Axel Tiger was dramatic, stooping low and walking between the campfire and the campers, hands laced behind his back, his eyes alive with mischief.
“And so!” he said suddenly, causing several to jump and then giggle. “The captain’s lady’s words were heard, they say. A mammoth storm rolled across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, and despite the seafaring talents of the pirates, the waves rose and fell and rose and fell...and slam! The pirates—and all their stolen treasure—were rent apart and tossed into the far corners of the air and sea. It’s said that hour by hour, day by day, more bodies piled up on the southern tip of the Glades, trapping the cursed souls of the pirates to roam the waterways and the hammocks, high points and mud and muck and sawgrass. They say sometimes when the moon rises high and even when it does not—even when the glory of the sunset fades into the shadow of night—the pirate ship itself can be seen sailing over our river of grass, the pirates manning her doomed forever.”
There was silence. Raina, wedged between her friends, stared at him. He was smiling—secretly pleased, she imagined, that he had brought them all to silence.
The campfire snapped and crackled.
He looked at them, still waiting. “Hey, they’re ghosts. At least they don’t get mosquito bites!”
Someone giggled. The stories were over. They could head to their tents for the night.
“That was a bit of fun, folks!” Axel Tiger reminded them as they burst into applause and began to rise. “There’s so much more about this amazing ecosystem you’ll be learning tomorrow. Yeah, we have mosquitoes, alligators, crocs and snakes—but it’s still amazing. Tomorrow, you’ll learn how these wildlands saved a people—and how the Native Americans came to be here, and how we all finally came to be at peace today.”
He moved on, talking to a small group of men, including one of the tribal members who had taught them about culture and ecology that day, Jeremy Gray.
She stared after him a minute and then—not wanting to hear about having a crush on the man—she quickly turned to her friends. They were all talking about him, though, comparing him to various movie stars.
She was in one of the little pup tents at the campground with her friend Lucia, who was laughing with Mya and Elly. Mya had a crush on Tate Fielding, who was standing with some of the other boys, including Jordan Rivera—another slightly older guy beloved by almost every girl at school. Jordan and Tate were two of the coolest guys and best friends. Tate’s dad was a partner in a law firm, and both Tate and Jordan planned on being big-time lawyers one day.
Raina thought being Jordan had to be easier than being Tate—Tate’s dad could be exceptionally hard on him. And Tate was sometimes embarrassed by him. His dad tended to be around a lot. He had, in fact, come out to the encampment. Tate had grumbled to Raina once that his dad didn’t ever seem to trust anyone—he’d even driven out to the school encampment, as if he didn’t trust the school, the United States government, the state of Florida or a soul within the Miccosukee tribe.
“There are some intriguing young men over there. Smokin’ hot for sure! We could slip into that conversation,” Mya whispered.
“Yes!” Elly said. She giggled. “And look—there’s Mr. Fielding. Tate’s been ignoring him—but he’s finally leaving. Guess he’s not a fan of the mosquitoes!”
But Mrs. Oster, their science teacher, came hurrying by, shooing the boys into their tents for the night. She was giving Mr. Peters, the gym teacher, a very stern look, indicating he had to get his young charges under control. Mrs. Oster was vivacious and usually fun, but she could be stern, too.
It had been a long day; they should have been tired. They were, but all a little bit frightened, as well. Being in the Everglades made them wary, even if they did have mosquito protection and adults guarding them, not to mention Timothy, the massive rottweiler, a dog that—so they’d been told—somehow knew to warn people about snakes and alligators, should they come too close.
Personally, Raina found the dog to be wonderfully warm and cuddly. But she could see how snakes and alligators would feel different.
They giggled more but then obeyed. They were attending a magnet school and those who didn’t follow the rules could be easily replaced. In the tent, Lucia brushed her hair, hoping she wouldn’t find too many bugs in it, and swore she’d never sleep.
But just minutes after Lucia’s head touched the pillow attached to her sleeping bag, she was very softly snoring.
Raina couldn’t sleep so easily. For a while she stared at the tent’s ceiling, watching the way the fire danced on the canvas of their tent.
But then Timothy let out a little “Woof!” and she sprang to her feet, staring at Lucia.
Lucia softly snored on.
It was nothing, Raina was sure. She didn’t want to wake Lucia, but she knew she wasn’t going to sleep herself. She hesitantly stepped from her tent.
* * *
Axel saw the group of men standing just down from the camping area. His good friend, Jeremy Gray, was among them, along with two Miccosukee patrolmen and an older officer from the Miami-Dade County Police.
He glanced around the campground. The kids had been ordered to bed by their chaperones. They’d been a good audience, interested in ecology, culture and the Miccosukee and Seminole tribes of Florida. He’d enjoyed working with them.
There were always guards on duty when groups like this camped out. The Miccosukee force always managed a few volunteers.
Miami-Dade police didn’t show up that often.
But he knew as much as he loved his strange homeland—well, what he saw as his homeland, though he’d been born in Baptist Hospital, Miami—that, over the centuries, the Everglades had a history of being used for sinister deeds.
Far beyond the long-ago murder spree of the pirates, over a hundred and fifty bodies had been found in the Everglades since the 1960s. Seeing the Miami-Dade cop, he was afraid it signaled yet another disappearance.
He would prove to be correct.
He walked over to the group.
“Hey, Axel, how are you doing? You must be heading off to some Ivy League school before long.”
Axel realized he knew the older county policeman who had spoken. Vinnie Magruder’s patrol was out in this region and he was friends with a lot of the Miccosukee police.
“No, sir. I’m going into the marines, then I’ll go to college,” Axel told him.
“Well, good plan,” Vinnie said, glancing at Jeremy and the two Miccosukee policemen who were there.
“My folks are both good with it, thanks. What’s going on?” Axel asked.
“A Kendall area woman is missing. Fran Castle. I found a car deserted on the Trail, on the embankment between here and the casino, near one of the power stations where there’s no guardrail. Found it right around two o’clock. Sounds like she and a friend were at the Miccosukee casino and then suddenly the friend couldn’t find her. Not necessarily a big deal—until I found the car.” He hesitated, shrugged and sighed deeply. “They’ve got cops and dogs working the area. They’ll skirt north and west after. I was just letting all these guys know to be on the lookout. We’ll be searching county land, tribal land, state and federal. Makes me sick, the crime that goes on here. Killers and sickos think they can make people disappear and get away with it. Well, I intend to put a stop to that. You haven’t seen or heard anything?”
“You think...she’s dead? Killed and dumped?”
“I, uh, sorry—I mean, she could be lost out here somewhere. Or she could have just left her car—illegally, where it is—not knowing. She could’ve just taken off.”
“I’m only out here to tell tales to the school group,” Axel said. He shook his head and added, “I wish I could help. If something bad has happened, if there are more search groups starting up, I’d be happy to join in. I, too, hate that people think they can use this land to hide their crimes and get away wit
h them. It has to be stopped. Hopefully, this woman is found alive and well.”
“Hopefully. We’re just a little jaded and worried. The Everglades. One-point-five million acres. It’s a wonder and a danger if people don’t know what they’re doing.” Vinnie paused, shaking his head. “Anyway. Keep an eye on the kids, huh? But for now, don’t say anything. Who knows? Maybe someone met her and they decided the Seminole Hard Rock had better payouts and they headed to Broward County.”
Axel didn’t think he believed it. But he also agreed not to tell. The kids on the school trip were filled with the wonder of the Glades—ecology, fast airboats and even alligators.
“I’ll stay by the fire, keep the dog company and watch out for the kids,” Axel said. He turned and walked away.
He was afraid the missing woman would remain just that—missing. Fran Castle. He wished with all his heart he could help. That they would find her. That she would be okay.
He doubted it. Too often, far too often, someone disappeared in the Glades only for an unwary fisherman to find remnants of him or her—what had once been a living, laughing human being.
Axel was suddenly even more determined to stick to his plan. He would join the military. And he knew that someday, somehow, some way, he would help hunt for the people who did such things.
In fact, he already had a pretty good idea as to exactly what he wanted to do—and to whom he’d go when he was ready.
* * *
He was there. Hunkered by the fire, stroking the dog. “It’s all right, my friend,” she heard him tell the animal. “Bad things do happen, but tonight you’re on guard duty for this group of kids. Strange night. But you are the best dog, always on guard. And look! I have a bit of jerky treat right here in my pocket.”
He frowned suddenly, glancing over toward Raina, aware she stood just outside her tent, though she hadn’t moved or made a sound.
“Hi. You okay?” he asked softly. “Raina, right?”
She nodded.
“Yes.” She croaked out the word.
A bit of a fog had fallen. The moon was full, or just about so, and it cast a strange glimmer over their little clearing, the wetlands, waterways and tree-laden hammocks.
Was it him? Had he been such a wonderful storyteller that his story had come to life?
There was a rich field of sawgrass stretching behind him, caught in an eerie glow between the fog and the moonlight.
And she saw it, sailing upon...the sawgrass and wetlands.
Idiot—she certainly had yet to get a high school degree, much less her college degree! She knew great old-fashioned sailing ships could not be on a sea of grass!
But the dog whined again. Axel Tiger looked out across the land beyond them as she had.
He turned back to her.
“You see it,” he said softly, a note of surprise in his voice.
She could barely form words. She whispered, “The ship.”
“The night, the fire, the fog,” he said. “But there’s nothing to fear. If pirates roam, they do so praying. They pray they might somehow find their way to atonement. Some say they learned the hard way and now they guard the Glades, doing what they can to stop evil from occurring. I’m being whimsical. You need to go back to sleep. It’s a great program they’ve got going for your group in the morning. You’ll want to be awake for it.”
He looked back at what appeared to be an endless sea of grass bathed in fog and the strange glow of moonlight.
He saw the ship. She knew he saw the damned ship. He’d even asked if she’d seen it, and now...now he wanted it to be a vision cast within her imagination.
He looked back at her again.
“Please, don’t be afraid. Timothy and I are here, and we have a few Miccosukee police on duty just over there at that picnic table. You’re safe. Don’t worry, we’re all watching. I’m watching. Go back to bed.”
There was little choice. She nodded and slipped back into her tent. She laid down, but she stayed awake and stared at the canvas, at the fire dancing again.
Two things kept rushing through her mind.
The ship. She’d seen the ship.
He’d known her name. No big deal; he probably knew all their names. This was an amazing program.
Eventually, she slept. She woke with the sun and the sound of laughter and conversation. It was time to start the day.
The program was wonderful. She loved learning the history of the area, what needed to be protected, how the entire ecosystem worked. She loved learning about the different Native American tribes that had come to Florida, and how the Seminole and Miccosukee had settled the Everglades.
She loved it all...
But in her heart, she felt she had touched something and then lost it.
She didn’t see the pirate ship again.
Nor did she see Axel Tiger again. As in all things, memories faded as the years went by and she became a college graduate.
And stepped out into the world.
DEADLY TOUCH
by Heather Graham
Available July 21, 2020, from MIRA Books.
Copyright © 2020 by Heather Graham Pozzessere
ISBN-13: 9781488055706
Seeing Darkness
Copyright © 2020 by Heather Graham Pozzessere
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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