Chapter 10: I Learn How to Shoot Long Distance
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Soon after Sadie declared we were using my tree house to stake out the school building, she flitted off back home to either ask her parents' permission, or possibly to fight off a rabid otter that was attacking her house. She said it all so quickly, I couldn't tell exactly what she'd said. The girl really needed to start enunciating her words better.
I wandered back inside, confused and dreading the cold night we were in for. I couldn't believe I'd ever agreed to this.
"Dad?" I asked as I stepped into the kitchen. He was at the sink, washing a few dishes, bubbles crawling up to his elbows.
"Hm?" he responded, scrubbing a spot on one of the dinner plates.
"Can you please take my cast off?" I leaned my crutches up against the wall and sat at the table.
Dad put the plate down in surprise and turned to look at me curiously. "Can't you wait a few days? You have an appointment to get it off on Monday."
"Yeah," I said with a shrug. "But, the thing is, it's really itchy and annoying and difficult to deal with at school..."
I didn't want to tell him the real reason I wanted it off was so I'd be able to climb into the treehouse tonight.
"I'm not licensed to do that." He rinsed the plate off and selected a glass from the soapy water.
I rolled my eyes. "You did it when I broke my arm six years ago."
"Only because you were pitching a colossal fit."
"And I'll do it again if that's what it takes," I threatened. "Just cancel the appointment. They won't care."
"Liam..." he sighed, pulling the plug in the sink and drying his hands.
"Dad..." I said in the same tone.
"Fine," he gave in, tossing the towel aside. "I'll take it off, but next time you've broken something, you have to wait the entire time."
I smiled and nodded, knowing full well that next time (if there was a next time), he'd give in again. He always did.
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One hour, much swearing, and a pair of ruined heavy-duty scissors later, my cast was gone. For the first time in five and a half months, I could walk without the crutches.
Well, sort of. After five and a half months of walking with crutches, I found that my leg was a bit weak from not being used. In fact, as soon as I stood and put weight on it, I collapsed to the floor, much to Dad's amusement.
"I have a spare cane you can borrow until you've built the muscle back up," he offered, helping me to my feet. "No sports or, I dunno, cab chasing for now."
"Cab chasing?"
He frowned. "It's nothing. Where'd that friend of yours go?"
"Oh, she went home. Is it alright if we hang out in the tree house tonight?"
He gave me a strange look. "Bit cold for that."
"We're staking out the school building. She insisted we use the tree house." Hopefully, he would just think I was joking.
"Liam," he groaned, shaking his head. "Staking out a school? What for?"
"She's trying to catch the statue smasher," I explained. "She likes crime solving. I think she wants to be a detective."
Dad's hand shot out and grabbed my shoulder tightly. "Don't get involved with people like that." His tone was low and serious.
"What? Why not?" I recoiled slightly.
He closed his eyes and sighed. "They're so bloody unreliable. It's fine. You two can use the tree house, just, be careful and all." He let go of me and limped into the kitchen, leaning heavily on his cane.
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At precisely 6:45 that evening, Sadie Hooper returned. She didn't enter my house through the front door or even the back door. That would be way too main-stream for her.
Nope, she came in through my bedroom window.
Let me explain: we hadn't gotten around to putting screens in the windows yet, so if they were open, they really were open. We usually didn't open them because that would enable a number of various things to unwelcome things to enter our house - cats, cold air, birds, bugs, Sadie Hoopers.
Sadie Hooper managed to bring in three of those things on the list: Herself, cold air, and a cat.
"Can't you do anything the normal way?" I asked, hardly surprised as she climbed in through my window, hands wrapped around a pet carrier and a backpack.
She blinked, setting the pet carrier down. Whatever was inside growled menacingly. She gently kicked the plastic side and the animal shut up.
"Please, tell me you didn't bring the demon cat with you," I pleaded.
"Okay, I didn't bring my demon cat with me." She dropped her backpack at the foot of my bed, reaching behind her to close the window.
I sighed. "Why'd you feel the need to bring it with you?"
"He's necessary for the stakeout." She shrugged and flopped down on my bedroom floor, taking off her trademark shoes - navy-blue flats with bows on the toe.
"Well, which of the cats is it?" I stood and grabbed my dad's old cane from where I'd placed it by my desk.
"Toby, Jr. The one who attacked you was Toby, Sr. I would have brought him, but he's too old for this kind of thing."
I wanted to ask exactly what sort of thing Toby, Sr. was too old for, but I'd learned that with Sadie, you pretty much found out what she was talking about sooner or later if you cared enough to stick around.
"Liam!" my dad yelled from down the hall. "Dinner's ready!"
"Uh, okay!" I called back. Then, I softened my voice and addressed Sadie. "Can you, just, go back out through the window and knock on the door?"
"Why would I do that?"
"I don't really want to explain to my dad how you appeared in my room without him knowing." I crossed the room and reopened the window. Sadie rolled her eyes, but complied, slipping her shoes back on. With an exasperated glare, she hopped onto the sill and soon was gone.
Ten seconds later, the doorbell rang.
Composing myself, I left my room and headed down the hall to let her back inside.
"That was really tedious," she complained under her breath, stepping over the threshold and removing her shoes again.
"Oh, I'm sorry that behaving like a normal person is such a chore," I spat, leading her into the kitchen. Dad had set out an extra plate as if he was expecting her to show up.
"Hello, Sadie," he said cheerfully, bringing a covered pot over to the table. "It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you for having me over, Dr. Watson." She smiled, perfectly polite.
"Please, call me John," Dad said, strolling back into the kitchen to grab the pitcher of water by the fridge.
I nearly vomited at the pleasantries. I made a disgusted face at Sadie, and she, in turn, stuck her tongue out at me. I resisted the urge to reach out and slap her arm, but that wouldn't be very nice, considering she's a girl, and I was prepared to bet she'd hit me back even harder.
"What'd you make?" I asked, reaching over to take the lid off the pot. A cloud of steam gushed out.
"Um, rice," he answered, filling the three glasses with water. "It's a new recipe I found the other day. They call it 'Surprising Rice'."
"Why is it called that?" Sadie questioned. She pulled out the chair nearest her (which also happened to be my usual chair) and sat down. I suppressed a sigh and took the chair reserved for guests – not that we ever had any.
"Well," he said, a hint of a smile on his face, "if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it?"
I felt my face pale. It's not like Dad's a bad cook or anything, it's just that he should really start sticking to the basics. Mum usually did the cooking. When he made new recipes, it usually ended in disaster. I remember a particularly memorable time when Mum was working late and he decided to make a chicken recipe he'd found online. We both ended up with salmonella. I swear to all that is holy, if he gives Sadie food poisoning… Actually, she would probably deserve it.
A huge spoonful of the mushy concoction landed on my plate. Sadie had already received her helping and was poking around the gooey mass. Warily, I took a bite. I suppose it wasn't too bad. The grapes were a bit much, though.
"So," my dad said, sitting across from me at the head of the table. "Liam's told me quite a bit about you."
She smirked at me. "Has he?"
"He mentioned that you like crime solving and detective work."
Her eyes lit up.
I sighed in exasperation and shoveled another forkful of surprising rice into my mouth.
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"… and that, John, is precisely why Dean Castiel should never have been charged with the murders of the Pond family," she finally finished with a flourish.
"Ah, brilliant!" Dad said happily. "You've got quite the talent for this sort of thing."
It was the funniest thing – all throughout Sadie's enthralling (yes, I'll admit, I was hooked onto every word she said) explanation of a 2012 murder case, my father had been completely tuned in, hanging onto every detail.
"Thank you." She tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear and set her fork beside her barely touched plate.
"What did you think of the Gordon Shappey case a few years ago?" he asked, taking a sip from his water glass. "Personally, I think he should have been charged for the murder of his wife, Hayley."
"Oh, definitely –" Sadie started to say, but I interrupted them.
"Sadie, shouldn't we be getting the tree house ready or something?" The wooden legs of my chair scraped across the tile as I stood up.
"What?" Her head whipped around to look outside. "Oh, yes, that's a good idea." Turning back to my dad, she added, "Thank you for dinner. It was wonderful."
"You're very welcome." He smiled fondly at her.
I rolled my eyes, snatched my cane from where it rested against the table, and hobbled down the hall to my room. I could hear her footsteps as she followed me.
"What the hell was all that about?" I demanded when we were in the safety of my bedroom.
"What was all what about?" She crossed to where the pet carrier was and picked it up. The cat inside let out a deep, feral snarl. I resisted the urge to shudder at the sound.
"You were kissing up to my dad," I accused, grabbing a stack of blankets, an electric lantern, and the book I was currently reading.
"I was not!" She slung her backpack over her shoulders and departed the room. I decided to let it drop.
Shaking my head, I followed her out into the snow covered yard, where she had already ascended the rope ladder. I quickly climbed up after her.
"Wow," I said as I entered the tree house. "You've been busy."
She shrugged. "I've been here since 5:30, setting everything up."
The small, square room had been completely redecorated. All the leaves and twigs and bugs had been cleared out, and a short bookcase had been propped up against one wall, its shelves partly filled with random books. A woven rug had been spread over the floor, dotted with a few throw pillows, and various posters (including a Periodic Table of Elements) had been tacked onto the walls. A wooden crate sat in the corner, filled with a variety of things. From where I was, I could see several binoculars, a walkie-talkie, and an umbrella.
Perhaps the most dramatic change to the room had been the addition of real, glass windows.
"Sadie…" my voice trailed off.
"Well, did you want to sit in the cold for hours?" she asked, hands on her skinny hips. "I wouldn't have minded so much, but I knew you'd just complain, so I put in the windows."
"It's incredible," I breathed, dropping my belongings on the rug.
She blinked, taken aback. "I thought you'd be mad, and that's why I didn't ask for permission."
I couldn't help myself. I started chuckling. Soon, the chuckles turned into full-on laughter.
"What?" she demanded angrily. "What's so funny?"
"You, Sadie Hooper, are absolutely ridiculous," I choked out as the laughter gradually slowed and stopped. She furrowed her eyebrows, but didn't comment.
"Anyways," she said, looking a bit flustered, "the windows open and close, so it still might be a bit cold in here. Also, I brought binoculars. I was thinking we could keep watch in shifts. That way, one of us could be taking notes while the other keeps a lookout."
"Sounds good." I plopped down on a black-and-white striped throw pillow. "About what time are you expecting the guy to get here?"
"Could be anytime, really," she muttered. "But, I'm assuming it will be before eleven; that's the time he would least expect us. Will you let Toby, Jr., out?"
Begrudgingly, I crawled across the rug to where the feral animal was locked up. Quickly, I opened the cage door and flew back, arms curled across my body in case it decided to spring out and kill me. The enormous cat did no such thing. It merely slunk out from the pet carrier, hissed at me, and jumped on top of the bookcase.
"We don't need that lantern, by the way."
"What? Why not?"
In response, she just pointed to the ceiling, where a single lightbulb had been installed. Then, she reached up and pulled the chain. It lit up the treehouse with a yellow light, and there really was nothing I could say.
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Three hours had passed in near silence, except for a few muttered words here and there. Strangely, the silence wasn't awkward or uncomfortable. It was nice.
10:30 found us sitting as quietly as ever. Sadie had taken over at the window, whereas I was bent over a notepad, neatly printing down the facts of the case she'd told us over dinner. Of course, I'd never tell her I was writing it down. That would only give her ego another unnecessary boost.
"Liam," she said suddenly. "Come here."
"What is it?" I whispered, crawling over to peer out the window. She handed me her pair of binoculars, and I squinted through them. "I don't see anyt- oh."
"Exactly," she murmured, the corners of her bow-shaped lips curling up. She spun around and dug through the crate. She passed the object over to me, and I examined it.
"A slingshot?" I asked, confused. "What for?"
"How well can you aim?" She looked at me with a wry expression.
"I'm not bad, but –"
"Don't lie. You've attended three, no, four archery classes in your lifetime, and you've achieved top spot in each."
I felt my face flush.
"I want you to shoot the window near the statue right as he's about to smash it," she explained, pressing a small, steel marble into my palm. "It will shatter the glass, and the perpetrator will run, obviously, but this time, he'll take the statue with him instead of just breaking it and leaving."
"Are you sure?" I inserted the marble into the pocket of the slingshot and drew the elastic back. Carefully, I took aim through our open window. I closed one eye and imagined the marble hitting its target.
"Positive."
We watched the shadow grow nearer to the plaster bust of the town's last mayor. Darkened hands hovered above the statue. An outline of a Nerf gun could be seen resting again the intruder's hip.
"On my count," she whispered. "Three… two… one… shoot!"
I released the taught elastic and the marble was released. There was a faint sound of tinkling glass in the distance. Sadie let out a breath she'd been holding. The cat behind us made a coughing noise. Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
Then, the shadow scooped up the plaster bust and darted out of sight, just as Sadie had predicted.
"Quick," she instructed. "Grab the leash and collar from my bag."
I dropped the slingshot and lunged for her backpack, extracting the long, leather lead and collar. I tossed it to her, and she fixed it around the cat's neck.
"This is no time to be taking the cat for a walk!" I exclaimed, one foot on the rope ladder.
"Oh, it's always time to take Toby on walks." She grinned manically and snatched a large skateboard from the crate.
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Author's Note: I feel really horrible about the wait for this chapter. I hope you all aren't mad at me!
I have a challenge for you readers. I've inserted three references to the canon books and show, and five references to other programs in this chapter. If you can find five of these references, you get a gold star. Good luck!
I'd be eternally grateful if you left a comment telling me what you thought of the chapter! Please, please review!
-SketchbookPianist