Invaders From Mars by Ray Garton

preoccupied, that’s all.” She watched him staring out at the driveway, twiddling his fingers together nervously. “David, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”
    “Yeah, Mom.”
    “Your nightmare bothering you?”
    He turned to her suddenly, opened his mouth and took in a sharp breath to speak, his eyes wide, and she knew what he was going to say —It wasn’t a nightmare, Mom, really !—but he closed his mouth, relaxed, and just shook his head. She put an arm around him and they sat in silence until the Willowbrook Police car drove up.
    “Hi, Chief,” Ellen said, standing to greet him as he got out of the car with a grunt, his round belly making his movements a bit awkward. Another man got out on the passenger side, younger, thinner. “Thanks for coming.”
    “No problem, Mrs. Gardiner,” he said. “You know Officer Kenney?” He gestured to the younger man beside him.
    “Ma’am,” Kenney said with a nod, taking off his hat and revealing thick black hair.
    “What seems to be the matter, Mrs. Gardiner?” the chief asked.
    “Well, George isn’t here. His pickup is, but he’s not.”
    “Where do you think he might be?”
    “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I phoned a few of his friends, but they haven’t seen him. David and I haven’t spoken with him since this morning.” She looked down at the boy to see his eyes suddenly widening, his face brightening with realization.
    “Maybe he went back over the hill!” he said excitedly, grabbing Ellen’s hand.
    “David . . .” she said, hoping to quiet him. She didn’t want him going on about UFOs with the police around.
    The chief turned to David and bent down as much as his girth would allow. “What’s that, David?”
    “Copper Hill.”
    Ellen put a hand on his head. “George took a look up there this morning. David thought he saw, um, an aircraft crash there last night.”
    “No, Mom!” David exclaimed, exasperated. “I saw a UFO! It had huge lights and everything! Just like in—”
    “David, please, stop that.” She smiled at the policemen, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
    The chief looked thoughtfully from David to Ellen. “Tell you what, Mrs. Gardiner,” he said. “We’ll go up there and have a look. Come on, Kenney.”
    They got their flashlights from the car, then Ellen and David followed them around the side of the house to the back yard. As they started toward the path, an ugly thought occurred to Ellen.
    What if he’s over there and something’s wrong? What if he went back this morning, fell and hit his head, had no one to help him, and he’s been lying there de —
    She couldn’t even think the word: dead.
    “Let’s wait here, David,” Ellen said suddenly, holding David back, pulling him close to her.
    Chief Ward and Officer Kenney headed up the hill, their flashlight beams bobbing before them. Ellen could hear their fading voices as they climbed.
    “I haven’t been up here since I was a kid,” the chief puffed.
    Kenney asked, “You hear anything about a plane crash?”
    “Nah. The kid’s just been watching too much TV.”
    Their flashlight beams swept back and forth before them as they went up the path. They stopped at the crest of the hill and gazed down at the sand pit. They seemed to be talking with one another, gesturing. Then they disappeared over the top.
    Ellen felt her son put his arm around her waist and press himself close to her.
    “Don’t worry, honey,” she said. “You know, maybe he went with someone to do some field work. That might be it. Don’t worry, Dad’s okay.”
    “I hope they are,” he whispered with a nod toward the hill.
    “Who?” she asked, looking down at him again. “You mean the chief? And Kenney?”
    He said nothing.
    Ellen squatted down beside him and turned him toward her. “David, exactly what do you think is over that hill?”
    With another look toward the hill, slow and lingering, he said, “I don’t know, Mom. But something is.”
    “Oh, David,” she sighed, “I