"Coming thru the woods I bet we saved over an hour. Teddy?" Gordie said as we came to a stop at a blocked off road.
"Yeah?" Teddy asked.
"'This the Back Harlow road?" Gordie asked and Teddy nodded "yeah."
He was quiet ever since that incident and I felt bad. I pushed him first, it's just.. I'm not used to having friends. I don't know how to control my anger sometimes and I don't want to be fighting with him like this.
"Brower-kid must be round here some place. Teddy, you and Vern watch the left side of the tracks, we'll take the right," Chris said and we all split up.
"Alright," Teddy said looking down and I felt a pang in my heart, these guys were my first real friends.
As we were walking down the sides of the tracks I walked in the middle. I noticed Teddy was barely looking, except at his shoes. "Teddy?" I said and he looked up "I'm sorry."
He shook his head "No I am, it was my fault," he said still not acting himself. We were talking quietly, I doubted the others knew what we were talking about.
"You know, I'm exactly what everyone says I am. I've never had friends, I don't know how to have friends," I said looking up at him. "Well we're still friends right," Teddy asked and I nodded smiling.
"There he is! I see him! Look! Look over there! I see him! I see him!" Vern shouted and we all rushed over to him.
None of us could breathe. Somewhere under those bushes was the rest of Ray Brower. The train had knocked Ray Brower out of his Keds just like it had knocked the life out of his body.
"Jesus," Chris muttered and I felt my eyes get glossy, but I wouldn't cry. The kid wasn't sick. The kid wasn't sleeping. The kid was dead. "Let's look for some long branches. We'll build him a stretcher," Chris directed and I nodded walking away.
"Gordie?" I asked as he sat down looking really upset.
"Why did you have to die?" Gordie looked really upset and I took a few steps toward him, the other guys turned around.
"What's the matter with Gordie?" Vern asked and Chris shook his head. "Nothing. Why don't you guys just go for some long branches, okay?"
I nodded and walked away, but not to far, letting the two talk. "Why did he have to die, Chris? Why did Denny have to die?" Gordie asked and I walked farther away, out of earshot, knowing this wasn't a conversation for me to be in.
I watched them though, my heartbreaking when I saw Gordie cry. Vern and Teddy were arguing once again over something stupid when I heard an unfamiliar voice call out.
"What the fuck do you know about this?" I turned around and saw Ace and Eyeball.
"Son of a bitch, my little brother!" Eyeball exclaimed and I didn't move from where I was, to scared to make a wrong step.
"You wasn't planning taking the body from us, was you, boys?" Ace asked coldly.
"You get away man. We found him an' we got dibs," Chris said and I almost cringed at the way we were trying to claim a dead body.
"Ahh! You better start running, Eyeball, they got dibs!" Ace acted scared.
"We earned him, man. You guys came in a car that's not fair, he's ours!" Although the way we were talking about Ray was quite disturbing, Chris made a good point.
"That's not fair, he's ours. Well, not anymore," Eyeball mimicked Chris.
"There're five of us, Eyeball. You just make your move," Teddy said.
"Oh we will, don't you-" Ace was cut off by the rest of his gang showing up.
"Vern, you little sonofawhore you was under the porch!" Charlie said and Vern shook his head.
"No I swear, It wasn't me!" Vern defended.
"You little keyhole-peeping cuntlicking bungwipe, we'll beat the shit outta you!" Billy pointed his belt at Vern.
"You guys have two choices. Either leave quietly. We take the body. Or you stay. We'll beat the shit outta you. We take the body.. and, and the girl!" Ace said and I rolled my eyes, yeah right.
"Besides, me 'n Billy found him first," Charlie said, crosses his arms in a childlike way.
"Yeah, Vern told us how you found him: Oh Billy, I wish we never boosted that car. Oh Billy, I think I just turned my Fruit of the Looms into a fudge factory," Teddy mimicked and I almost laughed, almost.
"That's it. Your - your ass is grass!" Charlie was held back by Ace.
"Hold it. Okay, Chambers, you little faggot. This is your last chance. What do you say, kid?"
"Why don't you go home and fuck your mother some more," Chris said with a straight face and I moved a little closer to them once Ace pulled out a blade.
"You're dead," Ace said moving the switch tauntingly.
"Come on, Chris, let's split," Teddy said and I shook my head.
"They're not taking him," I said and stood my ground.
"Come on, that's crazy," Teddy said.
"They're not taking him," I said again staring Ace in the eye.
"He's got a knife, man!" Teddy yelled toward us.
"You're gonna have to kill me before you get either of them, Ace," Chris said referring to the body and I, Ace laughed.
"No problem!"
A gunshot sounded, making our ears ring. I turned my head and noticed Gordie.
"You're not taking him. An' nobody is taking him," Gordie said pointing the gun toward Ace.
"Come on kid, just give me the gun before you take your foot off. You ain't got the sack to shoot a woodchuck," Ace laughed nervously.
"Move Ace. I'll kill you I swear to God," Gordie said straightening his arms and I looked back to Ace who seemed really nervous.
"Come on, Lachance, gimme the gun. You must have at least some of your brother's good sense," Ace said and I knew that was enough motivation for Gordie to shoot Ace.
"Suck my fat one you cheap dime-store hood," Gordie said and Ace looked around.
"Are you going to shoot us all?" He asked and Gordie shook his head. "No Ace, just you."
Ace sighed, defeated "we're gonna getcha for this."
"Maybe you will, maybe you won't," Chris said confidently.
"Oh we will. We're not gonna forget this if that's what you think. This is big time, baby," and with that The Cobras left.
"Suck my fat one? Who ever told you had a fat one, Lachance?" Chris asked, humored.
"Biggest one in four counties," Gordie said and set the gun down.
"We're gonna take him?" Vern asked and Gordie shook his head. "But we came all this way. We're supposed to be heroes," Teddy said and I shook my head also.
"We can't always be the hero, Teddy," I said looking to the boys. We covered him in a blanket and that was it, we left.
Ray Brower's body was found. But neither our gang nor their gang got the credit. In the end we decided that an anonymous phone-call was the best thing to do. We headed home. And although many thoughts raced through our minds we barely spoke. We walked through the night and made it back to Castle Rock a little past five o'clock on Sunday morning, the day before Labor Day. We'd only been gone two days. But somehow the town seemed different. Smaller.
I started to cry, not caring if the boys noticed. "Mallory? Are you crying," Vern asked and I laughed a little. I stared up at the painted sky that we stood under.
"Guys, everything for us is about to change. I mean I haven't known you guys long but you all are my best friends, my only friends. And to think that, that may change.." I stopped.
"It won't, we'll still all be the best of friends!" Teddy exclaimed and the rest nodded. I sighed, maybe we would.
"Well. See you in school," Vern said walking away.
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"See you in Junior High."
"Penny!" Vern exclaimed holding it up, showing it to us and I just laughed.
"Oh guys I better get home before my mom puts me out on ten most wanted list. Hey? No hard feelings, okay?" Teddy said Turing around.
"No."
"No way, man."
"Have Gun, Will Travel" reads the card of a man. A knight without armour in a savage land," Teddy sang walking away.
As time went on we saw less and less of Teddy and Vern until eventually they became just two more faces in the halls. That happens sometimes. Friends come in and out of your life like busboys in a restaurant. I never thought I would see them again.
I still talked to Gordie, but not to often, and Chris and I were still dating. He was really my only friend.
It's been a year since we went on the mission for the dead body. I thought about it every night since then. I was about to go to sleep, it was the first night of summer, when I heard a knock on the window. Automatically thinking it was Chris I just said "come in."
What I didn't expect was to see the three boys, who I miss so dearly to be standing in front of me. Teddy Duchamp, Gordie Lachance, and Vern Tessio.
"Yeah?" I asked confused, thinking I was maybe dreaming.
"When was the last time you saw Chris?" Vern asked and I shrugged. "Two days ago," and it dawned on me... Two days.
"So I'm guessing you didn't hear," Teddy sighed and I looked up confused.
"What?"
"Chris is missing."