Klickitat Read Online Free PDF Page A

through the gate, up a long gravel driveway, toward a tall house. We passed two red barns, and a smaller building, down a slope from the house. When we got to the house, we climbed up on the wooden porch. Audra’s feet made almost no sound on the porch. Mine in their sneakers did.
    â€œIs she here?” I said.
    Audra knocked on the door, and we waited. It was quiet, and I leaned close to a window so I could see inside. A grandfather clock, a stack of books that looked like it was about to tip over. Hanging on a wall was something that might have been a trap for a bear.
    â€œHello!” A man suddenly came around the side of the house, out around the porch, behind us. “What can I do for you?”
    He just stood there, squinting up at us. He was kind of old, his head shiny bald. He wore red suspenders, and also a belt.
    â€œWe’re friends of the girl,” Audra said. “Is she here?”
    â€œThe girl?” he said.
    â€œCaroline,” she said. “She’s a friend of ours, from school, we came to visit her. Maybe she’s not home yet?”
    â€œI think you don’t understand,” he said. “Listen—”
    â€œDoes she live in that little house down there?” Audra pointed.
    â€œYou’re barefoot,” he said.
    â€œI know that,” she said. “Her name is Caroline. Is Caroline here?”
    The man stepped a little closer and put out a hand so he could lean on the railing of the porch. He wore yellow felt gloves and licked his lips before he said anything.
    â€œYes,” he said. “She lived down there, with her father. But that was last summer. That was months ago.”
    â€œWhere is she now?” Audra said.
    â€œI’d be interested to know that myself,” he said. “It seems like you’ve seen her, if she’s your friend. You see her at school?”
    â€œWhy did she leave?” Audra said. “What did you do?”
    â€œWhat did
I
do? I did a lot for them, everything I could. I wanted to help, but they were suspicious people. Her father, he just got a little paranoid, you know? He was used to another way of living.”
    Now the man stepped closer to us, and we both stepped backward. He opened the door and looked atus like we might want to follow him, come inside.
    â€œSorry I can’t help you.” The man nodded and stepped into his house, then closed the door.
    â€œLiar,” Audra said, low so he couldn’t hear it, the door already closed. Then she touched my shoulder and we went down the steps off the porch.
    â€œYou said you knew her,” I said.
    â€œI never said that,” she said. “Quiet. Stay close to me.”
    We hurried down the slope, toward a line of old tractors and cars, vehicles that had no tires, not even wheels, that had long grass growing up through them. Audra had a hold of my arm and pulled me back between them, staying low.
    â€œWhat are we doing?” I said.
    Audra tucked her hair behind her ear, and her ear was bare, just the row of dimples where the holes were, where the studs and rings usually were. I looked at the side of her face and noticed, then, that she wasn’t wearing the black eyeliner she usually did, that Mom said made her look like a raccoon. Today her brown eyes looked plain and clear, not angry.
    â€œYou look pretty,” I said.
    â€œGet ready.” Audra had her finger to her lips. She peeked over the top of the car. “When I go, you follow me close. Stay low. Do what I do.”
    Then we were out in the open again, rushing through the ragged grass, up to the door of the smaller house, at the bottom of the slope. There was a lock on the door but Audra did something with her hands and the lock came off. She set it carefully down on the wooden stairs and then pushed the door open.
    When we stepped inside it was colder, even quieter than it was outside. She closed the door behind us and we just stood there for a moment.
    There