Home Random Page


CATEGORIES:

BiologyChemistryConstructionCultureEcologyEconomyElectronicsFinanceGeographyHistoryInformaticsLawMathematicsMechanicsMedicineOtherPedagogyPhilosophyPhysicsPolicyPsychologySociologySportTourism






Chapter 6

 

“It’s Your Fault!”

“No!”

Corky’s anguished cry cut through the air. She dropped to the wet ground beside Jennifer and grabbed her pale, limp hand.

“No!”

At first Bobbi thought the low wail she was hearing came from her sister. But as the sound grew louder, cutting through the crackle and whisper of the wind bending the ancient trees of the cemetery, Bobbi realized it was the siren of an ambulance.

Someone in one of the houses across the street must have seen the accident and called for help.

A few seconds later three ambulances and a police cruiser pulled onto the wet grass, their flashing red lights washing over everyone, making everything seem too bright, the colors all wrong, too frightening, too vivid to be real.

The white coats of the paramedics, scrambling through the wet weeds, flashed red and gray, red and gray. The light caught their hard expressions like those in artificial-light snapshots, freezing them in Bobbi’s mind. She knew she’d always remember every somber face, every flash of light, every second of this dark, wet nightmare.

Behind the tilted tombstone, Ronnie stood crying, sobbing loudly, her mouth open wide, her eyes round. Kimmy and Debra huddled around her, trying to comfort her, their faces distorted by the flickers of red light too.

The rain had stopped now, leaving the air heavy and cold.

On the ground in front of the tombstone, several paramedics worked over Jennifer, speaking softly among themselves, softly but urgently.

Gentle hands pulled Bobbi and her sister back. Two young police officers were questioning Simmons, who was shrugging and gesturing to the overturned bus. He appeared very frightened and upset.

Radios crackled from the ambulances and the police car. A paramedic leaning over Jennifer spoke rapidly into a cellular telephone. The wind blew a shower of ice-cold rainwater down from the trees. Bobbi took a reluctant step closer.

Was Jennifer alive? Were they bringing her around? She had to see.

The white coats had formed a protective circle around Jennifer. Bobbi tried to make sense out of the buzz of low voices. She made her way to just outside the circle, her sneakers sinking into soft earth.

One of the paramedics stood up. In the blink of red light, Bobbi saw his eyes close, his teeth clench. “She’s gone,” he said.

Another white-coated young man climbed to his feet, shaking his head.

“Gone.”

Radios crackled. Ronnie’s sobs cut through the air.

“No!” Bobbi screamed.

Without realizing it, without even realizing she was moving, Bobbi pushed past the grim-faced paramedics. She knelt at Jennifer’s side, stared down at her pretty, expressionless face.

And Jennifer opened her eyes.

“Hey!” Bobbi cried. “Whoa!”

Jennifer blinked. And stared up at Bobbi.

“Hey—” Bobbi called. “Hey—”

Jennifer blinked again. Her lips trembled. Her dark eyes moved from side to side.

“Hey—she’s alive!” Bobbi called. “Hey—”

Corky was holding on to Bobbi’s shoulders, leaning over her, staring down at Jennifer.



Jennifer smiled up at them both.

“Hey—”

Cheers and cries. Urgent voices. The crackling of the radios. A low voice speaking rapidly into a cellular phone.

The sounds were drowned out by a rush of wind. It started to rain again.

Bobbi stared at the flashing colors, the darting yellow cones of light from the flashlights, the pale white beams of headlights. The lights all melted into one and grew brighter and brighter until she had to close her eyes.

Jennifer was alive. Okay. She was going to be okay.

Her eyes still shut tightly, Bobbi said a silent prayer.

When she opened her eyes, Jennifer’s gurney was being gently slid into an ambulance. Two more squad cars had pulled up. Several officers stood outlined in headlights, inspecting the overturned bus, shaking their heads.

“Lucky no one was killed.”

The words floated through the air and repeated in Bobbi’s mind.

The rain came down harder, swirled by the wind. The ambulance siren started with a cough. Then the shrill wail corkscrewed through the rustling trees. The ambulance roared away.

“How will we get home?” Ronnie was asking, still flanked by Kimmy and Debra.

“What about the game?” Heather asked.

“We have to get home!” Ronnie insisted.

“Will Jennifer be okay?”

“Has anyone called our parents?”

“Someone should call Miss Green”

“She’s probably at the game.”

“They won’t play in this rain.”

Let it rain, Bobbi thought, raising her face to it. Let the rain wash everything away. Everything.

She turned, startled to see Kimmy standing beside her, a cold, grim expression on her face, her eyes locked on Bobbi’s.

“Kimmy—?” Bobbi started.

“This is all your fault,” Kimmy said, speaking through clenched teeth. Her hands were balled into tight fists at her sides. The rain had matted her black hair against her forehead.

“Huh?”

“All your fault,” Kimmy repeated, continuing to glare at Bobbi. “If you hadn’t made us turn onto Fear Street—”

“Now, wait a minute!” Bobbi cried. “That isn’t fair!”

She realized the other cheerleaders were all staring at her, their faces grim and unhappy, lit by the flashes of red light.

“Kimmy, that’s not fair,” Corky cried, rushing forward to join her sister.

Kimmy walked quickly back to Ronnie and Debra.

“That’s not fair!” Corky repeated.

The rain fell harder, making it difficult to see. The ambulance carrying Jennifer was far in the distance now, its siren a lingering cry that refused to fade away.


Date: 2015-04-20; view: 506


<== previous page | next page ==>
Death of a Cheerleader | The New Captain
doclecture.net - lectures - 2014-2024 year. Copyright infringement or personal data (0.008 sec.)