Here's Chapter 10! Enjoy!
They were done for.
Neither Jess nor Leslie had to look at each other as they sat down on the couch (as instructed) to know that the other was thinking the same thing. The dire looks on all four adults were enough to firmly plant this thought in their minds.
"Okay," Jack thundered once they had settled on the couch, looking anywhere but at each other, "now you two are going to tell us everything that you've been doing regarding that forest and our Council President from downtown, and why you haven't said anything before."
So they talked. Like criminals with flashlights aimed at their eyes, Jess and Leslie spoke into the silence.
"So that land back there…we really feel attached to it, you know—"
"And we found out that a company called Miranda's Outfitting! was going to destroy it illegally—"
"And we just wanted to let our Council President know what was going on—"
"We didn't want any innocent land being ripped up—"
"Hang on," said Judy, frowning. "You're leaving details out, I can tell…"
"Absolutely," Nancy said and Bill added, "How did you find out about this illegal construction?"
And so they told their parents of the phone call they had made months ago, and the tension in the air intensified as they continued to speak.
"You said that you were going over to the Burkes to do math," Jack shot at Jess, who squirmed under his father's glare.
"You've been lying to us for all this time?" Nancy said in a heated tone.
"We…we didn't mean—"
"Let them finish," Bill said, looking over toward the two of them. "What did you say to Greg Jacklyn?"
Again they spoke in turns, describing their visit to their Council President, including the results that he had predicted.
"And he said that unless enough people would speak out against the construction—"
"Our land can still be constructed on—"
"Your land," Jack said with narrowed eyes.
"Well, not technically our land, but—"
"I don't think you guys realize what you've done here," Jack said furiously, as though analyzing their explanations. "Not only have you lied to our faces and messed around with business companies, but you've been trespassing on Strellgate's land for all this time. You realize that he could have fined us?"
"And that we would have had to pay him money we don't have?" Nancy tacked on.
"He didn't mind," Jess said defensively. "He's even seen us over there and he didn't care that we went across his land to get to the forest—"
"What I want to know," said Judy and all eyes turned to her, "is why you kids would be so concerned about this little spit of land. I mean, yes, it's innocent forest, but you guys act like it's your child or something—"
"Oh, please do not put that idea into their heads," Nancy shot over at Judy. "The last thing we need right now is two grandchildren—"
"I meant," Judy interrupted rather coolly, "that Jess and Leslie seem very protective over this piece of land—"
Jack and Bill interrupted at the same time.
"Yes, why exactly is this forest so important, here?"
"I can't see why, seeing what happened down there six years ago—"
"That's enough!" Nancy said loudly. "Jess, Leslie, why do you continue to go down to that forest—?"
"—especially after you were almost killed, Leslie! I would think—"
"There is no reason you guys should even be wandering around in the middle of goddamn nowhere—"
"Anything could happen down there…there are animals, the creek—"
"Not to mention there could be criminals—"
"Let them speak!" roared Bill over all the noise. "You two—explain. Why are you going to such lengths to protect this land?"
Finally Jess and Leslie looked at each other; the fact that they were unwilling to reveal that piece of information must have shown on their faces, because all four of their parents jumped on them almost at once.
"Oh, so you've been keeping even more freaking secrets, haven't you?"
"For God's sake, this is getting absolutely ridiculous—"
"You guys better spill because we are not going to waste any more time here—"
"And if this has anything to do with law then I can assure you that you will be stripped of privileges—"
"Completely stripped of privileges, as far as I'm concerned—"
"Why you would even be interested in this land is beyond me—"
"You have no idea—"
"Utterly insane—"
"Trespassing and lying to our faces, now what?!"
Neither Jess or Leslie dared look at each other again, nor did they dare try to speak over all the shouting. Jess realized, with an unpleasant twist in his stomach, that this was exactly the treatment Brenda and Ellie had received weeks before. So this was how they had felt.
Finally Bill took charge.
"Let them speak!" he said again. "You guys better have a good reason for this—" Again the other three parents burst out angrily again but he hurriedly put up a hand to silence them and raised his voice, "—and you had better tell us that reason."
"Now," the rest of them said.
Jess felt his heart clenching with alarm…only one thought was passing through his mind repeatedly: They can't know…not Terabithia…anything else…
"This land," Leslie spoke softly and slowly—almost hesitantly—into the deathly quiet and Jess silently thanked her for speaking first, "is more to us then a bunch of dirt and trees and water. It's not just…it's not just a piece of land like it is to the company who's building on it. It's a place we can always count on…a place that we could go to when we were younger, to escape from everything in our lives that was going wrong."
The silence's tension had lifted and the looks on their parents' faces had changed. Jess felt admiration for Leslie sweep through him; he still dared not look at her but his heart stopped thudding as he realized that she had put the truth out to their parents as far as she could—without saying the name Terabithia.
"Seeing it destroyed would be…" Leslie paused slightly, then went on in the same quiet, sad tone, "it would be like seeing our refuge permanently gone and ruined. Like…like we would be seeing our childhood ruined. And that would mean that…that…"
"That we finally have to face growing up," Jess said just as quietly and all attention shifted toward him. Leslie turned to look at him in unspoken astonishment and Jess met her gaze; they looked at each other for an instant before turning back to their parents, but not before Jess caught that new expression in Leslie's eyes. So she had had trouble finding words, too.
"We want things to be the way they were," Leslie said and Jess heard her voice trembling with emotion. "The way things were when Jess and I first met. Where we could just play and not have to worry about real life. Because real life...like school, and, and things at home...could really be hard sometimes."
"And it still can," Jess added quietly.
The silence was so overpowering after all the yelling that Jess wondered for a moment if they had shocked their parents out of their voice boxes. Judy and Bill glanced at each other, as did Jack and Nancy, and Jess pounced on the opportunity to look at Leslie again; again their eyes met and she smiled slightly, that new something glittering gently in her eyes. Jess looked into them and tried, tried to recognize what it was—
"You say Strellgate didn't mind you being on his land?" asked Jack quietly, and Jess and Leslie turned back to look at the four of them.
"He's known we go on that land," Jess said, and Leslie added, "And he hasn't cared at all. He hasn't tried to stop us or anything."
There was another pause. The adults looked around at each other."Well?" Judy said suddenly.
"Uh…right, listen…" Bill said in a very soft tone. "Uh…" He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Can…we ask you guys something?"
Confused, they both nodded.
"If…if you wouldn't mind telling us…" Bill looked around at his wife, Jack, and Nancy as though asking for help, and when none of them said a word he looked back at the two of them, "are…uh…are things the way they were? When you two first met?"
"Well, no, not really," Jess said and was alarmed to see all of them suck in their breaths with horror. "I mean, we're going to high school now and everything, and we can't exactly run around all the time like we used to—"
"No, no," Jack said, looking immensely relieved, as did the rest of them, that he had misunderstood the question, "we mean…are things…well…are they…?"
"Are things the way they were between you two now as they were when you first met as children?" Nancy asked softly.
"As friends?" prompted Judy.
Yet another silence dominated the room.
"Yes," both Jess and Leslie said at the same time.
"Just as before?"
"Just as before," repeated Leslie simply and Jess added, "Friends."
"Nothing more?"
"No."
"Nothing."
Jess thought that the anxiety that had dominated the room before had vanished; he certainly could see it fading from his parents' faces but he had a feeling it hadn't disappeared completely. Sure enough, Jack sort of straightened himself up and said, "Well."
"That's that, then," murmured Judy.
"Okay, Jess. You are grounded," Nancy said and Bill said quietly, "As are you, Leslie," but Jess could see that most of their anger had evaporated.
They both nodded in surrender, but Jess couldn't help but feel that he hadn't lost anything. "Okay."
"And I'm sure we'll be working out details and we'll let you know about those in a little bit," said Judy and Nancy nodded in agreement.
"Jess, to your room, please," Jack said.
Bill added, "Leslie, go ahead and walk back to the house. We'll be talking about this for a while."
Jess and Leslie tentatively left the room. The four adults were still silent as they left so Jess realized that they were waiting for them to separate and leave before they continued talking.
"Tomorrow," he mouthed to Leslie and she nodded. She walked out the kitchen door, headed for her house, and he hurriedly climbed the stairs, making his steps loud and opening and shutting the door to Brenda and Ellie's empty room so they would think he was in his.
Sure enough, the adults started talking.
"Well," Judy said, as though asking a question.
"'Well' indeed," muttered Jack.
"What do you think?" Bill asked softly.
"What do I think?" Jack repeated faintly. "I don't know. I think…"
"That they have a good reason?" Judy prompted and Jess heard his father sigh.
"Yes. I didn't think I'd say this, but they do."
"That doesn't stop their actions from being unacceptable," Nancy said.
"I never said it did."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Judy said. "Punish them?"
"They're good kids…with good intentions," murmured Bill, "and they're trying to save their bit of land…"
"First of all, it's not their land," Nancy said coldly, "and the actions involved with saving that territory involve making appointments with Council Presidents behind our backs, lying to our faces—"
"That was wrong, yes," Bill said, "but they did it because they thought it was best. Those kids are—"
"For heaven's sake," Jack butted in, "they're sixteen already. Neither of them are kids anymore, no matter how much we try to deny it—"
"If anything, they're the ones denying it," Nancy snorted, "by acting this way, as though they were ten years old all over again. And I refuse to believe that they are just fr—"
"That is beside the point, Nancy," Jack spoke over her. "The question is: what are we supposed to do about this construction? It's obvious that they feel like they need this land—"
"I think the question we should be asking is: how are we punishing them for lying to us and sneaking around downtown—?"
"Okay, okay, Nancy, how about this? Jess can't have the truck for a while until we cam trust that they won't go downtown alone again anytime soon. I'll take 'em to school every day next week and the rest of this week…."
"You seriously think that will have an impact on them?" Nancy demanded.
"Are we trying to severely punish them, here?" Judy asked quietly. "They're doing a good thing. Yes, they lied to us. We can have Leslie restricted for a while, perhaps give her some more chores, and you can have Jess do whatever you feel is necessary…."
"I think that sounds reasonable," Bill said and Judy added, "And we can watch them a little more carefully to make sure they won't be sneaking off to this land of theirs to do whatever they've been doing down there—"
"Watch them more carefully? Am I the only one here concerned about what those two could be doing besides meeting with Council Presidents?"
"I don't see anything else we should even remotely be considering—"
"Oh, really? Have you seen how they are lately?"
"They said they were friends," Bill said incredulously.
"We're getting off the point, here," Jack nearly shouted over Nancy as she started to speak. "We all know what's coming and we might as well be prepared for it when it does, so yes, Nancy, you do have a point. But right now we need to be focused on the penalties for their actions…and what we can do to help them with this saving of that forest."
"Help them?" thundered Nancy. "Are you crazy?"
"Why are you so determined to punish them?" Judy suddenly snapped out, and Jess jumped with surprise. "I honestly think that—"
"Listen! If they start hiding things like this, all of this can lead to bigger stuff! We can't just have them going off and talking to Council Presidents without worrying about what else they could be up to—"
"What else are you so convinced they're up to? Are you thinking of Brenda?"
There was an awkward, deadly pause that seeped through every particle of the downstairs domain and up to the stairs. Jess felt his heart skip a beat.
"Don't you dare bring my daughter into this," Nancy said quietly, and Jess's blood chilled at the hostility in her tone.
"Look, Nancy…." Judy sounded helpless. "I'm sorry but…but I think you're getting concerned over Jess and Leslie because—"
"Judy didn't mean to insult you two...or your daughter," Bill interrupted. "I'm sure she was just pointing out that she realizes that your concern here is that our kids could start hiding things bigger than going to forests and Council Presidents."
"That's exactly what I just said," Nancy said and her voice trembled. "I just…I just don't want to see Jess turn out badly…B-Brenda…and Ellie…they've already…." Her voice died and the room's atmosphere wound down completely.
"Nancy, Jack, Brenda is going to be fine," Bill's voice said quietly. "And Ellie will be, too. There are some things that they need to work out by themselves."
"They'll turn out okay in the end, I'm sure," said Judy earnestly.
"I know they will," Nancy said and by her strangled voice, Jess was sure she was crying. "But…but Jess…he's had such awful examples…I can't help but feel as though—"
"Nancy, honey," Jack said quietly, "listen to what you're saying. He's got Leslie. That girl's done more with him then any of us have been able to do—or will be able to do."
"Very true. And just because you two have busy lives doesn't mean he doesn't have good examples," Judy pointed out, and Bill added, "Exactly. You both have raised a wonderful young man."
"There is nothing we need to be concerned about as of now," Jack said, "other than giving those kids…or young adults, whatever you want to call them…some punishment for a little dishonesty."
"Plus we should see about these public hearings and what we could do to help them out," Bill said, "because I really do think they are doing a good thing."
"Absolutely," Judy said and Jess heard his mother take a shaky breath.
"I do, too," she murmured. "But…but I want to be sure…that they both understand what they've done."
"Of course," Jack said soothingly. "I think they both got a very good idea as we stood here yelling at them."
There was a ripple of soft chuckles and Judy said, "We'll go talk to Leslie."
"She's a good girl. I'm sure she understands the seriousness of this as well as Jess does," Jack added and Jess heard the adults move off the couches.
"Some extra chores and no truck for the rest of this week and next?" Bill asked.
"Sounds okay. They won't die," Jack said.
"How will they get to school?" Nancy asked. "The buses?"
"No, I'll take them. High school buses are hell, anyway," Jack answered and Jess smiled in spite of himself. "And tomorrow after their school is out one of us could take them downtown so we could all speak to Greg Jacklyn."
"Sounds good," Bill said and Jess heard them walking through to the kitchen. "Let's see…punishment. What should we do here, Judy?"
"Maybe we'll just make Les clean out our shower…" Judy said. "She'd be good at it, too; she's been cleaning like a madwoman lately," she added and the adults laughed lightly.
"Thanks for coming down here," Jack said.
"No problem," both Bill and Judy answered and Nancy said, "I'll call you in the morning, Judy."
"Sounds good," Judy said and Jess knew she was giving his mother a hug. "We'll talk later, Nancy, Jack."
"Okay."
"See you soon, I bet."
"Bye."
The kitchen door closed. It was uneasily silent and Jess felt his heart thudding. He heard his father sigh.
"What a picnic," Jack said heavily as he and Nancy walked back to the living room.
"Well, at least—" Nancy started but she stopped suddenly, and Jess knew that Jack had shushed her.
"Jess?" he heard Jack's voice suddenly, "I know you're up there and you've been listening to every word we were saying so you might as well come down here for a second."
Jess gulped. He got up and silently walked down the stairs, dread seeping through him.
His parents stared at him as he walked into the living room. "Er…" he said awkwardly.
"I thought I told you to go to your room," Nancy said, halfheartedly, and Jess looked at his feet.
"I'm sorry," he murmured to the carpet, and he was surprised when both of them chuckled. "What?" he asked, looking up. "Having fun planning what chores I'll be doing?"
"Jess…" Jack looked at Nancy momentarily before turning back to his son. "Listen. We're not as angry with you as we were when we got that call today, but from now on we would prefer if you told us the truth about these sort of things."
"Okay, Jess?" Nancy asked softly.
Jess nodded. "Okay."
"With that said, after school this week and next I want you to help me do some cleaning around the house," Nancy said, and Jess nodded again. "Oh, and whenever Brenda's craving anything from downtown you've got to go and get it."
"What?" Jess yelped before he realized she was joking. Her eyes smiled at him and Jack shook his head in amusement. He smiled and Jess rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Will do."
"And Jess, out of curiosity here…" Jack asked, studying him carefully, "is there anything else that you want to tell us?"
"Anything else going on that we should be aware of?" Nancy added on.
Jess stared at his parents for a moment, thinking…
The way Leslie's eyes had changed completely so many times during the last few weeks…how his heart pounded faster and something inside him seem to jump whenever she smiled, or studied him, or touched his hand… How different she had acted because of Trent…
Trent….
"No," Jess said quietly with a small shrug. "No, nothing I can think of."
Jack and Nancy glanced at each other, then turned back to him. "Are you sure?" Nancy asked gently.
"Is there anything in particular that I should be telling you?" Jess asked his parents. "You want to know if we go out at night, smoking and drinking and doing drugs and crap like that, right?"
They both smiled wearily. "Yes, something like that."
"Well, we don't," Jess said, and for some reason he felt as though he needed to say something else, regarding another topic he wasn't sure he wanted to touch on, but he held his tongue. "I promise we don't."
"I know you don't," Jack replied, and Nancy quietly said it was past dinnertime.
Jess trudged up the stairs once again, savoring the quiet and trying to organize his thoughts into categories so they at least made sense. The instant he opened the door to his room, however, his thinking went flying as May Belle and Joyce Ann pounced on him.
"What happened? What did you guys do? Where's Leslie? Why was there screaming? How come you're in trouble?" Questions bounced off of Jess's mind so rapidly that he didn't have time to register them, and he put up a hand to his sisters as though trying to fight off their demands.
"Nothing! It's nothing, you guys. I've been hounded enough today…just stop…." He walked over to his bed and flopped down onto his blankets, reaching under the bed for his sketchbook and trying to ignore his sisters. They were merciless.
"Oh, come on, Jess! You said you'd tell us! Why was everyone yelling at you? Did you and Leslie do something bad?"
"No, we didn't…we just lied a little bit and that got them upset…"
"But—"
"Listen! I can't take this right now." Jess put a hand to his forehead in irritation and begged them, "Please just leave me alone right now, okay? Go ask Mom and Dad if you're so determined for answers."
To his immense relief May Belle and Joyce Ann flew out of the room and charged down the stairs to the kitchen, where Nancy was now throwing together dinner, by the sounds of clanking pots that was echoing up to the room. Jess sighed and closed his eyes wearily, wanting more than anything to have Leslie beside him. She would analyze what had happened and make him feel better…she would give him the comfort he needed….
Leslie.
He felt a prickle of anger inside of him that had nothing to do with Terabithia. No one harassed his Queen. Not one person had the right to turn Leslie into a dull copy of what she truly was…and Trent had certainly tarnished everything Jess knew her to be...
Jess sat in gloomy silence on his bed and he gazed at the picture of Leslie he had drawn before she went to Niagara Falls with her parents that past summer, listening to his parents trying to ward off his younger sisters and, as time wore on, his elder sisters coming through the back door with complaints involving everything under the sun.
He ate dinner in silence and ignored his sisters as they pestered him with questions, gratefully kissing his mother on the cheek when she excused him earlier then usual, and he went back up to his room. He was surprised when May Belle entered the room after about an hour with the phone in her hand.
"It's Leslie," she said as she handed the phone to Jess, brow furrowed with confusion. "And Mom said not to talk for too long, she said something about you guys planning too many things in one day."
Jess blissfully took the phone from her and she hurried from the room. Relief spread through him as held the phone up to his ear.
"Hey, Les," he said happily. "Are you okay? We really—"
"Jess." His heart jumped at her horrified tone. "Oh, my God, Jess…you're not going to believe…we just…we just—"
"What? What's wrong?" he asked, panicked, relief fading from him quickly. "What is it?"
"Jess…" With a start, Jess realized Leslie was crying. "Jess…Bill and Judy wanted to see the land we were talking about…I took them down there...to Terabithia and…I…I know no one's ever been there b-but us…"
"Leslie, it's okay," Jess said, shocked. "Don't be upset over that…everyone's going to see that land sometime..."
"No, you don't understand…." Jess could barely comprehend her words, as her voice was so out of control. "Our—"
"Calm down, I can't understand you," said Jess with alarm, speaking desperately into the phone. "What's the matter, Les?"
"Jess…" Leslie took a shaky breath, "our tree house is gone."
All right you guys, a couple things to mention here. So I was a little nervous to post this chapter; I tried to imagine exactly how the four parents would react according to their characters as we know them, and also whether or not they would think about the entire mess differently after they heard Jess and Leslie's explanation as to why they were going to such lengths to protect their land. The four parents aren't heartless, after all. ;) However, if you disagree with the way the parents reacted (and I'm sure at least some of you out there do), I would love to hear your comments and/or suggestions. I'm not sure if I did it right.
I'm sorry to leave you guys at a cliffhanger, but I couldn't resist. :D This story could do with more action rather than drama, so I decided it was high time I adjusted things accordingly. I'll post the next chapter (as always) as soon as I possibly can.
And finally, I received so many lovely, thoughtful PMs from so many of you readers after I posted the last chapter that I almost went into shock. You guys are truly amazing; thank you so much for your kindness and for taking the time to give me comfort. Your words were so needed and cherished and I feel so lucky to have so much support -- even if it's all through the Internet and keyboards:D
Again, I'll update as soon as I can; thanks again for reading and feel free to leave me comments! They are appreciated as always. :)