Murder in Band Camp X
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Chapter 10: At a Loss for Words
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The only thing filling Melody's ears was her short breath, coming in burst and gasps and she taxed her body to the limit. Whoever it was in front of her, crashing noisily through the forest, was fast for his age and size. He appeared to be about five six, with a stocky build and very little hair. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark night and the moonlight bounced crazily off the instrument thief's bald head.
Nooo! Melody groaned in her mind. Her lungs were burning and her leg muscles were about to cramp up. She recognized the sharp tension building in her upper thighs from the periodic running she did to keep herself in shape. And still the man in front of her was keeping speed – he was even gaining distance!
The next few moments came incredibly fast. Seemingly out of nowhere, a tree branch came swooping down from the night sky and raked across her face, leaving long trails of fire where her skin had broken. Melody cried out in pain and instinctively ducked, throwing her arms up in the air as her speed dropped. One foot caught on an underlying root and she hit the ground in an ungraceful heap of sprawled limbs and broken tree branches. Something poked her rather sharply in the side and grated against of rid cage, tearing the fabric of her shirt and surely scratching red welts across her skin.
Her wrist felt very peculiar, too. Her entire right arm had been in the air as she fell, banging painfully against a tree trunk and sliding down the bark. The momentum she had gained running had swept the treebark against her arm and hand like a cheese grater, not to mention the tearing sensation she had experience as her wrist was caught in a low-lying branch and then wrenched free during her fall.
The footsteps of the man she was pursuing faded into the night ahead, and she cursed silently under her breath. "Damn." She said aloud, forcing her weary body to roll over onto her back. Her wrist, now cradled to her stomach, throbbed with a muted sort of icy flame. She discovered her bare knees had been ripped and torn, tiny rivulets of blood sliding slowly, almost teasingly, down her calf, and that there was another little stream traveling down her ribs and soaking through her t-shirt.
Melody blinked sleepily. Somebody was crashing through the forest only seconds behind her, and she thought she recognized Scary's voice calling her name, filled with infinite worry and concern.
"Over here," she thought she tried to call, but she was getting really sleepy. Her forehead was throbbing and she recalled hazily that the branch she had hit head-on had been a rather thick one.
But such matters were secondary, and she slipped in a dark, dreamless sleep.
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Mr. Defton greeted the early Texas dawn with bleary eyes and unkempt hair, stubble showing rather clearly on his usually meticulously shaven chin. The morning sun seemed to waver hesitantly over the horizon, as if uncertain that it was the right time to appear, shooting watery rays of red, gold, and orange sunlight through the receding darkness.
"This has gone on too far," Mr. Cronshey said, standing just behind and to the side of Defton. "Much too far. Too many kids have gotten hurt."
"Melody won't even be able to play her trombone for several months from that broken wrist." Mr. Petri added. "And Troy can't march for at least three weeks. By that time we'll have learned all our drill."
"Three instruments missing, as well." Mrs. Bartlett sighed. "This is getting expensive. And ridiculous."
"I've made a few calls." Mr. Defton said, and even if his eyes were bloodshot and his clothes wrinkled and unruly, his voice was filled with determination and hardening resolve. "There's a few plainclothes detectives coming out here tomorrow afternoon. I've given them permission to search this camp from top to bottom. If there's anybody hiding in these woods, they'll find him."
"For our students sake, I hope your right." Cronshey said solemnly. "I sure hope you're right."
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Utah woke slowly, which was rather abnormal for him. Normally he was up and awake immediately, ready to get on and go. This time, however, he felt like something was dragging on his mind, and the foggy haze clouding his thought seemed to cling tenaciously to his brain, sending little tendrils of numbness into the corners of his cranium.
"Bad night," he said to himself. On the bunk above him, Penny rolled over and dropped her pillow on his head.
"Cheer up, Eeyore." She yawned. "I've got lots of honey that'll make even a grouch like you turn sweet."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Utah asked in a baffled voice.
"Go stuff yourself!" Penny said crossly. Utah stared up at her in an even more bewildered sort of way. Alternating between a scowl and a jaw-cracking yawn, Penny rolled back over and burrowed back into her covers.
"Penny always says incoherent things in the morning." Blaze said from behind him. "You, however, are always still asleep, you lazy-ass." The redhead was dressed in a bright green Hurley t-shirt and khaki pants, and Utah looked askance at his choice of colors.
"You look like a leprechaun," he noted. Blaze scowled at him.
"Go stuff yourself!" he echoed, then shuffled off to his bunk to find a less ridiculous looking t-shirt. He ended up pulling on a black shirt with 'ignition' scrawled across the front. The cabin around them began to rouse and slowly, people began asking questions.
"Why are we waking up so later?" somebody yawned. "It's like, almost nine." A lowerclassman Utah didn't recognize nodded in agreement.
"Where was morning Reveille?" They voiced, and the confusion spread a little further.
"Shut up!" yelled Penny, muffled from under her pillow. "Idiot trombone ran into a cactus and the whole section was playing wild-goose chase last night. Enjoy the sleep while you can!"
Blaze looked at Utah, who shrugged. Who knows, he mouthed at the rest of the section, and spun a finger around his forehead to denote total insanity. A few giggles were stifled but most retreated back to their comfy beds to doze off with a few precious extra minutes of sleep.
Minutes later, an announcement echoed over the camp. "All section leaders and band officers will report to the Pavilion for a meeting in approximately fifteen minutes. The rest of you are advised to sleep while you can."
"Take his advice," Blaze shrugged. "I'll be back in a few."
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"How odd." Charlie said, slipping her feet into a pair of cheap rubber flip-flops and sticking bobby pins in her hair in an attempt to tame the unruly mess before she could shower. "I'll see you guys in a little while." She glanced at the utterly silent cabin, filled with shapeless lumps huddled beneath sleeping bags. "Don't miss me too much," she grinned.
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Similarly, section leaders and officers across camp stood and looked at their respective section in confusion and bewilderment. There was little else to do but head to the Pavilion and see what new information had arisen, and a thin trickle of talented musicians made their way through the trees to gather in a almost ceremonial half-circle in the middle of the Pavilion.
Gathered in front of them was the full complement of Band directors. They were accompanied by a tall, lanky man in his early twenties, dressed in a dress shirt and gray slacks. He clutched a pale maroon briefcase in his hands and his presence only added to the subtle feeling of unease.
"We have," began Mr. Defton without preamble, "A situation. And we are going to remedy this in any way possible, as quickly as possible. I don't need smart-aleck remarks. I don't need jokes. What I need is your full and total cooperation as students and as musicians." He paused for effect. "Do I have it?"
Even more astounded by this sudden shift in intensity, the students gathered were the best of the best and dedicated almost-professionals.
"You're got our support, whatever it is." Charlie said slowly from the front of the group. "But what's more, you've also got our attention."
The band director nodded quietly. "I knew I would. Please, have a seat. This might seem a little strange to you."
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Author's Note: Mad apologies for the length of time this has taken. Things have been speeding out of control lately and it's taken me a while to put two and two back together. As it is, enjoy, and hopefully you won't tire of the marching band spiel and we advance into concert season. The drama will continue to increase. ::wink:: All for now,
~adulaith