The Dark Divine
Page 31

"James?" Dad came up the driveway.
The sheriff followed.
Daniel moved slightly behind me.
The deputy tried to bar our neighbors from entering the yard, but he let Dad and the sheriff pass. Dad grabbed James and swung him around. He looked at Daniel. "Well done," he said, and wrapped his arm around Daniel's shoulder. "Well done, my son."
"I don't mean to bust up this little reunion," the sheriff said, "but I'll need to get your statement." He looked at Daniel.
"There's not much to state." Daniel shrugged. "I found him wandering in the woods, and I brought him home. He must have knocked over his playpen and decided to go on a little adventure,"
I stared at him. That's it? I guess I didn't expect him to tell the truth--he followed the baby's scent through the forest, caught James midair when he fell off a thirty-foot cliff, and then used his very own superhuman powers to get us out of the ravine--but he sounded so nonchalant. No drama at all.
"That's not all that happened!" I practically shouted. Daniel shot me a wide-eyed look, like he was afraid that I'd tell everyone his secrets--which I totally wouldn't. My mind latched on to the first plausible, but furthest from the real scenario, lie I could think of. "He stopped James from falling in the creek!"
Mom cried and pulled James out of Dad's arms.
I was glad it was too dark for anyone to see the "lie marks" spreading up my cheeks. "Daniel's a hero. He saved James's life." I wanted people to know that truth, even if Daniel didn't want them to hear the real story.
"And the baby was alone? Uninjured?" The sheriff raised his eyebrows and motioned to the bloody tear in Daniel's makeshift shirt-sling. Daniel and I nodded.
"So how do you explain the blood on the porch?" Daniel's face went blank.
"That's not his job to explain," said Dad. "It could have been anything--probably one of the neighborhood cats. Don't you have a forensics lab to tell you for sure; The sheriff snorted. "The Rose Crest Sheriff's Department is a trailer behind the Gas 'n' Go. I'll have Deputy Marsh take a sample and send it to a lab in the city. It'll take a while before we hear anything." He looked at me. "And there's nothing more you'd like to add? Nothing else you can remember?"
"Daniel saved my brother's life," I said. "That's all there is to it." A car whipped into the driveway, scattering a gaggle of spectators onto the lawn.
"Mom. Dad." Jude jumped out of the minivan and pushed through the crowd. Not even the deputy could stop him. "I've brought the cavalry! I've got half the volunteers from the shelter coming to help us--" He stopped. The look of triumph on his face shifted into stony nothingness. I followed his hardened glare from James in my mother's arms to the sight of Dad holding Daniel in a fatherly embrace.
"James is safe," Mom said.
"Thanks to Daniel." Dad squeezed Daniel's shoulder. "James would have been lost without him." The sheriff extended his hand toward Daniel. Daniel flinched--then stared back in disbelief as the sheriff gave him a hearty handshake.
"Well done," the sheriff said. He shined his flashlight along the back fence. "You should get that fixed," he said to Dad. "You're lucky this case turned out for the best. If it hadn't been for your son here ..." At first I thought he was talking about Jude, but then I realized he was smiling at Daniel.
Dad did not correct him.
"We'll wrap up a few things here and then get out of your hair." The sheriff clapped Daniel on the back. "My wife had a conniption when I left dinner early. Her parents are in town... They wanted her to marry an accountant."
"We'll get to work on that fence right away," Dad said, and shook hands with the sheriff.
"Daniel, you're handy, aren't you?"
Daniel nodded.
"I'm going to take James inside." Mom smiled slightly and squeezed Daniel's arm. I think it was her way of saying thank you.
I couldn't help smiling. It may have taken some twisting of the truth, but my plan to help Daniel get his life back was working--the lifeline I'd offered seemed to be reeling him in. But then I heard a deep rumbling coming from the direction of my older brother. He was positively shaking.
"Ju--"
Jude lunged at Daniel. "You did this!" he shrieked, and smashed his fist into Daniel's face. Daniel fell back, knocking me to the ground with him. Jude went in for another blow, practically stepping on me to get to Daniel, But then the sheriff was on top of him. He pulled Jude back. Mom shouted.
Jude flailed and screamed, "He did this! He did this! Don't you see?" Daniel scrambled up from the grass. "Jude?" He reached for his former best friend. "I swear I didn't do this."
Jude wrenched out of the sheriff's grasp and tried to fly at Daniel again. Dad stepped between them. The sheriff grabbed Jude from behind.
"Calm down," Dad said.
"He did this. He stole James." Jude looked up the sheriff. "Arrest him. Get him before he runs away!"
Daniel stepped back. I knew he could be a quarter of a mile away by now, but he made no attempt to escape. He let Deputy Marsh seize his arm.
"Stop it," I yelled at Jude, and tried to stand on my aching legs. "Stop lying. Daniel saved James. He saved him from drowning in the creek."
"You stop lying!" Jude's face looked twisted like it had the night he found Maryanne's body and then couldn't find me. I was afraid he was going to punch me, too--even though I hadn't known he was capable of hitting anyone until just now.
"The creek's dried up and you know it," he said.
Mom gasped. The noise was echoed by the bystanders who'd edged closer to us when the deputy left his post. The sheriff must have loosened his grasp because Jude pulled away.
"Arrest him," Jude said. "Arrest that monster." He lunged at Daniel.
"Stop!" Dad grabbed Jude's arm and swung him away.
Jude stumbled back on his heels and fell to the ground.
Dad stood over him, one foot planted on each side of Jude's prostrate body. I'd never seen Dad look so domineering. "Back down!" he commanded. "Stop these lies now." Jude moaned and rolled onto his side. It was like hitting the ground had knocked some sense into him. His face and fists relaxed.