Page 32 of September Lessons
The EMTs kept him away from Carrie as they continued to treat her. “It’s really important,” the woman checking Carrie’s pulse said. “They’re saying there was another person with you who ran off. We need to find them so they can get treatment.”
So you can throw them in jail.Leigh-Ann was eighteen. She’d be tried as an adult before she had the chance to declare her innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carrie reiterated. She knew everyone would continue to say they saw “so and so” untiltheyneeded an oxygen mask, but Carrie would deny it. She had a story to get straight. That story could not include Leigh-Ann in any capacity.
The EMT looked at her as if it were clearer than the blue sky above them that she was lying.You’ve done your due diligence. Let’s move on.Carrie knew that as soon as she was cleared, she’d be turned over to the sheriff. That man postured more than anyone else she knew. This was… well, when Carrie said that Oregon was like the South in a parallel universe where everyone did the right thing the wrong way, she wasn’t kidding. That sheriff looked like he’d very publicly parade her through town to show everyone that he had caught “the kid.”
“There was no one with me,” Carrie said. “They must have been seeing things from the smoke.”
The EMTs let her go after a few more minutes. She sat on the back ledge of the ambulance, an oxygen mask still on her face until whatever fate came for her.
Naturally, it was the sheriff. His nametag said Peterson. His face said asshole.
“Looks like you’re in a world of trouble, young lady.” He tugged up his pants and put his hands on his hips. His puffed out chest and the handlebar mustache only made him look more comical, like he truly thought he was the toughest shit in the county. Carrie looked away before she threw up. “You wanna tell me what you were doing in the Connors’ barn before it caught fire?”
“Don’t know if anyone’s told you, sir,” at least her natural deference to authority was so deeply ingrained in her Southern roots that she didn’t think twice about it, “but I was caughtinside.The fire clearly started in the outside. I couldn’t have…” She closed her mouth. Crap.
“Who said anything about you starting fires, girl? But if you wanna talk about that, by all means. I’ve got six other barn fires to solve in my county.”
Anything she had rehearsed completely left her brain. It wasn’t a lack of oxygen. It was the futile feeling settling inside of her gut. She wasn’t going to get herself out of this easily. Her only hope was to keep Leigh-Ann from boiling in the pot with her.
Leigh-Ann’s a good girl… she doesn’t have a blemish on her record. She has a town that likes her and respects her. I’ve got… I’ve got expulsions and being ran out of my hometown. Everyone already assumes it was me.
Carrie squared her shoulders and looked back into Sheriff Peterson’s sunglassed face.
“I can tell you whatever you need to know,” she said. “I know you probably won’t believe me, but I swear on my grandma’s grave I won’t lie about a single thing.” Oh, she would lie. She would lie about Leigh-Ann until she was sure her girlfriend was absolved of any blame.
Chapter 16
LEIGH-ANN
By some twist of fate, Leigh-Ann was only two miles away from Waterlily House, the closest place where she might get some help to save Carrie’s ass.
They had driven to the site in Carrie’s car, now left behind like an afterthought. Although Leigh-Ann wished she had her bike, her adrenaline was so spiked that she didn’t think twice about hauling ass through the woods and along the highway until she reached the meandering driveway to Waterlily House. By the time she reached the porch, she was out of breath and ready to dry-heave.
“What in the…” That wasn’t Sunny coming out of the door. Not on a Saturday, when she was likely to be out of town more often than not. Oh, no. Leigh-Ann’s day wasn’t terrifying enough. She had to come face to face with one of the last adults she wanted to see now. “What in the world is going on, Leigh-Ann?”
She lifted her head, the swift force of it nearly knocking her back down again. Ms. Tichenor reached to help her up, but Leigh-Ann waved her off and propped herself up against the porch’s sturdy handrail.
“Is someone hurt? My God, girl, do I start calling you Lassie? Where’s Timmy? He fall down a well?”
Ms. Tichenor joked, but that was pure concern on her face. The kind only a teacher or other woman of any maternal authority could adopt when faced with a girl rushing up to her with fear in her eyes.
“Fire…” Leigh-Ann heaved with her erratic breaths. “Barn fires. The Connors…”
A cell phone was out of Ms. Tichenor’s pocket before Leigh-Ann had the chance to continue. “I’ll call 911!”
“They’re already there.” Slowly, Leigh-Ann’s breath returned. “Carrie’s there, too.”
It took a few seconds for Ms. Tichenor to catch on. “Is she all right?”
“I think so. We were in the barn when the fire started. I’m… I’m afraid…” No, Leigh-Ann was in too deep now. She needed to finish what she was thinking, lest Ms. Tichenor assume the worst. “I’m afraid they’re gonna think Carrie started the fire!”
“Slow down.” Ms. Tichenor put her hands on Leigh-Ann’s shoulders to steady her. “What’s going on?”
“There’s no time to slow down! Carrie’s dumb enough to confess to something she didn’t do, when really it’s her cousin that’s doing it!”
Ms. Tichenor tightened her grip on Leigh-Ann’s shoulders. “Slow. Down. Are you talking about Dillon Musgrave?”
It took way too long to explain, yet Leigh-Ann focused on getting the facts out as best as she knew them – and could convey them with the weight of the world threatening to burst from her mouth. Ms. Tichenor betrayed no emotion aside from her eternal concern on her face. Every time Leigh-Ann swore to God that she and Carrie had nothing to do with the fires, she half-expected Ms. Tichenor to ask what they were doing in the barn.I don’t remember now. We were fooling around… I can’t tell her that!
