The Giant Killers

Leslie liked to make up stories about the giants that threatened the peace of Terabithia,

but they both knew that the real giant in their lives was Janice Avery. Of course, it wasn't only

Jess and Leslie that she was after. She had two friends, Wilma Dean and Bobby Sue

Henshaw, who were almost as big as she was, and the three of them would roam the

playground, grabbing up hopscotch rocks, running through jump ropes, and laughing while

second graders screamed. They would even stand outside the girls' room first thing every

morning and make the little girls give them their milk money before they'd let them go to the

bathroom.

May Belle, unfortunately, was a slow learner. Her daddy had brought her a package of

Twinkies, and she was so proud that as soon as she got on the bus she forgot everything she

knew and yelled to another first grader, " Guess what I got in my lunch today, Billy Jean? "

" What? "

" Twinkies! " she shouted so loud you could have heard her in the back seat even if you

were deaf in both ears. Out of the corner of his eye, Jess thought he saw Janice Avery perk up.

When they sat down, May Belle was still screeching about her dadgum Twinkies over the

roar of the motor. " My daddy brung 'um to me from Washington! "

Jess threw another look at the back seat. " You better shut up about those dang Twinkies, "

he said in her ear.

" You're just jealous 'cause Daddy didn't bring you none."

" OK." He shrugged across her head at Leslie to say l warned her, didn't I? and Leslie

nodded back.

Neither of them was too surprised to see May Belle come screaming toward them at

recess time.

" She stole my Twinkies! "

Jess sighed. " May Belle, didn't I tell you? "

" You gotta kill Janice Avery. Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! "

" Shhh, " Leslie said, stroking May Belle's head, but May Belle didn't want comfort, she

wanted revenge.

" You gotta beat her up into a million pieces! "

He'd sooner tangle with Mrs. Godzilla herself. " Fighting ain't gonna get back nothing,

May Belle. Them Twinkies is well on the way to padding Janice Avery's bottom by now."

Leslie snickered, but May Belle was not to be distracted. " You're just yeller, Jesse

Aarons. If you wasn't yeller, you'd beat somebody up if they took your little sister's

Twinkies." She broke into a fresh round of sobbing.

Jess stiffened. He avoided Leslie's eyes. Lord, there was no escape. He'd have to fight the

female gorilla now.

" Look, May Belle, " Leslie was saying. " If less picks a fight with Janice Avery, you know perfectly well what will happen."

May Belle wiped her nose on the back of her hand. " She'll beat him up."

" Noooo. He'll get kicked out of school for fighting a girl. You know how Mr. Turner is

about boys who pick on girls."

" She stole my Twinkies."

" I know she did, May Belle. And Jess and I are going to figure out a way to pay her back

for it. Aren't we Jess? "

He nodded vigorously. Anything was better than promising to fight Janice Avery.

" Whatcha gonna do? "

" I don't know yet. We'll have to plan it out very carefully, but I promise you, May Belle,

we'll get her."

" Cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die? "

Leslie solemnly crossed her heart. May Belle turned expectantly to Jess, so he crossed

his, too, trying hard not to feel like a fool, crossing his heart to a first grader in the middle of the playground.

May Belle sniffled loudly. " It ain't as good as seeing her beat to a million pieces."

" No, " said Leslie, I'm sure it isn't, but with Mr. Turner running this school, it's the best we can do, right, Jess? "

" Right."

That afternoon, crouched in the stronghold of Terabithia, they held a council of war. How

to get Janice Avery without ending up squashed or suspended-that was their problem.

" Maybe we could get her caught doing something." Leslie was trying out another idea

after they had both rejected put- ting honey on her bus seat and glue in her hand lotion. " You know she smokes in the girls' room. If we could just get Mr. Turner to walk past while the

smoke is pouring out-"

Jess shook his head hopelessly. " It wouldn't take her five minutes to find out who

squawked." There was a moment of silence while they both considered what Janice Avery

might do to anyone who reported her to the principal. " We gotta get her without her knowing

who done it."

" Yeah." Leslie chewed away at a dried apricot. " You know what girls like Janice hate most? "

" What? "

" Being made a fool of."

Jess remembered how Janice had looked that day he'd made everyone laugh at her on the

bus. Leslie was right. There was a crack in the old hippo hide. " Yeah." He nodded, beginning to smile. " Yeah. Do we get her about being fat? "

" How about, " Leslie began slowly, " how about boys? Who's she stuck on? "

" Willard Hughes, I reckon. Every girl in the seventh grade slides to the ground when he

walks by."

" Yeah." Leslie's eyes were shining. The plan came all in a rush. " We write her a note, you see, and pretend it's from Willard."

Jess was already getting a pencil from the can and yanking a piece of notebook paper out

from under a rock. He handed them to Leslie.

" No, you write. My handwriting is too good for Willard Hughes."

He got set and waited.

" OK, " she said. " Um. 'Dear Janice.' No. 'Dearest Janice.'"

Jess hesitated, doubtful.

" Believe me, Jess. She'll eat it up. OK. 'Dearest Janice.' Don't worry about punctuation or

anything. We have to make it look as if Willard Hughes really wrote it. OK. 'Dearest Janice,

Maybe you won't believe me, but I love you." '

" You think she'll...? " he asked as he wrote it down.

" I told you, she'll eat it up. Girls like Janice Avery believe just what they want to in this kind of situation. OK, now. 'If you say you do not love me, it will break my heart. So please

don't. If you love me as much as I love you, my darling - '"

" Hold it. I can't write that fast."

Leslie waited, and when he looked up, she continued in a moony voice, " 'Meet me behind

the school this afternoon after school. Do not worry about missing your bus. I want to walk

home with you and talk about US' - put 'us' in capitals - 'my darling. Love and kisses, Willard

Hughes.'"

" Kisses? "

" Yeah, kisses. Put a little row of x's in there, too." She paused, looking over his shoulder while he finished. " Oh, yes. Put 'P.S." '

He did.

" Um. 'Don't tell any - don't tell nobody. Let our love be a secret for only us two right

now.'"

" Why'dcha put that in? "

" So she'll be sure to tell somebody, stupid." Leslie reread the note, nodding approval.

" Good. You misspelled 'believe' and 'two." ' She studied it a minute longer. " Gee, I'm pretty good at this."

" Sure. You probably had some big secret love down in Arlington."

" Jess Aarons, I'm going to kill you."

" Hey, girl, you kill the king of Terabithia, and you're in trouble."

" Regicide, " she said proudly.

" Regi-what? "

" Did I ever tell you the story of Hamlet? "

He rolled over on his back. " Not yet, " he said happily. Lord, he loved Leslie's stories.

Someday, when he was good enough, he would ask her to write them in a book and let him do

all the pictures.

" Well, " she began, " there was once a prince of Denmark, named Hamlet."

In his head he drew the shadowy castle with the tortured prince pacing the parapets. How

could you make a ghost come out of the fog? Crayons wouldn't do, of course, but with paints

you could put one thin color on top of another so that you would begin to see a pale figure

moving from deep inside the paper. He began to shiver. He knew he could do it if Leslie

would let him use her paints.

The hardest part of the plan to get Janice Avery was to plant the note. They sneaked into

the building the next morning before the first bell. Leslie went several yards ahead so that if

they were caught, no one would think they were together. Mr. Turner was death on boys and

girls he caught sneaking around the halls together. She got to the door of the seventh-grade

classroom and peeked in. Then she signaled Jess to come ahead. The hairs prickled up his

neck. Lord.

" How'll I find her desk? "

I thought you knew where she sat."

He shook his head.

I guess you'll have to look in every one until you find it. Hurry. I'll be lookout for you."

She closed the door quietly and left him shuffling through each desk, trying to be careful not

to make a mess, but his stupid hands were shaking so much he could hardly pull anything out

to look for names.

Suddenly he heard Leslie's voice. " Oh, Mrs. Pierce, I've just been standing here waiting

for you."

Lord. The seventh-grade teacher was right out there in the hall, heading for this room. He

stood frozen. He couldn't hear what Mrs. Pierce was saying back to Leslie through the closed

door.

" Yes, ma'am. There is a very interesting nest on the south end of the building, and since" -

Leslie raised her voice even louder-" you know so much about science, I was hoping you

could take a minute to look at it with me and tell me what built it"

There was the mumble of a reply.

" Oh, thank you, Mrs. Pierce" - Leslie was practically screaming - It won't take but a

minute, and it would mean so much to me! "

As soon as he heard their retreating footsteps, he flew around the remaining desks until,

oh, joy, he found one with a composition book that had Janice Avery's name on it. He stuffed

the note on top of everything else inside the desk and raced out of the room to the boys' room,

where he hid in one of the stalls until the bell rang to go to homeroom.

At recess time Janice Avery was in a tight huddle with Wilma and Bobby Sue. Then,

instead of teasing the little girls, the three of them wandered off arm in arm to watch the big

boys' football. As the trio passed them, Jess could see Janice's face all pink and prideful. He

rolled his eyes at Leslie, and she rolled hers back at him.

As the bus was about to pull out that afternoon, one of the seventh-grade boys, Billy

Morris, yelled up to Mrs. Prentice that Janice Avery wasn't on the bus yet.

" It's OK, Miz Prentice, " Wilma Dean called up. " She ain't riding this evening." Then in a loud whisper, " Reckon you all know that Janice has a heavy date with you know who."

" Who? " asked Billy.

" Willard Hughes. He's so crazy about her he can't hardly stand it. He's even walking her

all the way home."

" Yeah? Well the 304 just pulled out with Willard Hughes on the back seat. If he's got a

big date, he don't seem to know much about it."

" You lie, Billy Morris! "

Billy yelled a cuss word, and the entire back seat plunged into a heated discussion as to

whether Janice Avery and Willard Hughes were or were not in love and were or were not

seeing each other secretly.

As Billy got off the bus, he hollered to Wilma, " You just better tell Janice that Willard is

gonna be mad when he hears what she's spreading all over the school! "

Wilma's face was crimson as she screamed out the window, " OK, you dummy! You talk

to Willard. You'll see. Just ask him about that letter! You'll see! "

" Poor old Janice Avery, " Jess said as they sat in the castle later.

" Poor old Janice? She deserves everything she gets and then some! "

" I reckon." He sighed. " But, still - "

Leslie looked stricken. " You're not sorry we did it, are you? " " No. I reckon we had to do it, but still - "

" Still what? "

He grinned. " Maybe I got this thing for Janice like you got this thing for killer whales."

She punched him in the shoulder. " Let's go out and find some giants or walking dead to

fight. I'm sick of Janice Avery."

The next day Janice Avery stomped onto the bus, her eyes daring everyone in sight to say

a word. Leslie nudged May Belle.

May Belle's eyes went wide. " Did'ya-? "

" Shhh. Yes."

May Belle turned completely around and stared at the back seat, then she turned back and

poked less. " You made her that mad? "

Jess nodded, trying to move his head as little as possible as he did so.

" We wrote that letter, " Leslie whispered. " But you mustn't tell anyone, or she'll kill us."

" I know, " said May Belle, her eyes shining. " I know."

6 - The Coming Of Prince Terrien

Christmas was almost a month away, but at Jess's house the girls were already obsessed

with it. This year Ellie and Brenda both had boyfriends at the consolidated high school and

the problem of what to give them and what to expect from them was cause of endless

speculation and fights. Fights, because as usual, their mother was complaining that there was

hardly enough money to give the little girls something from Santa Claus, let alone a surplus to

buy record albums or shirts for a pair of boys she'd never set eyes on.

" What are you giving your girl friend, Jess? " Brenda screwed her face up in that ugly way she had. He tried to ignore her. He was reading one of Leslie's books, and the adventures of

an assistant pig keeper were far more important to him than Brenda's sauce.

" Don't you know, Brenda? " Ellie joined in. " Jess ain't got no girl friend."

" Well, you're right for once. Nobody with any sense would call that stick a girl." Brenda pushed her face right into his and grinned the word " girl" through her big painted lips.

Something huge and hot swelled right up inside of him, and if he hadn't jumped out of the

chair and walked away, he would have smacked her.

He tried to figure out later what had made him so angry. Partly, of course, it made him

furious that anyone as dumb as Brenda would think she could make fun of Leslie. Lord, it hurt

his guts to realize that it was Brenda who was his blood sister, and that really, from anyone

else's point of view, he and Leslie were not related at all. Maybe, he thought, I was a

foundling, like in the stories. Way back when the creek had water in it, I came floating down

it in a wicker basket waterproofed with pitch. My dad found me and brought me here because

he'd always wanted a son and just had stupid daughters. My real parents and brothers and

sisters live far away- farther away than West Virginia or even Ohio. Somewhere I have a

family who have rooms filled with nothing but books and who still grieve for their baby who

was stolen.

He shook himself back to the source of his anger. He was angry, too, because it would

soon be Christmas and he had nothing to give Leslie. It was not that she would expect

something expensive; it was that he needed to give her something as much as he needed to eat

when he was hungry.

He thought about making her a book of his drawings. He even stole paper and crayons

from school to do it with. But nothing he drew seemed good enough, and he would end up

scrawling across the half-finished page and poking it into the stove to burn up.

By the last week of school before the holiday, he was growing desperate. There was no

one he could ask for help or ad- vice. His dad had told him he would give him a dollar for

each member of the family, but even if he cheated on the family presents, there was no way

he could get from that enough to buy Leslie anything worth giving her. Besides, May Belle

had her heart set on a Barbie doll, and he had already promised to pool his money with Ellie

and Brenda for that. Then the price had gone up, and he found he would have to go over into

every one else's dollar to make up the full amount for May Belle. Somehow this year May

Belle needed something special. She was always moping around. He and Leslie couldn't

include her in their activities, but that was hard to explain to someone like May Belle. Why

didn't she play with Joyce Ann? He couldn't be expected to entertain her all the time. Still -

still, she ought to have the Barbie.

So there was no money, and he seemed paralyzed in his efforts to make anything for

Leslie. She wouldn't be like Brenda or Ellie. She wouldn't laugh at him no matter what he

gave her. But for his own sake he had to give her something that he could be proud of.

If he had the money, he'd buy her a TV. One of those tiny Japanese ones that she could

keep in her own room without bothering Judy and Bill. It didn't seem fair with all their money

that they'd gotten rid of the TV. It wasn't as if Leslie would watch the way Brenda did-with

her mouth open and her eyes bulging like a goldfish, hour after hour. But every once in a

while, a person liked to watch. At least if she had one, it would be one less thing for the kids

at school to sneer about. But, of course, there was no way that he could buy her a TV. It was

pretty stupid of him even to think about it.

Lord, he was stupid. He gazed miserably out the window of the school bus. It was a

wonder someone like Leslie would even give him the time of day. It was because there was

no one else. If she had found anyone else at that dumb school - he was so stupid he had almost

gone straight past the sign without catching on. But something in a corner of his head clicked,

and he jumped up, pushing past Leslie and May Belle.

" See you later, " he mumbled, and shoved his way up the aisle through pair after pair of

sprawling legs.

" Lemme off here, Miz Prentice, will you? "

" This ain't your stop."

" Gotta do an errand for my mother, " he lied.

" Long as you don't get me into trouble." She eased the brakes.

" No'm. Thanks."

He swung off the bus before it had really stopped and ran back toward the sign.

" Puppies, " it said. " Free."

Jess told Leslie to meet him at the castle stronghold on Christmas Eve afternoon. The rest

of his family had gone to the Millsburg Plaza for last-minute shopping, but he stayed behind.

The dog was a little brown-and-black thing with great brown eyes. Jess stole a ribbon from

Brenda's drawer, and hurried across the field and down the hill with the puppy squirming in

his arms. Before he got to the creek bed, it had licked his face raw and sent a stream down his

jacket front, but he couldn't be mad. He tucked it tightly under his arm and swung across the

creek as gently as he could. He could have walked through the gully. It would have been

easier, but he couldn't escape the feeling that one must enter Terabithia only by the prescribed

entrance. He couldn't let the puppy break the rules. It might mean bad luck for both of them.

At the stronghold he tied the ribbon around the puppy's neck, laughing as it backed out of

the loop and chewed at the ends of the ribbon. It was a clever, lively little thing - a present

Jess could be proud of.

There was no mistaking the delight in Leslie's eyes. She dropped to her knees on the cold

ground, picked the puppy up, and held it close to her face.

" Watch it, " Jess cautioned. " It sprays worse'n a water pistol."

Leslie moved it out a little way. " Is it male or female? " Once in a rare while there was something he could teach Leslie. " Boy, " he said happily.

" Then we'll name him Prince Terrien and make him the guardian of Terabithia."

She put the puppy down and got to her feet.

" Where you going? "

" To the grove of the pines, " she answered. " This is a time of greatest joy."

Later that afternoon Leslie gave Jess his present. It was a box of watercolors with twenty-

four tubes of color and three brushes and a pad of heavy art paper.

" Lord, " he said. " Thank you." He tried to think of a better way to say it, but he couldn't.

" Thank you, " he repeated.

" It's not a great present like yours, " she said humbly, " but I hope you'll like it."

He wanted to tell her how proud and good she made him feel, that the rest of Christmas

didn't matter because today had been so good, but the words he needed weren't there. " Oh,

yeah, yeah, " he said, and then got up on his knees and began to bark at Prince Terrien. The

puppy raced around him in circles, yelping with delight.

Leslie began to laugh. It egged Jess on. Everything the dog did, he imitated, flopping

down at last with his tongue lolling out. Leslie was laughing so hard she had trouble getting

the words out. " You-you're crazy. How will we teach him to be a noble guardian? You're

turning him into a clown."

" R-r-oof, " wailed Prince Terrien, rolling his eyes skyward. Jess and Leslie both

collapsed. They were in pain from the laughter.

" Maybe, " said Leslie at last. " We'd better make him court jester."

" What about his name? "

" Oh, we'll let him keep his name. Even a prince" - this in her most Terabithian voice -

even a prince may be a fool."

That night the glow of the afternoon stayed with him. Even his sisters' squabbling about

when presents were to be opened did not touch him. He helped May Belle wrap her wretched

little gifts and even sang " Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" with her and Joyce Ann. Then

Joyce Ann cried because they had no fireplace and Santa wouldn't be able to find the way, and

suddenly he felt sorry for her going to Millsburg Plaza and seeing all those things and hoping

that some guy in a red suit would give her all her dreams. May Belle at six was already too

wise. She was just hoping for that stupid Barbie. He was glad he'd splurged on it. Joyce Ann

wouldn't care that he only had a hair clip for her. She would blame Santa, not him, for being

cheap.

He put his arm awkwardly around Joyce Ann. " C'mon Joyce Ann. Don't cry. Old Santa

knows the way. He don't need a chimney, does he, May Belle? " May Belle was watching him

with her big, solemn eyes. Jess gave her a knowing wink 'over Joyce Ann's head. It melted

her.

" Naw, Joyce Ann. He knows the way. He knows every- thing." She scrunched up her

right cheek in a vain effort to return his wink. She was a good kid. He really liked old May

Belle.

The next morning he helped her dress and undress her Barbie at least thirty times.

Slithering the skinny dress over the doll's head and arms and snapping the tiny fasteners was

more than her chubby six-year-old fingers could manage.

He had received a racing car set, which he tried to run to please his father. It wasn't one

of those big sets that they advertised on TV, but it was electric, and he knew his dad had put

more money into it than he should have. But the silly cars kept falling off at the curves until

his father was cursing at them with impatience. Jess wanted it to be OK. He wanted so much

for his dad to be proud of his present, the way he, Jess, had been proud of the puppy.

" It's really great. Really. I just ain't got the hang of it yet." His face was red, and he kept shoving his hair back out of his eyes as he leaned over the plastic figure-eight track.

" Cheap junk." His father kicked at the floor dangerously near the track. " Don't get nothing for your money these days."

Joyce Ann was lying on her bed screaming because she had yanked the string out of her

talking doll and it was no longer talking. Brenda had her lip stuck out because Ellie had gotten

a pair of panty hose in her Christmas stocking and she had only bobby socks. Ellie wasn't

helping matters, prancing around in her new hose, making a big show of helping Momma

with the ham and sweet potatoes for dinner. Lord, sometimes Ellie was as snotty as Wanda

Kay Moore.

" Jesse Oliver Aarons, Jr., if you can stop playing with those fool bars long enough to

milk the cow, I'd be most appreciative. Miss Bessie don't take no holiday, even if you do."

Jess jumped up, pleased for an excuse to leave the track which he couldn't make work to

his dad's satisfaction. His mother seemed not to notice the promptness of his response but

went on in a complaining voice, " I don't know what I'd do without Ellie. She's the only one of you kids ever cares whether I live or die." Ellie smiled like a plastic angel first at Jess and then at Brenda, who glared back.

Leslie must have been watching for him because as soon as he started across the yard he

could see her running out of the old Perkins place, the puppy half tripping her as it chased

circles around her.

They met at Miss Bessie's shed. " I thought you'd never come out this morning."

" Yeah, well, Christmas, you know."

Prince Terrien began to snap at Miss Bessie's hooves. She stamped in annoyance. Leslie

picked him up, so Jess could milk. The puppy squirmed and licked, making it almost

impossible for her to talk. She giggled happily. " Dumb dog, " she said proudly.

" Yeah." It felt like Christmas again.

SEVEN - The Golden Room

Mr. Burke had begun to repair the old Perkins place. After Christmas, Mrs. Burke was

right in the middle of writing a book, so she wasn't available to help, which left Leslie the jobs of hunting and fetching. For all his smartness with politics and music, Mr. Burke was inclined

to be absent-minded. He would put down the hammer to pick up the " How to" book and then

lose the hammer between there and the project he was working on. Leslie was good at finding

things for him, and he liked her company as well. when she came home from school and on

the weekends, he wanted her around. Leslie explained all this to Jess.

Jess tried going to Terabithia alone, but it was no good. It needed Leslie to make the

magic. He was afraid he would destroy everything by trying to force the magic on his own,

when it was plain that the magic was reluctant to come for him.

If he went home, either his mother was after him to do some chore or May Belle wanted

him to play Barbie. Lord, he wished a million times he'd never helped buy that stupid doll.

He'd no more than lie down on the floor to paint than May Belle would be after him to put an

arm back on or snap up a dress. Joyce Ann was worse. She got a devilish delight out of sitting

smack down on his rump when he was stretched out working. If he yelled at her to get the

heck off him, she'd stick her index finger in the corner of her mouth and holler. Which would,

of course, crank up his mother.

" Jesse Oliver! You leave that baby alone. whatcha mean lying there in the middle of the

floor doing nothing anyway? Didn't I tell you I couldn't cook supper before you chopped

wood for the stove? "

Sometimes he would sneak down to the old Perkins place and find Prince Terrien crying

on the porch, where Mr. Burke had exiled him. You couldn't blame the man. No one could get

anything done with that animal grabbing his hand or jumping up to lick his face. He'd take P.

T. for a romp in the Burkes' upper field. If it was a mild day, Miss Bessie would be mooing

nervously from across the fence. She couldn't seem to get used to the yipping and snapping.

Or maybe it was the time of year-the last dregs of winter spoiling the taste of every- thing.

Nobody, human or animal, seemed happy.

Except Leslie. She was crazy about fixing up that broken- down old wreck of a house.

She loved being needed by her father. Half the time they were supposed to be working they

were just yakking away. She was learning, she related glowingly at recess, to " understand"

her father. It had never occurred to Jess that parents were meant to be understood any more

than the safe at the Millsburg First National was sitting around begging him to crack it.

Parents were what they were; it wasn't up to you to try to puzzle them out. There was

something weird about a grown man wanting to be friends with his own child. He ought to

have friends his own age and let her have hers.

Jess's feelings about Leslie's father poked up like a canker sore. You keep biting it, and it

gets bigger and worse instead of better. You spend a lot of time trying to keep your teeth away

from it. Then sure as Christmas you forget the silly thing and chomp right down on it. Lord,

that man got in his way. It even poisoned what time he did have with Leslie. She'd be sitting

there bubbling away at recess, and it would be almost like the old times; then without

warning, she'd say, " Bill thinks so and so. " Chomp. Right down on the old sore.

Finally, finally she noticed. It took her until February, and for a girl as smart as Leslie

that was a long, long time.

" Why don't you like Bill? "

" Who said I didn't? "

" Jess Aarons. How stupid do you think I am? "

Pretty stupid-sometimes. But what he actually said was, " What makes you think I don't

like him? "

" Well, you never come to the house any more. At first I thought it was something I'd

done. But it's not that. You still talk to me at school. Lots of times I see you in the field,

playing with P. T., but you don't even come near the door."

" You're always busy." He was uncomfortably aware of how much he sounded like

Brenda when he said this.

" Well, for spaghetti sauce! You could offer to help, you know."

It was like all the lights coming back on after an electrical storm. Lord, who was the

stupid one?

Still, it took him a few days to feel comfortable around Leslie's father. Part of the

problem was he didn't know what to call him. " Hey, " he'd say, and both Leslie and her father would turn around. " Uh, Mr. Burke? "

" I wish you'd call me Bill, Jess."

" Yeah." He fumbled around with the name for a couple more days, but it came more

easily with practice. It also helped to know some things that Bill for all his brains and books

didn't know. less found he was really useful to him, not a nuisance to be tolerated or set out on

the porch like P. T.

" You're amazing, " Bill would say. " where did you learn that, Jess? " Jess never quite knew how he knew things, so he'd shrug and let Bill and Leslie praise him to each other-though the work itself was praise enough.

First they ripped out the boards that covered the ancient fireplace, coming upon the rusty

bricks like prospectors upon the mother lode. Next they got the old wallpaper off the living-

room wall-all five garish layers of it. Sometimes as they lovingly patched and painted, they

listened to Bill's records or sang, Leslie and less teaching Bill some of Miss Edmunds' songs

and Bill teaching them some he knew. At other times they would talk. less listened

wonderingly as Bill explained things that were going on in the world. If Momma could hear

him, she'd swear he was another Walter Cronkite instead of some hippie." All the Burkes

were smart. Not smart, maybe, about finding things or growing things, but smart in a way Jess

had never known real live people to he. Like one day while they were working, Judy came

down and read out loud to them, mostly poetry and some of it in Italian which, of course, less

couldn't understand, but he buried his head in the rich sound of the words and let himself be

wrapped warmly around in the feel of the Burkes' brilliance.

They painted the living room gold. Leslie and Jess had wanted blue, but Bill held out for

gold, which turned out to be so beautiful that they were glad they had given in. The sun would

slant in from the west in the late afternoon until the room was brimful of light.

Finally Bill rented a sander from Millsburg Plaza, and they took off the black floor paint

down to the wide oak boards and refinished them.

" No rugs, " Bill said.

" No, " agreed Judy. " It would be like putting a veil on the Mona Lisa."

When Bill and the children had finished razor-blading the last bits of paint off the

windows and washed the panes, they called Judy down from her upstairs study to come and

see. The four of them sat down on the floor and gazed around. It was gorgeous.

Leslie gave a deep satisfied sigh. " I love this room, " she said. " Don't you feel the golden enchantment of it? It is worthy to be" - Jess looked up in sudden alarm - " in a palace." Relief.

In such a mood, a person might even let a sworn secret slip. But she hadn't, not even to Bill

and Judy, and he knew how she felt about her parents. She must have seen his anxiety because

she winked at him across Bill and Judy just as he sometimes winked at May Belle over Joyce

Ann's head. Terabithia was still just for the two of them.

The next afternoon they called P. T. and headed for Terabithia. It had been more than a

month since they had been there together, and as they neared the creek bed, they slowed

down. Jess wasn't sure he still remembered how to be a king.

" We've been away for many years, " Leslie was whispering. " How do you suppose the

kingdom has fared in our absence? "

" Where've we been? "

" Conquering the hostile savages on our northern borders, " she answered. " But the lines of communication have been broken, and thus we do not have tidings of our beloved homeland

for many a full moon." How was that for regular queen talk? Jess wished he could match it.

" You think anything bad has happened? "

" We must have courage, my king. It may indeed be so."

They swung silently across the creek bed. On the farther bank, Leslie picked up two

sticks. " Thy sword, sire, " she whispered.

Jess nodded. They hunched down and crept toward the stronghold like police detectives

on TV.

" Hey, queen! Watch out! Behind you! "

Leslie whirled and began to duel the imaginary foe. Then more came rushing upon them

and the shouts of the battle rang through Terabithia. The guardian of the realm raced about in

happy puppy circles, too young as yet to comprehend the danger that surrounded them all.

" They have sounded the retreat! " the brave queen cried.

" Drive them out utterly, so they may never return and prey upon our people."

" Out you go! Out! Out! " All the way to the creek bed, they forced the enemy back,

sweating under their winter jackets.

" At last. Terabithia is free once more."

The king sat down on a log and wiped his face, but the queen did not let him rest long.

" Sire, we must go at once to the grove of the pines and give thanks for our victory."

Jess followed her into the grove, where they stood silently in the dim light.

" Who do we thank? " he whispered.

The question flickered across her face. " O God, " she began. She was more at home with

magic than religion. " O Spirits of the Grove."

" Thy right arm hast given us the victory." He couldn't re- member where he'd heard that

one, but it seemed to fit. Leslie gave him a look of approval.

She took up the words. " Now grant protection to Terabithia, to all its people, and to us its

rulers."

" Aroooo."

Jess tried hard not to smile. " And to its puppy dog."

" And to Prince Terrien, its guardian and jester. Amen."

" Amen."

They both managed somehow to keep the giggles buttoned in until they got out of the

sacred place.

A few days after the encounter with the enemies of Terabithia, they had an encounter of a

different sort at school. Leslie came out at recess to tell Jess that she had started into the girls'

room only to be stopped by the sound of crying from one of the stalls. She lowered her voice.

" This sounds crazy, " she said. " But from the feet, I'm sure it's Janice Avery in there."

" You're kidding." The picture of Janice Avery crying on the toilet seat was too much for Jess to imagine.

" Well, she's the only one in school that has Willard Hughes's name crossed out on her

sneakers. Besides, the smoke is so thick in there you need a gas mask."

" Are you sure she was crying? "

" Jess Aarons, I can tell if somebody's crying or not."

Lord, what was the matter with him? Janice Avery had given him nothing but trouble,

and now he was feeling responsible for her-like one of the Burkes' timber wolves or beached

whales. " She didn't even cry when kids teased her 'bout Willard after the note."

" Yeah. I know."

He looked at her. " Well, " he said. " What should we do? "

" Do? " she asked. " What do you mean what should we do? " How could he explain it to her? " Leslie, If she was an animal predator, we'd be obliged to try to help her."

Leslie gave him a funny look.

" Well, you're the one who's always telling me I gotta care, " he said.

" But Janice Avery? "

" If she's crying, there's gotta be something really wrong."

" Well, what are you planning to do? "

He blushed. " I can't go into no girls' room."

" Oh, I get it. You're going to send me into the shark's jaws. No, thank you, Mr. Aarons."

" Leslie, I swear - I'd go in there if I could." He really thought he would, too. " You ain't scared of her, are you, Leslie? " He didn't mean it in a daring way, he was just dumb- founded by the idea of Leslie being scared.

She flashed her eyes at him and tossed her head back in that proud way she had. " OK, I'm

going in. But I want you to know, Jess Aarons, I think it's the dumbest idea you ever had in

your life.

He crept down the hall after her and hid behind the nearest alcove to the girls' room door.

He ought at least to be there to catch her when Janice kicked her out.

There was a quiet minute after the door swung shut behind Leslie. Then he heard Leslie

saying something to Janice. Next a string of cuss words which were too loud to be blurred by

the closed door. This was followed by some loud sobbing, not Leslie's, thank the Lord, and

some sobbing and talking mixed up and-the bell.

He couldn't be caught staring at the door of the girls' room, but how could he leave? He'd

be deserting in the line of fire. The rush of kids into the building settled it. He let himself be caught up in the stream and made his way to the basement steps, his brains still swirling with

the sounds of cussing and sobbing.

Back in the fifth-grade classroom, he kept his eye glued on the door for Leslie. He half

expected to see her come through flattened straight out like the coyote on Road Runner. But

she came in smiling without so much as a black eye. She waltzed over to Mrs. Myers and

whispered her excuse for being late, and Mrs. Myers beamed at her with what was becoming

known as the " Leslie Burke special."

How was he supposed to find out what had happened? If he tried to pass a note, the other

kids would read it. Leslie sat way up in the front comer nowhere near the waste basket or

pencil sharpener, so there was no way he could pretend to be heading somewhere else and

sneak a word with her. And she wasn't moving in his direction. That was for sure. She was

sitting straight up in her seat' looking as pleased with herself as a motorcycle rider who's just

made it over fourteen trucks.

Leslie smirked clear through the afternoon and right on to the bus where Janice Avery

gave her a little crooked smile on the way to the back seat and Leslie looked over at Jess as if

to say, " See! " He was going crazy wanting to know. She even put him off after the bus pulled away, pointing her head at May Belle as if to say, " We shouldn't discuss it in front of the

children."

Finally, finally in the safe darkness of the stronghold she told him.

" Do you know why she was crying? "

" How'm I supposed to know? Lord, Leslie, will you tell me? What in the heck was going

on in there? "

" Janice Avery is a very unfortunate person. Do you realize that? "

" What was she crying about, for heaven's sake? "

" It's a very complicated situation. I can understand now why Janice has so many

problems relating to people"

" Will you tell me what happened before I have a hernia? "

" Did you know her father beats her? "

" Lots of kids' fathers beat 'em." Will you get on with it? "

" No, I mean really beats her. The kind of beatings they take people to jail for in

Arlington." She shook her head in disbelief. " You can't imagine...."

" Is that why she was crying? Just 'cause her father beats her? "

" Oh, no. She gets beaten up all the time. She wouldn't cry at school about that."

" Then what was she crying for? "

" Well - " Lord, Leslie was loving this. She'd string him out forever. " Well, today she was so mad at her father that she told her so-called friends Wilma and Bobby Sue about it."

" Yeah? "

" And those two - two - She looked for a word vile enough to describe Janice Avery's

friends and found none. " Those two girls blabbed it all over the seventh grade."

Pity for Janice Avery swept across him.

" Even the teacher knows about it."

" Boy." The word came out like a sigh. There was a rule at Lark Creek, more important

than anything Mr. Turner made up and fussed about. That was the rule that you never mixed

up troubles at home with life at school. When parents were poor or ignorant or mean, or even

just didn't believe in having a TV set, it was up to their kids to protect them. By tomorrow

every kid and teacher in Lark Creek Elementary would be talking in half snickers about Janice

Avery's daddy. It didn't matter if their own fathers were in the state hospital or the federal

prison, they hadn't betrayed theirs, and Janice had.

" Do you know what else? "

" What? "

" I told Janice about not having a TV and everyone laughing. I told her I understood what

it was like to have everyone think I was weird."..

" What'd she say to that? "

" She knew I was telling the truth. She even asked me for advice as if I was Dear Abby."

" Yeah? "

" I told her just to pretend she didn't know what on earth Wilma and Bobby Sue had said

or where they had got such a crazy story and everybody would forget about it in a week." She

leaned forward, suddenly anxious. " Do you think that was good advice? "

" Lord, how should I know? Make her feel better? "

" I think so. She seemed to feel a lot better."

" Well, it was great advice then."

She leaned back, happy and relaxed. " Know what, Jess? "

" What? "

" Thanks to you, I think I now have one and one-half friends at Lark Creek School."

It hurt him for it to mean so much to Leslie to have friends. When would she learn they

weren't worth her trouble? " Oh, you got more friends than that."

" Nope. One and one-half. Monster Mouth Myers doesn't count."

There in their secret place, his feelings bubbled inside him like a stew on the back of the

stove-some sad for her in her lonesomeness, but chunks of happiness, too. To be able to be

Leslie's one whole friend in the world as she was his - he couldn't help being satisfied about

that.

That night as he started to get into bed, leaving the light off so as not to wake the little

girls, he was surprised by May Belle's shrill little " Jess."

" How come you're still awake? "

" Jess, I know where you and Leslie go to hide."

" What do you mean? "

" I followed you."

He was at her bedside in one leap. " You ain't supposed to follow me! "

" How come? " Her voice was sassy.

He grabbed her shoulders and made her look him in the face. She blinked in the dim light

like a startled chicken.

" You listen here, May Belle Aarons, " he whispered fiercely, " I catch you following me again, your life ain't worth nothing."

" OK, OK." He slid back into the bed. " Boy, you're mean. I oughta tell Momma on you."

" Look, May Belle, you can't do that. You can't tell Momma 'bout where me and Leslie

go."

She answered with a little sniffing sound.

He grabbed her shoulders again. He was desperate. " I mean it, May Belle. You can't tell

nobody nothing! " He let her go. " Now, I don't want to hear about you following me or

squealing to Momma ever again, you hear? "

" Why not? "

" Cause if you do, I'm gonna tell Billy Jean Edwards you still wet the bed sometimes."

" You wouldn't! "

" Boy, girl, you just better not try me."

He made her swear on the Bible never to tell and never to follow, but still he lay awake a

long time. How could he trust everything that mattered to him to a sassy six-year-old?

Sometimes it seemed to him that his life was delicate as a dandelion. One little puff from any

direction, and it was blown to bits.

EIGHT - Easter

Even though it was nearly Easter, there were still very few nights that it was warm

enough to leave Miss Bessie out. And then there was the rain. All March it poured. For the

first time in many years the creek bed held water, not just a trickle either, enough so that when

they swung across, it was a little scary looking down at the rushing water below. Jess took

Prince Terrien across inside his jacket, but the puppy was growing so fast he might pop the

zipper any time and fall into the water and drown.

Ellie and Brenda were already fighting about what they were going to wear to church.

Since Momma got mad at the preacher three years back, Easter was the only time in the year

that the Aarons went to church and it was a big deal. His mother always cried poor, but she

put a lot of thought and as much money as she could scrape together into making sure she

wouldn't be embarrassed by how her family looked. But the day before she planned to take

them all over to Millsburg Plaza for new clothes, his dad came home from Washington early.

He'd been laid off. No new clothes this year.

A wail went up from Ellie and Brenda like two sirens going to a fire. " You can't make me

go to church, " Brenda said. " I ain't got nothing to wear, and you know it"

" Just 'cause you're too fat, " May Belle murmured.

" Did you hear what she said, Momma? I'm gonna kill that kid."

" Brenda, will you shut your mouth? " his mother said sharply; then more wearily, " We got a lot more than Easter clothes to worry about."

His dad got up noisily and poured himself a cup of black coffee from the pot on the back

of the stove.

" Why can't we charge some things? " Ellie said in her wheedling voice.

Brenda burst in. " Do you know what some people do? They charge something and wear

it, and then take it back and say it didn't fit or something. The stores don't give 'em no

trouble."

Her father turned in a kind of roar. " I never heard such a fool thing in my life. Didn't you

hear your mother tell you to shut your mouth, girl! "

Brenda stopped talking, but she popped her gum as loudly as she could just to prove she

wasn't going to be put down.

Jess was glad to escape to the shed and the complacent company of Miss Bessie. There

was a knock. " Jess? "

" Leslie. Come on in."

She looked first and then sat on the floor near his stool. " What's new? "

" Lord, don't ask." He tugged the teats rhythmically and listened to the plink, plink, plink, in the bottom of the pail.

" That bad, huh? "

" My dad's got laid off, and Brenda and Ellie are fit to fry 'cause they can't have new

clothes for Easter."

" Gee, I'm sorry. About your dad, I mean."

Jess grinned. " Yeah. I ain't too worried about those girls. If I know them, they'll trick new clothes out of somebody. It would make you throw up to see how those girls make a spectacle

of themselves in church."

" I never knew you went to church."

" Just Easter." He concentrated on the warm udders. " I guess you think that's dumb or something."

She didn't answer for a minute. " I was thinking I'd like to go."

He stopped milking. " I don't understand you sometimes, Leslie."

" Well, I've never been to a church before. It would be a new experience for me."

He went back to work. " You'd hate it."

" Why? "

" It's boring."

" Well, I'd just like to see for myself. Do you think your parents would let me go with

you? "

" You can't wear pants."

" I've got some dresses, Jess Aarons." Would wonders never cease?

" Here, " he said. " Open your mouth."

" Why? "

" Just open your mouth." For once she obeyed. He sent a stream of warm milk straight

into it.

" Jess Aarons! " The name was garbled and the milk drib- bled down her chin as she

spoke.

" Don't open your mouth now. You're wasting good milk."

Leslie started to giggle, choking and coughing.

" Now if I could just learn to pitch a baseball that straight. Lemme try again."

Leslie controlled her giggle, closed her eyes, and solemnly opened her mouth.

But now Jess was giggling, so that he couldn't keep his hand steady.

" You dunce! You got me right in the ear." Leslie hunched up her shoulder and rubbed her

ear with the sleeve of her sweat shirt. She collapsed into giggles again.

" I'd be obliged if you'd finish milking and come on back to the house." His dad was

standing right there at the door.

" I guess I'd better go, " said Leslie quietly. She got up and went to the door. " Excuse me."

His dad moved aside to let her pass. less waited for him to say something more, but he just

stood there for a few minutes and then turned and went out.

Ellie said she would go to church if Momma would let her wear the see-through blouse,

and Brenda would go if she at least got a new skirt. In the end everyone got something new

except Jess and his dad, neither of whom cared, but Jess got the idea it might give him a little

bargaining power with his mother.

" Since I ain't getting anything new, could Leslie go to church with us? "

" That girl? " He could see his mother rooting around in her head for a good reason to say no. " She don't dress right."

" Momma! " - his voice sounded as prissy as Ellie's. " Leslie's got dresses. She got

hundreds of 'um."

His mother's thin face drooped. She bit the outside of her bottom lip in a way Joyce Ann

sometimes did and spoke so softly less could hardly hear her. " I don't want no one poking up

their nose at my family."

Jess wanted to put his arm around her the way he put it around May Belle when she was

in need of comfort. " She don't poke her nose up at you, Momma. Honest."

His mother sighed. " Well, if she'll look decent...

Leslie looked decent. Her hair was kind of slicked down, and she wore a navy-blue

jumper over a blouse with tiny old fashioned-looking flowers. At the bottom of her red knee

socks were a pair of shiny brown leather shoes that Jess had never seen before as Leslie

always wore sneakers like the rest of the kids in Lark Creek. Even her manner was decent.

Her usual sparkle was toned way down, and she said " Yes'm" and " No'm" to his mother just as though she were aware of Mrs. Aaron's dread of disrespect. Jess knew how hard Leslie

must be trying, for Leslie didn't say " ma'am" naturally.

In comparison to Leslie, Brenda and Ellie looked like a pair of peacocks with fake tail

feathers. They both insisted on riding in the front of the pickup with their parents, which was

some kind of a squeeze with Brenda's shape to consider. Jess and Leslie and the little girls

climbed happily into the back and sat down on the old sacks his dad had put against the cab.

The sun wasn't exactly shining, but it was the first day in so long that the rain wasn't

actually coming down that they sang " O Lord, What a Morning, " " Ah, Lovely Meadows, " and

" Sing! Sing a Song" that Miss Edmunds had taught them, and even " Jingle Bells" for Joyce Ann. The wind carried their voices away from them. It made the music seem mysterious,

which filled Jess with a feeling of power over the hills rolling out from behind the truck. The

ride was much too short, especially for Joyce Ann, who began to cry because the arrival

interrupted the first verse of " Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, " which after " Jingle Bells" was her favorite song. Jess tickled her to get her giggling again, so that when the four of them

clambered down over the tail gate, they were flushed-faced and happy once more.

They were a little late, which didn't bother Ellie and Brenda for it meant that they got to

flounce down the entire length of the aisle to the first pew, making sure that every eye in the

church was on them, and every expression of every eye a jealous one. Lord, they were

disgusting. And his mother had been scared Leslie might embarrass her. Jess hunched his

shoulders and slunk into the pew after the string of women- folks and just before his dad.

Church always seemed the same. Jess could tune it out the same way he tuned out school,

with his body standing up and sitting down in unison with the rest of the congregation but his

mind numb and floating, not really thinking or dreaming but at least free.

Once or twice he was aware of being on his feet with the loud not really tuneful singing

all around him. At the edge of his consciousness he could hear Leslie singing along and

drowsily wondered why she bothered.

The preacher had one of those tricky voices. It would buzz along for several minutes

quite comfortably, then bang! he was screaming at you. Each time Jess would jump, and it

would take another couple of minutes to relax again. Because he wasn't listening to the words,

the man's red face with sweat pouring down seemed strangely out of place in the dull

sanctuary. It was like Brenda throwing a tantrum over Joyce Ann touching her lipstick.

It took a while to get Ellie and Brenda pulled away from the front yard of the church. less

and Leslie went ahead and put the little girls in the back and settled down to wait.

" Gee, I'm really glad I came."

Jess turned to Leslie in unbelief.

" It was better than a movie."

" You're kidding."

" No, I'm not." And she wasn't. He could tell by her face. " That whole Jesus thing is really interesting, isn't it? "

" What d'you mean? "

" All those people wanting to kill him when he hadn't done anything to hurt them." She

hesitated. " It's really kind of a beautiful story-like Abraham Lincoln or Socrates -- or Aslan."

" It ain't beautiful, " May Belle broke in. " It's scary. Nailing holes right through

somebody's hand."

" May Belle's right." Jess reached down into the deepest pit of his mind. " Ifs because we're all vile sinners God made Jesus die."

" Do you think that's true? "

He was shocked. " It's in the Bible, Leslie."

She looked at him as if she were going to argue, then seemed to change her mind " It's

crazy, isn't it? " She shook her head. " You have to believe it, but you hate it. I don't have to believe it, and I think it's beautiful." She shook her head again. " It's crazy."

May Belle had her eyes all squinted as though Leslie was some strange creature in a zoo.

" You gotta believe the Bible, Leslie."

" Why? " It was a genuine question. Leslie wasn't being smarty.

" Cause if you don't believe the Bible" - May Belle's eyes were huge - " God'll damn you to hell when you die."

" Where'd she ever hear a thing like that? " Leslie turned on Jess as though she were about to accuse him of some wrong he had committed against his sister. He felt hot and caught by

her voice and words.

He dropped his gaze to the gunnysack and began to fiddle with the unraveled edge.

" That's right, ain't it, Jess? " May Belle's shrill voice demanded. " Don't God damn you to hell if you don't believe the Bible?

Jess pushed his hair out of his face. " I reckon, " he muttered. " I don't believe it, " Leslie said. " I don't even think you've read the Bible."

" I read most of it." less said, still fingering the sack. " About the only book we got around our place." He looked up at Leslie and half grinned.

She smiled. " OK, " she said. " But I still don't think God goes around damning people to hell."

They smiled at each other trying to ignore May Belle's anxious little voice. " But Leslie, "

she insisted. " What if you die? What's going to happen to you if you die? "

NINE - The Evil Spell

On Easter Monday the rain began again in earnest. It was as though the elements were

conspiring to ruin their short week of freedom. Jess and Leslie sat cross-legged on the porch

at the Burkes', watching the wheels of a passing truck shoot huge sprays of muddy water to its

rear.

" That ain't no fifty-five miles per hour, " Jess muttered.

Just then something came out of the window of the cab. Leslie jumped to her feet.

" Litterbug! " she screamed after the already disappearing tail lights.

Jess stood up, too. " What'dya want to do? "

" What I want to do is go to Terabithia, " she said, looking out mournfully at the pouring rain.

" Heck, let's go, " he said.

" OK, " she said, suddenly brightening. " Why not? "

She got her boots and raincoat and considered the umbrella. " D'ya think we could swing

across holding the umbrella? &qu