“Hi,” Charlie said. “Your face is red.”
Ben had called the chief on his way out of the forest. By the time he got back to the gravel path, the chief and a pickup of men from the village had already pulled up near the Escape. Ben pointed them in the right direction. He would have liked to continue the search for Mrs. White, but Charlie was sick and waiting for him.
“It’s cold outside,” Ben said. “Are you okay?” The rings around the boy’s eyes stood out against the pallor of his skin.
“I feel okay,” Charlie said. “I don’t know what happened.”
“You’re all right. I’m going to take you home.” Ben held his palm against his son’s forehead.
“Mr. Tierney?” The nurse spoke from a separation in the partition. “Could I borrow you for a moment?”
“Be right back, okay?” Ben said. He put his hand on Charlie’s chest and felt the rapid thrum of his heart. The nurse waved him into the hallway.
“Charlie was in his session with Mrs. Fraser when he passed out,” the nurse said.
“Mrs. Fraser?”
“The school counselor. She’s with Father Cal right now. They’re waiting for you.”
They found Cal at his desk. A heavyset woman in a tight white blouse sat in one of his chairs. When she saw Ben, Mrs. Fraser introduced herself.
“Well, I spoke with Charlie, Mr. Tierney, and I think he’s a very sweet and smart—”
“Thanks,” Ben said. “But tell me what happened.”
“He got a nosebleed and then fainted,” Mrs. Fraser said. “He didn’t hit his head or anything.”
“Did he eat breakfast this morning?” the nurse asked. “Low blood sugar could explain it.”
“Of course. I mean, I think so. Is there anything else?” He just wanted to take Charlie home.
“He was acting a little oddly before he passed out,” the counselor said. “Said some strange things.” She looked at her notebook. “He said, ‘The winter. It’s hard. It’s cold and dark. But I wouldn’t want to be alone. Not ever. I know that now.’?” She looked at Ben. “I thought he sounded frightened.”
Cal asked a question, but Ben only half-listened. It’s cold and dark. But I wouldn’t want to be alone. Not ever. Why did Charlie think he’d ever be alone? And what about the cold or dark could have frightened him? That didn’t sound like him at all.
The counselor left, and the nurse went to check on Charlie. Ben had intended to follow her, but something kept him rooted where he stood.
“Did what he said mean anything to you?” Cal asked.
“I don’t know,” Ben said. It was the truth. Still, there was something in what Charlie had said. Something that brushed against the edge of Ben’s mind, but something he couldn’t quite get a good look at. “I didn’t even ask how the rest of their talk went.”
“I don’t think they got a chance to speak about the drawing. Mrs. Fraser said he passed out only a few minutes into the session.”
“Just as well, I guess,” Ben said.
“One thing at a time,” Cal said.
“Would that I were so lucky.” Ben rubbed his eyes. He wanted to stretch out on the floor and fall asleep, but he forced himself into motion. “I’m going to take him home. See you for dinner?”
“Absolutely.”
“And we might not want to get into any details about what Charlie said,” Ben said. “No reason to get Caroline worried.”
“Whatever you say, Ben,” the priest said. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Ben nodded to Cal and returned to the nurse’s office.
“How are you feeling, kid?” he asked Charlie.
“Okay,” Charlie said. “Better.” Ben thought he looked the same.
“Let’s head home. You let me know if you feel like you might pass out or anything like that, okay?”
“I need my jacket,” Charlie said. “It’s in my cubby.”
“Okay, I’ll get it. Put on your shoes,” Ben said.
The nurse gave him directions to an enclosed walkway that connected to a neighboring building. Flurries had begun to collect against the glass.
The walkway opened into a corridor that was still and quiet. All the rooms along it had their doors closed. Ben could imagine the teachers at their boards and their students staring out the windows, watching the first snow of the season.
He found Charlie’s jacket in one of the wooden nooks along the wall near his homeroom. Peering into the other cubbies, Ben saw shin guards, comics, and other artifacts of boyhood, but there was nothing like that in Charlie’s. A few books, a sweater. He pulled out one of the books, a worn oversize hardcover. When he read the frayed spine, Ben was surprised to see that it was The Book of Secrets, the book he’d bought for Charlie back in the summer. Its pages were loose and stained, as if they’d been read every day for a hundred years.
“What did you do to this book?” Ben murmured to himself.
Ben smiled as he paged through it. He wished he’d had a book like this when he was little—one of the reasons he’d bought it for Charlie in the first place. It had illustrations, maps, and instructions about all the things that lit a boy’s heart. If they’d had a copy, he and Ted could have found themselves some real trouble.
He stopped on a page that had a diagram of how to climb a wall and safely walk on a roof. “How to Make the Night Your Own” was the title of the following section. It gave tips on amplifying night vision, techniques on how to move quickly and quietly in the dark, and demonstrated how to navigate by the stars. “How to Build a Fire Anywhere” was another chapter. It illustrated how to kindle and grow a flame in any conditions you might find, from the rain forests to the Arctic.