Chapter 6THRASHER’S POND
A mile outside of town, a steep grassy cliff rose a hundred feet, blunt and rough but not unkind. The hawks flew magically in the sky above it, soaring, it seemed, to the clouds and gliding back to the earth. A big lake with a muddy bottom and a short expanse of beach spread out at Hawk’s Bluff’s base—the only place Coffey kids could cool off in the summer. They rode past the lake filled with swimmers enjoying the water as they headed to the ball fields.
Their friend, Raven Montgomery, waved to them from the gray metal bleachers of the baseball park. Nick and Ivy dropped their bikes and hiked up to meet her. Her magenta nails flashed as she waved again. Grandma never let Ivy paint her nails.
Ivy and Nick sat down next to Raven on the old metal seats, hot from th
