Water Town

by Laurel Veil

  Jimmy led the way with a flashlight he had taken from the glovebox, and Toni and I followed. Dane brought up the rear, which helped me not be quite so jumpy.

  Bare branches tugged at my hair like bony fingers. When Dane noticed it bothering me, he couldn’t resist picking up a stick and running it through the ends of my hair.

  “Stop that.” I pretended to be irritated, but I loved the attention.

  “Guys… I think I saw something.” Toni pointed toward the orphanage.

  “Ooooh,” Jimmy teased and reached out to grab her.

  “I’m not kidding. It was over there.”

  We turned to see where she was pointing.

  “I think I saw something move,” I said. C-r-a-p. Crap!

  “Oh come on,” said Dane. “You two are spooking yourselves.”

  Jimmy offered Toni his hand. She grabbed hold of it and he pulled her close to him as we continued walking.

  Distracted by the lovely silhouette they made, I wasn’t watching where I was going and my shoe caught on a root. The next thing I knew, I was slamming into the ground.

  “Are you OK?” asked Jimmy.

  Dane knelt beside me.

  “What happened?” Toni asked.

  “I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m just embarrassed, not hurt.”

  Dane put his arm snugly around me and pulled me up. My foot was a little tender, so I didn’t stand on it right away. “Are you sure you’re OK? You better make sure you can stand before I let you go. You might have sprained something. I don’t want you to fall again.”

  I nodded, and as I went to put all my weight on my foot, Dane pulled me even closer. It felt so nice. This was the closest I’d come to being hugged by a guy in… well, ever.

  “You got it?” he asked, looking down at me.

  “I think so.”

  “Well, let’s keep going then.” Jimmy pulled Toni along.

  Dane slowly removed his arm and for a moment, I considered faking an injury so he would put it back.

  An ocean breeze tossed some strands of hair in my face and Dane reached out, tucking them behind my ear. My skin tingled where he had touched it.

  “We better catch up,” he said with a grin.

  ***

  The closer we got, the more I realized we shouldn’t have come. Even though we were with Jimmy and Dane, I was terrified. I couldn’t imagine what I would have felt like if Toni and I had come alone.

  Jimmy suddenly stopped and we all followed his lead.

  “What is it?” asked Toni, looking up at him.

  “There was a light near the front door—like a candle.”

  “Look!” I whispered, pointing. “I see it too.”

  I gasped when a hand slid around the side of my face and clamped down tightly on my mouth.

  Toni screamed.

  “Are you freaking crazy, Nick?” Dane said, pulling him off me and giving him a hard shove.

  It took a second for me to register who Nick even was. And then I remembered I had met him my first night here, on the boardwalk. We had ridden the Ferris wheel together.

  “What are you doing up here?” asked Jimmy.

  “I’m here with Jade. That was her on the porch with the candle. We heard you guys coming and thought we would have a little fun.”

  Just then, Jade walked up. “I wish I’d had a better view.” She laughed. “I would’ve loved to have seen your face,” she said to me. “We better hurry up.” She cut her eyes at Toni. “As loud as she screamed, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone heard and called the cops.”

  Jade managed to take control of the group and we followed her past the yellow crime-scene tape into the building. I tried to keep my eyes on the floor as she led us to the basement. I didn’t want to see any ghosts. I took a deep breath before taking my first step down the stairs.

  Jade pulled a stubby white candle from her pocket and lit it. The shadows the flickering wick created gave her face a sinister appearance.

  “Hurry up and get down here,” she snapped. “Help me form a circle.”

  As soon as we’d stepped into formation, she began calling out to the ghosts she’d hoped were present. “Hello?” She paused for a moment. “Is there anyone here?” She waited longer this time for a response, and when she opened her mouth to say something, a rattling came from the corner of the room. I flinched and we all stared at one another with wide, unblinking eyes.

  “Was that a spirit?” she asked.

  The sound came immediately, even louder.

  “Are you a spirit of one of the dead girls they found here?”

  My heart raced. I felt lightheaded, but managed to keep standing.

  For the longest time, there was no response. “Who are you?” Jade probed.

  Just then, we heard a sound come from somewhere far away.

  “Did you guys here that?” asked Toni.

  “Yeah, it was a car door!” Dane said in a loud whisper.

  “Let’s get outta here,” said Jimmy. “It could be the cops, or crazy people.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” said Jade. “Even if I have to stay here alone.” She looked at Dane—challenging him, I thought.

  “That’s dangerous, Jade, and you know it,” he said.

  “I’ll hide until they’re gone,” she continued.

  “You’re psycho, Jade,” said Jimmy. He pulled Toni by the hand toward the stairs. “Come on, let’s go.”

  I waited to see what Dane would do. I didn’t want to stay and I had no intention of doing so, but I couldn’t believe he might actually stay with her. My stomach began to twist.

  “Well, I’m leaving,” said Nick.

  “Who cares?” said Jade. “I drove us here. I have a way home when I’m ready to leave.”

  Nick rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m catching a ride with Jimmy.”

  “This worked out for the best. Now I can see who really cares about me.” She smiled up at Dane.

  It was as if I wasn’t even there. I felt like they were sharing an intimate moment and I was spying on them. My insides were a mess. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to lunge at her like a wild animal or collapse on the floor and cry like a baby. Nick’s voice helped me snap out of it.

  “You always have to be difficult, don’t you Jade? Always a drama queen.”

  I didn’t get the feeling he was jealous she had chosen Dane over him. It was more like he was just annoyed with what seemed to be a pattern of behavior with her.

  He turned to go, but then stopped and turned back around. “You’re not planning on staying here, are you?” he asked me.

  I glanced at Dane. He was watching us—waiting for my answer, I supposed.

  I shook my head. I wanted to tell Nick I wanted to leave, but I knew if I spoke, my voice might crack and give away how upset I felt about Dane choosing Jade over me. I tried my best to pretend I didn’t care. It’s not that big of a deal, I told myself. Stop panicking. P-a-n—

  “Hey,” Nick whispered, and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. His kindness was unbearable. It made me feel even sorrier for myself and my eyes began to fill with tears. I hated myself for overreacting, but even if it was irrational, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being abandoned once again. “It’s OK. I’m scared too.”

  I was glad he only thought I was scared. He chuckled and pulled me into a tight hug. Wow. Two hugs by two good-looking guys in the same night. I almost made myself laugh. Unfortunately, not before a tear could escape. I let Nick hold me and I put my arms around him, too. I opened my eyes in time to see Jade roll hers. I looked at Dane, whose glare was burning into me. I squeezed Nick even tighter when I saw the muscle in Dane’s jaw tighten. I wasn’t sure if he was feeling anger or jealousy or what, but suddenly I felt a whole lot better.

  “This place is terrible,” said Nick. “We shouldn’t be here. Come on, I’m taking you home.” I didn’t look back, and let Nick guide me up the stairs by my hand.

  Nick and I laughed when we heard Jade beg
in to argue with Dane.

  “Sounds like he’s in for a fun night,” said Nick.

  I laughed, but not because I was happy—because I was relieved. I hoped Dane was m-i-s-e-r-a-b-l-e and that he would regret his decision.

  14.

  Search for Clues

  The four of us sneaked out the back of the orphanage as quickly as we could, not looking back as we ran to Jimmy’s car.

  I was glad when Jimmy dropped Nick off right away. Nick was nice and funny and cute, but… he wasn’t Dane. Dane. He made me want to scream.

  “Let’s hope it was the cops who pulled up and that they made Jade and Dane go home,” said Toni.

  I appreciated her effort to cheer me up, but I wanted to feel my pain. I wasn’t ready to get over it yet.

  I almost leaped out of the car when we finally reached my place.

  “I’ll be up in a minute, Ronnie,” Toni said.

  “Take your time,” I answered. And I meant it. I needed to be alone for a little while. “See ya,” I said to Jimmy before slamming the door.

  Tears had already filled my eyes before I reached the top of the stairs. I couldn’t stop the images of Dane and Jade holding hands as they walked through the dark hallways of the orphanage. Maybe she would even pretend to be frightened so he would comfort her in a tight embrace. Their eyes would meet and then they would… kiss.

  I went inside to change before heading to the deck out back. I wanted to be comfortable for my

  sob-fest. I was heading out of the bedroom when a noise came from the kitchen.

  “Toni, is that you?” I had an eerie feeling it wasn’t. I had been too upset before to even remember, much less care about my ghostly visitors. But now that I had calmed down, suddenly they were all I could think about. I was afraid to be in here alone, but I needed to find out what had made that sound.

  I walked slowly and silently into the kitchen. My heart thumped harder when I scanned the counter and saw the old photo was once again out of its bag.

  I pretended not to notice it and stepped toward the door, then froze when I heard the photo sliding across the counter toward me. I took a deep breath and walked over to it.

  “What do you want me to see?” My question was almost inaudible.

  I scanned every child’s face in the photo, with no idea what these ghosts wanted me to notice. Frustrated, I started to slide it back into the bag.

  I flinched when the door flew open.

  “Oh my gosh, Toni! Do you want to give me a heart attack?”

  She laughed. “Sorry.” She looked at the photo. “That’s your problem, right there. You need to put that thing away.”

  “I actually didn’t take it out.” I waited for her to get what I meant.

  “You mean…?”

  “Yes. A ghost or something took it out of the bag again. There has to be something I’m missing that they want me to see.” I slid the photo toward her. “I’ve looked several times. You give it a try.”

  Toni stared intently at the photo for several long minutes. “Hey, wait a second,” she said with an edge of excitement in her voice.

  “What is it?” I asked. “What did you see?”

  Toni scooted the photo toward me so I could have a better look. She tapped her finger lightly on a tall girl on the right hand side. “Does she look familiar?”

  I squinted and strained to focus on the image, then shook my head. “Sorry, no. Should she?”

  “Well, what about what she’s wearing?”

  “Sorry. I don’t know what you’re getting at.”

  “Look at the collar of her coat.”

  I leaned over so I was only a few inches from the photograph. It looked as if there was a tiny butterfly brooch made of rhinestones on the girl’s collar.

  “Oh my gosh, Toni. Do you think that’s Miss Betty?”

  “I think that’s exactly who it is.”

  Just then, the lights flickered and went completely out. We were consumed by the darkness. Before we’d even finished screaming, though, the lights came back on.

  “Whoa,” Toni said as she looked around in amazement. “I guess that’s a sign we’re right. Now what do we do?”

  “Maybe we should go see Miss Betty tomorrow.”

  “Did she ask you to come over to help out with something again?”

  “No, but we can just say we’re stopping by to check on her—you know, to see if everything is OK and if she needs anything,” I suggested.

  “Oh, I know,” Toni said, “we can tell her we wanted to see how her rose garden turned out.”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  ***

  The morning couldn’t come soon enough. I tossed and turned on the lounge chair all night. I just couldn’t seem to get comfortable enough for deep sleep, and the waves somehow seemed louder than usual.

  We didn’t even bother to have breakfast, just hopped in my Jeep and drove straight to Miss Betty’s.

  I was grateful Toni was with me as we approached her screen door. I was still a little nervous, but not near as much as if I had been alone.

  I knocked on the side of the screen door and we waited.

  “Maybe she’s out back working in her garden,” Toni suggested.

  “Gimme a minute,” Miss Betty called from somewhere in the house.

  A few seconds later, she stepped out of the kitchen and came down the short hallway to the front of the house. She looked better today—like she had the first time I’d met her.

  “I didn’t tell you all to come today,” she said when she realized it was me and Toni.

  “No ma’am, you didn’t,” I said. “Toni and I were just wondering if you got your roses planted. Or did you need some help with that?”

  Her face lost some of its sternness. Maybe no one had ever come over for just a visit before. I couldn’t believe it when she smiled and opened the screen door.

  “I got ’em all planted. Want to go see?” she asked in a cheerful voice.

  Toni and I shot each other a quick look. “Sure!” I said.

  “Yeah,” said Toni. “We’d love to see them!”

  “Well, come on in and I’ll take you out back and show you.”

  Toni made silly faces at me behind Miss Betty’s back. I gave her a small pinch on the arm and a look that a mother would give a child she was scolding.

  Miss Betty held the back door open for us.

  “Oh, Miss Betty,” said Toni. I followed her eyes to the garden and saw splashes of pink, red and yellow. “It’s beautiful!”

  “And it smells wonderful too,” I added. “I can smell it from here.”

  We looked over the fence at the beautiful rosebushes. Some of them hadn’t flowered yet, but all of them had buds. They would be in full bloom in no time.

  “This is the prettiest rose garden I’ve ever seen,” said Toni.

  I looked at Miss Betty. She was quiet, but her expression was like that of a child who had just successfully done something on her own for the first time. She was pleased with herself and smiling proudly.

  “It’s hot out here,” she said abruptly. “Let’s go in and have some lemonade.”

  Toni and I took a seat at her small, wooden table and gazed out into the backyard through the large window in the cozy breakfast room. The only sound was Miss Betty’s knife tapping against the counter as she sliced the lemons.

  “So is there anything Toni and I can help you with while we’re here?” I asked.

  Ice clinked as she dropped it into three glasses. “There’s always something to do, I suppose. How does that saying go? Housework is never done.”

  She sat the serving tray down on the table and from the glass pitcher, poured each of us a glass of lemonade.

  She took a seat and we each took a glass. Toni dramatically cleared her throat before any of us took a drink. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she said.

  Miss Betty eyed her suspiciously.

  “To new friendships,” she said.

  Miss Betty’s
eyes went wide with astonishment, and then she blinked rather quickly. She’s trying to hide that her eyes were tearing!

  I didn’t want her to feel embarrassed, so I said, “Cheers!” rather loudly and then we clanked our glasses together, all of us laughing now.