Savannah Burning

Chapter Nineteen

I woke up early Thanksgiving morning to a blanket of fresh snow covering the yard. Mom was already starting to bang around in the kitchen, the news coverage of the Macy’s Day Parade on loud.

After a breakfast of bagels Dad and I took Bear out for a walk to Bayview Park while Mom commandeered the cooking, shooing us out with a wave of the dishtowel. When we got to the soccer field we let Bear off the leash, letting him chase the snowflakes around. I stared Savanna’s street art on the sign, a wave of adrenaline washing over me as I remembered the day we spent together in Montauk. As I remembered her heart racing against my chest and how close she had been.

“So—“ Dad began, shaking me out of my thoughts.

“Soda pop and bubble gum,” I cut in.

Dad huffed, his breath lingering in the air. “Are you getting excited for college?”

“I think so,” I laughed nervously, watching Bear leap his way around the field. For a half-blind, half-deaf ten-year-old teddy bear, he did okay. “I don’t know. I’m excited, but it’ll be weird without Daisy or Robbie.” I glanced at Dad nervously, but his eyes were focused on Bear. “You know?”

“I get it,” he said with a nod. “But friendships like that don’t just end.”

“That’s what we keep telling Daisy,” I responded. And myself. We were quiet for a bit. Bear limped his way over to us, lying down at our feet with a giant sigh.

“Tyson?”

“Mm?” I asked, reaching down to scratch behind Bear’s ear.

“Have you given any thought to the parole hearing?” I stiffened, surprised at the sudden turn of conversation but, then again, not surprised at all. I knew that it would have to come up eventually.

“No,” I lied. “Not since the day you guys told me about it.” We got very quiet after that. It was a different kind of silence as before, heavier somehow, as if the thickness of the storm was weighing down on us.

“Is it because of me?” Dad asked, so quietly that I wasn’t sure if he had said anything at all.

“What do you mean?” I stood up, my knees cracking and popping as I did so.

“Because of the whole ‘dad’ thing,” he said, shoving his hands into his front pockets.

“Dad.”

“I don’t want you to feel guilty if you want to go.”

“Dad.”

“Because as much as I loathe that piece of s**t for hurting you, you wouldn’t be here today without him.” Dad’s blue eyes flashed angrily behind his glasses. “I’m grateful that he brought you into this life and I’m grateful that he helped create you and I promise to honor that, Tyson. If you want to go to the hearing, then you should and I’ll support you. As will Mom.”

“Dad,” I interrupted. I waited until he was looking at me to continue. “It’s not that.” He blinked at me before looking down at his shoes sheepishly.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, well, I just wanted to tell you that. Just in case, you know?”

“I know,” I nodded.

“Anyway,” Dad cleared his throat. “How are things with Savanna?”

“Fine,” I said a little too quickly. “Why?” Ever since the day at Camp Hero I had pretty much been doing everything I could to forget the fact that I was falling in love with her. I was this close to pulling her hair and telling her she couldn’t sit with us because she had cooties.

“I don’t know, you tell me. After you brought her over for dinner I assumed that you guys were . . .” he trailed off, waving his hands in the air in place of words.

“Nope, just friends,” I answered.

Dad barked out a laugh, reaching down to clip Bear’s leash back on. “Yeah, friends. Sure.”

“Even if there was something going on, which there isn’t, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Why not?” Dad prompted, giving Bear a tug who rolled over onto his side, licking the snow off the pavement.

“Because college,” came my reply. “Why does it matter? It’s not like you guys care for her.”

“What gave you that idea?” Dad frowned.

“’Have fun but be careful, Tyson,’” I poorly mimicked Mom’s voice, thickening her Long Island accent to the point of ridiculousness. “’She’s a different breed of human. She’s not even human. She’s probably an alien, crash landed from Venus, where all the mysterious girl-next-doors come from.’”

“Most of things are true,” Dad nodded, the corner of his mouth twitching with a smile.

“Case and point,” I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest.

“But,” Dad continued, glaring at me, “Grandma and Grandpa didn’t like your mom when they first met her. They told me she was too dangerous and radical for me to settle down with, but once they saw how serious we were about each other they fell in love with her.”

“I’m seventeen,” I protested. “I don’t know what the word ‘serious’ means yet. Besides, I’m not in love with Savanna.”

“Yeah, and the sun shines out of the Pope’s ass,” he responded, successfully managing to tug Bear to his feet.

#

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After dinner I shot a text to both Robbie and Daisy, giving them the okay that they could come by for dessert. I went up to my room to change out of my cranberry-stained shirt while I waited. I pulled the blinds in my window up, knowing damn well she wouldn’t be out there, but somehow hoping that Savanna would be on her roof, sneaking her cigarettes. The snow had stopped sometime during dinner. A single set of footprints marked the Skye’s driveway, all the way up to the side door. The house sitter. When the Skye’s first split up Brady had hired one to take care of the house for when he was out of town. The first time we saw a strange woman coming and going from his house Mom called the police thinking it was one of Brady’s many fangirls.

The doorbell rang, immediately followed by Robbie’s loud voice filling up the house. “Tyson!” Robbie yelled. “Tyyyyyson. Where aaaaare you?” His footsteps thudded against the staircase.

“Yeah, up here!” I yelled back, pulling the band out of my hair and letting it fall loose around my shoulders. A second later Robbie and Daisy banged my door open, Daisy holding her phone out in front of her as she entered.

“Tyson!” Savanna’s voice called from the phone.

“What is this?” I laughed, coming around to look at the screen of Daisy’s phone. “Are you two video chatting?”

“Have been since I picked her up,” Robbie grumbled, flopping down on my bed. “Dude, help. I’m dying. They won’t stop talking. You’d think Savanna’s been gone for a month rather than a day.”

I took the phone from Daisy who sat in my desk chair, tucking her legs underneath her. She spun around, first to the left, then to the right, and then back again to the left. “How is it?” I asked Savanna, turning away from Daisy whom was making me dizzy with her spinning.

“It’s actually really, really good,” she beamed. “I have so many cousins. So many baby cousins,” she gushed.

“They’re all so cute,” Daisy cooed, whipping herself back around in my chair.

“You’re going to make yourself puke,” I warned. Daisy flipped me the bird as she spun past me.

“How was your Thanksgiving?” Savanna was asking.

“Good. It snowed,” I answered.

“Wait, really?” Savanna exclaimed. “I’m missing the first snow? That’s bullshit.”

“It will snow again,” Daisy assured. “And again. And again, and again, and again. It might never stop snowing.”

“I just want there to be enough to make a snowman. It would snow a bit in Albuquerque, but never enough for a snowman.” Savanna sighed, as if the lack of snow was the bane of her existence.

“Oh,” I jumped in, “by the way, your house-sitter stopped by today.”

Savanna tilted her head at me, puzzled. “House-sitter?”

“Yeah. Whoever is looking after the house was there today.”

“I don’t think . . . I don’t remember Brady mentioning that,” Savanna murmured. There was a long pause as we soaked this information in. I glanced over at Daisy who looked just as puzzled as I did.

It was Robbie who put the pieces together first. He rolled off my bed, crossing over to the window. “There’s still only one set of footprints,” he whispered low enough for just the two of us to hear.

“Guys?” Savanna asked quietly. “What’s going on over there?”

“I’m sure your parents just forgot to mention it,” I interjected as Daisy went to join Robbie at the window.

“Yeah,” she said, clearly unconvinced. A loud shout in the background caught her attention, pulling her out of her concern. “I’m being called for dessert. Listen, I know it’s probably nothing, but keep an eye out. Okay?”

“Of course,” I promised, shooting her a reassuring smile, glad she couldn’t hear the pounding in my chest. “If anything comes of it I’ll call you.” We hung up and I immediately joined my friends by the window.

“You don’t think . . .” Daisy trailed off.

“I’m not sure,” I said, searching the windows, “but I think we need to go check it out.”

#

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We had to wait until after dessert to check out the Skye’s house. We gathered around my dining room, nibbling away at the sweets, making small talk and doing our best not to stare out the window. I gave in every second I could, stealing glances at Savanna’s backyard as though that would tell me anything about what was going on inside. By the fifth glance I noticed that it had begun to snow again, thicker this time.

“What do you kids have planned for the rest of the night?” Mom asked as she began to gather the dirty plates.

“We were actually going to go for a walk,” Daisy jumped in before Robbie or I could even think of a response. “You know, to soak up Oyster Point. College is only a few months away. Don’t want to take the time we have left for granted, right boys?”

“Oh, you should take Bear,” Mom suggested. “You know he loves the snow.” We all glanced down at Bear, lying flat on his back, tongue out, snoring loudly.

“I think we’ll have to pass on that,” I said, reaching down to give him a belly scratch. He snorted, kicking out his hind leg once before settling back into his slumber.

“Make sure to wear a hat,” Mom called as we shuffled out the front door. Robbie walked over to his car, keys in hand, ready to unlock it for us when he noticed we were still standing on my front porch.

“What?” He asked, jingling the keys.

“Dude, we are not taking your car,” I said, yanking a black beanie onto my head.

“Why not? It’s freezing out,” he argued, blowing into his hands to prove his point.

“Robbie your brakes hardly work when the roads are dry. I’m not about to get into an accident due to your ego complex,” Daisy responded, stepping off the stoop. She linked her arm through Robbie’s pulling him away from the van. “Come on. We have to hurry.”

By the time we got to the Skye’s driveway, the footprints had been covered up by a second layer of snow.

“Do you think they left?” Daisy asked quietly as we stood at the edge of the driveway, eyeing the house for any signs of life.

“Only one way to find out,” Robbie said, leading us up the driveway to the side door. He tried the doorknob – locked.

“Hang on,” I said, digging through the garden by the door until I found the hollow rock with the key hidden inside.

“Creep,” Daisy snorted.

“Oh, relax you,” I shot back, handing Robbie the key. “They told me where it was in case there’s ever an emergency.”

“Wait,” Daisy jumped in, her hand coming down on Robbie’s as he slipped the key in the lock. “What’s our plan?”

“Plan?”

“Yeah, like, what if there is someone in there? What are we supposed to say? ‘Oh, hello there. You aren’t by any chance an intruder or, even better, the woman who kidnapped our friend, are you? Because if so we’re going to ask you to sit still while we call the cops.’” Robbie and I glanced at each other. She had a point. As always.

“Wing it?” Robbie asked, holding his fist out to me.

“Wing it,” I confirmed, bumping it.

“f*****g idiots,” Daisy hissed, rolling her eyes as Robbie turned the key. The door croaked open and we all held our breath, waiting, listening for any movement.

Nothing.

“Come on,” Robbie whispered, tiptoeing into the Skye’s foyer. Daisy snuck in after him and I followed, closing the door quietly behind us.

“Now what, Sherlock?” Daisy whispered.

“We should split up,” Robbie suggested.

“No!” Daisy and I hissed back.

“Kidding, kidding,” he said, holding up his hands. “I’ve seen horror movies. I know what’s up. We stick together no matter what. A triumvirate. A tripod, if you will.”

“Okay, Shakespeare, wrap it up,” Daisy rolled her eyes. Then, as if they had been waiting for a cue, a soft yet audible thud sounded from right above us. From where Savanna’s room was. We all looked up in horror and Robbie reached out, pulling Daisy closer to him.

“Together?” He asked, and I nodded. I’m not sure who moved first, but somehow we found ourselves climbing the stairs towards Savanna’s bedroom. We got to the top of the stairs and I stopped them, listening.

“What?” Daisy asked in a hushed tone.

“Do you hear that?” I whispered back. We all held our breath. Faintly, hardly detectable at all, was a slow but steady tapping noise coming from down the hallway.

“What is that?” Daisy asked.

“I have no idea,” I admitted, moving forward, hugging the wall. We peeked around the corner; Savanna’s door was cracked open, the tapping louder now. I stepped around the corner, reaching out for the door.

“Wait,” Robbie said, pulling me back. “Let me go first.” I opened my mouth to protest, but Robbie shot me a stony look. I nodded, taking a step back, and let Robbie take the lead. He glanced at both of us, making sure we were both alert before opening Savanna’s bedroom door where we were greeted by

Nothing.

The room expanded with our sighs of relief. Daisy slid past Robbie and crossed the room to touch a dream catcher hanging above Savanna’s bed, the beads and bells on its strings tapping against the wall, swaying in the breeze from the window.

“That wasn’t open before,” I noted, walking over to the open window, the snow swirling into the room. On the roof outside the bedroom I could just make out footprints, slowly disappearing under a new layer of snow. “Guys!” I called. I felt Robbie and Daisy join me at the window as I pointed to the fading footprints.

“She must have heard us come in,” Robbie said. Daisy ducked through the window, treading carefully on the slippery roof to peer over the edge.

“I think she used the gutter to climb down,” she said. “There are more footprints down there, walking away from the house.”

“Are we sure it wasn’t a thief or something?” Robbie asked as I helped Daisy back through the window.

“Does it looked like someone tried to rob the place?” I asked. Robbie glanced around, moving towards Savanna’s vanity, looking into her full jewelry box, opening her drawers, looking for any signs of theft.

“Robbie,” Daisy said.

“It could have been anyone,” he said, shaking his head.

“Robbie,” Daisy said a bit louder, a bit firmer this time. “I think we all know who it was.”

“We should call the police,” Robbie said, sitting down on Savanna’s bed.

“We need to call the police,” Daisy seconded, closing the window. I walked back over to the dream catcher, twirling one of its strings around my fingers. Next to it were four thumbtacks in a perfect rectangle. Clinging to the top left thumbtack was the corner to whatever poster had been residing there. I reached up, touching its jagged edge, wondering what it had been and why Savanna had ripped it down. Perhaps it was another Katie-ism that she detested alongside the Lisa Frank unicorn that was now also missing from the wall. “Tyson.” Daisy’s voice pulled me out of my trance. “We need to call the police.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I agreed quietly.

Officer Bradley Stanley looked as though he had lost weight since the last time we saw each other. I had expected him to be the same boyish character that I had met outside my house back in September, but the officer that showed up to the Skye’s front door was haggard looking, quieter in his demeanor with dark circles under his eyes.

“Talk me through this one more time,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You didn’t see anybody coming in or out of the house. It doesn’t look as though they broke in anywhere and it doesn’t look like a robbery. Correct?”

Robbie snorted. “Well, when you put it like that . . .”

“But we saw footprints,” Daisy insisted. “And on Halloween –“ I knocked my knuckles against her knee and she clamped her mouth shut.

“What about Halloween?” Officer Stanley asked, sounding only mildly interested.

“Someone sold a photo of Savanna to the local gazette,” I jumped in. “We’re worried that, maybe, they were trying to get more information on her. You know, with Mr. Skye being a big-time tennis player and everything. That kind of thing.”

“That would make sense,” Officer Stanley said, jotting something down on his notepad. “Alright, guys. Thanks for calling and letting us know. Why don’t you kids get going? I need to call Mr. Skye and talk to him about this.”

“That’s it?” Daisy asked.

“That’s it, unfortunately. I’m going to call it in but you have to understand that there’s not much we can do for this situation. We’ll more than likely keep an officer on post for the next couple of days to see if there’s any other suspicious behavior, but other than that there’s nothing else we can do at this time.”

“Ridiculous,” Daisy said under her breath. “Come on, guys. Let’s go home.” She stood up abruptly, stomping out of the Skye’s living room and out the front door. Robbie looked at me helplessly before following her out.

“Sorry,” I said, referring to Daisy’s behavior.

“That’s alright,” Officer Stanley said, rubbing his temples. “I understand how frustrating this is. Just keep calling if more stuff like this happens, okay?” He shook my hand and then led me out the front door.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Daisy said, hugging her middle as we made our way to the back fence.

“I know,” I agreed. “Me, too.” We helped Daisy over the fence and Robbie quickly followed her. I took one last glance at the Skye’s now definitely empty house before pulling myself up behind them.