The Mystery of Maple Creek

Chapter 13. The Curious Mind

Chapter 13

The Curious Mind

(Perspective: Hellen Mayweather)

The image of him kept popping back and forth inside my head. I could not stop thinking about him. I wondered if anything weird was really in the air. If he was really the same person as Noah, what would happen between the two of us?

There was an ache in my heart. I just hoped we could be good friends. But ever since I saw him taking off his gas mask, I had a doubt about him. But we just started to get to know each other. I thought our relationship was about to be more than just a friend.

Then my thought kept imagining different scenarios. What if he was the person who hurt me that night? What if he just out of his mind? Should I just forgive him then?

So suddenly, I remembered Melissa had warned me twice about Noah.

“Sooner or later, you will regret your decision. Noah has something that you won’t like. Believe me, once you know who he really is, you don’t want to see him anymore.”

Her voice kept echoing inside my head like a drum bell.

“I’m the only one who can handle how lunatic Noah is. And when his craziness may relapse in the future, you will run away from him.”

As I thought solemnly about what she said; what if it all was true? Should I be scared of Noah?

I was still standing right next to the window when I heard a voice shouted at me. My reverie snapped like a rubber plastic when I realized it was my dad.

“Didn’t you hear me calling your name?” He rested his hands at his waist while staring annoyingly at me. “How many times did I call you to come here?”

“Well, as I’m counting, it’s been four times,” Larry added and giggled.

I blinked my eyes nervously. Then I walked toward them at the front desk.

“Sorry, Dad, I was… I…” but I didn’t know what to say. I was stuck with my hectic mind.

“We want you to pick a design for your dad’s new neon light,” Larry told me. “So, what do you think, Hon?”

I took a deep breath. Then I looked at the paper he showed me. There were a few designs for our fish market. I just practically chose anything with the red and blue color in it. I guess these two colors would suit my dad’s image. He was the coolest person in my life, so I thought.

“Just like what I thought,” my dad murmured as he smiled at me. I felt glad that he was also agreed with my preference. I remembered I chose the same color for his wristband the other day.

Subsequently, Larry spoke about business again with my dad. When I glanced at the door, a new visitor just arrived.

I paused when my eyes met hers. That black girl has a pair of honey-brown eyes.

I knew this was Larry’s market, but I had no smart ideas on how to approach a new friend in town. Thus why, I walked toward her and immediately offered the available promo.

“Hey, you are Carla Bennet, right?” I greeted her in a friendly manner. I just didn’t want to scare her, since she looked at me with such a haunting look. “So, Larry offers a great discount deal, if you want to buy two large fish—”

She immediately looked at the small banner placed on the shelf. She read the promo by herself. Then she glanced quietly at me. I was waiting next to her, but there were still no words. It seemed that she felt bothered by my approach. I felt so dumb doing this.

Once I realized that she didn’t want to talk, then I retreated myself. I just didn’t want her to think that I was noisy.

Afterward, I walked to the back of the corridor. I wondered what else Larry put on sale, besides water bottle and fish. I was about to take the shrimp snack, but then I felt a presence next to me.

When I glanced, I was so surprised to see her.

“Oh, Carla—”

“You should be careful,” she suddenly warned me.

My eyebrows furrowed as I didn’t understand what she meant.

“You saw him, didn’t you?” her voice sounded mysterious. “He almost killed you.”

My eyes bulged out. I didn’t think she would dare to mention it to me. And the image of the man who wore a gas mask suddenly appeared inside my head.

“The creature. You saw him that night,” she whispered again.

Slightly, I stole a glance at the front desk. My dad was still talking with Larry. They didn’t aware that we met back here.

Then I asked her, “Do you know something about him?”

“His spirit is set free. He will continue to repeat the history,” Carla warned me.

“His spirit?” I immediately remembered the night when I threw the jar of ashes into his corpse. But the image of Noah also came all together.

“Is it possible that his spirit can possess someone in town?” I asked curiously.

Carla instantly squinted at me. She looked bewildered by my question. I wanted to ask if she knew about Noah, but it might seem like I wanted to accuse him.

Carla was about to answer me, but then my dad called out my name. She immediately brought her cart shopping to the front desk without saying anything.

And before my dad got suspicious, I showed him a shrimp snack. He agreed to buy it for me.

***

Around four p.m., Larry’s wife called him on the phone. She needed him to repair a kitchen sink quickly before the water flooded the room. Therefore, he asked my dad for help since he couldn’t deliver an icebox of fresh fish to a customer.

We both ended up went to maple farm together. The buyer was Ms. Jarlath, Noah’s mother.

As my dad parked the car near the fence, I paused to look at the quiet view around the farm. My heart was racing restlessly.

My dad noticed my indifference as he asked, “Do you want to wait here or come with me?”

I quickly glanced at him nervously.

“I thought you may be shy to meet your love interest there,” he teased me.

“Dad! Noah is not my love interest. We are just barely met in town,” I reminded him.

My dad giggled. He found my anxious face somewhat funny.

And I quickly reminded him, “Why would I be shy with him? We both just met Noah this noon at the Dine Club.”

My dad raised his hands in the air and said, “Alright, girl, I give up. You win this debate.”

I knew I was too defensive when my dad mentioned him. It was not because I felt shy. It was because I just caught him wearing weird clothes in the woods. He terrified me.

But I couldn’t tell my dad yet. I had to know by myself. Was he the same person as Noah?

Afterward, we walked together on the maple farm. My dad knocked on the house door a few times. Until a woman in her forties opened it.

She has natural red hair and freckles skin. But I could see the resemblance of her face with Noah, although his hair was dark brown.

“Come in, we have not properly met in town,” she said while smiling nicely to us.

My dad glanced slightly at me. He sought my confirmation.

I immediately nodded to agree. “Yeah, sure, Ms. Jarlath. We’d love to.”

But before we enter the house, Noah and his cousin just got home. Ronnie quickly waved at us and hollered out, “Hey, Mister Mayweather! I didn’t know you come here!”

Slightly, I observed Noah from head to toe. He wore the same hoodie as we met in the Dine Club earlier. But the way he stared at me, sometimes looked inscrutable. As if he was hiding something from me. I still wondered.

Then My dad chuckled and said, “Larry couldn’t deliver your aunt’s order, so I helped.”

“I see. You also come with your pretty daughter,” Ronnie played his eyebrows up and down at me. And then he nudged Noah’s elbows. He liked teasing him every time we met.

As everyone entered the foyer, I quickly grabbed Noah’s sleeve.

“Hey, can we talk? Just the two of us?” I asked.

He paused and looked at me wonderingly.

“Outside, please?” I demanded.

As he nodded to agree, we sat on the terrace bench. He kept staring at me innocently. As if nothing really happened out there. But I wondered if that was really true.

“What about?” He asked.

I was anxious to start the conversation. But I had to know.

As I exchanged a stare with him, I talked, “Noah, I want to know about something—”

He didn’t blink at all. He waited for me to finish the words.

And I finally asked it all, “Where were you that night—when I went in the woods with Melissa and her friends?”

Noah immediately furrowed his eyebrows. He seemed taken aback by my simple question.

“What do you mean, Hellen?” And he seemed defensive suddenly. “Of course, I was still in the park. I watched the fireworks with the folk, then I heard about your accident.”

I shook my head. And I rephrased the question, “Are you sure?”

He pinched his eyes at me. And then he chuckled in disbelief.

“Noah, I’m just asking,” I said carefully.

“Well, I feel like you want to accuse me of something, Hellen,” he snapped.

“No, I’m not. I just want to know your whereabouts on that night—”

He paused to stare peevishly at me. Then he replied, “What do you think happened, huh?”

I couldn’t even think clearly. My head kept on replaying the memory when I saw the killer taking off his mask. And he looked like Noah, which confused me.

“You know I was worried about you. I even asked you to go home that night, rather than indulging your curiosity to go with the clique parade,” Noah muttered.

“Noah, you don’t have to be so defensive. I’m just asking,” I reminded him.

“What? Do you want to confirm something? Did you talk again with Sheriff Clarke?” He annoyed me when he kept raising his tone. “Did he already suspect me or anyone in town?”

“No, Noah. He didn’t say anything new, except what we had heard on TV,” I said firmly.

My dad and Ms. Jarlath just walked out of the door. When they glanced at us, both of our expressions obviously full of tension.

Ms. Jarlath asked wonderingly, “Everything’s alright, guys?”

My dad rested his hands on his waist, still waiting for one of us to explain what happened.

Noah shouted out as he raised from the bench, “Nothing, Mom. Hellen just needs to rest. She seems tired.”

I gawked when he said it like that. As if I was sick. But I was not.

My dad immediately looked at me, “I thought so. I already told her to have a good rest.”

Ms. Jarlath also looked at me worriedly, “Oh, dear, it’s time to go home with your dad. I’ve heard you’ve been through a lot.”

Noah glanced at me when his mom said that. I looked back at him, but he immediately stared away from me. And without saying goodbye, he entered the house. I was hurt when he did that.

Soon after, I just pretended smiling like everything was alright. Once we said goodbye to Ms. Jarlath, I followed my dad to get to the car.