by Tara Ellis
Remembering the green, troubling eyes that first greeted her, Sam isn’t convinced. “There’s something wrong here,” she tries to explain, shaking her head.
“Wrong in her head, you mean,” John counters. “Look, Sam, we offered to help her and she clearly doesn’t want it. For whatever reason, that woman put herself and her little girl in a really dangerous situation. We shouldn’t get involved. We’ll tell your folks what happened when we get back, and let them decide what to do.”
Sam knows that John is right, but there’s still something nagging at her. Something she should remember.
“I think we need to go back now,” Ally suggests. “It’s not like we can go any farther.”
No one disagrees, and they all file back the way they came, each lost in thought. They haven’t gone very far when Sam, who’s in the lead, stops dead in her tracks, causing Ally to walk right into her. Hunter starts to laugh at them, but stops when he sees the serious look on his sister’s face.
“What is it?” he asks, glancing briefly into the shadowy woods.
“Erica wasn’t lying!” Sam blurts out. Seeing her friend’s confused expressions, she rushes to explain. “There’s really is someone named Carrie, and I think she might need our help!”
12
COMPARING NOTES
“I think that’s a pretty big stretch, Sam.”
John is leaning against the trunk of a huge cedar tree, his arms crossed over his chest. Ally and Hunter are sharing a stump, and all of them have been listening to Sam explain about the backpack and papers she had seen while on the boat.
“What?” Sam demands, frustrated. “There’s a girls backpack with the name Carrie on the phone clipped to it, on the boat that Erica’s dad was on! Don’t you think that’s a huge coincidence?”
Sam had nearly forgotten about the bag. She hadn’t even said anything about it to Ally yesterday. Compared to the confrontation with the men on the boat, and fear of getting into trouble, it simply didn’t seem important.
“And what about that logo thing Sam told us about?” Ally presses, turning to look at her brother. “If the same one is on Lisa’s shirt, don’t you think that proves that she’s connected to the boat, too? Erica mistook Sam for this girl, Carrie, so the backpack would be something Sam might have. That means the girl would be around our age.”
“So what exactly do you want to do about it?” Hunter asks, annoyed. “Because as soon as you explain how you saw that backpack, Mom and Dad are going to stop listening. You’re going to get us all sent home, and I’m actually having a good time here. I’d like to still be around on Friday for the sand castle festival. If that lady wants to run around in the woods with her crazy kid, then let her. It’s none of our business!”
All four of them start talking at once, debating both sides of the argument. Sam regrets having shared the encounter on the boat with her brother. She should have known that he’d try to use it against her! “Well, I’m sure that Dad would be thrilled to find out about your midnight swim!” she blurts out at an opportune moment, and then immediately wishes she could take it back when she sees the look on John’s face.
Throwing his hands in the air, John pushes away from the tree to stand his full six feet before bellowing at them all to stop. It has the desired effect. “We’re all right,” he says reasonably. “I agree that the backpack makes the whole thing with Lisa and Erica seem suspicious. Also, that the company shirt that Lisa was wearing might tie her into whatever her husband is doing with those weird foreign guys. But that doesn’t change the fact that our only option right now would be to go to your parents and call Lisa a liar, based on something that Sam saw while sneaking onto a strangers boat without permission. Even if they were able to see past that and listen to us, what could they do? Go over to their house and accuse them of…what? Don’t you see? There’s nothing to accuse them of. To even talk to them about it, would be admitting to trespassing, which really is something you could legally get in trouble for.”
Now that John has broken it all down, Sam is feeling pretty stupid. Thank goodness he was with them so that she didn’t make the huge mistake of running to her parents. He’s absolutely right; the only thing that would happen, is that she would get into trouble. That would mean that Carrie would still be lost, and they wouldn’t be able to help her.
“So now what?” Ally asks quietly, after a long moment of silence.
“Stick with the original plan, and tell my parents exactly what happened out here,” Sam states with a new resolve. “But we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for any clues about this girl Carrie, and maybe try to figure out what kind of business they’re involved in.”
Smiling, Ally is glad to see Sam’s confidence returning. She really is quite smart, and can come up with some amazing ideas.
“How do you plan to do that, Sherlock?” Hunter’s smart remark cuts into her thoughts, making Ally frown at him.
“The way we always do it,” Sam says without hesitation. Looking at Ally, she gives her friend a big wink. “By paying attention.”
***
Sitting in the window of a small ice cream shop, Sam looks out at the throng of tourists walking by. Even though it’s nearly nine o’clock at night, it’s still busy. The boys had agreed to the movies, which they just got out of, and her dad was happy to let them take the van.
Earlier, Ethan and Kathy Wolf had sat and listened in amazement to the story that the kids told them. When they had finished, they were clearly disturbed by it, but not angry. The girls had done what they were told by not going on the trail alone, and they had all helped someone who obviously needed it. They immediately went next door to check on Lisa and Erica, but no one answered.
“I’ll go over tomorrow and visit with Lisa,” Kathy assured them. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they’re okay, and maybe I can put her in touch with some resources for getting help with Erica. I still have several contacts at the state level for various programs.”
Disappointed that her parents had failed to focus on the whole ‘lost sister’ issue, Sam couldn’t blame them. They didn’t have a reason to, since they believed Lisa’s explanation that Erica just made it up. Content that her mom would at least talk to Lisa, she had to let it go. Well…with her parents, anyway.
Now, Sam concentrates on the people walking by, but she hasn’t seen the men from the boat, the old man who told them the Captain Wood story, or any young girls that look like her.
Turning her attention back to the conversation at their table, she has to laugh. Hunter and Ally have been discussing the ending to the movie for a grueling fifteen minutes now. It was a cliffhanger and they have differing ideas as to what it meant.
“She clearly got away!” Ally insists, her ice cream dripping down her hand, forgotten. “That’s why they’re already making a second movie, Hunter.”
“No,” Hunter rallies. “The crystal skull was activated and transported all of them! So they-”
“Did you read the books?” John interrupts. When both Hunter and Ally look at him with blank stares, he laughs. “Because I did, and I know what happens in the next movie. But I’m not going to tell you,” he continues, obviously enjoying the frustration he’s causing. “So you’ll either have to wait until next year, or…you can borrow the trilogy from me!”
Shaking her head at the new round of bickering this causes, Sam turns to look back out the large window…and freezes. Directly across the street, Kevin Moore has just stepped away from the post office. There must be post office boxes there, Sam thinks. Their own small town has the same set-up. The little room is basically a wall of small, locked mailboxes, and can be accessed by the owner anytime. Sam imagines the people who live on the boats must get their mail this way.
Elbowing Ally, who’s seated next to her, Sam points towards Mr. Moore silently. They watch as he rips open a large envelope, pulls out a small, bubble-wrapped item, and then tosses the paper into a wastebasket before walking away.
Once he’s o
ut of sight, Sam nudges Ally to scoot over so that she can get out of the seat. “Wait here,” she says quietly.
The boys don’t have a chance to ask her what she’s doing before Sam is out the door and running across the street. They watch in confusion as she walks pointedly to the open-topped garbage can and reaches in.
In less than a minute, Sam is back inside, re-joining them at the table. Her face is flushed, and she’s clearly excited about something. “Our next clue,” she announces matter-of-factly, setting a large brown envelope on the table.
The three other kids all lean forward to get a clear look at the distinct logo in the top corner, in the return address space.
“That’s a double-helix,” John says with certainty. “Well, sort of. It’s a drawing based on the double-helix. That’s DNA,” he explains to the others.
“I remember now!” Sam exclaims. “We studied that in our science class last year. I knew I had seen it somewhere. But yeah, it’s not exactly like it, which is what threw me off. What’s the company name next to it?”
“BioCore Resources,” Hunter reads. Under the heading, the double-helix design blends into the M and W above and below it, which then spell out ‘Meckling and Wesseler Enterprises.’
“There’s no address,” Sam notes, both intrigued and disappointed.
“It’s a bioengineering company in Denmark,” Ally announces, and they all look at her in surprise. Holding her phone up, she shrugs. “They’ve got Wi-Fi here,” she explains happily.
“Let me see that,” John asks, taking the phone from his sister. Reading intently for several minutes, he finally looks up, brows furrowed. “It’s some sort of research facility, but most of their contracts are with governments and aren’t publicized,” he summarizes.
After that bit of interesting information sinks in, they sit looking at each other for a moment before Sam breaks the silence.
“Well,” she whispers, looking around the store with a new sense of danger. “This all just got a whole lot weirder.”
13
MOVING SHADOWS
After several more searches on the internet, Sam, Ally, and their two brothers still lack information. They try rearranging words, and also try adding Lisa and Kevin’s names, but without results.
“If those are even their real names,” Sam ponders, feeling a bit defeated.
“Don’t you think you might be making this into something bigger than it is?” Hunter complains, working on his second sundae. “Maybe they really are just on vacation, and have a kid that likes to run off and make stuff up.”
“Then why would Mr. Moore be meeting up with those foreign men on the boat?” Ally points out. “I bet those guys are from Denmark. There was company stuff all over the inside of that boat.”
Shrugging, Hunter licks the last of the hot fudge from his spoon. “I dunno. Maybe the guy is important and his business partners needed something from him. Who cares?”
Drumming her fingers on the table, Sam considers her brothers comments. “Sometimes,” she explains, “you need to just follow your gut. There’s something wrong here, and I think that the backpack is a key to it all.”
Rolling his eyes, Hunter looks to John for support. To his surprise, the older boy is nodding in agreement with Sam.
“Hunter, your dad invited us to the marina tomorrow. I think we should go, and try to find the boat. We won’t go inside, of course,” he says pointedly to Sam, with a smirk. “But we can snoop around it, and look in the windows if no one is there. Maybe we can find out if there’s been a girl seen on it.”
“And then what?” Hunter continues his campaign against their investigation. “What are we gonna do if we find something?”
“If we can get enough evidence that there’s some sort of foul play, we’ll share it with my parents and let them go to the authorities,” Sam says with conviction.
Coming from another twelve-year-old, this might seem like a ridiculous plan. But this isn’t just any twelve-year-old. This is Samantha Wolf, who has a knack for finding…and solving mysteries.
They make it back to the beach house just before their ten o’clock curfew, the envelope safely folded and tucked in Sam’s back pocket. Ally had been wary of holding onto it, but John reminded them that it was thrown out in a public garbage can, making it okay to keep.
Sam finds herself lying in bed a couple of hours later, reading the words on the envelope for the hundredth time. The sender didn’t put down the name of the recipient, only the post office box number and town. Very cryptic.
Rubbing her eyes, Sam wishes she could fall asleep, but there are too many thoughts racing through her mind. Is there really a missing girl named Carrie? What were Lisa and Erica doing in the woods today? What kind of work does Kevin do for a secret bioengineering company? And why are those men on the boat here?
Finally giving up on sleep, Sam rolls out of bed. Checking first to make sure Ally is actually asleep, she then tiptoes to the French doors. Before she can pull them open, there’s a light knock on the bedroom door. Jumping, she turns in time to see Hunter let himself in.
“Can’t sleep?” She whispers when he joins her at the entrance to the balcony.
“Nah,” he mumbles. “Figured I’d come check things out. See if that crazy sound was out here again.”
Smiling as they step outside, Sam realizes she and Hunter might be more alike than either of them would ever admit. Glancing sideways at her brother, she can barely make out his form as he leans against the banister. Sam suspects that his criticism earlier wasn’t all that sincere.
“No fog,” he observes.
He’s right. There isn’t a hint of the thick condensation that blanketed the beach the past two nights. But the moon hasn’t risen above the Olympic Mountains behind them yet, so it’s still nearly impossible to see anything.
Peering in the general area Sam thinks the lighthouse should be, she doesn’t see any sign of the light, either. Disappointed, her eyes drift to the dark beach. The water, sand, and woods all blend together in the inky blackness.
Wait. What was that?
Straining to focus on an area where Sam thinks she saw movement, she can’t be sure if her eyes are playing tricks on her or not.
No, she’s definitely not imagining it. There’s someone running on the beach! The shadow dances in and out of focus, far down at the other end of the cove.
“Hunter!” Sam shouts, not daring to look away.
“What? I don’t see any floating candles up in your lighthouse.”
“No! There’s someone down on the beach!”
The lone shadow is joined by two other, bigger ones. Sam watches as they weave around each other, then a spray of water erupts near them, and when Sam tries to re-focus on them, they’re gone! Wishing for some moonlight, she waits to see if they reappear, but it’s just too dark. She’s lost them.
“I don’t see anything,” Hunter replies. “I’m going to bed.”
“Wait! Don’t you think it’s odd that someone is down there this late?”
“Not really. John and I were doing the same thing a couple of nights ago, remember?” Hunter’s teeth flash in the dark as he smiles before turning and opening the door. “I dunno if you’re right about any of this,” he adds, pausing. “But if you are, I hope we can help figure it out.”
He’s gone before Sam can answer, but she doesn’t need to. Thankful to have her brother and John here, she turns back to study the beach again. Is there some mystical creature out there? she wonders, a cool breeze working its way through her nightgown. Or do we need to worry more about the people next door?
14
CLUES AND ACCUSATIONS
Although Sam didn’t get much sleep the night before, she’s still the first one up, eager to go examine the beach. It’s a very low tide this morning, but it’s quickly coming back in. Any clues as to who was out there last night could be washed away soon.
It takes a full five minutes of pushing and pulling to coax Ally out of be
d. Sam almost leaves without her, but Ally finally stumbles into her shorts, still half-asleep.
“I don’t understand why you think we’ll find something useful,” Ally yawns after Sam explains what happened the night before. Pulling on a matching tank top, Ally throws her messy hair up in a loose bun. “You don’t even know for sure that you saw someone.”
Ignoring her complaints, Sam takes Ally by the shoulders. “We’re collecting sea shells,” she whispers, steering her out of the room and through the silent house.
They pass Sam’s mom, who just sat down in one of the big wicker chairs in the family room with a steaming cup of coffee. The early morning hours are often her only free time from the twins, other than when they take naps.
“You should take a bag!” Kathy calls after them as they scoot past her. “You might find a conch shell with the water this low!”
Although Sam’s family lives near the ocean, it’s in a part of the Puget Sound. The tide rises and falls, of course, but when it retreats, it leaves behind huge beds of mud. It’s nearly impossible to do anything there other than dig for clams. It’s a treat to be out near the open ocean now, with bigger waves and nice sand to search for shells.
“Thanks, Mom!” Sam says, turning back to grab a plastic grocery sack off the kitchen counter. “We won’t be too long. I’ll help feed Tabby and Addy when we get back.”
Her mom grimaces at her use of the nicknames, but doesn’t comment. Sam’s parents have a thing with naming them after their grandparents. That’s fine, except for the fact that the names are very formal. Sam insists on going by the shorter version of her own name, but usually respects her mom’s wishes for calling the twins by their proper ones. Unless, such as now, she’s in a hurry and doesn’t have time to protest. Besides, she thinks the rhyming names are cute.