Nicholas nodded. “And he still didn’t want to give it up to anyone except my dad—even to me. You never had a chance.”
* * *
Nicholas and Teddy sailed on through the night, sharing steering duties, drinking foul-tasting coffee, and devouring an entire package of oatmeal cookies. When the rain finally let up, a little after two-thirty, and the last battalion of clouds had retreated to the east, the Big Dipper glistened in the black sky.
“Wow. And I thought the stars were bright last night,” said Nicholas.
“It’s nice with the power out,” Teddy noted. “No lights onshore to interfere with them. The air is clear as can be, thanks to that storm. You know, they say that in Galileo’s time—before air pollution and electric lights to mess things up—the Milky Way was so bright that it cast shadows on moonless nights. Can you imagine?”
Nicholas sat with his legs stretched out on the cockpit seat, his back pressed against the cabin house. Maybe it was because this shipwrecked sailor had been so honest with him, or maybe it was that he seemed so comfortable with a tiller in his hand, but Nicholas trusted Teddy completely—an idea that he would have found impossible to believe a few hours earlier. He closed his eyes—just for a second, he promised himself.
* * *
Nicholas threw his arm across the cockpit, grasping for the tiller. “I’ve got it!” he shouted as his eyes shot open and his body lurched up from the seat. A full second passed before the events of the night replayed in his mind and he remembered who that stranger at Goblin’s helm was. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, gazing with wonder at the stunning scene around him. The sun remained hidden behind the trees, but the sky to the east glowed in vivid shades of red, orange, and purple. Gone were the whitecaps of the long, stormy night, and in their place were sparkling ripples, each one seemingly dipped in gold.
As Teddy grinned at him, Nicholas got his first clear look at his sun- and windburned face and his laughing eyes, and he liked what he saw.
“Sorry,” said Nicholas. “How long did I sleep? You must be ready for a break.”
“Hey, no problem. I work the night shift over at the tool-and-die shop, so I’m a night owl anyway. And besides, I owe you. I’d still be swimming if it weren’t for you.”
“And us,” added Hayley, suddenly appearing at the top of the companionway steps next to a very sleepy-looking Hetty.
“I stand corrected,” said Teddy, laughing and doffing his cap at the twins. “I am forever in your debt, Your Highnesses. Now, if you look up ahead, you can see the yellow house where you left your friends behind. We’ll be there in half an hour. So, how about you let me whip you up a nice breakfast. If there’s any food left, that is.”
“Oh, there’s plenty of food,” said Nicholas, sliding back to take the tiller from him. “Eggs, ham, cheese, bread—you name it, we’ve got it.”
Teddy hoisted the twins into the cockpit and dropped down into the cabin. “Everybody like omelets?”
“Woof!” said Pistol.
* * *
At 4:30 a.m., Charlie was awakened by the sounds of twenty-eight cows, hungry and ready for their morning milking, which was already late getting started. She had slept next to the Kuerners’ dog—whose name, appropriately enough, was Bear—a hulking, ninety-pound mutt with long black fur. As she lifted herself off the straw bales that had been her bed, she scratched her head and considered her options with the cows. They had to be milked, she knew that much. She also knew that she wasn’t really qualified to do the entire job on her own. She’d helped her friends who lived on dairy farms milk plenty of times, but this was different. And calling somebody to come help at 4:36 wasn’t really an option, she decided.
“What the heck happened to Nick?” she wondered aloud, deflecting answers she didn’t want to contemplate—a car accident, a fallen tree blocking the road, or Mr. Kuerner’s condition worsening.
When she turned on the lights inside the barn, the cows really came to life, clamoring for food, so she climbed into the hayloft and dropped a few bales through the opening. She then cut the strings and spread the loose hay throughout the mangers, hoping that by the time she finished, someone—anyone—would arrive to help her with the milking.
The sky outside was beginning to show signs of the coming day, but with no car headlights cutting through the mist hanging over the fields, Charlie turned into the pristine tiled milk house, where the milking equipment and the enormous refrigerated tank glistened. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the milkers were the same type she was used to, so she prepared two and carried them to the far side of the barn to get the milking started.
At five-forty-five, Nick opened the barn door to the tch-ka-tch-ka-tch-ka of the milking machines, a sound he did not expect to hear.
“Charlie?” he called out.
On the opposite side of the barn, Charlie stood up from behind a cow, unplugged her milker, and lifted the heavy pail. “Over here!”
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with the others on Goblin? Have you been here all night?” His eyes darted around the barn. “Are they here, too? Is everybody okay?”
“Yep. I slept over there on the straw bales with Bear,” said Charlie. “I’m not sure where Nicholas and the twins are. I went looking for them once, but Goblin wasn’t where she was supposed to be. They must have anchored somewhere else for the night. Where have you been, by the way? Is Mr. Kuerner okay?”
“I think so. When we got there last night, they sent him in for emergency surgery. Said his arteries were all blocked up. His wife was a wreck, so I had to stay with her, at least until they moved him into recovery. I called one of their neighbors—he said he’d come over and milk as soon as he finished his own cows.” He looked around the barn admiringly. “But it looks like you’ve got things pretty much under control. Not that that surprises me—not one bit.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“There’s Uncle Nick! And Charlie!” cried Hetty from Goblin’s foredeck, pointing at the dinghy inching toward them.
At the mention of Nick’s name, Pistol raced to Goblin’s bow, where he watched the slow approach of the inflatable boat, howling all the while.
“Do you think he’ll be mad, Nicholas?” Hayley asked.
“No, but we do have some explaining to do, I suppose. Maybe you should let me do the talking—especially since you two slept through most of it.”
“He’s going to be so relieved that you’re all safe and relatively dry that I don’t think you have to worry,” said Teddy.
As the distance between Goblin and the dinghy dwindled, Hetty leaned out over the rail and cupped her hands to her mouth.
“We didn’t mean to go to sea!” she shouted to Nick.
From his spot at the tiller, Nicholas scoffed. “You’ve been waiting all morning to say that, haven’t you, Het?”
Teddy looked puzzled. “Inside joke?”
Nicholas nodded. “From this book Nick gave us.” He turned Goblin into the wind, bringing her to a stop, and tapped Teddy on the shoulder. “Um, Teddy?”
“Yeah?”
“You see that girl in the dinghy? And remember when I told you that somebody was helping me figure out what happened with your old boat? Well, that’s her. That’s Charlie Brennan. Jimmy is her dad.”
“I’ll be darned. When you said the name Charlie before, it didn’t even cross my mind that it might be Charlie Brennan. I should have known. Haven’t seen her since she was yea high.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t say anything … you know, about what we talked about. I’ll tell her later. It might be kind of weird for her, in front of everybody.”
Teddy gestured zipping his lips shut and winked at Nicholas as Nick, who was rowing with his back to them, looked over his shoulder and got his second surprise of the day.
“We rescued a shipwrecked sailor!” Hayley announced.
“So I see,” said Nick, not giving away his feelings on the matter.
For a moment, Nicholas f
eared that Nick was upset, but those fears were laid to rest when Nick looked up at Teddy and smiled.
“How are you, Teddy?”
“Better than I was a few hours ago. Took a direct hit—lightning—and was heading for Davy Jones’s locker when this motley crew of yours came along. Just in the nick of time.”
“Shouldn’t that be the … Nicholas of time?” Hayley asked.
“Ha! Very clever, Hayley,” said Teddy. “You have the brain of a writer, I think.”
Hayley beamed. “You really think so?”
“Absolutely,” Teddy answered, steadying the rope ladder and helping Nick and Charlie aboard. “These are some great kids, Nick. Handled Goblin like they’ve been doing it all their lives.” He stuck out his hand to Charlie. “Hi there. I doubt if you remember me, but we’re actually related. I’m Teddy Bradford.”
Charlie’s mouth dropped open. “No way.”
“Ah, so you know who I am,” Teddy said, grinning. “Let’s see, your dad is my cousin, so that makes us second cousins, or first cousins once removed—I never really understood all that family-tree stuff.”
Charlie’s eyes met Nicholas’s; he shrugged and smiled. “It’s been a long, strange night. It seems like we were out in that storm for a week.”
“Well, take us home, Captain,” said Nick, patting Nicholas on the back. “There’s a nice breeze building, and it sounds like none of us got a decent night’s sleep. I spent the night at the hospital—Mr. Kuerner had emergency bypass surgery, but it looks like he’s going to be all right—and poor Charlie here milked a whole barnful of cows all by herself.”
Nicholas aimed Goblin’s bow in the general direction of Nick’s house. As her sails filled, she heeled a few degrees, and Nick, Charlie, and Teddy settled into the cockpit, trimming sails and sharing stories from their eventful night.
When they were alone in the cabin for a few minutes, Nicholas told Charlie about their near collision with the boat that he was certain he had seen once before, at 2:53 a.m. from his bedroom window.
“I can’t believe you never told me about that,” said Charlie. “What makes you so sure it was the same boat both times?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t get a really good look either time, but there was just something about it.”
Charlie said nothing, but by the expression on her face, Nicholas knew she was skeptical.
“I know, I know,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. I can’t explain it, but the more I think about it, the more sure I am.”
“So … assuming it was the same boat, who was it?”
Nicholas shrugged. “The real Seaweed Strangler, I guess.”
* * *
An hour later, a very excited Hayley and Hetty, who had been stretched out on a beach towel on the foredeck, suddenly leaped to their feet and ran toward the stern.
“You guys won’t believe this,” Hayley started, “but you know how they say twins’ brains are connected? Well, guess what—Hetty and I had the exact same dream last night.”
“You’re right,” said Nicholas. “We don’t believe you. In fact, I’m not sure I believe that you both even have brains.”
Hayley stuck her tongue out at him. “Stop being a brat, Nicholas. It’s true. And we think it was some kind of pre— … preno— … you know, when you see into the future.”
“Premonition?” said Charlie.
“Yes! That’s it,” said Hayley. “In both of our dreams, the morning after the storm we were sailing back to Uncle Nick’s—just like we’re doing right now—and when we got there, guess who was waiting on the dock?”
“Daddy!” cried Hetty. “He was wearing that old red sweater that Mom tried to throw out. Remember, he was so mad? We both saw him. He must be back from Africa.”
“He’s going to be there, I just know it,” said Hayley.
“Just because you had the same dream doesn’t mean anything,” said Nicholas. “Doesn’t that story sound a little familiar?”
“What are you talking about?” Hayley asked.
“We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea,” said Nicholas. “Remember? When they got to Holland, their father was standing on the deck of a ship about to leave for England.”
Hetty waved off the coincidence. “That is totally different. Daddy’s going to be there. I’ll bet you anything.”
“You’re on,” said Nicholas. “If Dad is waiting for us on the dock, I’ll do the dinner dishes every night until we leave. If he’s not, you two do them.”
Hayley and Hetty scrunched up their faces, and moved back to the foredeck for a private discussion of the matter.
“One week,” said Hayley, her arms crossed defiantly.
Nicholas nodded. “Deal. Uncle Nick, you heard that, right?”
Without opening his eyes, an exhausted Nick gave Nicholas the “okay” sign and then put his finger to his lips, signaling to everyone his desire for some much-needed sleep.
* * *
Goblin herself seemed eager to return to her mooring, and the rest of the journey down the length of the lake passed quickly, and quietly. As the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and the band of explorers and their rescued shipmate got closer and closer to home, Hayley and Hetty kept their sharp young eyes peeled for signs of their father.
Hayley was about to admit defeat—to Hetty, but certainly not to Nicholas—when something caught her eye: a man in a red sweater, standing and waving at them from the end of Nick’s dock.
“There he is!” Hayley yelled, leaping to her feet and raising Nick, Teddy, and poor Pistol from a deep sleep.
Nicholas squinted at the shoreline ahead. “No way.”
“I see him, too,” said Hetty. “And he’s wearing the red sweater!”
“Hey, you’re right—there is somebody there,” Charlie said, joining the twins near the bow. “Sorry, Nicholas, but it looks like you’ve got some dishes to wash.”
“I can’t believe he’s really here,” said Hayley, waving wildly.
Charlie, with her better-than-perfect vision, zoomed in again on the man. “Wait a minute. That’s not … Omigosh! That’s not your dad—it’s mine. What is he doing here?”
“Are you sure?” Hayley asked.
“Positive. Sorry, guys.”
“I’m afraid she’s right,” added Teddy. “That’s definitely Jimmy.”
Nicholas pumped his fist. “Yes! I knew it couldn’t be Dad. If he were back in the country, we would have heard from him—or Mom. Have fun washing those dishes!”
* * *
Jimmy Brennan waited patiently at the end of the dock as Goblin’s crew folded sails, coiled lines, and tidied up the sturdy little ship. Pistol, desperate to get ashore, started barking, so Nick gently lowered him into the water and let him dog-paddle in.
“How about lunch—and ice cream sundaes—at the diner? My treat,” said Nick, not taking his eyes off Pistol until all four paws were on solid ground.
“That sounds so good,” Charlie said, climbing into the dinghy. “I could really go for one of their cheeseburgers. And a big order of onion rings.”
“Well, you’re welcome to join us,” said Nick. He clambered down the rope ladder. “Your dad might have other plans, though. He’d probably like to spend some time with just you.”
Charlie shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”
Another shrug. “My dad … doesn’t always make it easy for me to get excited about seeing him. He’s not exactly … reliable, if you know what I mean. He’s always busy with his other kids.”
“That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you, too. Give the man a chance, Charlie. It takes some people a little longer than others to figure out what’s important.” He pulled hard on the oars, propelling the dinghy toward the dock.
Jimmy reached out to take the bowline as they came to a stop.
Charlie refused the hand he offered her and pulled herself up and onto the dock under her own power before giving her fat
her an indifferent hug. “Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too, kiddo. Hiya, Nick. It’s been a while. I hope you were all anchored someplace quiet last night; that was some storm.”
“Not exactly,” said Nick. “But we all made it back. Even picked up a hitchhiker along the way. You recognize that guy standing in the cockpit?”
Jimmy shielded his eyes from the sun’s glare with his hand and gazed out at Goblin. “Holy mackerel—is that my cousin Teddy? I haven’t seen him in … years. You say you picked him up? What happened?”
“His boat got hit by lightning,” said Charlie. “I didn’t actually get to see it, but Nicholas said it sank like a stone. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess. Who’s Nicholas?”
“That’s him out there. And those are his sisters—they’re twins. You used to know their dad.”
“Oh yeah? Who’s that?”
“Will Mettleson.”
The color drained from Jimmy’s face as his gaze shifted from Charlie to Nick, and then to Nicholas, who stood at Goblin’s stern, about to dive in.
“Will,” he whispered.
“He’s a doctor now,” said Nick, climbing back into the dinghy to retrieve the twins. “He’s in Africa for the summer on a humanitarian mission, and the kids are spending some time with old Uncle Nick—just like Will used to do. Funny, isn’t it, how things work out in life.”
“It is strange, isn’t it?” Charlie pondered aloud. “I mean, you, Nicholas, me, Nick … this Teddy guy sinking another boat. Weird.”
“So you know about the other boat, huh?” Jimmy asked. “I guess that makes sense, you spending time with Nick and all.”
“I know most of the story. I do have a few questions for you, though.”
Jimmy eyed his daughter suspiciously. “There’s not much to tell. And it was a long time ago, so I doubt I remember many of the details. It was a shame about Will, though. I liked him.” Anxious to change the subject, he awkwardly mussed her hair. “But listen, kiddo, the reason I came by—I thought you might like to stay with us at the farm for a few days. I talked to your mom and it’s okay with her, but she says it’s up to you. What do you think?”
Summer at Forsaken Lake Page 18