It had never been much of a front yard to begin with, a patch of dry grass under the canopy of trees, but now their limbs were bare of leaves that had migrated soon after George had left. Time had seen the vines grow around trees and house equally, like long, thick fingers strangling, while the leaves, which had reached no further than the porch, were crumbling into dust. The early rains of summer had started small colonies of toadstools which nestled together, sheltered under fallen branches and moss. The earth was reclaiming it’s own. Two children hushed as they approached, as if afraid their voices might wake the sleeping house. “Are you sure we aren’t gonna get in trouble?” asked Emily, quietly. Her mother was always warning her away from things. It was a constant struggle to find things she was allowed to do. “C’mon Em,” said Josh, grabbing her hand and dragging her across the empty yard. “It’s ok. Nobody will even see us.” After the last neighbours had left, Josh had watched the empty house for days as people came and looked at it. He’d hoped the new family would have a boy his age, but all they had was a girl. Still, he made do. So far he’d taught her how to throw a decent pitch, and if he could just get her to stop ducking whenever the ball went near her, she’d be nearly perfect. “Mum told me not to go near abandoned houses,” said Emily. “She says they’re dangerous and you could go through the floor or something.” “You can’t go through the floor,” said Josh, his voice harsh with exasperation. Emily dug in her heels, forcing Josh to come to an abrupt halt. He turned and stared straight at her. “Em, you aren’t going to fall through the floor,” he said. “It’s nice inside. There’s furniture and everything.” Emily chewed the edge of her bottom lip between her teeth. “Didn’t he die in there?” “Honestly Em. What? You think this place is haunted? That we’re gonna go in there and his ghost is gonna jump out?” he taunted her. “Or maybe he’s a zombie!” Emily flung his hand away angrily, “Well if you’re gonna be like that Joshua Harper, then maybe I’ll just go home!” “No, wait, Em,” said Josh, grabbing for her hand again. “I’m sorry. Come on Auntie Em. You know I was just playing.” “You know I hate it when you call me that,” Emily replied. She sighed. “Alright. Come on then.” They ambled across the bare yard, hands swinging between them. Josh squeezed Emily’s hand to get her attention. “Want to know a secret?” he asked. Emily leaned in closer. “What?” “Sometimes I sleep here,” Josh said quietly. Emily stopped suddenly, her jaw dropping in shock. “But, don’t you get in trouble?” Josh ran his hand back through his hair and laughed. It was harsh and bitter. +++++++++++++ Laura Cale tossed yet another load of cough mixture bottles into the bin. She stood and pushed her hair out of her face, before stretching out her back. He husband, Geoff kept muttering darkly about drug addicts and meth labs, but it looked to her like the previous tenants were just your garden variety hoarders. The trash piled in storage cupboards and the back shed was just generic rubbish: egg cartons stacked, neatly meshed, cup over cup; newspapers–from as far back as the early seventies, by the looks of things–were carefully folded, tied in stacks with twine and double wrapped in heavy-duty garbage bags; crates and crates of old glass coke bottles. Catching movement at the corner of her eye, she saw the Harper boy pulling her daughter towards the woods. Of course they were heading for the Kelly house. Laura had already told Emily not to go anywhere near it. Although, what kid that age could resist it? She could remember being that age. Laura smirked inwardly. She would have done exactly the same. Laura turned to her husband and said, “It’s getting late. You go wash up, while I find Emmy, and then I’ll get started on dinner.” She watched Geoff as he stopped and stretched and she almost forgot to breathe. Sometimes she was surprised by just how much love she had for him, like she couldn’t contain it within her own body. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm and grinned at her. “You love me,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. “You know it, Stinky,” she teased.
One sweaty embrace later, Geoff headed inside to clean up and Laura began picked her way along the path toward the forest. +++++++++++++ George Kelly had died the year before they had moved to St James. He’d lived alone, with a dog, Charlie, and Emma had told her that Josh used to visit George most afternoons. Josh would do his homework, and then they’d play endless games of chess. They talked about fishing, and baseball, and school, and occasionally, George would tell Josh stories about the War, and growing up during the Depression. Laura might not approve of her neighbours’ attitude towards their child, but he was one of the few children in the area, and the only one near Emily’s age. Geoff didn’t like Josh from the beginning, and really didn’t like the Harpers, but for whatever reason he had, Geoff had decided to look the other way when it came to his daughter’s friendship with the Harper boy. Perhaps Geoff sensed the same loneliness in Josh that she did. Or maybe he had just resigned himself to the inevitable. Josh was an odd boy at times. Laura would see him on his bike, pedalling furiously home, the milk crate attached to the back loaded with groceries from the corner store. He was always so serious, a solemn little man. Oh, he could be happy, with a grin that was set to split his face in half, but it wasn’t the carefree joy like Emily would have. Her grandmother would have said that the waters ran deep in Josh Harper. Laura couldn’t help but wonder–again–about Josh’s parents. Lots of people visited the Harper house, but never stayed for long. The lawn alternated between patches of overgrown grass and bare earth, and was littered with rubbish and variety of barely recognisable car parts. She’d smile and wave whenever she saw Josh’s parents, but his mother would duck her head and disappear as quickly as possible and his father would just sneer in her general direction. No-good trash, Geoff called them, when Emma was out of earshot. Laura didn’t like to call other people names, but she didn’t like Ian Harper either.

They parted company before they left the woods. Clearly Josh did not want his parents asking questions. Lindsey walked back with Emma's little hand in hers, looking back at the Martin house. Another car had entered the driveway.