“Oh, Lance!” Colleen smiled, happily leaning across the seat to kiss him on the cheek.
He grinned. “Let’s take a look.”
They hopped out, but Jeremy remained in the backseat, a weary look on his face.
Lance and Colleen met at the front of the car, stretching their legs. Before them, the aroma of wet leaves and bark and the falls mingled with the vision of a mountain paradise. Lance just couldn’t believe it was theirs. He put his arms around Colleen in an awkward embrace as her pregnant stomach bulged between them. They laughed and kissed.
“How are you doing?”
“Oh.” She sighed. “Good now. Helps to get out and stand. I could use the bathroom again though.” They shared a laugh. “I can wait though. I want to see the waterfall first.”
“Look, don’t let Jeremy—”
“Shh.” She put two fingers to his lips. “It’s okay. It’s been a long drive. It’ll pass. Besides,” she waved her hand at the surroundings, “how could anybody stay grumpy in a place like this?”
“You’re an angel.”
“Mmm,” she said. “Perhaps you can pay homage to me later with a back rub.”
He grinned. “Mmm.”
“Ha! Don’t get any ideas.” She laughed, shaking her head.
“I’m going to see if I can pry Jeremy from the backseat.”
Colleen laughed again. “Good luck with that. I’ll meet you down by the falls.”
“Be careful.” He watched her wave, walking away, then he circled to the side of the car. He went to the back door, where Jeremy’s window was down. The boy was looking in the other direction, his music once again loud enough to hear across the seat. Lance reached in, tapping him on the shoulder.
Jeremy jumped and shut off the music. He looked at Lance. There were tears in his eyes. “Man, don’t do that!”
“Hey,” he said. “You all right?”
“No.”
“Look, Jeremy, there’s no need to act like that toward Colleen. She’s not the bad guy here.”
Jeremy shook his head no. He didn’t want to talk about it.
“Okay.” Lance nodded. “Why don’t you come take a look around? You’ve gotta admit, this place is awesome. At the very least, there’s a lot of places a guy can be alone.” Lance shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal if Jeremy came or not.
Jeremy put on a show of being reluctant, but Lance inwardly smiled when the boy opened his door, stood, and paused to look around.
“You go on ahead. I’ll get the camera out of the back. We’re gonna get some fantastic photos out here!” Lance smiled at his son, and opened the back hatch, rummaging through the luggage for the camera bag. He was glad Jeremy had come around.
Jeremy stuck his hands in his pockets and sauntered down the hill toward his stepmother and the awesome display of Black Mercy Falls.
Lance peered through the interior of the vehicle through the front windshield and could see Colleen and Jeremy standing side-by-side watching the falls together. He knew Jeremy would like it here, he just needed time. They’d spent a lot of time together in the outdoors, fishing and camping in those limbo years after Anna and before Colleen. He figured the enticement of being alone, isolated in the bosom of Mother Nature, was too much for Jeremy to resist.
Colleen was standing at the edge of the pool looking across the water toward the thick woods on the other side. The pool drained into the gurgling creek that ran back the way they’d come. Jeremy stood beside her. He looked toward the Pathfinder to see where his dad was, and then looked up at the falls. Colleen smiled as they enjoyed the view together. They took in the majesty of the roaring water, the mist covering their skin and dampening their clothes in the cooling air of twilight. The sun dipped below the highest ridge above, casting the pool into shadow.
Lance unzipped the camera bag and waited for the spent film to rewind. He popped the cap on the film canister and prepared to load the Nikon.
Colleen screamed.
Lance jumped with the jolt of her shout; the film rolled beneath the Pathfinder.
“Dad!” There was urgency in Jeremy’s cry.
Lance tossed the camera into the jumble of bags and ran alongside the vehicle, searching the shoreline for Jeremy and Colleen.
Jeremy continued to shout: “Dad!”
Colleen had slipped at the edge of the pool, her pregnant body swept into the churning waters. She twisted, reaching to catch hold of a protruding rock. She missed.
“Hold on!” Lance yelled, sprinting toward the pool.
Jeremy stood unmoving, stunned.
Lance slid down the last few feet of the hillside, colliding with a boulder, ricocheting from the granite, and sliding on the same wet rock that had caught Colleen by surprise. “Hold on, baby!”
Colleen was sucked into the current. It jerked her away from shore and she hit face-first against the jagged rocks. Her skull made contact on sharp stone with a sound like an axe thocking into a tree. Blood exploded from her forehead as her head whip-lashed backward, neck suddenly limp. One eye, brilliant blue, frightened, caught Lance’s terrified gaze; the other side of her face was a glistening sheet of blood.
“Colleen!” He leapt over the craggy edge into the water, pushing against the current, extending his hand toward her. Half submerged, she reached for him, fingers clawing the air in desperation, forehead cracked, leaking something thick. Then she sank beneath the surface of the pool.
Lance thrashed in the water screaming, “No!” His cry filled the valley as he went after her, flailing in the water, diving beneath the frothy surface, water rosy with her blood. He came up choking for air, chest spasming with fear. He went down again.
Jeremy stood slack-jawed at the edge of the pool, looking into the water. His father continued to dive, come up for air, cough water, and dive again.
Jeremy slowly backed away.
5
“Jeremy, damn it, snap out of it! Call 911—now!”
The boy stood in a shell-shocked trance, staring at his father waist-deep and flailing in the water, desperately searching for the woman he loved, the woman Jeremy reluctantly called his stepmother.
Mercy Falls roared. Now that the sun sank behind the ridge it was getting dark. And cold. Jeremy turned his head, surveying the landscape. Evergreens and aspens stood tall and looming, gathering shadows in the woods around the rocky area at the base of the falls. His dazed state was finally broken by the terror-laden command of his father.
“Now, son!” Lance jabbed a finger frantically at the car before diving under the churning waters again.
Jeremy stepped backward, stumbled over a gnarled root, falling on his ass. The pain on his tailbone cut through the residual daze of horror at what had just happened. He scrambled to his feet, covered with wet leaves and pine needles, and ran for the Pathfinder. Frantically he dug around in the front seat. Where was the damn phone?
He found it in the SUV, plugged into the cigarette lighter. Jeremy yanked it by the cord, dialed 911, and clicked Send. The display said: Calling 911….
The ellipses kept going. The call wasn’t connecting. The signal indicator showed zero bars and a broken network symbol was flashing. He needed to get to higher ground. Jeremy looked around, hair flopping in his face, obscuring his vision. It was getting darker.
Where could he go? There—a rocky hill above a rundown shed. He ran, climbing the crumbling rocks, until he came to a plateau. Holding to a tree, he dialed again.
Calling. Calling. Calling. Still no connection.
“Shit!” Jeremy cursed, raking a hand through his hair. His eyes fell on a sturdy tree jutting higher than the others. It was a tall climb, but it was his best bet. Jeremy stuck the phone as deep into his front jeans pocket as he could and hightailed it to the tree. Swinging his leg over the lowest limbs he heaved himself up one branch at a time, until, at last, winded and sweating, he reached the tallest branch he dared climb. The branches were no bigger than the thickness of his arm, and the last one cracke
d on his way up. The wind swayed the treetop and made his stomach swoon. He could see above the cabin and the waterfall. Clinging to the tree, he dug out the phone and dialed the emergency number again.
“Please, God,” he whispered as the phone blinked: one bar, two bars, three bars appearing, denoting the strength of his connection to the phone company’s network. “That’s it!”
“Nine one one, what’s your emergency?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Thank you, God,” Jeremy said, and then, “My name’s Jeremy Evans, and my stepmother fell into a lake, a pool, at the base of a waterfall. Black Mercy Falls.”
“The pool at Black Mercy Falls?”
“Yes, ma’am. My dad’s looking for her, but she hasn’t come up. I think she’s hurt bad.”
“Where are you right now, Jeremy?” the woman asked.
“I’m in a tree. I couldn’t get a signal. I-I—Colleen’s under the water and she hit her head!”
The 911-operator interrupted. “Colleen—is that your stepmother’s name?”
“Yes, yes, that’s her name. Are you sending help?” Jeremy’s heart pounded. His left arm was hooked around the tree, a piece of bark jabbing into his flesh.
“Yes, the sheriff and deputies are on their way. Don’t hang up, okay?”
“Okay, but I don’t know how long the connection will hold.”
“Okay, just stay on the line, Jeremy. You’re doing great.”
The phone made a clicking sound and suddenly Jeremy was listening to the Beach Boys crooning I wish they all could be California girls.
The heavy gray of twilight grew darker. He could barely make out the tiny spot that was his Dad in the water. He looked through the branches. Fear clutched his heart. How the hell was he going to climb down in the dark?
The music stopped. Thank God. “Jeremy? Are you still with me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay. Go wait with your father. Everyone’s on the way. Stay out of the water and wait for the sheriff.”
“Well, okay, but my dad isn’t going to stay out of the water. He’s still looking for her.” Jeremy felt sad. He paused and then added: “There’s something else.”
“Yes?”
“In the water. When Colleen fell? I saw something.”
“Something? What did you see?” the 911-operator asked.
“I don’t know. It was black. Gooey. Like tar, kind of—all over a bony hand. I saw it reach up and grab Colleen’s ankle.”
Silence.
“Hello? Are you still there?” He checked the connection on the phone. Still three bars.
“Yes. I’m still here. You say you saw a black, bony hand pull your stepmother into the water?”
“I think I did. That’s what it looked like anyway.”
“Okay, Jeremy. I’ll relay that information to the sheriff. You go wait for the officers, okay?”
Jeremy frowned, skeptical she’d believed him. “Okay. Bye.” He poked the phone, shutting it off. Cramming the phone into his pocket, he felt his way down the tree, trying to remember which branches he climbed up on. It was hard to see in the thin moonlight filtering through the branches of the forest. He eventually made it down the trunk of the tree, finding firmer foot and hand holds in the stronger branches nearer the ground.
As he neared the bottom he could hear his father screaming Colleen’s name, and then silence. Must’ve gone back under the water. It was getting colder. He’s going to get sick. His thoughts ran back to the 911-operator and her tone after he told her about the black hand. She didn’t believe him. Who would? It sounded nuts. They’d say he was just a stupid, crazy kid.
But maybe he didn’t see a hand. Maybe it was the water playing tricks, or a floating branch, or a snake.
Jeremy fell from the tree onto the pine needles cushioning the ground, gasping for air. He sat in the wet forest debris, reality hanging heavy around him. “Oh my god,” he said. What if she’s dead? What if she’s really dead? He stood, brushing off his ass. “There is something in that water. I saw it.”
They’ll never believe you.
He heard vehicles and got up and ran toward the waterfall. Lights followed him. They pierced the gloom of forest night, tires snapping on gravel and twigs, flashing emergency lights illuminating the woods. “I’m coming, Dad! The sheriff’s here too!” he hollered toward the water, but he doubted his father could hear him over the roar of the falls.
Three police Jeeps and a black SUV rolled to a stop behind the silver Pathfinder. They parked in a fanned pattern to disperse the light of their headlamps across as much terrain as possible. Men and women poured from the vehicles. Jeremy ran to meet the officers.
“You Jeremy Evans?” an older, barrel-chested cop with wispy gray hair, asked. His badge said he was from the Sheriff’s Department. His nameplate said Sheriff Perry.
“Yes, sir. My dad is Lance Evans. He’s down in the water looking for my step-mom. He’s been there since she fell. She hasn’t come up.”
The sheriff put a big hand on his shoulder. “We’ll see what we can do, son.” The man motioned for the others to get to the water, but they were already jogging toward the falls. Sheriff Perry and Jeremy brought up the rear. They hurried over the trail. “You want to tell me more about this hand that grabbed your step-mom?”
“Well…it looked like a black, gooey hand that reached up and…pulled her in by her ankle. She screamed and fell backward. Her balance wasn’t too good because she’s all pregnant and everything.”
“She’s pregnant?”
“Yeah, big.” Jeremy used his hands to show Colleen’s girth. “She lost her balance.”
“Let me go see what my men have decided to do. I might need you to help me get your dad out of that water, if you can.” He gave Jeremy a wink.
Bastard, Jeremy thought. Colleen’s in that damn pool with some creepy, gooey, black-handed creature, and this asshole is treating me like I’m some little kid. “I don’t think he’ll come out ‘til he finds her.”
“Well, that’s our job, now.” The sheriff gave Jeremy’s shoulder a squeeze and then left to consult with the other officers and the search and rescue team.
They talked urgently, formulating a plan. One of the men pointed at the rocks around the waterfall, deciding how to approach the situation. As several of the men returned to the vehicles for equipment, two of the others stripped; they wore diving suits beneath their clothes.
Sheriff Perry went to the edge of the pool. “Mr. Evans?” he called. “Can I talk with you? I want to help.”
Lance stood teetering in the waves, hands outspread, an expression of complete helplessness making him look years older. His shoulders slumped and he wobbled in the swift currents of the water. Jeremy feared his dad’s knees would buckle, sending him into the depths.
Head hung, weeping, Lance made his way to the rocky shore in a half-swimming, half-staggering gait. When he hoisted himself to the rocks, he collapsed onto his stomach. His sobbing gave way to a wail of sorrow that ripped from his throat as he grappled with reality. Then he vomited. Jeremy stood watching the chunky clumps that were once Mexican food drip over the rock and into the water. His father wretched until nothing but bile fell in foaming splats around him.
The sheriff and the two divers looked away, trying to afford Lance a few moments of dignity in his sorrow. Jeremy didn’t know what to do. He’d never seen his father like this. He couldn’t remember what happened when his real mom died. All he could recall was the funeral, when Dad had been mostly quiet. He remembered sitting on the flat, hard blue carpet during the funeral and playing with a handful of Legos that his grandma had dumped out of a baggie she kept in her purse. She had five grandkids, all boys. She always came prepared.
Pain gripped Jeremy’s heart and tears rolled over his cheeks.
Colleen was dead, now, too.
“Mr. Evans, we’re here to find your wife,” Sheriff Perry said. His voice was cool and comforting. His manner said he didn’t care that Lance sa
t before him soaking wet in his own vomit. Chunks of pink-hued half-digested food stuck to his chin, smeared over his cheek.
“She’s gone,” Lance said tiredly, voice raw.
“Mr. Evans, we’ll start a search, but it’s going to be hard in this dark, and you can’t be out here. The currents in these pools are strong. It’s possible that she got pinned. We’re gonna send men down and see what we can do.” The sheriff watched as the team rigged spotlights around the pool, plugging them into the generator they’d lugged from the back of the SUV. It sounded like a dune buggy when they started it up.
“We’ll do what we can, Mr. Evans,” the sheriff shouted over the din of the generator. “Why don’t you and your boy go inside and rest? Get dried off. We’ll come get you if we need you.”
An ambulance pulled up behind the other vehicles, and now the EMTs stood by, observing the search.
Lance stood, wiping his mouth on the wet sleeve of his shirt. He looked at Jeremy, and then at the sheriff. “Jeremy, go in and check out the cabin. Come back and let me know what you find. See if you can find something to eat.”
“Mr. Evans—”
“I’m staying here.”
6
The search continued all night. The divers used underwater spotlights, but certain areas near the bottom of the falls were unreachable and too dangerous, especially in the dark. The falls were just tall enough, the pool deep enough, and the rocks jagged enough to make it a death trap. Other men spread around the perimeter of the pool, panning the huge lights through the surface of the waves, but the water churned with black sand, making it hard to see through the backswirl.
Wrapped in a blanket, Lance leaned against the front of the Pathfinder. Jeremy sat at his feet, crossed-legged, picking at the pine needles and twigs on the ground. For all the attention paid to them by the searchers, they might as well have been invisible. Lance ran his hand through damp hair and accepted a cup of coffee out of the sheriff’s thermos.
Black Mercy Falls Page 3