Dark Water

by Laird, Chynna

  "Nah, not weird. I saw that, actually. And I kinda felt it too. It's like I've met her before or something."

  Freesia stopped walking. "I know, right? Just something about her eyes…and her voice…ugh, never mind. Anyway, I'm sorry you had to just stand there through all of that."

  He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his torso. "No worries. Just glad you're okay."

  Her whole body felt warm, the butterflies from earlier coming back. And she liked them there. He kept his arm around her until they were back at the launch ramp. It was so nice…so natural. She was convinced he was just being a good friend, but still. It felt good.

  They walked back to his boat. He jumped in ahead of her and held out his hand to help her in. The seats were hot from being exposed to the full sun, so he put a life jacket on hers so she wouldn't burn her butt.

  "So chivalrous," she said, fluttering her eyelashes.

  He laughed and playfully punched her in the shoulder. "Whatever. Just remember to put it back on so your grandmother doesn't chew me out when we get back."

  He untied the boat from the dock, pushed away and started up the motor. As they gained speed, getting closer to the edge of the bay, Freesia pulled the life jacket out from under her bum and over her head. Just before they disappeared around the corner, Freesia glanced over at the docks on the other end of the beach, where her family usually sat when they ventured there. She was almost positive she saw Mizu standing on the dock facing their direction—as if she watched them go.

  A shiver rocked her whole body. I'm going to figure out who you are. No matter how hard you try to make it for me, it's gonna happen.

  Chapter Seven

  As the boat sped around the bend to their small bay, the feeling of freedom and excitement turned to worry when Freesia saw a beefy, muscular man standing on their dock talking to Granddad. She recognized him as Frank Oakley, Rick's dad. Although Frank had always been nice to Freesia, Sage and the rest of their family, something about him made Freesia feel…uncomfortable. At least in the last couple of years.

  Just like Bob, Frank served in the same unit as her dad until he retired. "Yep," he'd teased her father. "I'm just going to put in my twenty-five years and get out."

  There were a lot of changes going on in the military at that time and neither of them was happy about it. So Mr. Oakley retired and her dad decided to stay in a few more years. "The longer I stay in, the greater the reward," Dad would say back to Mr. Oakley.

  He was always 'Cool Frank,' who took the girls out on boat rides and fishing trips and let them hang out on his dock. But he started acting weird. Well, maybe weird wasn't the right word. More like…troubled.

  He was always a heavy drinker, but no more than the other guys when they all hung out for barbeques or whatever. Something happened to him, though. He started drinking even more, sometimes when no one else was. He was jumpy and nervous. There were times when you'd be talking to him and some noise would startle him and he'd just space out. Freesia remembered asking her mom about it and all she'd told her was, "Just never mind Frank, honey. He doesn't mean any real harm. He's just dealing with things you or I couldn't possibly understand."

  And that was it. Freesia had heard him yelling and cursing a few hot summer nights last year when everyone left windows open to circulate the cooler air after the sun went down. His voice bounced around the rocky hills around their bay. One time, Freesia saw him wandering around in the bushes in the middle of the night with nothing else on but his underwear. He was all crouched down, like he was looking for something. And he looked terrified. She shivered, remembering how his eyes were wide open like a deer caught in headlights. His mouth turned down and he was crying. It was Mom who actually ran out and took him back to his own cabin.

  I should have asked her more about Frank.

  Rick turned the motor off in the boat, allowing it to drift over to the Freisen's dock. He grabbed onto a boat ring, holding the boat steady, so Freesia could get out. He pushed away and paddled over to the dock so he could tie it up. She pulled her bathing suit wrap tightly around her body when she noticed Frank eyeing her. He already had a beer in his hand and it wasn't even two-thirty.

  "Hey there, little lady." He moved the bottle behind his thigh. "I see my boy finally convinced you to take some fun time. We'll have to get you out some more."

  She gave a weak smile and nodded. She looked over at the empty inner tube and saw that the dock bag and Gran were also missing. "Where's Sage?"

  Granddad excused himself from his conversation with Frank. "She seemed to feel a little antsy when Frank here wandered over. Guess she'd had enough sun for today. Gran took her upstairs for a rest."

  Rudy, who'd been lying in the shade up against the boathouse, perked her head up and bounced up to Freesia.

  "You wanna come up with me to check on Sagey?"

  The dog licked her cheek in response.

  Freesia gathered up the lunch trays and other things Gran had forgotten, subtly eavesdropping on the chat. They were standing at the opposite end of the dock and speaking barely above a whisper, but she still heard them.

  Grown-ups. Seriously.

  "That's too bad they haven't turned up anything else, eh?" Frank said, taking a swig of his beer. "The whole thing is just a damn shame. Can't believe the crew has been lookin' for a year and…nothing."

  Granddad shook his head. "Been hard. Especially on the girls, poor little darlings. First losing their daddy in such a terrible way and then not finding Tamara. Well, it's more than they should have to bear."

  "Yeah. So I hear there's a meeting up at the hall to talk about ending the search. That must be tough, eh?" Frank rubbed his whiskery face, rubbing his beer bottle against his leg.

  Freesia cringed.

  "Actually," Granddad said, "Bob mentioned they're giving it until the end of the summer. The meeting tonight is about what we can do to beef things up for one last try. Talked to Cuaco about it last week. With all the military folks in the mix, you'd think they'd have turned something up by now."

  Freesia narrowed her eyes at the two men.

  Frank seemed shaken up by Granddad's last statement. His face turned pasty white. He chugged the rest of his bottle of beer, chucking the empty bottle into the shallow end near his dock, where the rest of his beer kept cool in the water.

  Granddad looked over and cocked his head in the direction of the Stairs of Doom.

  Freesia took the hint.

  She cleared her throat and balanced the trays in her hands. "I'm going to go check on Sage. See ya, Frank."

  He grunted at her with a forced smile.

  She walked past them to go up the stairs. The oddest thing was that Rudy positioned herself between Freesia and Frank, pushing her away from the two men as they passed.

  As she reached the path between their dock and the Oakleys', she heard a noise and jumped.

  "Psst," Rick said from halfway down the mossy trail. "You going to the meeting tonight?"

  She ducked her head down so she could see him and darted her eyes to Granddad and Rick's dad before answering him. "I'm going to try. I really want to be there."

  He held a recycling bag in one hand and an empty beer bottle in the other.

  She repressed the strong temptation to hug him. Poor guy.

  "You should be there." He dropped the bottle in the blue bag. "It's about your mom, after all."

  "I know. I'm going to make that argument at supper tonight. Hopefully, I'll see you there."

  "Yeah, hopefully." He gave a small wave as he bent down to pick up another bottle.

  She slowly made her way back up the stairs without so much as a stumble. She balanced the trays on her hip and opened the door with the other. Rudy pushed the door wider with her nose and then clip-clopped across the kitchen floor. The cabin was quiet, except for the soft, smooth crooning of Michael Bublé coming from Sage's room.

  That's her 'calm down' music. Something must have really upset her.

&nb
sp; She shoved the trays on the counter beside the sink and then rubbed her hands together. "Hello?" she called softly. "I'm back."

  Gran poked her head up from the loveseat she liked to lie on to read her book of the week. She held her finger to her lips and motioned Freesia to sit with her.

  "Poor thing," she said, shoving her bookmark in her book and pulling herself up to sit. "She must have been overtired or something. Frank walked up on his dock and started talking to Granddad. She just stayed in the tube. So I told him to come on over, because you know how those two just yell at each other back and forth until it drives me to my last nerve. Soon as he stepped foot on the dock, wouldn't ya know, Sagey just fell apart. Couldn't calm her down to save my sanity. So I just brought her up."

  Freesia frowned. That was overreacting, even for Sage. "Was she like that the whole time I was gone?"

  "Nope. Only when Frank came over. Oh, she was a little edgy when he came out on his dock and Granddad started hollering conversation, but I think she was just reacting to the noise level and the echoing. I'm the same way. Silly men."

  Guilt gripped Freesia's stomach. She shouldn't have left for so long. Or at all. Gran must have read her thoughts.

  "Oh, now don't you go worrying about it, love." She patted Freesia's hand. "You should be getting out and having a bit of fun with young people your own age. You deserve that. And what happened with Sagey would have still gone on whether you were here or not, I suspect."

  A tiny smile tugged up the side of Freesia's lips. Rick said the same thing about hanging with kids her own age earlier to make her feel better. She squeezed Gran's hand. "I'm just going to check on her, okay?"

  "I'd expect nothing less. Go on. I'm going to get dinner prepped up."

  Freesia pulled herself up and walked around the couch. "Gran? I want to go to the meeting tonight with Granddad. Do you think he'll let me? I want to see what I can do to help."

  Gran fidgeted with the strings on the end of her bookmark. "I'm not sure you're ready for that, love. They'll be talking about things you may not want to hear—"

  "I need to be there, Gran. I'm old enough to know what's going on. I'm old enough to help or…something. Please?"

  "I don't like it, but I understand. Let's talk about it more at supper. If we do decide to let you go, Sage needs to stay here. Her day has been busy enough."

  Freesia nodded and turned to check on her little sister. She moved to Sage's door, pressing her ear to it. Michael Bublé's song 'Hold On' was playing. That was their mom's favorite. She was a huge fan of swing, big band and newer singers like Harry Connick Jr. and Bublé. She noticed shortly after Sage was born that music was the only thing that calmed Sage down when she was stressed.

  Sage listened to the music more since their mom disappeared.

  "Sage? It's me," Freesia said, gently rapping on the door.

  The music went down and that was her cue to enter. The windows were open, but the curtains were drawn, so the night-light flickered on. The dimmer light was much more soothing to Sage when she was overwhelmed. She lay on her side, facing Freesia, clutching onto her precious Lamby.

  "So, I hear you had a scare while I was gone."

  Sage didn't answer.

  "Anything you wanna tell me?"

  The family was told that whenever Sage slipped into her moods, they had to keep trying to get her to communicate, even if all she used was her speech-assist tools. Freesia understood what the OT wanted to do—keep her talking, keep her focused. But she also understood how irritating it was when people bugged you about talking and sharing and "Oh, I'm here if you need me…" when all you wanted was to be left the heck alone.

  Sage sniffed, pulling Lamby closer to her chest. After a few seconds, she signed, Man. Angry. Scared.

  For some reason, the words she chose shot an icy shiver down Freesia's spine. She repressed her reaction. Instead she lay beside Sage, facing her.

  "Aw, Sagey. I know Frank is loud sometimes. And he isn't always the cheeriest guy. But he's always been nice to you and me, right? And if Granddad thought he was mean or would hurt us, you can be sure he'd make him stay away."

  Sage stared at her for a second. Then she closed her eyes. One tear squeezed out from each eye. One dripped onto her pillow, the other trickled over the bridge of her nose and down her cheek before joining the wet mark the first one made.

  Freesia drew in a deep breath, blowing it out slowly before continuing. "We're going to the main beach tomorrow. Won't that be fun? I think Rick is working, so he'll come spend his breaks with us."

  Sage opened her eyes, blinked a few times and gave her a weak smile. Then she signed, Boat.

  Freesia giggled. "We can ask him to take us for a short boat ride, I guess."

  They looked at each other, then Sage signed, Tired.

  Freesia pushed herself up to sitting. "Okay. You rest while we get supper ready. I'll come get you later. I'm going to that meeting with Granddad tonight. I promise I'll tell you if I find out anything, okay?"

  Sage nodded and closed her eyes again. Freesia turned the stereo back on, ran her hand over Sage's ringlets and slipped out the door.

  Granddad's taking me to that meeting whether he wants to or not. Sagey needs her voice and we both need our mom.

  Chapter Eight

  Mizu sat on the dock, cocooning herself within her oversized sweatshirt, watching the spray shooting out from the back of the boat as Rick and Freesia sped out of the bay.

  She hoped she'd set the plan in motion the way the Watcher had advised her to. It wasn't as easy as she'd thought it would be. She'd forgotten how feisty Freesia could be when she followed her heart. Just like her mama.

  A smile stretched her lips.

  The meeting would happen that night. The Watcher told her the grandfather would be an important part of the next phase of their plan. He had the next piece of the puzzle that Freesia needed to start putting the puzzle together. Mizu hoped Freesia would be strong enough to hear what the grandfather had to share.

  She closed her eyes, breathing the humidity deep into her thirsty lungs. Others complained of the humidity. It refreshed her.

  Tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll see them both tomorrow.

  She opened her eyes, watching how the tiny waves around the dock folded over one another, creating different shades of blue. How could a God-made element be so captivating yet so ferocious at the same time? The secrets deep below its inviting surface murmured for discovery.

  Secrets…

  The Watcher assured her that the secrets would reveal themselves when they were supposed to. "It is important to keep our focus on slowly bringing the clues forward for them to see," he had said. "Be patient, child. Moving too fast will only dash our efforts. Soon enough, the man who caused all of this will fall from grace, and the evil he's done will be revealed."

  She wished she could be there later to see the start of his fall.

  She saw how her eyes caught the water's reflection of the afternoon sun, sparking in them a haunting glow. She raised an eyebrow as he invaded her thoughts.

  And he will fall.

  Chapter Nine

  "C'mon, Granddad. Why can't I go?"

  "I don't want this turning into an all-out debate while we're trying to eat," Gran said. "Just listen to what the girl has to say."

  "I don't think you need to be there, dumplin'," Granddad said around a mouthful of chicken, seeming to ignore Gran. "We talk about things that you don't need to hear about."

  Freesia had flicked bits of rice with her fork. "Like what? Clues to what happened to Mom? That's exactly why I want to go. If I understand what's going on, I might be able to help find her."

  "And that's exactly why I don't want you to go." He wiped his mouth. "You're just like your mother. Wanting to help the world—"

  "George!" Gran interrupted, glaring at him. "Stop right there. I think if you just listened to the girl—"

  Freesia butted in. "You're making a really big deal about not wanting me to go." />
  "And you're making a really big deal about wanting to go. Why are you fighting me on this?"

  "You've gone to all of the other meetings and never told us a thing. You just come home telling me not to worry. But I think there's more going on than you're telling me and I deserve to know. I'm not some stupid little kid! Come on! Did they find something you don't want me to hear about?"

  Granddad stayed quiet, putting his entire focus on eating his supper.

  Freesia slammed her hand on the table, causing cutlery to clank and glasses to topple. Sage jumped at the sound, even with her noise-reduction headphones on. "Answer me!"

  "That'll be enough of that, missy," Gran said in her no-nonsense tone. "I understand you're frustrated with your Granddad, but there's no excuse for that sort of behavior at the table." She turned to Granddad. "And you. Stop being a grumpy, old fool. She's not a child anymore. We can't protect her from hearing what she's going to hear. And isn't it better she gets the information from you and the townsfolk looking for her mother rather than the reporters and newspapers twisting the story around to suit their needs?"

  Freesia lowered her head, her breath coming in heavy puffs. She tried cooling the hot tears pooling in her lower lids. Granddad's neck broke out into blotchy crimson clouds, like it did whenever he was mad.

  Gran nodded. "Right. Freesia, I want to hear an apology to your Granddad for your outburst. After that, you two finish up your supper and get going to that meeting before it starts without you. No more talk about it."

  An apology was given and reluctantly accepted and then they all gobbled up the rest of supper in silence.

  The car ride wasn't any better. Granddad had hardly spoken two words to Freesia since Gran's scolding. She hated when he got mad at her. It rarely happened, but it still stung.

  After five minutes of listening to the tires chewing up bits of the gravel road and spitting them up against the bottom of the car, Freesia decided to extend the olive branch.