Girl Across the Water

Home > Other > Girl Across the Water > Page 7
Girl Across the Water Page 7

by Jody Kihara

The fire gave a loud pop, and we all jumped again.

  Jasper sat back, not bothering to say ‘the end’. I

  shivered. Even though I knew the story was fake, the night

  suddenly seemed blacker, and woods creepier. The twins

  giggled once or twice, but they were slow, nervous giggles,

  like both boys might burst into tears any second.

  I picked up my empty marshmallow stick and poked

  the end into the fire. If I needed a weapon, a smoldering

  stick would make a good one.

  We were silent for a moment, and then Coralie

  shuffling around on her log. “That was a good one.” She

  paused, staring at her outstretched foot, before turning to

  me and saying, “I know a real one. From here.”

  69

  The Girl Across the Water

  “No, don’t!” the boys protested, squirming. “That

  one’s too scary!”

  “That’s the point,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “They’re scariest when they’re real.” She turned to me. “Do

  you know about the ghost girl in these woods?”

  Mid-lifting my stick to see if the tip was glowing, I

  froze. “What ghost girl?” My mouth went dry, and I glanced

  over at Jasper. His eyes were wide.

  The boys were still making protesting, whispered

  giggles, squirming like a couple of ferrets.

  Coralie looked smug. “The girl who died here.” She

  leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands, watching

  me closely. “There were a bunch of kids playing in these

  woods one day. Three boys and a girl. They were daring

  each other to swim out to one of the islands on the lake.”

  My heart gave a heavy thud. The twins had stopped

  squirming, and stared at Coralie with scared grins on their

  faces.

  “But none of the kids would do it. Only, the boys

  were making fun of the girl, so finally, to make them stop,

  she said she would. She didn’t have a swimsuit, though, so

  she started to swim out to the island wearing her dress and

  shoes. But she forgot that her shoes would weigh her

  down, so she started to sink.”

  My thoughts leapt straight to the girl on the island.

  Had she been wearing shoes when I saw her? I couldn’t

  remember. My heart began to hammer. Stop it, I told

  myself. The girl I saw was real, she was real.

  70

  The Girl Across the Water

  “So what happened?” I asked, my voice croaking

  slightly.

  “She went under the surface of the water, and the

  boys saw her hands waving for help. But they got scared.

  The girl’s hands came up again, and then her head, and she

  gasped, ‘help me,’ and then went under again. The boys

  were too scared to swim out and try to save her, probably

  ‘cause they thought by the time they got to her it would be

  too late. They were afraid of having to drag a dead body

  out the lake, and then when they got home later all wet,

  everyone would know it was their fault. So they turned and

  ran… even before they knew for sure she’d drowned. And

  as they ran away, the girl’s head came up one more time.

  She saw them leaving her as she struggled to stay up. They

  could have helped her. But they didn’t. And the last thing

  she saw before she went down the final time was the boys

  running away. She was scared and sad ‘cause she knew

  she was going to die, and she was angry, too, because they

  could have rescued her but didn’t even try.”

  The fire gave another angry crackle, and I let my

  stick fall from my hand.

  “The boys ran home and didn’t tell anyone. When

  people started asking about the girl, they said they hadn’t

  seen her that day. It was only when the police asked them

  that they started crying and said they’d all gone to the

  woods together. But the boys lied and said the girl had

  wanted to swim out to the islands, and that they’d tried to

  stop her. They didn’t tell people that they’d dared her and

  made fun of her. And they didn’t say how they ran away

  while she was still drowning. They said she was way farther

  out than she really was, and that she disappeared before

  they could do anything. Which wasn’t true.

  71

  The Girl Across the Water

  “The police searched the lake for the body but never

  found it. And so the girl’s ghost came back to haunt the

  woods because no one knew the truth about her death. The

  boys were too scared to ever go into the woods again, and

  so she came to their homes to haunt them.

  “One night, she visited the first boy, and he freaked

  out and told his parents the next day. But the family didn’t

  tell anyone else. They moved away because they were

  ashamed. Then the girl haunted the next boy, and he

  freaked out and started crying too, only he told everyone,

  and that’s how the truth came out. His family moved away

  too.

  “Then the girl went to find the third boy and make

  him confess, and he was the one who’d been meanest to

  her. But his family had already moved away. And so she’s

  still wandering in the woods, to this day, trying to find him

  and make him sorry.”

  I tried not to shiver in my jacket. Jasper sat

  immobile.

  Coralie stuck her leg out further and pivoted the foot

  back and forth. Then she glanced slyly at us. “You’ll see her

  in the woods sometimes. Even in the daytime, if it’s cloudy

  or foggy. Just quick visions here and there. You think you

  see a girl, and when you look back, she won’t be there. But

  it’s at night you can see her clearly. She’s searching for the

  boy, see, and she does that till it’s dark out. Then, at

  midnight, she has to go back to the lake. She walks to the

  water’s edge, and keeps walking till she’s completely

  underneath again. Some people say she’s walking all the

  way to the island she tried to swim out to when she

  drowned.”

  72

  The Girl Across the Water

  My back started prickling as if someone was standing

  behind me, but I refused to turn and look.

  “And if you do see her…” Coralie leaned further

  forward so that her face rippled in the firelight. “be careful,

  because … she hates boys.”

  The two boys squealed at this, then jumped up from

  the log to run around in circles, shrieking and doing mid-air

  shivers like two maniacs. This made me feel even jumpier

  — my body wanted to thrash around in a similar way, in an

  effort to shake off the scared feeling.

  Coralie punched one of her brothers as he ran by,

  and then grabbed the other by the arm. “Sit down, stupid.”

  They sat, but continued to giggle and squirm.

  “I have to go to bed now!” Jasper announced. He

  suddenly jumped up and ran to the cabin, letting the door

  bang shut behind him.

  Coralie and the boys laughed. “Man, is he stupid,”

  Brendan said in his snot-punctuated giggle.

  “He’s sca-aaared!” Jason taunted.
r />   Smirking, Coralie turned to me, as if she’d just laid

  down a challenge.

  I kept my face straight and stared back. No way was

  I going to let her see that her story had freaked me out.

  She stood up. “I guess we’d better go. Hope you

  guys’ll be fine alone.” She crossed her arms over her chest

  and gave me a smirk.

  73

  The Girl Across the Water

  “Will you be all right walking back?” I asked quietly.

  “Walking through those dark woods, all by yourselves?”

  “Oh-oh-oh!” Her two brothers jumped up from the

  log, then down again, then up, like they had ants in their

  pants. They were both giggling, but in a freaked-out way,

  and looked genuinely scared. Coralie glared at me.

  “Cor-a-lie!” Brendan said. “I don’t wanna walk

  through the woods!” He dodged away from the fire, then

  back again. “Corey, make Pa come pick us up.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid, we don’t need

  him.”

  But I thought I detected some fear in her eyes.

  My dad came out of the cabin, then, I guess because

  of Jasper running inside. “You kids leaving?” he asked.

  “Yeah, we’re goin’,” Coralie said, rolling her eyes.

  One of her brothers was still making a creepy “oh-oh-oh”

  sound.

  “Do you have a flashlight to see your way back?”

  Dad asked.

  They all stared at him.

  “Uh,” Coralie said. “I guess we forgot.”

  “Well, you can borrow one of ours. As long as you

  bring it back tomorrow.” He walked back into the cabin.

  “Dad,” I hissed when he came back. “If you give it to

  them, we won’t have one.”

  74

  The Girl Across the Water

  “But we have another one, remember?”

  Except we didn’t ― I had left the it on the island for

  The Girl.

  Coralie flicked the big flashlight on and waved it

  around, blinding us as she passed the beam in front of our

  eyes.

  “Hey!” I snapped. “Watch it.”

  “This thing is neat!” she said, and turned to leave.

  “Seeya!” she shouted, and ran for the woods.

  The boys bolted after her, yelling and shrieking the

  whole way. “Corey, wait up! Don’t go too far, we can’t see!

  It’s da-a-a-aaark!” Their voices trailed off as they

  disappeared into the forest like a pack of crazed jackals.

  I turned to Dad and met his gaze.

  “Well,” he said. “Um. They’re quite something.”

  We both laughed, and I was glad the laughter hid

  my tension. We shoveled dirt onto the fire before heading

  into the cabin.

  Once inside, I kicked dirt off my runners and left

  them by the door. “Where’s Jasper?”

  “Upstairs. I think he’s reading. So, any idea what

  you want to do tomorrow?”

  “Um,” I said, my thoughts still consumed by

  Coralie’s story. “Not sure yet. I’m going to bed now.”

  75

  The Girl Across the Water

  “Okay, see you in the morning.”

  I ran up the stairs to the bedroom. To my surprise,

  the lights were out and Jasper was in bed, sleeping. It was

  curious, though, how silent he was. I couldn’t help but

  wonder if he was pretending. After changing, I got into bed

  with my blankets pushed back. I’d forgotten to fix the

  window, but I wasn’t sure it mattered tonight — either the

  air had grown cooler, or Coralie’s story had given me

  enough of a chill to keep the heat away.

  It’s just a story, I told myself.

  Except that it wasn’t. Parts of it, at least, were true.

  I tried again to reassure myself. The fact that a

  drowned girl from ten years ago looked similar to the one

  you saw is just a coincidence.

  But the suspicious part of my brain reasoned back:

  They looked more than just similar. It was her. I turned

  restlessly on the bed, trying to keep the nagging thoughts

  at bay. Pushing myself up on one elbow, I stared out the

  window toward the island. All I could see was blackness.

  So if she was real… then who was she? Where had

  she come from?

  I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to

  signal her… and now the neighbors had the other flashlight.

  “Dammit!” I muttered.

  Wait, I thought, Jasper has a Maglite. “Hey Jasper,” I

  whispered. No answer came. “Jasper!” I tried again, this

  time louder.

  76

  The Girl Across the Water

  No sounds came from him, not even a snort or a

  grunt, making me even more suspicious that he was

  pretending sleep.

  I was pretty sure that rifling through his stuff would

  make him magically ‘wake up’ if he really was pretending,

  so I crept over to his night table, slid open the drawer, and

  began to rummage. My hand closed around a stack of

  photographs, and then hit the Maglite. I withdrew it and

  turned the top so that the beam of light was low, then

  flashed it over the photos. The top one was of Jasper and

  his dad.

  Jasper seemed to be even more silent now. Had he

  stopped breathing? If he was pretending to be asleep, he’d

  got himself into a fix — there was no way he could stop me

  looking through his stuff. I lifted another photo: Jasper’s

  Dad again.

  I guess Jasper missed him, even though Revo was

  such a screw-up. Well, I didn’t have time for family drama

  now, so I pushed the drawer shut and crept back over to

  my bed. My heart sped up as I looked out to the island and

  remembered Coralie’s words. ‘She walks to the edge of the

  water when the night is completely dark… and she keeps on

  walking. She goes into the lake, further and further, until

  she’s submerged. Then she walks all the way out to the

  island she was trying to get to when she drowned.’

  Shivering, I turned the Maglite on full beam and

  flashed once towards the island. Hello.

  I touched my forehead to the cool windowpane.

  Would I be able to see a flashlight from here? More

  importantly, would she be able to see such a small one?

  77

  The Girl Across the Water

  Dammit, I thought again, cursing that the stupid neighbor

  kids had our best flashlight.

  No response came ― maybe the Maglite beam was

  too small. After waiting another minute, I tried again.

  And then it came back: one flash. I almost dropped

  the Maglite in surprise.

  I waited a second before giving gave two flashes.

  You okay?

  Another pause, and then two small flashes returned.

  ‘ I’m okay’.

  I didn’t know what else to do. Our communications

  were limited, so I flashed once again, hoping she knew it

  meant ‘bye’. But it meant a lot more, too: I’ll be back

  tomorrow. Are you scared? Who are you, what are you?

  Dammit, why are you there?

  I continued to press my face against the cold glass,

  waiting for the final
flash, but it didn’t come. Why not? This

  made me itch with anger. What, I bring you food and

  supplies, and you can’t even flash goodbye? I waited

  longer, but only darkness met my determined stare. What

  was this all about? Had she already stopped looking? Had

  she gone to sleep? Or was she walking back into the lake,

  continuing in until the water came up to her waist, then up

  to her, chest, then completely submerged her…

  The back of my neck ran with goose bumps; I could

  swear someone was standing behind me. “Paul,” a voice

  whispered, and I jumped about a foot, yelling and dropping

  the Maglite before turning to see Jasper’s outline in the

  78

  The Girl Across the Water

  darkness. “Dammit!” I hissed. “Don’t sneak up on me like

  that!”

  “Whatcha doing?” he asked in a sleepy voice,

  rubbing his eyes. Maybe he’d really been asleep, then.

  “Nothing,” I muttered. “Just looking outside. Go back

  to bed.”

  He did, and I lay there with my heart hammering

  wildly. When it finally slowed to a normal pace, I thought

  again of the girl. She was real, she had to be. Because one

  thing I knew for sure: ghosts couldn’t work a flashlight.

  I fell asleep wondering how she was getting to and

  from the island. No way was she swimming, not at night. A

  canoe, then? If so, it had to be from the other side of the

  lake, or I’d see her coming and going. I decided that the

  next day I needed to check out the far shore. If I didn’t find

  her on the island first.

  79

  The Girl Across the Water

  Chapter 8

  I awoke to a swirl of hazy, dream-steeped thoughts,

  and remembered thinking I’d heard a motorboat during the

  night. But even at the time, I had been aware that it might

  be part of a dream.

  My sleep had been deep, but not refreshing, and

  now I felt stupid with tiredness. I wondered whether even

  thinking I’d heard the motorboat had been part of a dream.

  I sat up and rubbed my eyes. What was I supposed

  to do today? Of course: the island. The girl had signaled

  back, so I had to go and see if she was still there. If she

  was, then this time I was going to hold her down and

  interrogate her until she told me just what the heck was

  going on.

 

‹ Prev