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Homecoming Hill	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 2656 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Homecoming Hill

4

Presence

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�There were so many, she thought. Unhappy presences filled this house wherever she moved. Even now she felt that, if she opened herself, she would come upon many more of them.�

-- Hell House by Richard Matheson

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When Zoro got back into courtyard, he wasn�t surprised to find Sanji and Kuina unloading their daypacks from the car and Syd on one end of a leash that was also wrapped around the side view mirror. They were ready to go inside and figure the lay of the land. He didn�t know why they were bringing their stuff. They�d have to come back for the rest later anyway.

Zoro went to the trunk and unzipped his own day pack, pulling out his flashlight. That was all he walked away with. He decided he would wait to grab his things until he�d actually found a bedroom he liked, because he had no idea how long that could take and he didn�t want to cart his clothes around with him until then.

�You got the key?� Sanji asked for the second time they day, except it was never a question. A lot of Sanji�s questions were orders in disguise. For example �have you got the key� really meant �use the crap-key on the crap-door so we can go into the crap-house�.

Zoro went to the threshold without answering him and unlocked the elaborate double doors, pushing one open afterward. He clicked on his flashlight and led the way into the entry.

As he�d expected, it was almost totally dark. With the shutters drawn almost no light was coming in except for by way of front door. Sanji pushed the second door open as Zoro looked for a light switch, though he already knew�

The lawyer had said that as people moved onto Hill over the ages, the manor had been expanded upon with the electricity updated in the 1950s, and eventually some indoor plumbing in the late 60s. The switches would be found on the walls like in any normal house in most of the manor, though some of the bedrooms used lamps instead. The wiring was old, however, and had gone unused for a long time�

Which was why Zoro wasn�t a bit surprised when he found a switch and flicked it a few times and nothing happened.

�Well,� he called back, �Power�s not on.�

Sanji sounded only mildly surprised as well. �Weren�t they supposed to have it on when we got here?�

�It�s old. Or maybe they�re late. We�ll be fine.�

Kuina looked hesitant. �So what do we do?�

Zoro walked out into the middle of the huge entry. �Grab your flashlight.�

Kuina groaned.

�I�m sure it�s not like this throughout the whole house. Don�t groan.�

The entry was a good three thousand square feet. Huzzah. The floor was black and white marble that still looked as if it had just been polished. The ceiling in the entry was vaulted and reached up the entire length of the house. But there was a large staircase that would lead them up to any of the six floors beyond the entry that they desired to go to. On the ground level there were halls leading off in various directions, and all doors that they could see were sensibly shut.

After looking around for a minute or so, Kuina piped up. �Where do we start?�

Zoro waited for the two to make their way across the open expanse toward him. �I think we should start on the bottom and work our way up.�

Sanji pulled out a cigarette. �That would be convenient if we were starting at one end and working our way around, but we�re in the middle. Also, it�s already five o�clock. I�m not sure we�ll find supplies like left over toilet paper and shampoo and cleaning supplies under some sinks, but I need to get to the grocery store so we�ll have something to eat tonight, and we need to find our rooms so we can get settled. Exploring has to wait until tomorrow.�

Zoro nodded. �I guess that�s true. I don�t want to explore without some real light anyway. Where are you planning to drop those ashes?� He asked without turning around when he heard the click of a lighter.

�I�ve got a plastic bag. Cool it, Zoro. I don�t want to burn the place down, either.�

�Where are the bedrooms?� Kuina asked.

Now Zoro clicked his tongue. �No idea. Here, I�ve got a key in my pocket.�

�Another key?�

�That thing the lawyer gave you?� Sanji snorted. �You�ll need it��

Zoro ignored him and unfolded a piece of paper. It wasn�t a map by a long shot, but it categorized different areas of the house, first by wing and then by floor.

West 1 - Ballroom, Gym, Pool, Etc.

West 2 - Drawing Rooms, Studios, Bedchambers.

West 3 - Bedchambers.

West 4 - Bedchambers

-------

East 1 - Ballroom, Library, Theatre, Etc.

East 2 - Studios, Workshops, Gallery, Chapel, more.

East 3 - Bedchambers.

East 4 - Bedchambers

It seemed that the wings, unlike the rest of the house, only had four floors. Possibly with wine cellars beneath them and a couple attics overhead.

�That doesn�t look like a key to me.� Kuina said skeptically.

Sanji smiled, �It�s not that type of key. It�s a legend. And not a very good one.�

Zoro looked up in both directions. �It�ll do for now. The East Wing has fewer bedrooms� and the West Wing has a gym and a pool��

�Then we�re going east.� Sanji decided.

�Why east? West has chambers, too.�

�Exactly. When we open this place for visitors, we�ll open the wing with more bedrooms first, and we�ll still be living here. We don�t want to be on the same side as all that, and when I take a room, I like to keep it. We actually need to find three decent ones that are close to each other in the next hour, so east from the get-go is the more logical choice.�

Zoro frowned and grumbled.

Sanji rolled his eyes and started up the stairs. �Oh, shut up. You can play in the gym in the morning if you want, but we need something for tonight at least. Now c�mon, I don�t know what hours the grocery store runs on, but something tells me it�s not a 24 hour convenience.�

�I want my own floor!� Kuina insisted, running up the steps behind him.

�Ha. Ha. Ha.� Zoro said mirthlessly, following as well. �As if we need you getting into bounds of trouble in some lonesome area of the manor. You stay with us, Sprite, at least until we�re familiar here.�

�Can I look more tomorrow?�

�You can look all you want. We�re staying as a group for the first few days at least. Then we�ll go find the best rooms for us.�

Sanji guided them up another flight to the fourth floor and hit the switch. Light flooded the hallway. �Hey, now.� Sanji grinned. �We�ve got some power after all. Wonder what�s up with downstairs.�

�Old wiring, like I said.� Zoro answered, knowing he would be ignored because Sanji had the coherency of a fruit cup. But it was strange how he didn�t hear a hum of electricity. Especially from a setup so old.

They started walking down the hall. Sanji called back to Kuina, �You know, you might find that the first one you find is the best one there is, so don�t pick anything assuming there�s something better. Everything�s in new shape so far, anyway. I�m eager to see what�s in the rooms.�

Zoro laughed. �Did you just call yourself meager, because really, it�s about t-�

�EAGER! Crap-guy��

They were in a hallway, closed doors lining the walls around them. Some had plaques for names, but though they looked new, there wasn�t an inscription on a single one.

Kuina got on her tiptoes to take a better look at one. �Why do all the doors have little gold label-things on them without any labels? It�s like an office building except none of the doors have executive�s names.�

�I don�t know, Sprite. Maybe they�ve worn down over time.� Though they looked pretty new.

�At least the halls are labeled. I can�t believe there�s a house big enough to need labels on the different halls. This place must have been quite the tourist attraction.� Sanji called back from where he was still leading the pack. There was a carved wooden plaque reading East Wing 4 hanging on the wall where the hall sharply turned right and led deeper into the manor.

They went up three steps and entered a new sort of area that was pretty, sure, but felt a little odd to Zoro. Not unwelcome, just not quite right.

�These are bedrooms?� Kuina said, moving to open one.

�Think so,� Sanji answered.

She opened the door and shined her light inside, hunting for the light switch. She found it at about a three foot reach from the door. The boys followed her and stopped in the doorway.

This room was odd. The rest of the manor was in such amazing condition, like new. But this room was different. It didn�t look aged, but it was demolished.

It was a young boy�s room. Or had been. The carpet was torn in long streaks, as though someone had taken knives and just gone to hell on it. The walls were in much the same condition. The wallpaper was slashed and falling. A broken mirror lay on the carpet, still in the shape it had once held, an old baseball on the floor beside it. Brown and white pictures of famous shots in baseball were framed and hanging on the walls. They were in great condition. Any collector would give their left arm for the collection. The bed was unmade and rumpled, but there was no dust settled anywhere that the three could see.

Sanji whistled low. �Damn. What the hell happened in here?�

�Really�� Kuina agreed softly.

Zoro clicked his tongue. �Doesn�t look like any of us will be staying here�� he murmured.

Sanji kept looking at the furniture. It was all free of dust, which was strange considering how long it had been untouched. �Look at these pieces. They must all be hand carved. They�re mint!�

Sanji had a thing for antiques and art and architecture. Zoro didn�t understand how anyone could be captivated for hours by staring at a cluster of trees, but Sanji was such an elf.

�Come on, Sprite.� Zoro put his hand on Kuina�s shoulder to guide her out of the room. Sanji followed after a moment, closing the door behind him.

�You think we�ll find much of that?�

Zoro frowned. �What, rooms thrashed to shreds that you can drool over like a clod? I hope not.�

�Fuck you, dipshit. I meant the art. Like the furniture and stuff. That four-poster bed was amazing��

Zoro groaned at his cousin�s unmasculine inanity. �Probably. The paper from the lawyer says there are galleries in the West Wing. Go stare that those tomorrow.�

Kuina opened the next door, walked in and instinctively reached for the light switch, flipping it on. A simple chandelier hanging from the ceiling flickered and turned on, bathing the room in yellow light.

It was an old woman�s room, from the look of it. There was a high backed chair sitting in the corner, an unfinished knitting project nestled into the seat of it. The walls were covered in a yellow floral print, and the furniture had a more factory made look to it. Not like the baseball room. It smelled like their grandmother�s house, and had about the same type of welcoming feel.

It wasn�t someplace any of them were going to choose as a room personally, but Zoro sort of trusted the feel he got in this room more than the one he gotten in the baseball room, or even in the hallway.

�Huh.� Sanji opined elaborately.

Zoro rolled his eyes and continued down the hall, the others trailing behind him.

He really didn�t want to keep opening doors. Especially since he had no idea what would be on the other side. Not that he couldn�t deal with whatever it was, but he didn�t want to expose Kuina to anything brutal or scary, and this whole house just somehow felt like it took the expression �skeletons in the closet� way too literally.

There was always a sort of thrill to entering a place that no one has set foot in for so long when you have no idea what you may find. But there were too many dead people in the garden for there not to be a feeling of foreboding lingering in Zoro�s mind, and flinging open all the doors in a house that had been undisturbed for so long just didn�t seem like a� safe?� idea.

�This way.�

Zoro looked up sharply toward the voice. The hall was a little echo to it, but that hadn�t sounded like his cousin. But it had belonged to a young man, and it sure as heck hadn�t been Zoro...

Zoro had been about to ask Sanji what the hell he was whispering for, but turning to see Sanji in a new room made him reconsider. His whisper wouldn�t have echoed down the corridor if Sanji was in another room. And Kuina had followed him. The two were acting like they hadn�t heard a thing.

�Zoro.�

He heard it clearly over his family�s jabbering in the other room. It was still whispered, but it was as though he�d only heard it in his mind, where such things could go unobstructed. It had sounded like it was spoken out loud, but Sanji was still by some fancy painting and Kuina was testing out a squeaky bed. They hadn�t even looked up.

Zoro started to walk down the hall toward the voice. It felt like he was in another world, and he may well have been because in this house, it felt as though he were the one out of place. Not the voice.

But it didn�t sound dangerous or ominous or deceitful in any way. Maybe it was only his imagination, or his subconscious was making up an excuse not to search in any more of the turbulently different feeling rooms in this wing, but Zoro followed the voice.

The hall ended in a flight of spiral stairs, and he walked down them.

The farther down them he went, the more of a comforting feeling he received. He wasn�t sure what was causing it, but going this way was right. He knew it. Every sense he had told him so.

When he reached the 3^rd East Wing at the bottom of the stairs, the hall was already well-lit. He wouldn�t need to flip the switch, because every light along the walls and those hanging from the ceiling were already in full, white luminescence. If this was strange, Zoro didn�t notice. It felt so natural for it to have been aglow already.

This wing looked just like the one above it so far. The rooms were so large that all of the double doors were set widely apart. Centered between each of these doors was a small table, bare save for a different angel statue standing atop each of them. The walls were white, the doorframes gold, and the carpet was crimson with a large fleur-de-lis print.

�Over here.�

Again the whispered voice came, and again Zoro followed. As he looked around him at the various angels and identical doors, wondering where the voice was coming from, something flashed in his peripheral vision. Just a wisp of something, like smoke from Sanji�s cigarette, but when he looked more fully there was nothing.

Of course there was nothing. The hall, for all respected conditions, was empty.

It was that sixth sense, the one that biology refused to accept, that told Zoro it wasn�t. Much like at the gate before, he somehow just knew that there was a presence near him. Not looming or threatening or crowding his personal space, but waiting patiently. Docile.

So are attack dogs around the right people, Zoro weighed cautiously. It doesn�t mean anything for me.

And Zoro could tell that this presence was strong. It had power. What kind, he wasn�t sure, but it was definitely there. Still, Zoro seemed okay. This whole surreal deal had too much effort put into it by the Other in the hall. He had to believe that if this particular presence had wanted to do something to him, It would have done so by now.

Zoro couldn�t choose to pretend denial. To decide that something just wasn�t really there at all because anything else would be illogical wasn�t an option. He may have imagined the vision, but he�d heard the whisper. That was evidence enough to Zoro that It was real. It knew his name. It led him here.

Why?

The only way to find out was to approach the door that he suddenly felt inclined to approach. He knew that being part of a situation so obviously against nature and reality was wrong. But was something so supernatural beyond the realms of cognitive truth?

After all he was already aware that something bad had happened here before. Something uncomprehendable to the living mind might, after all, render a supernatural result. We wouldn�t know, would we? Telepathy doesn�t exist either, unless two people happened to fall in love with each other instead of the million other choices in mates they could have picked. Or the sixth sense that tells you when you�re being tailed or watched. None of those existed because it could not be carded or catalogued or defined to a definite limit of ability. Yet, defying all reason and explanation, they are.

Zoro moved forward again, and stopped in front of a set of chamber doors in the middle of the hall. The knob turned easily and the door swung open to reveal a room that was already lit, though Zoro couldn�t see by what. There was what had to be a large window, but the thick crimson curtains were drawn over it, sealing out light and making it hard for Zoro to know the window was even there because it blended in with the wall so well. There were two shaded bedside lamps, but it couldn�t possibly create the all encompassing light that the room was shrouded in. The whole room was equally bright, as though the source of light was the room itself.

It was beautiful. Simple and sweet, yet still very characteristic. The walls were a deep burgundy with a few nails here and there for hangings to rest on. They were bare now for the most part. The simple furniture setup in the room left plenty of open floor space. There was a big four poster bed centered against one wall, and a large hand carved desk on the opposite wall, complete with chair. Another lamp with a red shade sat at the top of it.

There was a wardrobe in the room, a full bookshelf, and two bedside tables, each with a lamp shaded in red. There was a large painting hanging above the desk that Zoro was drawn to look at closer, but before he could walk in the door--

�Zoro!�

--he spun around to see his cousin and sister jogging down the hall to catch up with him.

Good. He wanted them to see his room. It was perfect. Like it had been made for him.

�-the hell did you run off for?!� Sanji was demanding. �Fuck, Zoro. We were opening doors up there left and right and all the while you�re down here playing Agatha Christie in the deserted mansion!�

�What�s in that one?� Kuina walked up to her brother as Sanji leaned against a wall and dramatically lit a Fag of Exasperation.

Zoro smiled at her. �My room,� he answered turning back to look into the room that was now pitch dark.

Kuina looked inside. �How can you tell?� she asked curiously.

He pulled out his flashlight and moved over to the red lamp. He couldn�t expect the light to return by itself, or be as bright, with the others here. He had no idea why it was, but it seemed that he was the only one that noticed the presence�s existence. And It seemed to want to keep it that way.

Was it that the presence was withholding Itself from them on purpose, or was there something special about Zoro that had caused this?

...Oh, but as potentially exciting as the thought of being some sort of psychic was, Zoro knew that the reason he alone had heard It had nothing to do with his own amazing lack of telepathy. The presence had called his name specifically to show him this, knowing that only he would hear, and now he couldn�t feel It anymore. Of course that didn�t necessarily mean It was gone. He had a suspicion that It was still nearby watching.

Well, if It didn�t want the others to know It was there then he wouldn�t argue with It. He wasn�t about to go telling them about something that wasn�t planning on making Itself known to them.

The lamp clicked on with a pull of the dangling chain and red light filled the room.

�Looks like a death scene in the theatre drama,� Sanji opined from where he was now just inside the door.

�It�s just the lamp shade.� Zoro lifted it off and the room was better lit, but the walls were naturally red, so Sanji was only slightly appeased.

All the same, even he had to admit, �It�s a nice room. How�d you know it was here?�

Eenie meenie miney mo

The tiny thought planted itself in his mind and took root with mischievous intent.

�Eenie meenie miney mo,� Zoro said.

Sanji actually laughed. He could just see his stone faced cousin standing in a hall trying to decide which door was right. �Is that the way you find your way around? No wonder you�re always lost!�

�Shut up! He who laughs last thinks slowest, and I don�t see you with a room yet. And don�t you dare smoke in here. Seriously.� Zoro wasn�t about to admit that Sanji had just prodded a sore spot.

�Zoro, Sanji!�

The boys walked out of Zoro�s claimed room and followed Kuina�s voice down the hall to where she had vanished into another room already.

She was sitting on a bed and looking very excited. �Look how pretty! This room�s mine!� she proclaimed.

Sanji nodded approval, looking around. Zoro grunted his own agreement.

It was a blue room with more bookshelves and decoration than Zoro�s room had. It had definitely been a girl�s room. The frames on the wall all held photos of various people. They were in color and had a newer sheen to them. Zoro also noticed that a few of the faces were blurred here and there. Always the same faces in the same clothes. It was bizarre.

There were also notebooks on the bedside table with a first edition of Salem�s Lot by Stephen King, so whomever had owned this room last had done so in the past twenty five years or so at most.

The last feature of note was a drawing desk. That was an interesting attribute to a young girl�s room because most people liked to have drawers in their desks. He couldn�t find a desk with drawers.

�Hey Sanji, what�s that?� Kuina was pointing at a framed character that was hanging over the door inside.

�That�s an Asian word.� he answered. Sanji only had about nine culture classes and five language studies under his belt from his mere two years in college, but even Zoro could recognize that the character was Chinese.

�What language is it in?� Kuina pressed.

�Japanese,� Sanji answered.

Zoro pursed his lips. Oops. Ehh, it wasn�t his field anyway.

�What�s it mean?� She kept asking. Kuina had a necklace of almost every little profitable character trinket she could buy. If she didn�t know this one, then it meant that it probably wasn�t �love� or �prosperity� or �luck� or anything like that.

�Something water-related. It has the symbol �sui� in it. Tide, or Wave I think.�

Kuina smiled. That was neat!

Sanji started out of the room. �I�m gonna find my own room. If you�ve both got one in this wing, it�d be best if I keep hunting here. Seems like the families that last stayed here actually had normal lives.�

�How would you say it in Japanese?�

Sanji tossed the word over his shoulder as he left the room: �Nami.�

------------

Zoro and Kuina had gotten their luggage out of the car and dropped it on the courtyard so that they could take the Bug down to the grocery store before dark. At first Zoro hadn�t wanted to go, but when even Kuina had wanted to see the town up closer, he knew he wasn�t ready to be up on the Hill alone yet.

That was how they all found themselves in the Corner Store, picking from the limited selection of home grown and butchered goods. Sanji was both excited and distraught about it all.

The man behind the counter had started talking to them in earnest as soon as they�d entered. Zoro had asked questions and the man had been eager to answer them thus far.

�How do you all handle being so far from the outside world?� Zoro asked a bit into the conversation.

The man laughed and spoke in his hard country twang �Aww, �s not as bad as all that. �s how we lahke it. We�re used ta it aroun� here.�

�Hmm,� Zoro answered. �Any town taboos we should know?�

�Not too mehny. Jes� don�t go inta them woods. Them woods is dangerous, all full of wolves and such. Every year at least one poor soul gets lost in �em and we never see �em agin.

�So, whare ya from?� The man behind the counter asked them, genuinely curious. ��s rare to see strangers in these here parts.�

Zoro looked him up and down. He was a very strange man from what he could make out. Long skinny legs supported a heavier ovular torso. He wasn�t too old, probably in his fifties somewhere, but his eyeglasses held the thickest lenses Zoro had ever seen. They made his green eyes enormous. Zoro thought he resembled sort of a bug. Still, his accent sounded Southern, so maybe he had moved here later in life.

�South Carolina. My family�s been there for generations. Since before America was founded.�

Kuina came bounding up, �We just moved into the mansion on top of the Hill!� She sounded so excited. Zoro smiled.

Tweedle Dum, however, went from smiling at them to looking at them like they had just told them they all had terminal illnesses. �Oh� oh� oh dear.� He sat moved out from behind the counter to sit down in a chair propped against the wall.

�Hey, you okay?� Sanji had come back over to put a bag of groceries on the counter.

The man looked up in shock as if he was the one acting normal and the rest of them were the ones to looked like their dog had just died. �Has no one told you young�uns yit?�

Zoro raised an eyebrow.

�Told us what, c- guy?� Sanji said with this usual lack of respect for commoners, but managing to withhold the title he usually gave strangers.

The man looked around as if making sure that no one else was around, even though he knew very well there wasn�t, then he leaned forward and whispered �That Hill�� he looked around him again before leaning in even further and making his eyes go wide. �It eats people. It has a magic spell on it, it does. Put there bah the Greek Gods.�

Zoro and Sanji gave each other a look that said �Looney�, then looked back at the man. Even Kuina looked skeptical.

The man must have noticed. �Ah swear it. Have you seen the graveyard yet? The one behahnd the house?�

This recaptured Zoro�s attention.

�Well, there ain�t a single body in a�one o� them graves. Them stones is jes� memorial plaques. Ya know why? �cause ain�t never thare been a body to bury, tha�s why! Disappayr�d raht afer�n they dahd. Now some folk around here�ll try ta tell ya that them blasted Injun spirits done took �em. Now ah admit ah haven�t lived here most o� mah life, ah lived with mah Mama out in Kentucky, but ah tell you what mah daddy done told me before he died. The Hill ate �em. Because o� the spell it hadta. Nigh a hundred people have disappeared up on that thare Hill, so if�n the Hill didn�t eat �em, whare�d they go? You tell me that.�

�A hundred people?� Sanji was back over by the spices. �You realize the manor�s not even a hundred years old yet, right? And people haven�t lived on it constantly. And even then there�s no way more than thirty people have died there. That garden would be completely covered in headstones, and with the growth there�s not enough room for that many plots. People wouldn�t simply cram headstones in there for the heck of it without plots. That�s not how we do things. And why would the Ancient Greeks put the spell on a random plot of land on our west coast when the known world hadn�t included America yet?�

The man didn�t seem flustered by any of these valid points at all. �Ah didn�n say the Greek people did it. I said thar gods did it. They knew about the land because they were gods. Besides, they don� all have gravestones in that garden. That�s a family cemetery, and it�s evil. Why would we want ta put a grave for arr people up on that thare Hill? But that ain�t even the point. The point is that place is dangerous, and ya oughta be careful, better yit stay in Charlie�s motel tonaht.�

Zoro was very tired of listening to the man go on about this all of a sudden. �Thanks for the advice, but we�re already picked the rooms we�ll be in tonight.�

It could have ended there, but Kuina was not so bored with the man�s prattle. �When was the last disappearance?�

The man smiled a little at her, because she was the only one who seemed interested in his warning, and sat back a little. �Amber Lynn McClouski was five years old when it happened to her last year. Her older cousin Karen was with her and her friends, walking aroun� that side o� town when she done got separated. Now she was small enough ta fit through the gate fence, and some locals saw her runnin� on the Hill and cried out fer her, but it was lahk she didn�n even hear �em. When yer on that Hill, �s like outside sound doesn�n reach you. That Hill�s in its own world. In its own world away from us, and yer trapped thare in it.

�Anyways, they ran fer th� sheriff when they saw her thare, but no one ever saw her agin after that. After that no one much goes to the end of Cabernet anymore. Sometimes thare be boys who go up on dares to touch the dead tree out front. The big �un. Some said that thare was growlin� and another said he was done pushed off the land by someone he could�n see. People have been touched by the ones that are up thare. Anyway, about seven months ago a pair o� boys on a bet went up and did�n come back. Jonah Arker and Matthew O�Neil. They was fourteen. Thought they were all that an� a bag of Jefferson�s Jerky.�

Zoro yawned. �Why would a spell only take some people and not everyone then?�

The man seemed afraid to speak now, so he leaned forward again and whispered �No one really knows why, but ah think that those people what disappeared did something to test the power of the gods. Said something challenging, or did something really unholy up thare whare the gods could see �em, an� they was punished.�

Zoro had to wonder what kind of blasphemous act the man thought a five year old could have committed. But he wasn�t about to ask, because he actually didn�t want to hear the answer.

The man was still jabbering on. �By then, though, no one much had hope fer them that disappeared. Search parties stopped goin� ages ago. Thar parents sure were sad, though. Amber Lynn�s still live here. They won�t stop believin� that she�ll come back someday. Poor people.�

Sanji was shocked. �My God! And no one has done anything? Scouted the land for sand traps or poison or something? Dragged the creek?�

�O� course we have! All that stuff. Thare�s nothin� to fahnd. The Catholic church had a visitin� priest from Away, a non-believer as far as the Hill went, that decided to go up the Hill to pray and put the lost souls to rest.� Tweedle Dum rolled his eyes as though the outcome should have been obvious to any complete stranger who didn�t know anything about the Hill. �Never saw him agin, an� that was years ago. But the boys were the last one�s to go on the tahme lahne, an� there ain�t no way they got gravestones up thare.�

Kuina bit her lip. The boys both saw her hand move to her pocket were the rosary beads still were.

Sanji quickly changed the subject. �I think this�ll do it for a few days� meals. How much to I owe you?�

The man appeared confused as to what Sanji was talking about for a moment before he stood up and walked over to his counter again. Without any more talk of vanishing people, they were able to escape the store with only a faint �Good luck� from the storekeeper.
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Homecoming Hill