Chapter 10

With a cry, Flaky dropped the phone. It clattered against the wall and swung wildly back and forth. The dog barked and snarled at it so loudly that Flaky almost screamed. She grabbed the phone and hung it up.

Her hands were sweaty. Her pulse was racing. Suddenly she spun around.

She knew it was crazy, but she half-expected to see a face outside the patio door, peering in at her. But not a twisted, ugly, monster face, like the voice on the phone.

A face that was all too human.

Lammy's face.

Because it had to be Lammy. She obviously hadn't got it out of her nasty little system. Sick little system more like, Flaky thought with a shudder.

It would almost be better if the caller had been someone totally anonymous, some sicko who liked scaring people for kicks. Knowing who it was made it much too personal.

Even though it was still light outside, Flaky lowered the blinds over the patio doors.

Leaving the kitchen, Flaky went through the rest of the house, closing curtains and blinds and turning on lamps. She didn't want to come into a dark empty home later. Smudge would be here, but Smudge only attacked noises, not people.

In the upstairs landing, Flaky stopped, breathing hard.

If Lammy could see you now, she'd be laughing, she thought.

She'd love to see you racing around with shaky hands and a sweaty forhead.

She wants you frightened.

Don't let her do this to you.

Flaky forced herself to take a deep breath. Then another. Her hands were clenched into fists and she opened them.

She was still unnereved. But she was starting to get mad, too.

Stomping back downstairs, she flipped on the porch light. At the same moment, the doorbell rang.

Furious now. Flaky yanked open the door.

Flippy was standing on the porch.

Flippy, with eyes such a dark green they were almost black. Flippy, the stranger.

I could be completely wrong, Flaky thought, staring at him. Giggles' message could change tommorrow. And tonight, Flaky didn't want to be alone. Couldn't be alone.

Shaking away thoughts of a dark-eyed stranger, Flaky grabbed her jacket. Then she stepped outside and slammed the door shut behind her.

"What, no introductions?" Flippy asked.

"You want to meet my dog?"

"Well I like animals, but I was thinking about your mum or dad, actually."

"They're out of town." Flaky twisted the door handle, making sure it was locked. "I am really glad to be out of that house," she said.

Flippy looked at her. "Are you okay, Flaky?"

For a second, she was tempted to tell him about Lammy. But only for a second. She didn't want to talk about it. She wanted to forget it. "I'm fine. With my parents gone, the house is kind of quiet, that's all," she said. "I'm ready for some noise."

He smiled. "You'll get plently of that at a bowling alley."

"Then let's go," she said.

Pretending that Lammy's head was on top of one of the bowling pins improved Flaky's aim and got rod of most her anger. By the end of the second game, she was ahead of Flippy.

"I'm thinking of asking for a handicap," he said, peering over her shoulder as she wrote down her score. "A couple of strikes, maybe?"

"Forget it," Flaky said. She was very concious of how his face was to hers. If she turned her head just a fraction of an inch, she'd be kissing him.

"Okay." Flippy rested a hand on her shoulder. "How about something to drink?"

"Sure. A coke." His hand was warm. "You're just trying to break my streak, though, and it won't work," she said.

"We'll see." He squeezed her shoulder and headed for the concession stand.

Flaky sat down on the plastic bench to wait. She could still feel the heat from Flippy's hand on her skin.

She didn't want to be the stranger.

Leaning her head back, Flaky listened to the rumble of bowling balls and the clatter of pins. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Toothy.

"Hi." Toothy smiled a little uncertainly, "who did you come with?"

"Flippy."

"Oh, the new guy?" Toothy wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "He's good-looking." He paused. "I just hope Cuddles is wrong about him."

Flaky's stomach knotted. She knew she was about to hear something she didn't want to.

"Wrong?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Toothy said, stretching his legs. "Cuddles thinks Flippy stole a necklace from Giggles. He thinks Flippy did it when he found her, right before he went and got help."

A shiver ran down Flaky's spine.

It couldn't be true.

"Maybe..." Flaky stopped and swallowed. "Maybe it fell off when she fell."

Toothy shook his head. "Cuddles says no. He actually climbed down and looked for it. He told Mrs. Joy about it, too, and know she's always keeping her eye on Flippy," he added.

So thats what Cuddles meant about looking in the library windows, Flaky thought. He thought Flippy was a thief?

Is that what Giggles thought? Was that what she was trying to tell Flaky?

"The necklace is definitely missing," Toothy went on. "Cuddles is not making that part up. But personally, I think he's jealous."

"Of Flippy?" Flaky sounded surprised. "Flippy told me he hardly knew Giggles."

But maybe he'd lied about it, Flaky thought.

"I'm pretty sure Cuddles is mad because Flippy found her," Toothy said. "Cuddles is crazy about Giggles. I just know he wishes he was the one who rescued her."

Just like he wanted to be the one she was trying to tell something to, Flaky thought. Still, there was a big difference between being jealous and lying.

Unless it wasn't a lie. Flaky's mind was swimming in circles.

"You know what I think?" Toothy cut into Flaky's thoughts. "If the necklace got stolen, I'll bet it was somebody else who took it. See a couple of days before Giggles fell, this backpacker, came into..."

"I know," Flaky broke in. "Petunia told me all about him. Russell."

"Oh, that's right. I told her," Toothy said. "So you know what I did, huh?"

"Split his lip."

"Yes, and Cuddles and Mime just let me ." Toothy shook his head. "Anyway," he went on, "when Giggles found out, she was really mad. And she told Russell he could camp on her property. The woods go on for miles behind the house, and her family owns it all."

"Did he camp there?"

"I think so. Giggles told everybody he was going to, anyway," Toothy said, "none of us guys liked that idea, we were not just being macho and jealous, it's just that people have taken advantage of Giggles before."

So maybe the backpacker was the stranger, not Flippy, Flaky thought hopefully. If he'd stolen Giggles necklace, maybe that's what Giggles was trying to say. He could have sneaked into the house and Giggles saw him, chased him, and fell. And he kept going.

Flaky asked suddenly, "What colour were Russell's eyes?"

"I'm not sure." Toothy squinted as if the backpacker was standing at the other end of the bowling alley and she couldn't see him very well. "His eyes were brown, maybe. Or gray." He paused. "Or they could have been blue."

Or green or hazel, Flaky thought. She'd have to ask Petunia.

But no matter what colour his eyes were, the backpacker had been camping somewhere in the woods. It didn't make sense to sneak into the house just for a necklace. And how did that thin red line get around Giggles' neck? He couldn't have walked in and ripped the necklace off without Giggles screaming.

Flippy could still be the stranger. Or it could be somebody else she didn't even know about.

Flaky shook her head. Nobody knew... exept Giggles.

Flippy came back then, he was carrying two cans of coke.

"I waited fifteen minutes and then the concession stand was out of coke," he said. Heset the cans down and ran a hand over his windblown hair. "So I went to that little shop down the street." He picked up one of the cans and held it out to Flaky.

Flaky stared at his hand.

She saw it reaching for a thin gold chain and twisting it. Twisting it so tight, it cut into Giggls' flesh.

"Flaky?"

She blinked away the image and reached for the can.

Her fingers touched Flippy's.

And she shivered again.

"So what happened to your winning streak?" Flippy teased as he drove her home later. "Did my ploy really work? Making youwait broke your comcentration?"

"I guess so," Flaky said laughing. It wasn't true, of course. She just hadn't been able to stop thinking about what Toothy told her. That's what had broken her concentration.

She looked over at Flippy. He was watching the road, whistling under his breath.

"What areyou thinking about?" Flippy asked.

Tell him, she thought. Let him deny it.

"Um... something Toothy told me," Flaky said nervously. She took a deep breath. "He told me why Cuddles doesn't like you."

Flippy was silent.

"Look, I can understand why you didn't tell me about it," Flaky said quickly. "It must be awful, having someone accuse you of something like that and not being able to prove them wrong."

Flippy didn't say anything.

Flaky forced herself to go on. "Maybe Cuddles is lust upset," she said. "He wanted to be the one to resscue Giggles. He feels the same way about me," she added. "He wants to be the one Giggles is trying to talk to. Or he did, anyway. He aplologised."

"You'll think he'll aplogise to me, too?" His voice was cold. Icy.

Flaky didn't answer.

Flippy pulled into Flaky's driveway and shut the engine off. Silently, they got out of the car and went up to the front door.

"Listen," Flaky said when they were up on the porch. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I just..."

"You just wanted to hear me say I didn't do it," Flippy interupted quietly. His voice was warm again.

He leaned close. Flaky's heart started hammering and she almost backed away.

But Flipppy was smiling now. A little scary. But very sexy.

He leaned closer. "I didn't take Giggles' necklace," he whispered.

He brushed his lips against hers, then turned amd walked back to his car.

He denied it, Flaky thought as she watched him go.

But did she believe him?

The dog started barking the minute Flaky put her key in the lock. He quieted down she came in, then raced into the kitchen and waited for her to let him out.

Shrugging off her jacket, Flaky tossed onto the kitchen table and went to raise the bamboo blinds that covered the sliding glass doors. She gripped the strings and tugged. The blind started rolling up from the bottom.

There was something red on the glass.

It hadn't been there earlier.

Flaky frowned and kept pulling. When the blind was almost at the top, she froze.

She was looking at words. Words written in block letters, just like the ones on the note.

But these letters were big. They covered both doors and were written in red. A dark, glistening red.

Blood-red.

BE CAREFUL, FLAKY, the blood-red words said. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.