Chapter 2A Chapter by JBudak
"Hello, boys!" Aunt Sassy grabbed Danny and Luke and squeezed them. Uncle Ed appeared and pulled the overstuffed duffle bags from the trunk.
"What have you boys got in here, lead pipes?" he quipped, lugging the bags onto the porch. The adults chatted and Danny bragged about his latest athletic achievement, while Luke looked around. The house was painted a sunny yellow with white trim. Bright pink petunias overflowed the flowerboxes suspended from the porch railing. The wind chimes tinkled, and a hummingbird visited the feeder at the far end of the porch. Dan Sr. wrapped his arm around Luke's shoulders and kissed him on the head. "Have fun, kiddo. I'll see you in two weeks." The boys waved goodbye to their dad as Aunt Sassy ushered them inside. She led them upstairs to their room. Luke felt a chill run up his spine as he made his way up the stairs. Danny tossed his bag on the floor and dove onto the bed nearest the windows. Luke sat down on the other bed, closest to the door. "Are you boys hungry?" They nodded. "Breakfast will be ready in half an hour. Why don't you unpack and get comfortable? I'll call you down." Aunt Sassy disappeared into the hallway. "Danny?" Luke said, inspecting the faded blue wallpaper. "What?" "The dream I had in the car... it seemed so real..." "What was it about?" "I was on the stairs... and there was a girl..." Danny laughed. "A girl, huh? Yeah, you'll have those dreams a lot more now that you're almost a teenager." Luke shook his head. "No, she was... I think she was... dead... like, a ghost..." Danny laughed again and hurled a pillow at his brother. "You are such a little chicken." Luke laughed. "No I'm not, it was just a dream..." *But it was so real...* he thought. The aroma of bacon and French toast wafted up the stairs, calling the boys down before Aunt Sassy had a chance. They sat at the table and kicked each other underneath it. Uncle Ed sipped a cup of coffee and shook the wrinkles out of his newspaper. "We've got to get a move on. The parade starts in an hour," Aunt Sassy said, delivering plates of food to the table. After breakfast, Aunt Sassy and Uncle Ed climbed into Ed's old truck. The boys climbed into the back. They bounced around down the gravel path to the main road, and sped into town. The sun beat down on the boys' cheeks and the wind twirled their hair into wild tangles. Uncle Ed parked the truck in front of the little ice cream shop, and everyone got out. The boys smoothed their windblown hair and put on their baseball caps. A little bell on the door chimed as the family walked in, and a chubby man with big cheeks looked up from the ice cream counter. A wide toothy smile spread across his face. "Well, if it isn't the Crawford boys! I haven't seen you since you were knee high to a grasshopper!" the man laughed, reaching over the case to shake their hands. "You boys remember Mr. Swindale," Uncle Ed said, shoving them toward the man. They shook hands and nodded. "Would you guys like an ice cream cone? On the house," Mr. Swindale said, flinging open the ice cream case. "Blue moon," the brothers chimed in unison. Luke and Danny sat down on the curb outside the shop to watch the parade. The high school marching band stomped past, crashing cymbals. Girls in bright blue sequins twirled batons. Clowns in tiny cars whizzed around in circles in the street. After the parade, everyone migrated to the fairgrounds for the townwide picnic and carnival. The fairgrounds sat at the center of town directly across Main Street from the courthouse. Just inside the gates stood the old school house, the oldest wooden building in the county. Well over a century old, it was lovingly maintained by the townspeople, and in nearly original condition. Luke stepped up the 3 wooden stairs to go inside. This year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Lawrenceville, the historical society had put together a display chronicling the history of the town. Luke gazed at the poster-sized photos on the walls of old tractors and farmers, and class pictures of barefoot children in suspenders standing stoically in front of the schoolhouse long ago. He flipped through a photo album on a table taking in the grainy pictures. "You know, Luke, both our families were instrumental in founding Lawrenceville," Aunt Sassy said, squeezing his shoulder. " My great-great-great Grandfather, John Lawrence, and your great-great-" she paused to count on her fingers, "... great-great grandfather, Charles Crawford were two of the first Europeans to settle here." She flipped through the photo album and stopped on a page showing two men holding pitchforks. "Here they are. Both of them together. I don't think I've ever seen this picture before." Luke looked closely at the picture. The caption written underneath said "Charles Crawford, John Lawrence, at Crawford farm, 1865." Sassy's hand reached across in front of Luke to point at another photo. "That's your great-great-great grandfather there, and his sisters..." Sassy turned the page, "... and his brother Aloysius," she said through her teeth, quickly flipping a few more pages. Luke went back to the page his aunt had turned so quickly. *Al-Oh-Ish-Shuss* he pronounced in his head running his finger over the strange name. The picture was of a young man, maybe 20 years old, scowling. His eyes were dark, his jaw looked to be clenched, and his nostrils flared. There was an unsettling intensity about him. Luke jumped, startled by a hand slapping him on the back. It was Mr. Swindale. He flicked the picture and chuckled. "Ol' Uncle Al, huh? I still use him to scare the kiddies." "What do you mean?" "What, you've never heard the stories? Uncle Al is a legend... well, more of a campfire story," he raised an eyebrow at Luke. "Let's just say he didn't much care for kids." Mr. Swindale leaned in and whispered "Ask your cousin. He'll tell you." © 2013 JBudakAuthor's Note
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