Little Whispers

by Glen Krisch

  Krista braced for her to hit the water.

  “Robby!” Trevor called out from the anchored dock. “You better get over here. The aliens are attacking! Where’s your weapon, soldier!”

  The twins dove into the water, oblivious of the temperature.

  Trevor laughed and fired his water gun in their general direction. “I’ll cover you!” he shouted.

  Clara barely gave the new arrivals a glance before turning a page in her book.

  “I knew I’d find you down by the fire pit!” said another voice from behind them.

  Leah Whalen reached the sand and wiggled her toes and closed her eyes, as if indulging in something decadent. She wore a purple and red gypsy-style skirt and a formfitting white T-shirt. She balanced a picnic basket on her broad hip as she made her way over.

  “Where else would we be!” Krista said and rushed to greet her younger sister.

  Leah set down the picnic basket and embraced her.

  Krista smelled a mixture of patchouli incense and spearmint gum; quintessential Leah. She never thought she would’ve missed such an incongruous combination, but now that her sister was here, she realized how much she needed Leah in her life.

  “I halfway thought it would be just me and Jack,” Leah whispered into her ear. “Thank you for not putting me through that.”

  Their embrace ended and they stared at one another, communicating without words.

  Krista shrugged and Leah’s eyes darkened. Her sister nodded, admitting a defeat long in the making, and then worked to affix a smile as she turned to embrace Poppa.

  Curtis hadn’t come along after all.

  After Krista’s recent phone conversations with Leah, she knew this time was coming. Leah, who was normally so sweet-natured, had never sounded so bitter and resentful.

  Poppa patted her back. “You keep getting prettier by the day!”

  “Oh, Poppa,” Leah said. “I needed your hugs.”

  Jack set the cooler near the fire pit and opened the lid, revealing a couple cases of Budweiser chilled in ice. “Neal?”

  “A little early in the day,” Neal said, “especially for that nasty stuff …” Neal trailed off, but when Jack looked honestly offended, he added, “Sure, I’ll have one.”

  “My man!” Jack popped open a beer and handed it to Neal. Jack opened his own and chugged half the can.

  Neal normally didn’t drink, especially domestic beer, and especially not before sunset. He awkwardly blew the foam from the top of the can and took a sip.

  “Cheers,” Neal said, his smile no longer forced.

  Jack held out his can and Neal clinked his against it.

  “Cheers, bro.” Jack finished off his can and grabbed another. “Krista? Leah? Poppa …?”

  “Not unless you want me to sleep the rest of the day,” Poppa said.

  Krista shook her head. “No, thanks.”

  Leah held out her hand. “Absolutely.”

  Jack opened the can and handed it to her. “So … Curtis?”

  Leah sipped from her beer, eyes lowered. “Things are … complicated.”

  Krista didn’t know how her sister had managed to have kids and cohabitate with someone she hadn’t married. While Krista found comfort in the stability of a traditional family, Leah had never found the need. Krista had always been straight-laced, while Leah seemed born out of time and would have been more at home in the 1960s.

  “Hasn’t it always been complicated with him?” Jack said.

  “I am way too sober to talk about this. Just suffice it to say … Curtis and I are on a sabbatical.”

  “Sabbatical?” Poppa asked

  “Yeah, from each other,” Leah said and took another sip of beer. “Please don’t … you know, the twins don’t know, so please don’t mention it.”

  Poppa motioned her over to his side. “Come here, sweetie.”

  She leaned over to him and they embraced once again.

  “You’ll get through this,” Poppa said. “Just like you always do. Strong. Resolute.”

  Leah kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Poppa.”

  Krista smiled and went over to the lean-to near the woods. The little building was starting to list. Moss covered the one plank-walled side as well as the shake roof. She grabbed a few split logs and quickly made her way back to the fire pit.

  “Kind of early for a fire,” Jack said. Joining her as he finished off his second beer.

  “I know. Poppa looked chilled.”

  Jack stepped in front of her to block her path. “Can you believe that douchebag?” he said under his breath.

  “Who, Curtis?”

  “Hell yeah, Curtis.” Jack checked to make sure no one else could hear them. “We always knew he’d do something fucked up.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Come on, Krista, do you really think Leah would’ve done anything to force them to take—what did she call it—a ‘sabbatical?’”

  “No, of course not,” she said. “But we don’t know anything more than what she said. Things are complicated.”

  “That’s not all of it, and I’m sure you know what the hell’s going on.” Jack tipped his beer to his lips and furrowed his brow, and then remembered it was empty.

  “What does it matter? It’s not like they were married.”

  “No. But maybe they should’ve been. Maybe that would’ve made them work harder. There are kids involved, remember?”

  “I think you’re displacing your anger.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Krista tilted her head. The logs were getting heavy and she wished her little brother would drop the whole subject.

  “What, you think I’m still pissed about Sheri?”

  He seemed shocked she would even imply such a conclusion.

  “Maybe not pissed, but I do think it taints every relationship you see. And for the record, single women sense that pain a mile away.”

  Jack looked hurt, and Krista immediately wished she could take it back. But she couldn’t. She’d spoken the words, had looked him in the eye even as they regretfully left her mouth.

  Jack grunted and turned away. When he reached the fire pit, he crinkled the beer can in his fist and tossed it aside. He grabbed another and took a long swig. He glared at her over his shoulder then turned to answer a question Poppa asked him.

  “What’s wrong?” Neal asked when he saw her.

  “Nothing. Just sibling stuff.” Krista dumped the logs next to the fire pit and blew hair from her eyes.

  Neal put his arm around her and rested his cheek against the top of her head. And in that small gesture, her tension vanished.

  “Walk with me?” Neal asked.

  The wind picked up, sending low waves to shore.

  “Sure. Lead the way,” Krista said.

  Leah and Jack were at the fire pit. From their gestures, they were teasing each other good-naturedly. Some things never changed.

  Poppa caught her eye. He nodded and she waved in return.

  Neal steered her away from both the screaming cousins and Breann’s old house tucked deep in a bend in the lake. Clara would be fine with her book, her blanket, and a brain that never seemed to ease to an idle.

  “This has already been better than I expected,” Neal said.

  “Yeah, it has.”

  “Even with the ’sibling stuff?’”

  “Comes with the territory. It’s the same old Jack, but something is different. He’s angry. He’s … I don’t know. Different.”

  “He probably just needs to get laid.”

  “Neal!” She jabbed an elbow into his ribs.

  “What? What did I say?” He grabbed his abdomen, feigning injury.

  “Half a beer and your filter goes out the window.” She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, sure, he probably need
s to … find companionship. But there’s something else.”

  “People change, Krista. You barely see him. He could’ve taken up improvisational dance, or learned to speak Russian, and you would never know.”

  “I guess. I worry about him. And about Trevor, too.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  They walked along the sandy shore of the lake for a while, which spread in a series of curling alcoves. Each home had its own little bay, making it feel like you were on your own private lake.

  “Do you want me to talk to him?” Neal asked. “See if I can dig up any dirt?”

  “Sure,” Krista said. “I guess. Just don’t interrogate him.”

  “Don’t worry. I have ways to make people talk.”

  “Oh really?” she replied, cocking an eyebrow.

  “Subtle, lawyerly ways—”

  “Help!” a girl called out. “Help me, please!”

  They turned toward the sound.

  Just passed the anchored dock, Heidi’s arms flailed above her head. She fell below the water, fingers grasping for nothing.

  Leah bolted from her chair and ran for the water.

  Jack was a second behind her in his reaction, but quickly sprinted past her.

  Heidi’s head broke the surface and she gulped for air before slipping below again.

  Robby paced nervously across the width of the dock, while Trevor unslung his water gun and dove into the water, swimming dolphin-like toward his cousin.

  Even though Krista, too, was running, Neal sped away from her and reached the water at the same time as Jack. Both men jumped into the water in what in other circumstances would’ve looked like choreographed dives. Jack surfaced first, and he quickly pulled ahead.

  When Krista’s feet touched the water, she became paralyzed. A presence stood next to her: Breann, hair pulled back in pigtails, sunny smile, sad eyes.

  Disorientation returned, as it had earlier while sitting with Poppa.

  My baby, Mrs. McCort had wailed. She’s gone. My baby. My baby …

  And then Clara was at her side. “What happened?” she asked, unaware of Krista’s momentary confusion.

  Krista’s voice stalled in her throat. “I …” She shook her head, looked intently at the girl standing next to her.

  Clara placed her hand above her eyes to shield the glare from the lake. She looked so pale and skinny, so unaccustomed to being exposed to nature.

  How did I ever see Breann? They look nothing alike.

  “I don’t know, sweetie.”

  Trevor surfaced near where Heidi had gone under. They were so far out, now easily twenty feet past the anchored dock and the safety of the shallow water.

  Krista jumped up and down and pointed adamantly. “She went down over there!”

  “I … I don’t see her.” Trevor dove under.

  Jack reached the same general area, dove under as well.

  A plume of splashing erupted from below as Trevor surfaced with Heidi in his grasp. Her head lolled, and then her eyes fluttered open. Trevor kicked and fought with his free arm to keep his head above water as he supported them both.

  “That a boy, Trevor!” Poppa said, joining Krista and Clara at the water’s edge. He had stripped off his leather house shoes and had rolled his pant cuffs. If Trevor hadn’t found Heidi, Poppa would’ve taken to the water within seconds.

  Jack reached his son. “Here … okay.” He reached out to him as he treaded water. “I got her … I got her.”

  Trevor shifted Heidi into his dad’s arms.

  Jack eased onto his back and started swimming while she rested against his chest. He carried Heidi ashore and set her down.

  Everyone closed in to form a circle around them.

  Clara rolled up her beach blanket and handed it to her dad. “Here, for under her head.”

  Neal placed the roll under Heidi’s head, and she coughed hard, tilted her head to the side and spit out a mouthful of lake water. Her eyes panned across the familiar faces gathered around her, momentarily confused about all the attention.

  Leah kneeled in the sand next to her daughter and took hold of her hand. “Are you all right? What happened?” To the rest of the group: “She’s so cold!”

  “My leg!” Heidi winced and writhed in pain as she reached for her right calf. The muscles were clenched so tightly the girl couldn’t bend her foot at the ankle.

  “It’s a cramp,” Jack said, pushing next to Leah. He took hold of Heidi’s leg near the ankle, forced the foot to bend as he massaged the calf muscle.

  Heidi cried out.

  “Jack, you’re hurting her!” Leah said.

  He seemed unfazed and continued to massage the muscle. Second by second, the muscle began to release, and the pain lifted from Heidi’s face.

  “Shh … it’s okay,” Jack whispered. “See, nothing but a cramp.”

  “That’s one hell of a cramp,” Poppa said.

  Jack lowered Heidi’s foot to the sand and slowly backed away, as if her calf muscles were a bomb that might go off at any minute. “The water’s pretty cold for swimming,” he said. “Especially after a long car ride.”

  “Are you sure?” Leah asked. She looked scared and lost. If there was one positive trait Curtis brought to their relationship, it was decisiveness, and since he wasn’t here, Leah seemed rudderless. “Should we take her to the hospital? What if it’s a muscle tear? Or a blood clot?”

  Jack shook his head. “It’s fine, Leah. Let’s get her some water, and maybe aspirin. She’ll be running around in no time.”

  Heidi looked up, offering a slight smile. “Mom, he’s right.”

  “Are you sure, honey-bean?”

  The girl flexed her foot. “The water got cold, like ice cold.”

  “That happens when you get farther out,” Poppa said. “Pockets of cold water sit and wait for you to come across them.”

  Krista remembered coming across such pockets of cold when she was younger. Though an unsettling sensation, she couldn’t recall it causing muscle cramps.

  “Well, suddenly, it felt like something, someone, grabbed me.” Heidi looked down at the sand. “That’s why I was so scared. And then after it cramped up on me, I felt something glide across my feet. Something slick. And then my feet got tangled and I went under.”

  “Seaweed,” Poppa said. “It grows like, well, a weed out past the dock.”

  “I think we should make a rule there’s no swimming out past the dock,” Leah said.

  Trevor kicked the sand. “Oh, man!”

  “Turn it down a notch, Trev.” Jack placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “There’s plenty of water on this side of the dock.”

  “How about we take Miss Heidi-belle up to the house and get her something to drink?” Poppa said.

  Krista nodded. “Sounds good. We can plan dinner.”

  “What’s to plan?” Jack gave her a crooked grin. “You and Leah can whip something up while the men retire to the den for cigars and a scotch.”

  “I might be older than dirt,” Poppa said, “but that talk would get someone in trouble even back in my smoking days.”

  While everyone playfully chatted about the night’s festivities, Krista noticed that Clara had dropped to her knees, staring at Heidi’s troublesome leg. Krista leaned closer, and though Heidi didn’t seem to notice the added scrutiny, darkening bruises circled her legs.

  A handprint?

  Other plausible explanations came to mind, but Krista couldn’t look at the bruises without thinking that she’d been grabbed, quite forcefully, while swimming in the Little Whisper.

  CHAPTER 6

  Lights were turned low in the main floor of the summer house. The windows at the front and back of the house were wide open, allowing cool air to circulate. Krista could picture a dozen similar nights from her childhood, but she didn
’t want to get lost in her strengthening memories. Instead, she focused on wiping down the kitchen island while Leah leaned against the stove. Together, they shared a comfortable silence.

  The men had indeed relocated to the den, but they at least waited until everyone’s dinner plates had been cleared. The talk at the dinner table had been so lively and full of laughter that Krista could barely imagine being back at their sleek yet sterile Chicago apartment. Whereas the city sounds back home seeped obliviously into her subconscious, she was now quite aware of the lake sounds coming from outside: the swish of the night wind battering the pine boughs, the crackle of logs in the fireplace, the intermittent call and response of songbirds.

  Krista hung the towel from the stove handle and stood nearly hip to hip with her sister. Leah refilled her wineglass from the bottle of Merlot on the counter before offering it to her.

  Neal’s voice mingled with Poppa’s in the other room while Jack periodically interrupted them with his inebriated comments.

  “So … is it over between you two?” Krista said in a level tone, taking the bottle by the neck. She was well past her usual cutoff point. She topped off and brought the wineglass to her lips as she awaited her sister’s answer.

  “And the evening had been so peaceful …” Leah rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you waited so long to ask.”

  Krista swirled her wine. “I debated asking at all.”

  Leah set her drink on the counter, untouched. “I wish I knew. When we left Champaign, there was no question it was over. You see, Curtis, he’s never been as committed to our relationship as me. I feel like I’ve been chasing him for, God knows … a decade. Just little ol’ me following him like a puppy, doing every little thing to please him, to get his attention. And sure, he’s been with me the whole time, but lately, even as I’m chasing him, he’s getting farther away. I finally realized I’m tired of our little game. So very tired.”

  “Oh, Leah.” Krista extended her arms to her sister. She could only imagine what she was going through. “I’m so sorry.”