He wanted to name me Ramona after his favorite band. The Ramones.”
Mom was sipping coffee at the chipped, round table in our kitchen, while my dad stood in front of the stove, in his Jane’s Addiction T-shirt, flipping pancakes.
“Ramona is a solid name, and the Ramones were punk rock gods,” my dad said over the sizzle of bacon frying in the next pan.
Mom balled up her napkin and tossed it at him, smiling. “Be happy I let you pick Kennedy’s middle name.”
“From your list. Rose was your grandmother’s middle name.” My dad crunched on a piece of bacon, and winked at me. “Kennedy Ramona would’ve been my pick.”
I forced their voices out of my mind, as Alara marched past me. She returned moments later, carrying a taxidermy goat with a mermaid tail from the front of the store. She stepped in front of us and pulled her sleeve down to cover her hand. “Back up.”
Elle covered her ears. “What if someone hears the glass break?”
Alara turned the goat so its horns faced the glass. “Like Lukas said, this place is closed, and it’s in the middle of nowhere.”
Jared reached for the mer-goat. “Why don’t you let me—”
Alara swung the goat by its mermaid tail, releasing it just as the horns hit the case. A crack zigzagged down the middle of the case, from the spot where the tail was still sticking out of the glass.
“Nice.” Jared shook his head at Alara. “I could be blind right now.”
“Except you’re not.” She walked over and kicked the rest of the glass out from below what was left of the mer-goat. The poem fell off the wall and crashed to the floor, along with the animal.
“Feeling a little aggressive today?” Lukas elbowed Alara and picked up the broken frame. He handed it to me, trying to keep it from falling apart.
Without the glass to hold it in place, the page slid out. Another piece of paper was folded in thirds behind the poem.
“What is it?” Elle asked, as I unfolded it.
Black ink covered the crinkled white sheet of paper, with a symbol in the bottom corner indicating it had been made from recycled materials. Roads twisted through stick-figure trees and hand-drawn houses that reminded me of scavenger hunts at summer camp.
“A map.”
7. CIRCLE OF SALT
I recognized the white weather-beaten house immediately. It was the one in the background of the photo I’d found tucked in my mirror, the day Elle and I were packing up my bedroom three months ago. The details of the picture crystallized in my mind—my dad carrying me on his shoulders, the goofy kid-smile plastered across my face.
Faith’s house was nestled in the woods about a mile and a half down an unmarked gravel road, even less noticeable than the one that led to the museum. We had passed a smattering of other homes, but none of them were this deep in the woods.
Lukas parked the Jeep in the snow, leaving enough room for another car to pass, even though we hadn’t seen any tire tracks since we turned off the main road.
On one side of the car there was nothing but a sea of snow-covered trees, which seemed to go on forever. To the left, beyond the narrow strip of road, the forest sloped downward, disappearing over the edges of cliffs and ridges that cut back and forth like a the triangular teeth I used to draw as kid.
We were all standing one of the wider ridges, a few yards away from the Jeep Faith’s house was below us, surrounded by towering pines and evergreens. Without the map, it would’ve been difficult if not impossible to find.
“I’ve been there before,” I said.
Elle sighed dramatically. “Please tell me we didn’t hang out in that disgusting museum full of dead animals to find a map we didn’t need. Those were two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”
Alara pushed past her. “And I bet you’ve wasted more time doing worse things.”
“Ow.” Elle rubbed her elbow. “Would it kill you to be a little nicer?”
“Yes.” Alara walked back toward the middle of the ridge, where the guys were drawing lines in the snow to represent different routes to Faith’s house.
“Kennedy,” Elle whispered. “I have to pee.”
I opened my arms wide and gestured around us. “Choose a spot.”
“Just make sure no comes over here.” She walked away from the edge and trudged through the trees that ran parallel to the slope.
As I stared down at the bits of the house I could see through the branches, I wondered what Faith Waters was like. How long had she been living out here? Did she have a family? And the question that kept resurfacing… did my father live there, too?
“Hey.” Elle waved from between the trees. “I found a crop circle like the ones on Ancient Aliens.”
Priest, Jared, and Lukas exchanged amused looks. Alara shook her head as if she couldn’t imagine what Elle was going to come up with next.
Jared stood up and brushed the snow off his jeans. “There are no crops out here, Elle.”
She put a hand on her hip and gave him her you’re-about-to-get-dumped-after-two-dates look. “I’m in AP Biology. Thanks for enlightening me.”
Lukas caught up to her first. His hands were jammed in his pockets, and he nudged her playfully with elbow. “Come on. Don’t be mad. Let’s see it.”
The rest of us trailed after them.
Lukas followed Elle to a small stretch of rock, which created a platform overlooking the trees below. When Lukas reached the edge, he froze.