“You’re serious? You want to go looking for a mystical corridor?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not into that whole portal thing like Camille is, are you?”
“Come on, Jake!” Susie whacked him on the shoulder. “I’m not saying it’s real, I’m just saying these kinds of legends often come from something true, then grow out of proportion over time. All I want to do is see what’s there. It might be something extremely cool, and I’ve wanted to do a concept album forever. This could be my inspiration.”
“The land where dreams come true . . . sounds like a kids’ show.”
“It’s not dreams come true. I think it’s more about fixing what’s broken.”
“It’s a great story, but you don’t need me to help you look for this thing. Get Andrew to go with you.”
“I already did. He’s not into exploring.”
“What about Camille?”
“Yeah, right. If I told her, she’d devote every waking moment to looking for it, plus I’m not into her taking over my little adventure.”
“I think Peter would love this.”
“You think Camille is going to let Peter gallivant off with me for half a day without him telling her exactly what he’s doing? Besides, she’s got every minute of his day planned out, right down to the allowable minutes for showers.”
“She’s not that bad.”
Susie quirked an eyebrow.
“Yeah, she is.”
They both laughed.
“What about the new girl, what’s her name?”
“Nice try, Jake. Do I have to bring up the truth of what we already discussed regarding your feelings?”
“No.”
“I’m not going to ask Ari. I want to go with you.” Susie clasped her hands together. “Will you come with me? Just for a few hours. It’ll be like when we were kids.”
“I can’t, and you know why.”
“No. I don’t.”
“I see that look in your eye, Sooz. That crazy look that says there’s a part of you deep down that believes it’s more than a legend. That it could be true. Maybe it’s only one percent of you, but it’s there.” Jake rubbed both hands over his face. “And given my mental state, do you really think it would be good for me to dwell on the idea that there was something out there that could heal me? A comic-book version of hope isn’t the best entertainment choice for me.”
“All I’m trying to do is—”
“You don’t have to try to save me. You don’t have to do anything. I’m fine. I’m making it. I’ll climb out of this hole.”
“I’m not asking you to do it for you, I’m asking you to do it for me. I can already hear the songs in my mind. But I need the source material. Even if we don’t find anything, just searching for this place will help.”
“Do you remember the time in fifth grade when you spun that story about my turtle? And I called you on it because you’re so bad at lying?”
Susie sighed.
“You haven’t gotten any better in the past twenty-nine years.”
“You’re right. Sorry. It’s just that . . .” Susie tossed the stick into the woods and turned to keep her disappointment from him. But even if he hadn’t caught the look on her face, her body language was shouting the message. “You’re my brother. I can’t help it.”
She started back down the road to the cabin.
“Sooz?”
“Yeah?”
“Give me a few to think about it, okay? Tell you what. Instead of leaving now, I’ll head to the grocery store as soon as it opens, pick up a few munchables and some Gatorade for the way home, then come back and give you an answer.”
“Just grab a few things from here.”
“You think Camille would stand for that?”
“No.”
Jake caught up to her and put an arm around her shoulder. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
Susie squeezed his waist and smiled.
“But either way, I’m not staying. After we maybe go searching for never-never land, I’m leaving. And that maybe is like a ten-percent chance maybe.”
“Jerk.”
Jake laughed and yanked Susie in close, then rubbed his knuckles on her head. “I love you too, sis.”
13
Jake arrived at the grocery store and fought a strange feeling he shouldn’t go inside. It wasn’t fear that swirled around him, but some other emotion he couldn’t define. As if stepping through the door of Willow Lake Fresh Foods would send him on a quest he wouldn’t ever return from. Right. He snorted a chuckle and reached for the door. His only quest was to get away from the lake and go home.
A sign just inside the store boasted of fresh crab and salmon straight from the coast. If he were staying he might have picked up some of each. The scent of cinnamon rolls seconds out of the oven filled his nostrils, and the sound of Hall and Oates pumping through ancient overhead speakers filled his ears. The potato chip section offered little variety, but the bananas and pears seemed fresh and he couldn’t resist snagging a few old-fashioned donuts. A large Gatorade and he was set. Plenty of food to hold him over for the seven-hour drive back to Bothell.
He headed to the front of the store pushing a cart that screeched every few seconds. The front wheel seemed determined to cut loose and head for the grocery store heaven in the sky. At the register, Jake was surprised to see a kid in his teens saunter up to the end of the checkout stand. Must be bored. Jake’s items would barely fill one bag. Plus he didn’t expect a town this small to have extended help.
“Okay if I put cher stuff in paper?”
“Yeah, that works fine.”
“Where are you staying?”
“How do you know I’m visiting?”
The kid winked under his thick mane of blond hair. “Small town. Everyone knows everyone but I don’t know you.”
“Right.” Jake smiled. “I’m staying, or was staying, out on Willow Lake. Some friends and I rented a house.”
“Cool. I like it.” The kid cocked his head and gave a cryptic smile. “Got a little Indiana Jones in you, huh?”
“What?”
“He was the guy in that old movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The kid pointed at him and winked again. “Great flick. You should see it.”
“I’ve seen the film. Why do you say I’m like him?”
“I’m guessing you bumped into someone from around here and they told you about the corridor and now you’ve come to search for it. Right?”
“The what?” A shiver slalomed down his spine. Susie’s magical corridor was appearing out of nowhere right here in the local grocery store.
“The corridor. You know. The corridor. The path. The ancient mystery everyone tries to solve.”
Jake studied the checker, but given the expression on his face, the kid might have been describing the weather. Jake had the sensation of being looked at, so he glanced to his right and left. There. To the left, fifteen paces away, an older woman slid a tray of maple bars into a brass-colored display case. Had she been staring at him? He waited, but she appeared consumed with her work.
“Can you tell me a little more about this, um, corridor?”
The bag boy shoved Jake’s food and drink into an oversized paper bag. “It’s just our local legend. Like the Trees of Mystery down there in northern California, where they say you can experience the ‘supernatural magic of the redwoods’ or the Oregon Vortex and the House of Mystery with its supposed force field that reverses gravity.”
“And?”
“That’s it.” The kid handed Jake his bag and grinned. “All made up, but still kinda fun, you know?”
“No, I don’t.” Jake didn’t move. “You still haven’t told me anything about this corridor.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry,” the kid said. “It was probably started by my grandfather’s grandfather, the story, you know? My G-pa is the only one who still talks about it, and everyone is pretty tired of it. He’s the only one who believes it’s really real, you
know? He says I’ll find it someday, that I’ll need to find it someday and I will if I keep looking, but I’m not going to waste my time on it, but it’s still fun to pretend, you know?”
Jake stared at the checker, who shrugged. “But what’s the legend?”
“Yeah, right. Geez, what’s wrong with me?” The kid grinned. Big toothy smile. “There’s this hidden corridor at the end of the lake that can’t be found. But if you ever do find it, on the other side of it there’s this place where you’ll get the thing you want most in the world, get everything fixed that’s screwed up in your life, you know?”
“Did a woman in her midthirties, pretty, short blond hair, come in here yesterday and put you up to this? Give you twenty bucks, tell you what I looked like, and say that if I came in you should tell me about the corridor?”
“What? No. The story’s been around for a long time, man.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’ve lived here my whole life.” The kid motioned around the store with his arms. “Pretty sure, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.” The kid apparently wasn’t able to speak one sentence without saying you know, but it didn’t bother Jake. It gave the kid a certain appeal. “What do you think is at the end of the corridor?”
“I’m not exactly a spiritual person, but you know . . . the legend says it’s heaven, or Nirvana, Shangri-la, whatever you want to call it . . . that’s the idea.”
“How did the legend get started?”
“G-pa says it’s been going ever since people came here in the 1800s.”
“But no one other than your grandfather knows much about it? You don’t know anyone who’s searched for it?”
“A couple of my friends and I have gone out there a few times over the years to look for it, but that was back in seventh, eighth grade. There’s nothing really there, but it was fun exploring and pretending it was real, you know?”
“Why’d you stop searching?”
“Like I said, it’s a joke. A bedtime story for little kids.” The kid stared at Jake like he was an idiot. “I Googled ‘Peter Parker New York’ when I was that age and found out there’s a bunch of him living there. At the time I thought that proved Spider-Man was real. But I don’t anymore. You think I’m still twelve?”
“Is your grandpa still alive?”
“Yep, he lives on the lake. But I wouldn’t go dropping in. He doesn’t like strangers.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
As he made his way to his Jeep, Jake tried to shrug off the coincidence of hearing about the corridor right after talking to Susie about it. He still wasn’t convinced he hadn’t been set up. He set the groceries in his cargo hold, shut the tailgate, and was just about to open his door when a voice stopped him.
“Stay away from the corridor, young man.”
It was the maple-bar woman, gray hair tucked up in a bun, with more than half of it spilling out in a tangled mess. She stood ten feet away, legs shoulder-width apart, arms drawn tight across her chest.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve lived here a long time. Born and raised here. Same with my mom. Same with her mom.” She stared at Jake with a mix of compassion and crazy, then nodded and started to turn as if she’d explained everything.
“Why should I stay away?”
“Your new punk kid friend in the store didn’t tell you about the ones who went off searching for it and never returned, did he? Didn’t tell you about the ones who did return, but couldn’t ever remember their name after that till the day they died. Didn’t mention the ones that claimed they’d found it, but wouldn’t say any more than that and spent the rest of their days searching for it again, barely eating, barely sleeping till they wasted away to nothing.”
“Who are you?”
She pawed her hand at him. “Doesn’t matter. I’m just trying to help. Take my advice or leave it, I don’t care which you do, just couldn’t let you go off and get yourself all disappeared or messed up in the noggin without saying my piece.”
“Who are you?” Jake repeated. “Tell me more about the corridor.”
“Bah!” The woman shuffled away so fast Jake might not have caught her even if he believed she’d tell him anything more.
As he stared at her retreating form, two thoughts struck Jake at once. First, if there had been any chance he could convince himself to turn Susie down, the chance was gone now. He wouldn’t be leaving the lake today. And second, he didn’t need to ask why he’d felt hesitation just before he’d stepped into the store. Stupid, asinine, unquenchable hope had shoved its ugly head out of the bottom of his soul. It was going to take a Herculean effort to shove it back underground where it belonged.
14
Are we going?”
Susie stood on the porch, hands on hips, toe tapping on the wood under her foot, a rare expression of frustration on her face. Jake eased out of his Jeep and stood next to it studying her. Some kind of fire had been lit under her, and the only way to put it out would be to do a little exploring together.
“Yes.”
He ambled toward her as she leaped off the porch and galloped toward him. Susie grabbed his arms and shook them. “I knew it, I knew you’d come through for me. This is going to be so good, Jake, I promise.”
As they walked back to the house, Andrew strolled through the open front door. “Well?”
“He’s going.” She pointed at Andrew. “Didn’t I tell you, sweetie?”
Andrew laughed. “How’d she convince you to go?”
“Apparently Susie isn’t the only one that’s convinced we’re sitting on top of an ancient local mystery.”
“Really.”
Jake smiled and shook his head. “At the grocery store I ran into a kid who told me about this lost corridor at the end of this lake. Says no one can find it, but if you ever did, it would lead to a place where whatever you wanted most in the world would be handed to you, just like yours and Susie’s song says. And this kid’s grandpa apparently says it’s not a legend, that it’s real.”
He chose not to mention the old woman.
“Are you serious?” Susie yanked down on Jake’s T-shirt. “See? See?”
“Two hours.” Jake held up two fingers. “Two. Then I’m done. Headed home.”
“All you could get was two hours out of him?” Andrew laughed and kissed Susie on top of the head. “You think that’s going to give you enough time to find the corridor, get to the other side, and convince Bigfoot to come back to the cabin with you?”
Susie punched Andrew and glared at Jake as the two men broke into laughter.
The next morning—which felt like seconds after Jake had closed his eyes the night before—Susie was there beside his bed, her face hovering in the darkness two feet above his.
“Let’s go.”
“The idea wasn’t great yesterday afternoon. It holds even less appeal now.”
“You know I’m not going to let you drop this, right?”
Jake pulled his pillow over the top of his head and spoke into it. “I suppose.”
“Wha’d you say?” Susie yanked the pillow off his face.
“I said, ‘I have to get on warm clothes.’ ” He slapped his palm over his eyes. “Because it’s so early! How ’bout you let me go back to sleep.”
“You promised. Two hours, you said. You’d give me two hours.”
“Was I delirious? What time is it?”
“Early.”
“How early?”
“The song this Emily wrote says the corridor is open early in the morning, ‘when the dew is still full on the green, and first slice of sun has not yet been.’ So we have to go now.” She punched him in the stomach. “So get outta bed.”
“No problem, be ready in an hour. Two at the most.”
“Plus, you know Camille will go semiballistic if we’re not back in time for breakfast.”
“Really good point.”
Ten minutes later, he and Susie tiptoed across the kitchen,
out the back doors, and onto the deck. Dawn had just started overtaking the night sky, and gray was splashed all over the water’s surface. The only movements were fish jumping to snag a fly for breakfast.
They pulled down the two kayaks from the storage shed wall, set them in the water, and slipped into them. Jake and Susie talked little on the way to the end of the lake. Susie was probably lost in the creation of a song even as they made their way across the water. Jake? His mental gymnastics were more painful.
He knew Susie didn’t believe for a second there was such a thing as a lost corridor with a pot of gold at the other end. But as she often said, “I haven’t quite figured out everything in the universe and there might be one or two things left that will surprise me.” It was that part of her that hoped for a straight-from-God, legitimate miracle for him. And he loved her for it.
But while she held on to a sliver of hope, Jake was awakening to a great deal more. Not the man inside. That part was locked down behind a steel door and concrete-reinforced resolve to crush any kind of belief in a magical land. But the little boy inside was not so easily dismissed and right now would not be quiet. A place where you could get what you wanted most in the world? Just thinking about the possibility shredded his eight-year-old heart.
A corridor that could restore him to the way he was before the incident? A fantasy for books and movies. Not real life. Not even for little-boy imaginations that would take the idea and resurrect it in dreams during the night and gut-wrenching longings during the day. But Jake couldn’t shut up that insistent little kid down deep inside. He never should have let Susie talk him into this.
“Hey.” Susie slapped her paddle on the lake and sent a tiny curtain of water into his face. “Wake up. You look like you just found out Santa Claus left a rock in your stocking.”
“He did.”
“Have you ever allowed yourself to consider that you’re looking in the wrong stocking?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying that maybe you need to trust that everything going on with you right now is orchestrated. There’s a plan behind it. Yeah? Possible?”
“Let’s just get to not finding this place so we can get back.”
The Long Journey to Jake Palmer Page 9