The Oshkosh Trilogy 01 - The Dark Lake
Page 13
It was a long, woolen coat I’d borrowed from Ziggy’s sister a long time ago. I never gave it back. I’d forgotten to return it. Now that it was soaking wet, it was much heavier to wear.
“You don’t want to go in there,” he said, pointing to the lake. I turned and looked at it. He was right. You can’t drive on the ice. And shouldn’t walk on it either, at least not very far.
“Into the lake?” I asked, considering telling him what I’d just seen and what had just happened. “Why would I want to go in there?”
“Well, that’s where you’re heading. Why don’t you get in the car? We’ll go get some donuts.”
I walked around, opened the door and got in. Shutting the door, I shut out what I’d just seen and done. I was dry instantly, and warm. It was warm in the car.
I put my head back against the soft, old, familiar seat. All the fear and loneliness just left me with a sigh. It was so warm. He must have rolled up the window, but I didn’t know if he had, because I didn’t want to look over there, in case he wasn’t there.
I almost didn’t care, but then I just had to ask, “Are you sure you’re my dad?”
He didn’t say anything. The car had started rolling backward; you could hear the tires crunching on the snow. I stared out at the lake—it seemed imperceptibly smaller. Then, like as if I knew the answer already, I turned toward him and said, “Or are you who I think you are?”
The light of the dashboard gave his face an eerie glow.
“I am who you think I am,” he said, and then his face began to change. He still looked like my dad, but I was sure it wasn’t him.
He began to back the car away from the lake and I thought I heard him whisper, “Peccatis in profundum maris.”
And upon hearing that, I just leaned back against the velvety car seat in relief and exhaustion, oddly comforted. I gazed out into the disappearing darkness as the car backed away, leaving them under the ghastly moon.
End of Book One
Book Two, Call me Jane, is now available on Kindle
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