Текст книги "The Secrets of Lake Road"

Автор книги: Karen Katchur

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Caroline stayed tucked in the arms of the willow tree, the swooping branches draped around her, protecting her from the outside world. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed hidden under Willow, but long enough for her butt to ache and her legs to fall asleep. She stretched them out, careful to hold onto the branch above her, and she shook her feet until they tingled. Once the sensation traveled to her thighs and she could feel her legs again, she climbed down to the ground. She brushed the dirt from her hands onto her shorts and tightened her ponytail, which was sticking out from underneath her baseball cap.

Outside the ring of drooping branches, she heard the sound of footsteps. The door to the screened-in porch creaked open and slammed closed. Her father’s deep voice came from inside calling, “Hello? Is anyone home?” She wondered if he had heard their family secret was out and she was to blame. She bet he would be mad with her like everyone else was. She wasn’t ready to face him or anyone in her stupid lying family.

She darted from her protective cocoon and ran up the dirt road toward the ballpark. She wasn’t even halfway there, not really sure where she was going, but she was breathing hard and wishing she had grabbed her bike. She slowed her pace when her lungs burned, only stopping when she reached the Meadowlark, Megan’s cabin, and found herself knocking on the door.

“It’s open!” Mrs. Roberts called from somewhere inside.

Mr. Roberts was in the family room reading a book next to an oscillating fan. Mrs. Roberts emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a tea towel. “We haven’t seen you around much, Caroline. I hope you and Megan didn’t have a fight.”

“No, ma’am,” she said. “Nothing like that.”

“Well, I’m glad. Megan’s in her bedroom. Go on back.”

Caroline crept down the narrow hall and peeked inside Megan’s room. Megan was sitting on the bed, surrounded by magazines, nail polish, and makeup. Her head was down. Her blond hair fell into her face and her scalp was pink from the sun.

“Hey,” Caroline said, and slipped inside, quietly closing the door behind her.

“Where’ve you been?” Megan grabbed Caroline’s hands. She pulled her onto the bed on top of the magazines and nail polish and plastic lipstick tubes. “I’ve got news,” she said.

Caroline nodded. Her lips trembled and her nose started to run. She didn’t want to cry and look like a baby. But she wanted to tell someone what she had done. She needed to talk to someone who wasn’t in her family.

“Jeff kissed me,” Megan said. “A proper kiss.”

Caroline nodded again and wiped underneath her nose.

Megan blabbed about Jeff’s tongue in her mouth. “He tasted kind of funny,” she said. “Like spit.” She shrugged. “I thought he would’ve at least brushed his teeth or used mouthwash if he knew he was going to kiss me, but whatever. What do you think? Don’t you think he should’ve been more prepared? I mean, I made sure my breath was fresh. What?” She gave Caroline the once-over, as though she was seeing her for the first time. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you keep a secret?” Caroline asked, and looked at the bedroom door to make sure it was closed all the way.

“Of course. Tell me,” Megan said.

“Well, to start,” she said. “I got my period.”

Megan nudged her and smiled. “That’s great. Oh my God, are you crying? You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s normal.” She crinkled her nose. “But you know, now you can officially get pregnant.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “That’s never going to happen.” She wasn’t like her mother. She’d never end up a pregnant teen. “You have to swear not to tell anyone I got it. Promise me.”

“Who would I tell?”

“Promise.”

“Okay, okay, I promise. Is that it?”

“No.” Caroline started from the beginning, telling Megan about the times she had overheard bits and pieces of Billy’s name mentioned by Gram and her mother through the years and especially now after Sara had drowned. She told her how she discovered Billy had drowned when her parents were teenagers. She read about it that day at the Country Store when she had searched the old Lake Reporters.

“I remember. Boring,” Megan said. “What about it?”

Caroline told her how she had put two and two together, that Johnny was named after Billy and that he was really Billy’s son, not Caroline’s father’s.

“Holy shit,” Megan blurted.

“Shhh,” Caroline said. “Keep it down.”

“And you told Johnny?”

“Sort of.”

“Wow, that’s totally messed up.” Megan shook her head. “So, now what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

There was a knock at the door.

Caroline grabbed Megan’s arm. “Promise you won’t say anything. Not until my family figures this out.”

Megan held up her hand. “I get it. You don’t have to worry.”

“Megan,” Mrs. Roberts said. “Jeff’s out front looking for you.”

Megan flung the door open.

Her mother started. “It’s late. I’m not sure you should be going out tonight.”

“Please, Mom. It’s summertime. And Caroline is out. She’ll come with me.” Megan looked over her shoulder at Caroline, pleading with her to say yes.

Mrs. Robert’s crossed her arms. “And what do you plan on doing?”

“I don’t know. We’ll think of something. Isn’t that right, Caroline?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Mrs. Roberts said.

“Please, Mom. I promise we won’t get into any trouble.”

“Well,” Mrs. Roberts said, “as long as you two stay together.”

“We will,” Megan said, and pulled Caroline with her.

Mrs. Roberts followed them to the door. She touched Caroline’s shoulder. “Everything all right, dear?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Everything’s just super.”

*   *   *

Caroline dragged her feet a few paces behind Megan and Jeff, not wanting to tag along on their date or whatever it was they were doing. She’d split as soon as they were far enough away from Megan’s cabin and out of sight. She was trying to think of where she could go, since home wasn’t an option. But when they reached the ballpark, the Needlemeyer twins and Adam were waiting for them.

Ted held a flashlight over a sheet of paper that explained the rules and regulations for the big fishing tournament tomorrow.

Megan stepped back from the group and mumbled, “More boy stuff.”

“I’m totally doing this,” Jeff said about the tournament. “First prize is a hundred bucks. Who wouldn’t try for that?”

The boys nodded, an air of excitement surrounded them.

Adam tugged on Caroline’s arm. “Are you fishing tomorrow?” he asked.

“Nah,” she said, having made up her mind while talking with Gram. “Not this year. Besides, I’ll be too busy rooting for you.”

“Well, I know just the spot to catch the biggest trout anyone has ever pulled out of the lake,” he said.

“You do not,” Ted said.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then show us.”

“I’m not showing you,” Adam said. “You’re the competition.”

“You won’t show us because you’re lying. You don’t have a fishing hole.”

“I do too,” Adam whined.

“Leave him alone,” Caroline said, although the boys ribbing had started lifting her mood. The familiar role of mediator was comforting, a sign something hadn’t changed. She gazed across the open field. Every few seconds the lightning bugs flashed their presence.

“Show us your fishing hole, and we’ll show you ours. That way we’re even,” Ned said.

“Yeah, help the new guy out,” Jeff chimed in.

Adam looked at Caroline, and she nodded. Catching the biggest trout was more luck than anything else. Besides, she didn’t want to go home.

It was that easy. They were off on some kind of quest to find Adam’s honey hole. Caroline trailed behind Adam, the Needlemeyer twins behind her. Jeff grabbed Megan’s hand and pulled her along, taking up the rear. They made their way through the path in the woods that would take them to the lake.

They walked single file, sticks and leaves crunching under their sneakers. Poison ivy spread through the woods to their left. Cougar barked on their right. Adam stopped abruptly, and Caroline nearly walked into the back of him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of beef jerky. “Always prepared,” he said, and exchanged a knowing look with her.

Cougar yanked on his chain the closer they got, stretching every link as far as it would go until he was choking. The stake he was chained to bent at a diagonal as though at any moment it would fly out of the ground. The funny thing was, Caroline wasn’t worried about the dog breaking free. He didn’t sound vicious or mean. His barks sounded more like a cry for attention.

Adam walked up to Cougar but stayed far enough back as not to make contact. The dog yelped, cried, and pulled at the chain in excitement. Adam tossed a chunk of beef jerky over the dog’s head so he wouldn’t continue choking himself. Cougar whipped around and gnawed on the jerky. Adam threw two more pieces.

“One was enough,” Ted said. “Save some for us.”

Adam stuffed the rest of the jerky into his pockets.

The sight of the hungry, attention-starved dog made Caroline feel bad. While he continued to chomp on the beef jerky, she walked up to him and unhooked the chain from his thick leather collar.

“What are you doing?” Megan squealed.

Cougar rubbed against Caroline’s legs, chewing and rubbing, circling her. She reached down and scratched behind his ear. Adam joined her. And soon the twins, Jeff, and even Megan surrounded the dog, petting him, letting him lick them all over.

“Let’s take him with us,” Adam said.

The six of them, seven if you included the dog, proceeded down the path, single file, with Cougar running circles around their legs, darting on and off the trail, tongue hanging out and tail wagging. They stopped when they reached the parking lot, which was now filled with tents for the Trout Festival. People were still working under battery-powered spotlights, setting up displays, preparing for the events the next day. The dark of the night seeped in between the cracks of light. The Pavilion was open, and music blared from the live band performing in the bar upstairs.

Caroline couldn’t help but think, after everything that had happened, summer had come after all.

She turned to Adam. “Which way?”

“It’s on the south side.” He pointed. “Past that old private beach nobody uses. Closer to where the lake feeds the stream.”

“That’s nothing but a muddy hole,” Ted said. Ned agreed.

“No, it’s not all mud. There’s a spot where the water is deep. All the big fish are there. I swear.” Adam’s head bobbed. Cougar poked his nose inside Adam’s pockets, searching for the jerky.

“We’ll have to take the long way around so no one sees us,” Caroline said. A gang of young kids walking around at ten o’clock at night was sure to draw attention. “We can go the way we went to the pump that day,” she said to Adam.

The twins balked. Megan picked at her cuticle, obviously bored. Jeff shrugged.

“You don’t have to come with us,” Caroline said to the others, and started walking.

Adam and Cougar followed. After more bellyaching, the twins and Jeff and Megan chased after them. It took almost an hour to get to the private beach, walking through the woods behind the lakefront cabins with nothing but slivers of moonlight cutting through the branches of trees to guide them. Cougar panted, but his barking had stopped. Once, he drifted toward the lake to get a drink of water, but otherwise he walked alongside Adam the entire way. He was a good dog and meant to be with kids.

The cabin that sat at the back of the private beach was deserted. It had been dark and empty every summer for as long as Caroline could remember. Although she had heard the family who owned the property preferred to stay away from the lake during the peak summer months, coming only in autumn when the air was cool and the trees were dressed in their finest colors.

Caroline didn’t see the point. Why would you need a beach if it was too cold to sit on it and too frigid to swim? And it wasn’t like they weren’t in the most secluded spot on the lake, a place to hang out where other vacationers couldn’t bother them.

Johnny and his friends had used the private beach for their end-of-summer party, figuring if they got caught, it wouldn’t matter since they’d be going home the next day.

Thinking about Johnny hurt, and she pushed the thoughts away. She turned toward Adam. “You better lead from here.”

“This way.” The moonlight caught the back of his ears, making it look as though he had two big orbs on the sides of his head.

She followed close behind. The twins pushed and shoved each other, cackling about how this was nothing but a waste of time. Jeff and Megan dropped back from the pack.

“You go on ahead,” Megan called. “We’ll catch up with you.”

Ned made kissing, sucking noises. Ted mumbled, “Gross.” They continued on, leaving Jeff and Megan on the beach. Caroline didn’t want to think about what Megan was doing. The idea of kissing a boy still made her feel icky.

“Here,” Adam said.

They had been walking a good ten minutes. Mud caked to their sneakers, and it was hard to find a safe place to step. The brush was thick and trees lined the water’s edge. Not many people came down this far where the lake narrowed and eventually emptied into a stream that really wasn’t much of a stream at all, but a trickle of water that ran through the woods another half mile until it dried up altogether. Some believed with the rate of erosion, global warming, and dry summers, the lake would one day cease to exist. But Gram had told her it wasn’t possible. The lake was a natural lake made from a glacier and fed by underwater springs from deep inside the earth’s core.

She believed Gram’s version and realized she still trusted her. She had to trust in someone. And she didn’t doubt Gram would’ve told her about Billy and Johnny if she could have. She found comfort in the thought.

The twins and Adam approached an area where it did look as though the water was blacker, deeper.

“There’s big fish in there,” Adam said. “I know it. I’ve seen them swimming around.”

“Yeah, but who’s going to come all this way to prove you pulled a trout out down here? You need a parent with you for it to count,” Ned said to Adam.

While the boys argued over the rules and whose parent would be willing to walk all this way, Cougar had wandered farther down near the stream. He yipped and whined. Caroline went to see what was wrong. She had to weave around trees and wind her way around moss-covered rocks. A thorn bush pricked her thigh, and her sneakers sunk in the deepening mud.

“What did you find?” she asked the dog. “Bring it here so I can see it.”

Cougar yelped and whimpered.

Her first thought was that he must be hurt, but then she saw something lying on the ground near his paws. She took a couple of steps closer. In the mud, not far from where she stood, was Sara’s body. Her braids splayed in the puddles surrounding her head, and her eyes, cold and lifeless, stared into the night sky. Her bathing suit was tattered and torn. The skin on her arms and legs was shredded. Only the ghostly glow of her face hadn’t been touched, as if the snappers had known to leave something for her mother.

“Guys.” Her voice cracked. “Guys,” she said a little louder. Cougar continued to paw at the muddy water near the body, whimpering and whining as if he knew he had found what everyone was looking for.

“Guys!” she yelled, and stumbled backward. She turned and ran back the way she came, slipping on the rocks, tearing through the thorny brush. Cougar followed on her heels. “Guys,” she said out of breath when she had finally reached them.

Adam looked as though he had been crying. The twins must’ve been really giving it to him. She bent over, putting her hands on her knees. She thought she might be sick. The boys stared at her, sensing whatever was wrong was important.

“Cougar,” she said. “He found Sara’s…” She couldn’t finish. She couldn’t say the word body.

They didn’t ask what she meant. They didn’t have to. Every kid knew Sara’s name. Every kid knew she hadn’t been found. They may have been pretending she hadn’t drowned the last few days, but they didn’t forget even if their parents had moved on. Kids wouldn’t forget about another kid dying.

“Are you sure? Where?” Ned asked.

Caroline pointed downstream. “It’s her,” she said, swallowing the warm saliva in the back of her throat.

“How did she get all the way down here?” Ted asked. “It doesn’t seem possible.”

“It’s totally possible,” Adam said, his wet eyes darting from Caroline to the twins. “The water current carries a lot of cool stuff here.” He scrunched up his face. “You know what I mean.” He continued, “Once, I found an old license plate and a Coke bottle. And don’t forget about the snappers. They love the mud. Maybe they drag stuff here and, you know, eat it. I know they like to burrow in mud so only their eyes and nostrils stick out. Then they wiggle their tongues like tiny worms to attract small fish. When the fish gets close”—he smacked his hands together—“they grab it and chomp it to pieces.”

“I thought they only ate dead stuff,” Ted said.

“No. They eat small fish and plants, too. But I think they prefer the dead stuff.…” Adam’s voice trailed off.

Maybe they realized the impact of what Adam was saying because after this, they were quiet. Even Cougar didn’t make a sound. In the silence Adam and the twins stared at one another, each muttering to the other, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” All Caroline heard was the sound of her own breathing.

Adam put his finger to his lips.

She strained to listen.

“There it is again,” Adam said.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said.

Adam looked at her. “It’s a full moon,” he said, and pointed to the sky, his hand shaking. “You can hear the horse during a full moon.”

“I bet it’s because you found Sara,” Ted said to her. “I mean, she drowned the same day Adam found that bit.”

“It was probably the wind,” Ned said.

“You didn’t hear anything?” Adam asked her.

“No,” Caroline said. “I didn’t.” She knew Adam was disappointed in her. But what could she say? Too much had happened. She no longer believed in the things she once had at the start of summer, the kinds of things that only kids believed in like lake legends. She wasn’t the same girl who had once accepted the world as it was without question. For her the world had forever changed.

Megan and Jeff came crashing through the brush. “What?” Megan asked, and looked at them. “What’s going on?” It was obvious Megan and Jeff didn’t hear anything either.

“Cougar found Sara,” Caroline said, because finding the little girl was the most important thing. “I know where she is.”

“You do?” Megan asked. “Where?”

“Maybe it’s not even her,” Ned said. “We’re all a little spooked right now.”

Caroline shook her head. “It’s her.” There was no mistake. The image of Sara’s body flashed in her mind’s eye, the face of an angel resting peacefully on a tattered body.

“Let’s make sure,” Ted said to the others. “Adam, you stay here with Cougar. We don’t want that dog to get a hold of her. If it’s really her,” he added.

“Cougar wouldn’t do that,” Caroline said at the same time the dog lowered his head as though he were ashamed. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said to Cougar.

“I’m coming with you, guys,” Adam said.

“No.” Caroline reached for Adam’s hand. “Stay here with me. You don’t want to see.” She didn’t want to treat Adam like a baby, but she knew it wasn’t something he should look at. He was too young. It was bad enough the others were going to look.

No kid, no matter how old, should ever have to see another kid’s dead body.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Kevin stood on the balcony of the Pavilion, which overlooked the lake. It was a clear night. The sky was littered with stars, and the moonlight bounced off the still water. The air was warm, but not uncomfortably so. He kept his back to the bar and the crowd inside. The live band belted out a cover song, the electric guitar singing louder than the girl’s voice into the mic. He had stepped outside in need of fresh air, which was ironic, since the first thing he did was light a cigarette.

He took a deep drag, welcoming the smoke into his lungs. He had waited on the docks for Patricia to leave Hawkes’ cabin for as long as he could without drawing attention to himself, but she never came out. He wasn’t sure why he had bothered, but something about her troubled him, and it had nothing to do with her little girl drowning. He had spent much of the afternoon and evening alone, stopping briefly at The Pop-Inn, but no one was there.

Eventually he wandered into the bar and spent the last several hours hanging out with Eddie and Sheila. The two were still hopelessly in love. Or perhaps he was thinking like the silly romantic Jo had always accused him of being.

The smoke snaked from his mouth in slow, deliberate swirls. His stomach churned from too much beer and lack of food. He hadn’t eaten in hours. His temple throbbed. He was dehydrated. He licked his dry cracked lip.

But no matter how bad his stomach clenched in need of food or how bad his body needed water, his feet were rooted to the spot. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the two boys in the middle of the lake on the floating pier. It was as though he were staring into the past, looking out at two ghosts.

He recognized Johnny and Chris and realized just how distinguishable he and Billy must have looked under the same moon. His mind had gone back to that night so many times before, but now, looking in from the outside, it was a miracle no one had witnessed what he had done.

*   *   *

Billy had climbed the ladder right after Jo had swum to shore. They stood and watched her run across the beach, staggering and falling in her attempt to flee. She grabbed her clothes and disappeared behind the Pavilion. She had listened to Kevin when he had told her to run home and tell no one. She was terrified, thinking she had pushed Billy into the lake and that he had drowned.

But Billy was back on the pier, cradling his right forearm where he had hurt it. The water dripped from his shorts, making tiny splattering sounds on the wood. He tossed his head to the side to get the wet hair out of his face and smiled a cock-sure smile. He had intended to scare them. To him, it was a game.

But it wasn’t a game to Kevin. Billy had played him for a fool one too many times. And now Billy had done the same to Jo. He had frightened her to death. And Kevin couldn’t take it any longer. He had had enough. He’d show Billy once and for all he shouldn’t mess with him, he didn’t deserve Jo.

He took a deep, sobering breath. His mouth tasted like metal. He clenched and unclenched his hands. He felt as though he were someone else, that someone full of rage and frustration had invaded his body.

Slowly, he turned toward Billy.

“She’ll never choose you over me,” Billy said so confidently and smugly.

Something much more than rage shot through Kevin: a thick, hot fury. Before he could stop himself, he struck Billy hard in the chest, much harder than he thought possible, surprising Billy and knocking the wind out of him, sending him back over the edge of the pier. There was a loud crack, but this time it wasn’t Billy’s arm striking the pier; it was his head hitting one of the wood planks before his body slapped the water with a thwump.

Kevin’s blood rushed in his ears. Sweat seeped from his pores and adrenalin pulsed through his veins. He got him good this time. He did. He wouldn’t be pushed around anymore. He wouldn’t. But my God, what was he thinking?

Billy was going to kill him when he climbed back onto the pier.

Kevin had to pull himself together. His breath was ragged. He lifted his chin and hiked his shoulders back, prepared to fight again. He stood with his fists up, waiting for Billy to surface. He wasn’t sure how long he was standing that way, waiting—long enough for his arms to get tired.

“Come on,” he said. “You’re not fooling me. Not this time.”

He strained to look over the edge where Billy had gone into the water, not wanting to get too close in case he was waiting to pull him into the lake. There was no way he could win a fight with him in the water. Billy was too strong a swimmer. But from where he stood, Kevin could see the waves lapping in slow rhythm against the side of the pier, the water showing little to no disturbance in its cadence, no sign of someone swimming, splashing.

“Where are you?” he asked.

After several long minutes, how many minutes he had no way of knowing, Billy still hadn’t shown himself. The lake remained calm, silent.

“Billy,” Kevin said, and looked over the edge again.

Nothing.

“Billy,” he called, panic settling in. He raced around the pier, searching the water, much like Jo had done. “Where are you?” he asked, but even as the words left his lips, he understood what had happened. The air had rushed from Billy’s lungs. Kevin had knocked the wind out of him. Billy had hit his head before falling into the water. He wasn’t coming back up.

Ever.

Kevin dropped to his knees, his head in his hands. His best friend’s body sunk to the darkness below, joining whatever else was dead at the bottom of the lake.

And this time, this time it was all Kevin’s fault.

*   *   *

Kevin’s body shook from the memory. His arms hung at his sides, limp and weak, remembering the physical exertion, the emotional trauma of the night he had gotten rid of Billy forever.

From the balcony he watched Johnny dive into the lake after Chris, both boys swimming for shore. Lucky for them, Kevin thought, and crushed the cigarette butt with his foot. He wiped his cheek. His hand came away wet. He hadn’t realized he had been crying.

He turned to head into the bar for another drink but stopped when he saw a lone figure stumbling up the docks toward the parking lot. Something about the person’s movements was familiar. When the figure stepped under one of the tent’s spotlights, he recognized the hollow of her cheeks, the swell of her breasts and hips. He knew something was wrong.