I tried to hold back all of the questions I had for her. The most pressing was why did she stick her neck out for me? She could have lived a life of never having to deal with Megan and her crew but instead she stood up to them. I wished I could have thrown a punch at Shondra

“I figured you lived by what daddy calls, ‘the southern code,’ and you’d never strike a woman; even if she deserves it.”
I nodded.
“The rule doesn’t apply to me,”she said as she lightly punched my shoulder. “You okay?”
“It hurts a but.”
“But you can walk? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Your thumb.”
“Oh, you’re one of those kids? Cool, there’s hope for ya.”
“Did you just move in or something?”
“Oh yeah, just beyond the wooded area.”

The wooded area was a stretch of trees and a creek that divided the sub-division away from an open area of land. I had only gone through it a few times with a few of the other kids in the neighborhood. The creek would freeze over in the winter and allowed us to walk across at key points. Otherwise, we had to swing across the water on a rope that was lashed onto a tree by a kid who had grown up and moved away. There were grand adventures of tag, hide and seek, and stupid endeavors, such as standing on the ice and causing it to crack to see who all would fall in first. We stopped after Megan stated she found a dead body. She most likely put it there. I had no idea any construction had been going on, but in my defense, I was thirteen.

“Did you find the dead body?”
“Seriously?” Wendy’s asked as she pulled her red hair.
“Well, it’s been said there is one.”
“How did they die?”
“There are two stories. The first is Megan killed someone.”
“I can believe that. What’s the second?”
“A little girl got sick and lost in the woods and she died. I kind of think none of it happened.”
“I know a few ghost stories. Want to hear a few?”
“Okay,” I replied as we started walking in the opposite direction of the MACS.

“There’s this hotel in Atlanta, Georgia and a fire starts and engulfs the place. A cook in the hotel’s kitchen rushes up to save as many people as she can.” Wendy moved her hands a lot as she spoke. “She gives back for the fifth time and falls to the floor. She looks up to see the flames dancin’ about her and she reaches her hands out and another set of hands grabs her and lifts her up and up and they vanish. Two years later, when they’re rebuilding the hotel, workers could swear they saw a woman wearing white clothes and one of those funny cooking hats, walking down the hall and smiling.”
“So, she’s like a friendly ghost?”
“Kind of. Some said she was annoying and bossy but was there to defend others who couldn’t. I guess that’s why I do it too.”
I only nodded as we approached the woods. The rope was caught on the branches.on the other side of the creek.
“We’ll have to go a bit downstream where there’s a log to cross.”
“I got a better idea. Wait right here.”
Wendy walked a few feet back, then ran towards the creek and jumped over it. The coaches would love her during track season. The distance was at least eight feet, with the other bank being slightly higher. I stood amazed at the second miraculous thing I had ever seen. The first being someone standing up to Megan.
“Swing coming at ya!” Wendy shouted as she sent the rope over, allowing me to take only a few steps back without a running start. The swing-over required you to get far enough to plant your feet and to allow forward momentum to carry you up and over the bank.
I made it, but barely, as if my balance was off, I would have fallen into the water.
“How did you do that? I asked.
“Ya gotta be quick just do it sometimes,” she replied with a shrug.

The house was hidden around a bend of trees just beyond the creek, but I had to wonder how anyone could have missed it was huge, almost like a palace of some type. It was so close to the creek that any construction should have been noticed.

We climbed a short hill up to the front porch. There was two-car garage and what looked like a barn to side. The land was too small to be a farm, but it was all green and had a few wildflowers dotting it. There were two cars in the driveway. One looked like it was from the seventies and the other like it had jumped off a sci-fi movie.

Wendy opened the front door and motioned for me to walk in with her. I stepped into what looked like a grand library or the White House with art on the walls, pottery and books on shelves that seemed to go on forever.
“Hey momma!”
“Wendy Jean Joel, where have you been?” A woman with dark hair walked in from a hallway and put her hands on her hips.
‘You said I need to meet the people, so I went and met the people.”
“And do ‘the people’ have a name?”
“This is Jeff,” Wendy stated and rolled her arms toward me.
“My name’s MaryAnne but you may call me ma’am or ‘Miss Joel.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Aw, Wendy brought a friend over, That’s so sweet.”
I looked up to a hallway that overlooked the living room to see a teenager that kind of looked like Wendy leaning over the railing.
“When’s the wedding?”
Wendy turned to me and pointed up. “That, is my sister, Anna, pay no attention to her.”
“Wendy,” Miss Joel said with a slight tone.
“She started it, mama.”
I didn’t recall telling Wendy my name.