Leslie’s legs popped over the windowsill and she dropped herself down onto something below. “What’s this?” Her voice echoed loud against the high, corrugated metal ceiling.
“I don’t know. Something to step on. Climb on down, if you’re going to. It’s raining again out here, and I’m getting soaked. And the river . . . I don’t like the look of it. It’s too full. And . . . ”
“And what?”
Lu murmured the rest. “And I don’t think it’s supposed to be that color”
“What?”
“It’s always sort of gray and blue. Maybe it’s just the clouds or something. ” Lu slung her leg past the broken glass and climbed inside to stand beside Leslie. Together they were perched atop another set of boxes, or possibly a large piece of machinery—it was something covered with a khaki-colored canvas that was thick like a tent.
Leslie stamped her feet. “It feels solid. ”
“It is solid. Look at all the footprints on this thing. We do this all the time. Come on down then, if you’re coming. Let’s get this over with. The river’s rising, and Momma won’t sleep forever. ”
“Shelly will cover for us. ”
“She’ll try. ” Lu hopped down to the cement floor and brushed her hands off on her jeans. “But there’s no telling if it’ll work or not. I’m grounded, remember?”
“Forever and a day. Do you think she meant it?” Leslie stepped down beside her, and copied Lu’s hand-wiping gesture.
Lu shrugged. “Probably. But that don’t mean she can make it stick. Well, this is it. You happy now?”
“Yeah,” she breathed. “I guess. It’s dark in here. Did you bring a light?”
“No. It’s still daytime. We don’t need a light. Your eyes’ll get used to it. Come on. I’ll walk you through and then we’ll leave and you won’t make a big stink about it anymore. Deal?”
“The whole thing. I want to see everything you got to see with Shelly. ”
“Fine, yeah. The whole thing. But we’re going to do it fast. ”
By then the rain was not so much falling as plummeting. Louder and louder it came down, and Leslie was right—it was dark inside, despite the afternoon hour. Within the disused armory, all the space was filled with veiled gear and shrouded military tackle. From floor to ceiling the ghostly monsters stood still and silent, lumpy and lame.
“What’s underneath the sheets?” Leslie wanted to know, but Lu didn’t know and nobody else did either.
“Stuff. Army stuff. Big machines and trucks. Boxes of junk. Most of those sheets are tied down, and it’s too hard to pull them up. ”
“What? I can’t hear you. ”
The rain was too much, the echo was too hearty. Water poured onto the old metal roof as if the river had overturned to empty itself. It drove so steady that the sound fuzzed out to a harsh white noise.
“Hurry up,” Lu said, ignoring Leslie’s request to repeat herself.
“We’re going to have to ride our bikes home in this, aren’t we?”
“It’s only getting worse. This is stupid. Les, this is stupid. ”
“Not getting scared, are you?”
&nb
sp; Lu looked back up at the window, and down at the floor.
“Les, the water’s coming in. We’ve got to go. ”
“Shit,” the younger girl whistled, lifting her sneaker up and splashing it back down.
“Quarter for the swears jar. ”