were trying to catch. August wanted to know everything. How big was its body? How big were its head and neck?
What color was it? Was its shell smooth, wavy, or spiked with ridges like dorsal fins? Why did Kevin say it was the devil?

As they continued walking around the pond, Ivan told him everything he knew, and after that August started going over and sticking his hand into the water every so often. Once again, Ivan had the feeling he always got when August and he were together—he just knew something was about to happen, and he knew it would be fun.

“You've described an alligator snapping turtle,
Macrochelys temminckii
,” said August. “It's related to the common snapper, but bigger—the longest-surviving reptile known to science. It retains many features common to the Triassic period. And they're indigenous to North America.”

“Why is he so hard to catch?”

“I don't know,” replied August, checking the water temperature again with his hand.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“He should be in the warmest water in the pond. Gator turtles prefer milder climates. In fact, they don't usually come this far north. They're more commonly found in southern states, as far north as Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa.”

“So he likes warm water,” Ivan said.

“It's a good guess.”

“Let's get the boat,” suggested Ivan.

“And a reliable thermometer,” August added.

They ran inside and moved silently through the house, finding their way to the kitchen. Ivan went for the meat thermometer.

“Oh no you don't!” yelled Danielle. “Put that back!”

“We just want to test the water in the pond,” pleaded Ivan.

“That's for food,” she replied. “Those disgusting pond germs could kill us all.”

“But we—”

“Put it back, Ivan.”

When they went back outdoors, Wally was on the deck with a cup of coffee. He set down his mug, tucked his shirt into his pants, and said, “Come on, boys.” They followed him into the pole shed.

“Up there,” he pointed. Ivan scrambled up on the workbench and took down a wall thermometer with a picture of hybrid seed corn.

The three of them went out and got into the boat. Ivan rowed. Wally sipped coffee and lowered the temperature gauge into the water, calling out the numbers. August wrote them down in the back of a little notebook, inside a little drawing of the pond.

It took a long time.

Wally didn't know anything about the Wild Boy, so they told him.

“We've seen him up close, as close as we are now,” said Ivan.

“Where does he sleep?”

“Wherever he wants. And look, he slipped this into my pocket.” Ivan showed him the flat, round rock.

“Can I hold it?” Wally asked. Ivan handed it over. He rubbed it for a long time with his old fingers. “That's real nice,” he said. “Real nice. Give me back that notebook for a minute.” August did, and he wrote something down before handing it back.

“What does he eat?”

“Mostly roots, insects, grass, and honey, we think, but folks give him other stuff too,” explained Ivan. “August and I are the only people he trusts, though, except for Mr. Hermit.”

“His real name is Lester Mortal,” said August. “He's a decorated war hero who fought in three foreign countries and hunts wild ginseng for extra money.”

“And he lives inside a hill,” added Ivan.

“I used to know Lester,” said Wally. “He was about ten years younger than me, and probably still is. He worked at the co-op, and then he joined the military after his father died. He was a nice fellow. I'd like to see him again.”

Just then Kevin came out on the deck with his mother. Amy waved and Ivan rowed over.

Amy smiled with a pained look on her face.

“That's my boat,” said Kevin angrily. He was as white as cooked fish, and still in his pajamas.

“We know it is,” said Wally. “And we've got room for you right beside August here. Come on, Kev. We need your help.”

When Mrs. Roebuck frowned, Wally added, “He'll be fine, Amy. He will. Come on, lift that tank down here. August, keep an eye on the tubing. With the four of us, that turtle doesn't stand a chance in hell.”

“Wally, don't talk that way around the boys,” said Amy as she helped
Kevin into the boat. Kevin wobbled over and sat next to August, setting the boat to sloshing.

“Wait,” said Amy, and handed down a big hat to put on Kevin's head.

Ivan rowed out to the middle of the pond.

Kevin asked what they were doing and August explained, “We're trying to find the location of the highest relative water temperature, so we can better position the necrotic lure.”

“You talk funny,” said Kevin.

“I know it,” said August. “My mom says my unfortunate verbal habits make many people uncomfortable. I sincerely hope you won't feel that way.”

“I don't care,” said Kevin, and coughed underneath his hat.

“Excellent,” said August. “You have a fine boat.”

“Ivan says you have a pet bat.”

“That's true, but I don't want too many people to know about him, at least not until my application for a wildlife rehabilitation license has been approved.”

“Stop rowing,” said Wally. Then he lowered the thermometer into the water and read out the number to August.

“This is the place,” August said. “Each time we've sampled this area the temperatures have been higher.”

“Let's move the tube over,” suggested Ivan.

“If we find him, will we kill him?” asked Kevin.

“That will be up to you, Kev,” said Wally.

“Good,” said Kevin, coughing again.

They towed the black tube over to the warm area of the pond and tossed in the anchor. August pulled up the four strings and checked the fish, which were still hanging there white-eye dead.

“You know what?” said August.

“What?” they asked.

“If we duct-taped my flashlight to the tube and taped one of the strings over it in just the right way, a tug on the end of the line would turn on the flashing light, giving us a signal.”

“Let's do it,” said Kevin. “There's a roll of tape in my room.”

Ivan rowed back to the dock. Kevin told Ivan where to look for the tape, and then on the way back Ivan picked up August's flashlight and another cup of coffee for Wally.

Later, while they were taping the string to a little piece of wood that
would go over the flashlight switch, Danielle came out on the deck and yelled, her voice jumping across the water.

“It's three o'clock, Ivan. You're supposed to be helping Mrs. Roebuck in the garden. You don't want me to have to come out there and get you.”

“All right,” said Ivan, and started rowing back. But then Amy came out on the deck, stood next to Danielle, and they talked for a few minutes. Then they pushed each other, laughed, and Danielle yelled, “One half hour, Ivan—no more.”

They had just enough time to get everything done. The flashlight was set and aimed at the house.

When they had finished their work, Kevin went back to his room and Wally went upstairs to take a nap. August and Ivan pulled weeds and dug in the dirt out front.

Sometime later, Lucky's shiny car pulled up next to the pole shed. The motor revved up before it shut off. He got out, locked the doors, and walked over to Amy. She took off her gardening gloves as she talked to him. The boys couldn't hear what they said initially, but they could see Amy frowning and looking at the ground. They were clearly arguing.

“Where is she?” Lucky asked, raising his voice to an audible level.

“Inside,” replied Amy.

Lucky went into the house.

Amy put her gloves back on, dug a few holes with her trowel, then stood up again.

“I'll be back,” she said to the boys, and went in after Lucky. The boys could hear them arguing again just inside the door, but they couldn't make out the words. Then they couldn't hear anything more.

August and Ivan looked at each other. “Go on,” August told him. “If anyone asks, I'll say you went to take a pee.”

Ivan went into the house, took off his shoes, walked a little way down the hall, and listened.

Amy was sitting by herself in the dining room, staring into space. Danielle and Lucky were talking in the kitchen, so Ivan went down and stood near the doorway.

Lucky said something about government contracts being announced in three weeks. Everything had gone just as he'd hoped, just as he'd planned, just as he'd said.

“Fine,” said Danielle.

“We should get together tonight. Go into Madison, back to my place.”

“Ivan has a friend over. I can't go anywhere.”

“Tomorrow night, then,” he said.

“August is staying until Monday, and those two can get into trouble quicker than politicians tell lies.”

Then Lucky's voice changed.

“You and I aren't finished,” he said.

“I gave you back the dress. I had a nice time that night, met a lot of nice people, but—”

“But what?” he snarled.

“I'm not going anywhere with you again. Never.”

Lucky stepped closer to her and his voice turned mean. “There's been a reward offered,” he said. “A big reward.” He waited for her to respond, but she didn't.

“A diamond necklace was stolen,” he said.

“That has nothing to do with me.”

“What do you think Amy would say if I told her I knew what happened to that necklace? What do you think Buck would say if I told him?”

Ivan's mother didn't say a thing.

“Ten years in prison, do you hear that?”

A brief silence followed. “I'll pick you up next week,” he said.

When Lucky walked by he didn't notice Ivan standing against the wall on the other side of the doorway. He lit a cigarette as he went down the hall. Ivan's mother stayed in the kitchen.

Back in the garden, Ivan told August everything.

“What do you think he meant about the necklace?” asked August.

“I don't know,” said Ivan.

“Things often seem worse than they are,” said August. “Don't worry.”

“You shouldn't talk about not worrying,” replied Ivan. “And just for the record, I really hate that guy Lucky.”

After supper, Kevin said August and Ivan could play one of his video games, so long as they did it in his room. He'd changed out of his pajamas and into a pair of too-big blue jeans and a red long-sleeve shirt. He looked as if he was feeling better, but he still had the hose running up his nose.

August was no good at video games, and after an hour or so Ivan could
see that Kevin felt sorry for him. He set his laptop down and showed August some things he could do to get better scores.

It didn't help.

“You're hopeless,” said Kevin.

“My fingers won't move the way I tell them to,” explained August.

Amy stuck her head into the room just then, but she didn't say anything. A little while later Buck came in. August hadn't met him yet, so he just stared at him.

“Hello, boys,” he said. “How's it going?”

August and Ivan thought Kevin would answer, since Buck was his dad, but when he didn't say anything August spoke up. “Excellent, Mr. Roebuck.”

“You must be August Helm,” said Buck, sitting down in the chair next to Kevin's bed.

“I am.”

“I've heard a lot about you, all of it good.”

“I'm afraid I have absolutely no skill in these games, though.”

“Neither do I,” said Buck.

“That's okay for you,” said August. “But at my age a proficiency in fine-motor skills is practically a prerequisite for existing.”

Buck laughed.

“He talks funny, doesn't he, Dad?” said Kevin.

“He talks just fine. It's hearing the word
proficiency
again,” said Buck. “It's like an old song that hasn't been played in a long time. Say, is there any supper left?”