Discuss THE DEAD SEASON

SPOILER ALERT...SPOILER ALERT... SPOILER ALERT...



If you haven't finished THE DEAD SEASON, read no further.  There are definite spoilers to follow!

THE MISSING SCENE 



Readers of THE DEAD SEASON have enjoyed speculating on the ambiguity of the ending (see below). I promised to publish a missing scene which might shed some light on Raine's actions; I did not promise it would answer all your questions!  The following action begins at the end of Chapter Twenty, just after the phone dies.


*~*
For a moment I just sat there on my knees in the snow, staring at the dead phone in my hand.  The despair that crept through me was so heavy that the simple act of drawing a breath seemed almost more than I could manage.
“Dead,” I said.  The arm that held the phone dropped to my side as though it were pulled by weights.  “The phone is dead.”
No one spoke.  After all we had been through, to have this hope snatched from us when we were so close to rescue seemed too cruel a joke to bear.  Cisco pushed his head underneath my limp arm, no doubt wondering why I had suddenly lost my excitement over his find.   I embraced him absently,  letting my head drop wearily to his neck.
That was when I noticed the glint of steel in the snow.
I stretched out my hand to pick it up, and I couldn’t help noticing that one of the boys—Jess, I thought it was—took a quick, kind of half-step forward, as though to reach it before me.  When I lifted the hatchet and looked around the circle, though, Jess’s face, like everyone else’s, was impassive.  I couldn’t help myself: I examined the blade.  It was clean.  The handle was worn and stained with use; how recent those stains might have been I could not tell.
“You found the hatchet,” I said. 
No one answered.
I looked from one to the other of them, and when my gaze rested on Lourdes, I thought I saw a slight flinch, a quick glance away and then back again.  I said softly, “You cut the leash.  You saved my life.  Cisco’s, too.”
Jess took a small, almost imperceptible step toward her.  Heather, on the other side, did the same. Cisco wandered over to Lourdes and leaned against her knee.  She dropped her gloved hand to stroke his head.   I got laboriously to my feet, every muscle in my body aching.  
I said, “I have to tell you guys something.  Paul Evans didn’t just die during the night of his injuries from the fall.  Someone bashed his head in with something that left a huge gash—something like a hatchet.  The police are going to want to know who had possession of the hatchet last.”
Once again a look went around the group that was as clear as a shout, and yet so private that no one but they could read it. Angel took Tiffanie’s hand.  Pete moved closer to Jess. 
  I remember reading an article about prisoners of war, and about the bond they formed with one another through the shared experience of endured the torture, privation, and terror.  It had to do with standing together against a common enemy, and sharing an experience no one else could even imagine, much less understand.  On more than one occasion it had led to incidents of extreme self-sacrifice, as when one prisoner would step forward to take the punishment meant for another, weaker cellmate, even if it meant risking his own life.  I think it was at that moment, with that shared look, that I knew I would never understand what those kids had been through.  Not ever.
Jess said, “I did. I had the hatchet last.”
Lourdes said with a flash of desperation in her eyes, “That’s not true.  I’m the one who cut the leash.  I’ve had it since… since…”
“Since you took it from me,” Pete said firmly, stepping forward.  “I’m the one who hid it in my backpack.”
“No he didn’t,” said Tiffanie, with a quick look at Angel.  “It was me.”
“I used it to pound down my tent stakes,” Angel said, her eyes defiant.  “I’ve had it all night.”
I looked at them in helpless disbelief, my gaze moving around the circle until it finally rested on Heather.  She said simply, “The hatchet is mine.  I’ve had it all along.  I took it out to cut the leash, and Lourdes snatched it from me because she was closer.”
I looked at them for a long time, and then at the hatchet in my hand.  Cisco lifted his ears and panted hopefully at me.
“There’s a flat spot over there,” I said, nodding toward the west, “out of the wind.  Let’s set up camp.”
And while the kids pounded down the snow and set up the tents, I used the hatchet to strip branches for our fire.  When I was done, I put the hatchet in a safe place.
And there it remains to this day.

*~*   
       
Now who do you think the killer was?  Post your comments below.

 


16 comments:

Barb S said...

I thought there would be several comments by now. Obviously, the mention of a second hatchet was a clue to what really happened or was it? The only thing I'm pretty sure of was that the murderer wasn't Raine!

Melissa, Mudpie and Angel Truffles (Mochas, Mysteries and Meows) said...

I was stunned by the second hatchet revelation. I can only guess that one of the kids (rightfully) was the real killer. Paul certainly had it coming!!!

Barb S said...

I was thinking it could have been Heather.
Forgot to mention my dog's name and breed: Bryte is a Border Collie and would love to be mentioned in your new book! (Donna, you'd run out of pages if you mentioned ALL of my dogs!)

Vern C. said...

I don't think Paul's wife did it; she didn't have to, all she had to do was leave. Any of the kids could have done it, as they all hated the guy. I'm going to take a wild guess and say Lourdes.

Bethany R said...

The second hatchet revelation adds a major clue. I agree that it was probably not the wife. I think it was possibly Lourdes, Jess or Heather. They were all mentioned a bit and had good motive.

Joe J. said...

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Buck. A hatchet would only make a clean cut on a leather leash if it were laying on a flat, hard surface. In snow, with only snow and uneven,frozen ground below? Not so much. I think the second hatchet theory is a red herring.
My dog, Gunny, is a golden retriever who is certified in avalanche, wilderness, and human remains search and rescue and he would love to meet Cisco, even if only in a book.

Vern C. said...

Forgot to mention in my comment of June 5, our dog is Brinkley, a Golden Retriever who'll celebrate his 9th birthday at the end of this month. For an early birthday present, we took him on a 4-day camping trip on the Oregon coast, his favorite place to visit and romp on the beach.

Donna said...

I think Gunny's dad has a good point BUT... Raine does say the leash was a "bungie-type" expandable leash which may or may not have been easier to cut. If the leash was pulled taut over the cliff and the swing of the hatchet was against rock, not snow...?

Barb S said...

I think only the person who used the hatchet knows for sure. Obviously, all the kids had reasons to kill him.

Donna Ball said...

Loved reading your comments this past month! Bryte, Gunny and Brinkley-- see you in the next Raine Stockton book :) Did I miss anyone?

Just a note-- the scene in which Cisco fell over the cliff actually happened to me years ago when I was hiking with one of my dogs. She was attched to an expandable leash and by a sheer miracle landed on a tiny protruding tree that was growing out of the mountainside, which she was able to hang onto until someone could climb down to get her. Clearly, that was something that I never forgot!

And... I actually didn't know what was in the missing scene until last night, when I wrote it. Thanks for all your ideas:)

Anonymous said...

I don't think it mattered who killed Paul. I agree that he totally deserved it. The kids were exactly like survivors of a concentration camp and banded together because of a common enemy. I think Raine should have done exactly what she did, buried the hatchet and let that be an end of it. It reminds me of that situation in some small Ohio town years ago where the residents suffered for years at the tyranny of a bully. On a bright sunny day in the middle of town, someone shot the bully to death as he sat in his pickup truck. Not a single person in the entire town ever came forward to say they saw or knew anything. The FBI and law enforcement NEVER found out who pulled the trigger.

Donna Ball said...

Yes, that's it exactly! And that's why, in the missing scene, all I really wanted to do was to show that the kids, in the end, had learned to unite against tyranny and to defend their friends, which was, ironically, a lesson New Day would have been proud to have on its curicculum. One wonders, however, who put the bloody hatchet in Rachel's backpack, if it was not in fact the murder weapon...

BTW I remember that incident with the bully in the small town. Was it made into a television movie?

K. King said...

My mistake. It was Skidmore, MO and it was 30 years ago. Ken McElroy had bullied the townspeople for years and the law either didn't want to do anything or couldn't. Here's an article I found in the Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/us/16bully.html?pagewanted=all

Barb S said...

Can't wait for the new book! I'll have to buy a hard copy (for display) if Bryte is in it!

Bethany R said...

I forgot to mention in my June 5th comment that my dog is a very spirited 2 year old German Shepard named Clover. It might be to late but figured it was worth a try.

Susan (and SmokeyBlue in spirit) said...

I abolutely love this series!!!
Found them several weeks ago and read them all on my iPad while recovering from a bad cold. The human dog interactions are so spot on. The addition of a character that can speak for them is so wonderful.
Imlive with a rescued rottie, Basel, who is now 13+. I am surrounded by doggie friends who run sled dogs and one who raises golden pups for assistance dogs.
Thank you for that missing scene and for sharing your own scarey dog story. So glad it ended well. Now I know that your real life expereiences inform your writing which is why they are so compelling.
Looking forward to the next installment. Meanwhile I'll read the Lady Bug Farm series.