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Abby said, “we might know a lot.”
    There it is again, Terry thought, “we”!

CHAPTER 15
    T hey were walking on the beach, which they liked to do. The weather was overcast, the wind was damp, and the surface of the ocean was gray and rough looking. There was something exciting about it, they thought. And if they dressed warmly, it was fun.
    “You think it really was a grown-up that told Kip Carter All-American about you?” Abby said.
    “Kids say they didn‘t,” Terry said.
    “But kids don’t always admit stuff,” Abby said.
    “Neither do grown-ups,” Terry said.
    “True,” Abby said. “So how are we going to find out?”
    “Well,” Terry said. “I suppose first thing is, we don’t trust anybody.”
    “Except each other,” Abby said.
    “Except that,” Terry said. “We don’t know who’s talking to who, or why. So we keep our mouths shut.” He smiled. “Except if we’re kissing.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind when we start,” Abby said.
    “We will,” Terry said, “sooner or later.”
    He always felt a little scared when he mentioned things like that to her. They were so good now, being best friends, it was as if he might spoil something.
    “Probably,” Abby said.
    He hadn’t spoiled it!
    “And we only tell anything to each other,” Terry said.
    Abby nodded.
    “That won’t help us find out anything,” Abby said.
    “I know.”
    They continued walking. Now it was raining a little. The beach was empty. It was one of the reasons they liked to walk in bad weather. They had it to themselves. Without saying anything, they had both chosen to walk away from the place where Jason Green’s body had washed up. The wind had gotten stronger, and Abby took his arm and pressed against him as if for shelter. The harbor was getting rougher with the strengthening wind and the red channel buoys were tossing from side to side.
    As they walked, he felt the pressure inside him. He always felt it when he was with Abby. He was thrilled to be with her. But he knew there had to be something more and he wasn’t sure what would happen to them if they took the next step toward something more. What if the something more didn’t work so well, and it meant they couldn’t be friends anymore.
    It would kill me , he thought.
    “We could follow him,” Terry said.
    “Kip Carter All-American?”
    “Yes.”
    “What would that prove?”
    “If he spent a lot of time talking to the librarian or the secretary in the nurse’s office or Mr. Bullard, maybe we’d know something.”
    “You don’t think it’s the librarian or the secretary,” Abby said. “Do you?”
    “No.”
    “You think it’s Mr. Bullard.”
    Terry shrugged.
    “Mr. Bullard also told me to stop messing around with this stuff,” Terry said.
    Abby nodded.
    “And you think we’ll catch Kip Carter All-American hanging out with Bullard?” she said. “What’ll that do for us?”
    “I don’t know,” Terry said. “I just don’t know what else to do.”
    The wind was driving the rain at a small slant. Terry liked it. There was something exciting or romantic or something about rain.
    “How about he’s got his license and his father bought him a car and we can’t even drive yet,” Abby said. “How do we follow him if he drives?”
    “We can follow him in school,” Terry said.
    “But what about after?”
    “I guess all we can do is follow him where we can,” Terry said.
    Abby smiled.
    “It’s not much of a plan,” she said.
    “No,” Terry said. “It isn’t.”
    “But I suppose it’s better than no plan,” Abby said.
    “Yes,” Terry said. “It is.”
    The wind was strong now and the rain was hard. Terry felt as if all the energy of the storm was in the pit of his stomach, as if he might explode. She seemed so much calmer about their relationship. Sort of peaceful. Every time he joked about what might happen, like the kissing remark, she might joke or go along, but she always allowed him to think it might happen. That he and