Ghost Soldier by Elaine Marie Alphin

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Chapter Eight
    F INDING S TIRRUP I RON C REEK
    â€œHow’d you like to come to Research Triangle Park with me?” Dad asked when I came in after my morning run. I had no idea what he was talking about. I’d been trying to figure out an excuse to look for whatever was left of Two Stirrups and the oak tree Rich had told me about.
    Dad and Mrs. Hambrick stood over a map at the kitchen table. Dad looked strangled in a tie, and a sports jacket was hanging over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. I didn’t know he’d brought nice clothes. Nicole sat on the far side of the table, eating a toasted bagel and staring off into the yard.
    I jogged in place over by the sink to cool down, wondering why Dad was so dressed up. “What’s in Research Triangle Park?”
    Dad frowned at me, his eyebrows almost meeting in the middle of his forehead above his nose. It’s the same exasperated expression he gets when he’s rewritten a program ten times and it keeps crashing. “Weren’t you listening at all last night? The software company we were discussing has its headquarters there. That area used to be farmland once, but it was all bought up for an industrial complex.” His face relaxed and he grinned at me. “The Silicon Valley of the South.”
    â€œI thought Silicon Valley was in California,” I said, concentrating on my cooldowns. “What’s the big deal about this place?”
    Dad glanced at Mrs. Hambrick. “They’re interviewing me for a job, Alexander.”
    I stared at the tangled branches outside the kitchen, not wanting to hear about it.
    â€œI told you that,” Dad said quietly.
    I knew he had. I just hadn’t wanted to listen to him any more than I’d wanted to listen to Rich.
    â€œI’m going upstairs to shower,” I told them.
    â€œWhen you come down, let me know if you want to go,” Dad said. “If not, Nicole said she’d show you around.”
    Nicole practically choked on her bagel. Apparently I didn’t fit into her spring break plans any better than she fit into mine.
    â€œWhere is this place?” I asked, edging closer to the table.
    Dad pointed on the map. Sure enough, it was a big, pale green patch labeled Research Triangle Park. But it was shaped more like a jalapeño pepper than a triangle. Aside from the big streets that looked like parkways, there were only a few small streets running through it, with names like Intel Avenue and Laboratory Drive.
    Then I saw it. A narrow blue line ran down along the east side of the green shape. The tiny words that curved alongside it read Stirrup Iron Creek.
    A sudden cool breeze brought the wind chimes to life. “Sure, Dad,” I said, watching the hummingbirds jostle. “I’ll go.”
    *   *   *
    Rich was waiting for me in the van, along with Dad and Mrs. Hambrick. I’d thought it would be just Dad and me. And the ghost, of course. Why did she have to come along?
    â€œPaige set up the interview,” Dad explained, as if he’d read my thoughts. He leaned around the front passenger seat as I climbed in. “After we’re done, I thought we could go out to lunch—do a little sightseeing—whatever you’d like.”
    I knew Dad was trying to be friendly, but I didn’t care about sightseeing in Durham, especially with Mrs. Hambrick. I wanted to take care of Rich’s problem, then figure out how to talk Dad into going back home once and for all. Maybe he’d mess up the interview and they wouldn’t want to hire him. That was something to hope for.
    Rich grinned at me. “I knew you’d find a way to get us to Stirrup Iron Creek.”
    I checked to make sure that Mrs. Hambrick wasn’t looking at me in the rearview mirror and grinned back at him in spite of feeling weird seeing him there and seeing Dad and Mrs. Hambrick just past him. Rich looked as solid and real as they did,