Then he told the story about the time a driver stopped to pick up a hitchhiker near Goldsboro, and she told him who she was and said she was on her way back home from a dance when her boyfriend had car trouble. And her name was Sweet Sue and she seemed a little dazed, like something had happened to her, like maybe her date really dumped her on the side of the road, and so the driver took her home, to this address she gave him in Goldsboro. And when the driver parked the car and went around to help her out, she wasn't there. So he went and knocked on the door of the house, and he told the story of what had happened to this old woman who came to the door, wrapped up in her housecoat. And she told him that she once had a daughter named Sue, and she died in a car accident twenty years ago, on the night of her high school prom. And now and then somebody like the driver would stop at their door and tell the story of how Sue was still trying to get somebody to bring her home, after all that time. "And I know that's a true story for a fact, because my Uncle Heben lived next door to them people, and he was there sometimes when people would try to bring their daughter home."
In the end, Randy listens like the others, and they pass the bottle back and forth while Roy tells every ghost story he knows. Till the wind redoubles, and Nathan glimpses the movement beyond the highest branches, the roiling of cloud bottoms across heaven.
"Listen to that," Randy says.
"Storm coming up." Roy points to the south. "Wind changed right after supper. Did you feel it?"
"You mean it's going to rain?" Randy asks. "Yep."
Burke says, "Fuck."
"My tent is dry, and I got it on high ground for the night. I don't know about you."
Burke glares at Roy for a moment. Then, silent, he lurches up from the ground and slouches off to check.
A moment later his deep voice booms for Randy, and they move their tent to a better vantage. Roy and Nathan follow to help.
The coursing air is a continual singing now, and the hollow sound sends a chill through Nathan. They move the tent quickly and Nathan soon finds himself at the creek again, staring into the darkness and listening. The keen fresh scent of the storm sweeps over the forest, over the boys and their small tents. The tattered fire is blowing in the rocks, bravely sustaining.
From behind, Roy says, "I hope you see something in that creek, you stare at it enough." His tone is joking, but there is a serious shade.
"I was listening to the storm come up, I wasn't really looking at anything."
Momentary nearness allows the heat of his shoulder to cross to Nathan's. They watch each other sidewise, they inhale. Wind drowns out thought and speech at once. A crashing. "Listen to that. Wild."
"It sounds like somebody's voice," Nathan says. "I can almost hear words."
They watch each other. Roy smiles. He almost reaches, almost embraces. But at the last moment his face clouds and the smile softens.
A drop of rain crashes against Nathan's forehead, another on his shoulder, and around them leaves are shuddering with the impact. Roy is watching Nathan fervently. "You aren't scared out here, are you?"
"No."
But Roy goes on watching, and Nathan blushes.
Voices summon them from the campfire. Burke and Randy are waiting, Roy and Nathan return, as the fall of rain builds to steady percussion. "Listen to that wind," Burke says. "It sounds like some girl crying her eyes out."
"It sounds like your girlfriend crying because she has to stay home tonight," Randy says.
The phrase pleases Burke visibly. "Hey Roy, what's Evelyn doing tonight? Is she sitting home? Or did she find somebody else to take her out?"
Roy studies his hands, attempting to control his expression. "She's home with her parents where she belongs."
"You sure about that?"
"Ain't none of your business what I'm sure about." Brow darkening, he watches Burke with a warning expression. Scattering rain has begun to flatten his dark curls.
Burke grins and gives Nathan a wink. "I guess I heard that."
"This rain sucks," Randy says, eyeing the upper tiers of forest, where the air is filling with a gray wash. His voice disperses the sudden tension. "I sure wanted to sit around this fire for a while."
"Well you can sit around some wet rocks if you want to, but that ain't going to be a fire but another minute or two." Roy eyes the hissing of water drops in the bright embers. "I'm about ready to crawl in that tent. I'll see you guys in the morning."
Signaling Nathan with a glance, Roy heads to his tent. Randy has turned to do the same, leaving Burke alone in the clearing, rain plastering his shirt to his skin; he watches the fire with strange ferocity. Nathan follows Roy but turns at the last moment, as if summoned to do so. Burke is staring at Roy, his outline blurred by rain. From a pocket Burke pulls the narrow bottle a last time, uncaps it, drinks, licks his lips and pockets the bottle again. Still watching Roy. Nathan hurries forward.
