Page 65 of The Witch’s Orchard

Nicole groans and says, “She told me to be brave.”

“Be brave?” I ask.

She nods.

“Just generally or…?”

“She just said to be brave.”

“Okay. What about you, Tam?”

“Shit,” Tam says, his voice edgier now. “My mom’s wasted enough time up at that witch’s house. I don’t need to clean some old lady’s cabin to know I’ve got to get my ass out of this town.”

“I get that,” I say.

“Oh yeah?” Tam cocks a dubious eyebrow at me.

“Yeah,” I say.

“I looked you up, you know,” Tam says. “You were in the military, right?”

“Yeah, Air Force.”

“You recommend it?”

“Not particularly.”

He laughs, and I say, “But if you’re set on it, let me know. I might be able to get you a leg up with recruiting.”

He looks at me for a good long while and then nods his head once and looks away, toward the horizon. I let out a breath and think about Tam, so much like I was at that age only better-looking and cooler and more grown-up, and I think about the military and what it did for me,tome.

I follow his gaze and see a tall, brown-brick building off in the distance.

“What is that?” I ask, pointing.

“That’s the old factory,” Tam says.

“Yeah,” Nicole says. “DrakeCo. Everyone used to work there when we were little.”

“Okay,” I say. “It’s not being used for anything now?”

Tam frowns, bites his bottom lip. Nicole looks up at him, her eyebrows raised as if prompting him to come clean about something.

“What is it?” I ask.

“My dad,” Tam says.

“What about him?”

“Couple guys at school,” Nicole says when Tam fails to answer. “They saw him over there the other day. Him and Tam’s uncle.”

“Dwight?” I ask. “Dwight Hoyle?”

Tam nods.

“I thought the building was closed.”

“It is,” Tam says. “It’s…”