by R. L. Stine
Ethan set down the water blaster. “There’s a stopwatch on my dad’s iPhone.”
“Go get it,” Daniel ordered. “You can time Ira and me.” Ethan started to the house. His swimsuit hung on him, down to his knees. “Wait. Ethan, you want to be in the contest?” Daniel’s voice made a ringing sound over the water.
Ethan turned back. “I don’t want to swim. I have a scrape on my arm. From the cat. And the chlorine makes it hurt.”
Ethan is not a superhero, Samuel thought, snickering. He made himself heavy and sank to the pool bottom, then kicked back up. I could live in the water. Only place I feel alive.
The kitchen door slammed behind Ethan. Samuel slid onto his back and floated, gazing up at the sun-streaked sky.
“I think I can stay under longer than a minute,” Daniel told Ira. The two of them held sides of the tube, bobbing with it. Samuel spotted another inflated float leaning against a green chaise longue. Shaped like a big, gray whale.
That would be fun to ride. But Daniel has his own fun in mind.
“I can maybe do longer than a minute,” Ira said without much conviction.
“Want to go first?”
Ira shook his head. “Why don’t you go first?”
“Why don’t you both go under at the same time?” Ethan said, reappearing on the deck with iPhone in hand.
Daniel slipped off the tube and swung himself around to face Ethan. “No. I want the Ira lad to hold me under.”
Ira made a kind of squawking sound. “What?”
“Hold my hair,” Daniel instructed. “Push me under. Hold me down, okay? You have to hold me or I’ll float to the top, and you’ll win.”
Ira slid off the tube and pushed it toward the side of the pool. “You really want me to hold you under?”
Daniel nodded. “Just grab my hair and push down on my head.”
“But how will I know when you want to come up?”
“No worries,” Daniel told him. “I’ll give a signal.”
“You sure?”
Daniel grinned at him, dimples flashing. “Yes, I’m sure. Sure I’ll win.”
Samuel sighed. He dove under again. Peaceful down below. Daniel should have been an actor. Samuel surfaced, shaking water from his thick blond hair.
“Go!” Ethan cried from the deck, eyes on the phone in his hand.
Daniel let Ira push him under the surface. Ira gripped Daniel’s hair and held his head down.
“Hold on tight,” Samuel said, bobbing closer. “Don’t let him come up.”
“He . . . said he’d signal,” Ira said, obviously not sure about this contest.
Samuel floated in a circle around Ira. Ira kept Daniel down with one hand, paddled the surface with the other.
“Push him,” Samuel said. “Keep pushing.”
“But—”
“One minute,” Ethan called. He dropped onto the edge of a deck chair, concentrating on the phone. Samuel could see that Ethan’s slender shoulders were already pink. Sunburned.
“It’s kind of hard to keep him from floating up,” Ira said.
“Keep pushing,” Samuel told him. “He has big lungs. He can stay down a long time.”
“He hasn’t signaled,” Ira said.
Samuel watched his brother float under the rippling water, his arms limp and relaxed at his sides, legs not moving.
“Two minutes,” Ethan called.
“I . . . I think your brother wins,” Ira said. “Two minutes. Wow. I can’t—”
“Hold him under,” Samuel said. “Don’t ruin his turn. He gets angry if you ruin his turn.”
“Did he just signal?” Ira very tense now. The strain showing on his face, pale, his features tight. “I thought I saw him signal.” The muscle in the arm holding down Daniel quivered.
“Not yet,” Samuel said.
Underwater, Daniel floated perfectly upright, arms limp and relaxed.
“Three minutes,” Ethan called, jumping to his feet. “That’s enough, right?” He stepped to the edge of the pool, gazing down at Daniel’s unmoving form. “People can’t stay under this long—can they?”
“He . . . hasn’t signaled,” Ira said in a wavering voice.
Samuel and Ira both watched a string of bubbles float up from Daniel’s mouth.
“Is that the signal? He said he’d signal.”
“Four minutes. Are you sure he’s okay?” Ethan lowered the phone. “I mean really. Is he okay? Four minutes?”
They all saw Daniel’s head slump forward under the water. His head bent and one last bubble slid up to the surface. Then his legs suddenly splayed, and his arms floated limply to the top.
“Let go of him!” Samuel screamed. “Something’s wrong, Ira. Let go of him—now!”
Ira gasped and swallowed a mouthful of water. His hand flew off Daniel’s head.
Released, Daniel’s body rose to the surface. His face appeared for only a moment, eyes closed, water spilling from his open jaw. Then his body tilted forward and he dropped facedown, arms outstretched and limp.
“Daniel! Daniel! Get up!” Samuel screamed. “Daniel! Daniel!”
Ira uttered another hoarse squawk. He gaped, eyes bulging at the floating, lifeless raft that was Daniel.
“Daniel! Daniel!”
Ira dove toward Daniel. Grabbed his arm. Tried to tug him up.
But he remained facedown, bobbing on the surface, arms and legs floating at such odd angles, as if they were all independent of each other.
“You killed him!” Samuel shrieked. He slapped the water angrily with both hands. Slapped it. Slapped it hard until it churned around him. “Ira—no! No! Ira—you killed him! You killed my bruvver!”
A hoarse cry escaped Ira’s throat.
Ethan stood on the edge of the pool, his body trembling. He had left the phone on the deck. His hands were pressed against the sides of his face.
“Nooooooo.” Ira wailed. “He didn’t signal. It wasn’t my fault!” He turned to Ethan. “Get help! Hurry!”
Ethan didn’t move. “My parents—they’re not home!”
Samuel splashed over to his brother. “Help me pull him out. Maybe we can get him breathing.”
Another moan escaped Ira’s open mouth. His eyes spun. His mouth twitched.
His face is going out of control. The poor kid is totally dazed.
Ira flailed across the water and grabbed Daniel’s arm. And that’s when Daniel lifted his head, shot straight up, turned grinning to Ira, and let out a loud laugh.
“Oh.” Ira’s hand slid off Daniel. The startled kid fell back, dipping underwater for a second before reappearing, his face showing his disbelief.
Daniel gave him a hard two-handed shove and laughed again, shaking water from his hair.
“You’re okay? He’s okay?” Ethan shouted from the side, his voice high and shrill. “Is he really okay?”
Ira still hadn’t spoken. He bobbed in place, eyes on Daniel.
“Why’d you let me up?” Daniel pushed Ira again, more gently this time. “I didn’t signal. I wasn’t finished.”
“But . . .” Ira struggled to find words. “It was five minutes.”
Daniel laughed. “Did you forget? I told you Sammy and I were swimming before we could walk.”
“But . . . that’s impossible.” Ira shook his head. “Five minutes?”
“I can’t believe he’s okay,” Ethan called. “Hey, get out of the pool. Let’s get some snacks or something. Come on. I can’t stop shaking. Get out, guys.”
Samuel could see that Ira would love to climb out of the water and catch his breath. But Daniel raised a hand. “Whoa. It’s Ira’s turn.”
“Huh? No way.” Ira slid back, rippling the water. “No way. I can’t stay under for five minutes. You win.”
Daniel grabbed Ira’s shoulder. “You have to take your turn. Maybe you’ll do better than a minute. That would be cool, right, lad?”
Ira didn’t reply. “No. You win, Daniel. Let’s get out.”
Daniel grabbed
Ira’s hair. “Take your turn. Let’s see how you do. Give me a signal. Just wave your arms when your chest starts to hurt. Okay?”
He didn’t wait for Ira’s reply. He gave him a hard push and sent him sinking. Ira’s head disappeared under the water.
Samuel knew the smile on Daniel’s face. He’d seen it before.
Behind him, he heard a splash. He turned to see that Ethan had dropped into the pool. He was wading toward them. “Ira can only do a minute. I’ve seen him.”
Daniel gripped Ira’s hair tightly. He kept his arm stiff, pushing the boy down. A few bubbles escaped Ira’s mouth.
Daniel, still smiling, turned to Ethan. “What about keeping count? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to time him.”
Ethan peered down at Ira. “I told you. He can only do a minute.”
A shadow swept over them as two large birds flapped overhead, squawking loudly. Samuel glanced up quickly. He lowered his eyes in time to see Daniel slide his other hand over Ira’s head and push down with both hands.
Ira’s legs kicked slowly. Distorted by the water, they reminded Samuel of pale, rubbery snakes. And then the boy’s arms shot out. He began waving wildly.
Ethan stared at Daniel. “The signal. He wants to come up.”
Daniel pushed down on Ira’s head with both hands. The smile never left his face.
Ira kicked and thrashed. He tried to twist his head out from Daniel’s grasp. But Daniel held on tight. A stream of bubbles rose up from Ira’s mouth.
“Let him up!” Ethan shouted. “He’s signaling. He’s done.”
Daniel held on tight, not moving. His jaw was clenched, nostrils flaring.
“Let him up! Come on, Daniel. Let him up!”
Ira shot his feet out. Twisted his head. Raised both fists above the surface. Beneath the water, his body flopped like a frantic fish caught on a hook.
Daniel scrunched up his face, his eyes shut, and pushed down on the struggling boy’s hair, holding his head under the surface.
Samuel wanted to sink under the water and never emerge.
Please, Daniel, don’t do it. Please don’t do it this time.
Please stop now. Yes, I know why you are doing it. I know the new pa doesn’t want us. I know you want to rule the pool. But, please, Daniel. It’s too soon.
Please don’t do it to Ira. Please.
39
“Why is Axl crying?”
Roz squinted at Mark. “Why does the sun come up every morning? You’re the child shrink. You tell me.”
Mark set down the book he’d been reading, a treatise about how sibling order determines your fate. So interesting how often the oldest sibling is the achiever in the family. He pulled off his reading glasses and folded them carefully. He grinned at his sister. “Maybe he’s hungry.”
“Oh, wow. Genius. I never would have thought of that.” Roz rolled her eyes. She tossed the ball of dirty laundry she was carrying onto his lap.
He pulled a red pajama top off his head. “He’s bored, that’s all. Let’s pick up the boys and take everyone to the ocean.”
Roz started grabbing up the dirty clothes. “I thought doing the laundry might be more fun.”
She turned as Axl came toddling into the room. “Beach! Beach! Beach!” He could always stop crying in a split second.
Mark chuckled. “He was listening to us.”
“He listens to everything,” Roz said. “He’s a little spy.”
“Beach! Beach! Beach!” He reached for his mom to pick him up, but her arms were full of laundry. So he wrapped his hands around her knees.
“Where are the boys?”
“At Ethan’s house. All three of them. We’ll have to pull them from the pool. I’ll probably have to bribe them with ice cream to get them to come with us.”
“They’ll come. Axl, let go of me. I can’t walk. Is Lea coming?”
“No. She’s working. I’m not sure what’s up with her. She’s writing a piece about death rituals.”
Roz squinted at him. “Odd.”
“Yes. Odd.”
“It’s that island. The hurricane. She saw so much death. I think she’s having trouble shaking it from her mind.”
“We’ll have to be very nice to her.” Roz struggled across the room with Axl clinging to one leg. Giggling. He’d turned her into an amusement park ride. “The ocean will tire him out. That’s good. Only thing I hate is that he eats the beach.”
Mark nodded. “He’s definitely a sand eater. I had to pry a huge glob of sand from his mouth last time, remember? Maybe he learned his lesson.”
“Learned his lesson? Go ahead. Say something stupider than that. We’ll just have to watch him like a hawk.”
“Yes. Like a hawk. I’ll start loading up the car. We’ll take your SUV. More room.”
“Do we need food?”
“No. Bring something for Axl. We’re only going for an hour. No one will starve. And we can buy them ice cream from the truck in the parking lot.”
“Let me just drop this laundry in the machine.” She turned back to him. “This is the twins’ stuff. It’s so clean, you’d think they didn’t wear it.” She held up a white T-shirt. “But look at this. This ragged, dark spot on the sleeve? I think it’s a burn mark.”
“A burn mark?”
“Yes. The sleeve was definitely burned. Weird?”
“Weird.” Mark stared at it. “Hope they’re not playing with matches in their private hideaway back there.”
“They love it back there, Mark.”
“Really? Think they’re happy here?”
“Well . . . I walked by the guesthouse last night after supper and I heard them in there giggling and giggling.”
“Think they already feel at home?”
“They have funny jokes. One of them kept saying, ‘smoked meat, smoked meat,’ and then they’d laugh and laugh.”
“I don’t get the joke.”
“They were being silly. I think they’re doing a great job of fitting in. I mean, losing their family and all, moving from their home, it can’t be easy.”
Mark climbed to his feet. He glanced at his laptop monitor. No email. No one ever emailed him on Saturday. “Well, we’ll see how they fit in. I mean, we haven’t asked much of them. They live by themselves in the back. They don’t share much about school with us. They don’t—”
“Mark, there was a horrible murder right in our driveway. Maybe they even witnessed it. But they haven’t seemed messed up by it. They haven’t acted out or anything.”
“I think it’s good they went swimming with Ira. That’s encouraging. They’re the same age, so if they manage to bond with Ira, maybe . . .”
His voice drifted off. He still had major doubts about the whole thing.
He went upstairs to give Lea one more chance to come along with them, but she was captured in the glow of her laptop screen. Were her eyes glassy or just reflecting the light of the monitor?
“We’re going to the ocean. I’m going to pick up Ira and the twins. Want to come with us?”
She mumbled something he couldn’t hear and kept typing without turning her head. He couldn’t help but be annoyed. “Sweetheart, don’t you want to spend some time with the boys?”
Another mumbled reply.
He forced a laugh. “I’m going to have to pick you up and carry you away from that keyboard, aren’t I.”
She waved him away. “I need to get this all down, Mark.”
He kissed the back of her neck, changed into a swimsuit and sleeveless T-shirt, found his Tevas, and hurried outside. Roz was struggling to fasten Axl in his car seat. “Just think. Only six more years of this. Lucky, huh?”
Mark laughed. “That’s what I love about you, Roz. Always thinking on the bright side.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t have put the suntan lotion on him first. He keeps sliding out of the seat.”
Mission accomplished with Axl, Roz climbed into the backseat beside him and they drove the few blocks to Ethan’s house. Th
e sun, still high in the afternoon sky, filtered through the trees, sending flickering light dancing over the windshield. On the side of the street, a dead squirrel had attracted the attention of several hungry blackbirds. The passing car didn’t even make them flutter a wing or interrupt their feast.
Mark pulled the car to the bottom of the driveway. The three garage doors were open. No cars in view. Wasn’t anyone home to watch the boys in the pool?
He left the air-conditioner running for Roz and Axl and climbed out of the car. It was a hot day, more like summer than May, a great beach day. Sunlight bounced off the front of the white frame house. He took a few steps up the smooth paved driveway. A chipmunk darted out of the garage, into the yard.
A few doors down he heard the low drone of a power mower. Across the street, two little girls rode pink and yellow tricycles up and down a driveway.
Nearly to the front of the house, Mark stopped to listen. The silence disturbed him. No splashing. No boys’ voices. Usually they were decimating each other with water blasters, cannonballing into the pool and jumping out, shouting and wrestling and splashing.
Today silence.
They never went indoors when they could be in the pool.
A sudden feeling of dread made the back of his neck tingle. Too quiet. Too quiet. His legs felt heavy as lead as he started to jog toward the back.
Is something wrong back there?
What’s going on?
He was breathing hard by the time he reached the white picket fence. Still silent back there. “Hey—where is everybody?”
He pulled the gate. When it didn’t budge, he pushed it. He stumbled onto the deck and saw them immediately.
Oh my God.
Was that Ira? Yes. Ira flat on his back. Stretched out straight on the deck beside the pool. Daniel and Samuel on their knees, hovering over him, faces narrowed in concern.
Ira flat, his face pale white, head straight up, arms and legs so stiff at his sides. Not moving.
Not moving.
Ira. Not moving.
40
A few minutes earlier. Daniel pushed down on Ira’s head. The boy kept thrashing and squirming under the churning water, but weakly now.
“Be careful,” Samuel said, tugging his brother’s arm. “Don’t get carried away. You just want to scare him, Daniel. You don’t want to drown him, do you? Do you?”