Forever Glimmer Creek

by Stacy Hackney

  Sheriff Parker crouched down until he was on the same level as Rosie’s eyes. “Did you know I was head of the Missing Persons Division in Washington, DC, before I moved here?”

  Rosie shook her head, trying not to cry again.

  “I have a lot of experience with finding people, and I’ll do everything I can to find Henry. I know it’s hard to trust someone you don’t know very well, but I’m asking you to trust me now to find your friend.”

  As she stared into Sheriff Parker’s eyes, Rosie’s shoulders dropped. Nothing could make her feel better. Nothing was going to fill the pit in her stomach when she thought about Henry alone and scared. But somehow, knowing Sheriff Parker was in charge of bringing Henry home helped a little.

  “Okay,” Rosie said in a calmer voice.

  “Okay,” Sheriff Parker echoed. He straightened and nodded at Mama. “I’ll call you later to check in.”

  “No need. I know you’ll be busy,” Mama said.

  “Not too busy for a quick call,” Sheriff Parker replied.

  “That’s all right. I’ll be busy too.” Mama looked only at Rosie.

  Sheriff Parker put his hands in his pockets. “Sure.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff,” Rosie said.

  “You’re welcome, Rosie.” Sheriff Parker walked away, glancing back three times before finally facing forward for good. He looked an awful lot like Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, staring all lovesick at Ingrid Bergman right as she left him for her husband.

  “We need sustenance,” Mama said. “We need muffins and cookies and maybe a slice of cake. We need root beer and candy, and we absolutely need ice cream.”

  “I’m not hungry,” Rosie said.

  Mama steered her toward Willow Lane and home. “Not hungry isn’t a phrase I ever want to hear my daughter utter. In times of crises, gorging ourselves on baked goods is obviously the best thing we can do.”

  “That makes no sense,” Rosie said. “We’ll both feel sick.”

  “So what? We can feel a little sick tonight.”

  Rosie kicked at the dirt along the sidewalk. Was she wrong or was Magnolia Street eerily silent despite the people back in the park? It was as if a shadow loomed over all of Glimmer Creek.

  “Mama, I’m scared,” Rosie said.

  “It will all work out. There’s nothing to be—” Mama stopped and swallowed up the rest of her words. Her eyes were wet. “I know, sugar. I’m scared too.”

  Back at home, Mama settled Rosie on the couch and headed straight back to the kitchen, digging up snacks and banging around, unaware of the turmoil in Rosie’s head. The lilac walls looked gray and dull, and the empty room only magnified the empty space in Rosie’s chest. She pulled a blanket up to her chin.

  Suddenly Rosie sat up. Michael! She hadn’t thought of him for the last hour in all the worry and confusion about Henry. He was probably looking for her everywhere. He must have e-mailed to ask where she was.

  Rosie hurried over to Mama’s laptop in the study and logged into her e-mail account. Sure enough, an e-mail from Michael Weatherton waited in her in-box. Clicking on the message, she read:

  Dear Ms. Flynn,

  Michael Weatherton regrets to inform you that he is unable to attend the documentary screening and festival this evening. He apologizes for the late notice; however, it is unavoidable due to filming commitments. He wishes you the best of luck with your film endeavors and will be in touch soon.

  Sincerely,

  Lawrence A. Walker

  Executive Assistant to Michael Weatherton

  Rosie read it three times. Her breathing hitched. The letters on the screen wavered and blinked at her, but they didn’t change. Her father wasn’t coming.

  All at once, a memory seared into Rosie’s mind. She was waiting at the dining room window, staring down the street. Her hair hung at her ears in two perfect braids. Rosie didn’t know her exact age, but she did remember her rising excitement every time she heard the sound of an engine rumbling down Willow Lane. Her father was making a special visit to Glimmer Creek to meet her. Mama had even gotten her a new dress. It was pink lace and scratched at her sides, but she didn’t complain. She wanted to look her absolute best. She had watched the street for hours, refusing to eat dinner, sure he was about to appear at any moment. It wasn’t until Mama had tucked her into bed and turned off the lights that she’d realized he wasn’t coming.

  Rosie saw her younger self so clearly, and the image wasn’t in soft focus with a hazy light surrounding her. There wasn’t a backdrop of beautiful music. The scene was not romantic or over-the-top tragic or tension-filled. It was simply sad. Her pillow was soggy with tears, her stomach still itched from the remnants of the dress, and she fell asleep only when Mama curled around her as the big spoon in her bed.

  How could she have forgotten?

  It wasn’t that Michael lived on the other side of the country or was busy with movies. It wasn’t because Mama wouldn’t let her see him. Those were all excuses. No, the truth was Rosie hadn’t met Michael because he didn’t want to meet her. And Michael wouldn’t be in touch soon, no matter what the e-mail said. He had his own life that didn’t include her. He’d made his choice a long time ago, and a documentary wasn’t going to bring him to Glimmer Creek. Nothing was.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  A knock sounded on the front door. Rosie peeked around the curtain covering the window and saw the Blue brothers framed against the starless sky. She opened the door, her arms heavy.

  “We brought you sandwiches,” Arthur Blue said, holding up a paper bag. “Miss Matilda sent us. She thought you might need some supper.”

  “That’s really nice of you,” Rosie said, reaching for the bag and wanting to cry all over again at the thoughtfulness.

  “You’re lucky. Miss Matilda refused to give me any coffee after I asked whether the coffee beans were organic.” Charlie leaned on his cane.

  “We heard about organic on the news,” Bill added.

  “We like to keep up with the times,” Arthur said. “We got ourselves an electronic mailbox last week.”

  “We’re sharing it,” Charlie said.

  Rosie couldn’t help smiling a little despite the past few hours. “Do you want to come in?” She moved out of the doorway, and the Blue brothers hobbled inside the foyer.

  “Have they found your friend?” Charlie asked.

  “Not yet,” Rosie said.

  “That Henry is a smart boy,” Arthur said.

  “Real smart,” Bill echoed. “He’ll find his way home before the nor’easter storm hits tonight.”

  “Nor’easter?” Rosie asked, clutching the bag so tightly that she ripped a hole in the top. “I didn’t hear about a nor’easter hitting Glimmer Creek.” A nor’easter meant driving rain and treacherous winds and flooding. It meant dangerous weather.

  “The Weather Channel said it’s going to miss us,” Bill said.

  “The Weather Channel is wrong,” Arthur said serenely.

  “But don’t worry. Henry can take care of himself,” Charlie said. “A lot like us during the hurricane. He’s what you call resourceful.”

  “But h-he’s not,” Rosie said in a quivering voice. “He’s not brave. He’s cautious and gets lost all the time, and he wouldn’t go into a storm because of a dare like you.”

  Charlie smiled at that. “It’s funny how stories get told as time goes on.”

  “What do you mean?” Rosie asked.

  “He means our Miracle story—the one about how we went out on our boat because of a dare. That’s the way everyone tells it,” Arthur said.

  “I like it that way,” Bill said. “Makes us sound debonair.”

  “Makes us sound fearless,” Arthur added.

  “But it’s not true,” Charlie said. “We didn’t go out on the Blue Dolphin on a dare.”

  Arthur and Bill shook their heads, their matching blue eyes glinting.

  “We went out on the water that day because Daddy had lost his favorite fishing rod, the one
that belonged to our granddaddy,” Charlie said.

  “But Granddaddy passed away, and that rod was the only thing Daddy had left from him,” Arthur said.

  “We heard him tell Mama how he’d left the rod on the sandbar near Oyster Point, where he was fishing,” Bill said. “He wouldn’t risk heading back out with the storm blowing in.”

  “But we did,” Charlie said. “We weren’t wishing for any Miracle. All we were thinking about was saving our daddy’s fishing rod.”

  “Never told anyone. We didn’t want Daddy to feel bad,” Arthur said.

  “I still think it’s a crying shame we didn’t get that rod too,” Bill said. “The hurricane knocked us off course.”

  Rosie stared at them, at soft, wrinkled faces and wispy white hair. Suddenly, something clicked inside of her like that final moment in a film when the whole story comes together. She thought of Mrs. Grant helping her elderly neighbor right before her cataracts were cured and Dale Irvine trying to find his grandma’s cat in a thunderstorm when he was hit by lightning. Mr. Carson fell off the roof trying to fix a leak for the town, and Mrs. Moore was shielding her brother from a fire when she was rescued. Even little Tom Bolling was saved from drowning after he tried to catch a fish for his father’s first supper home.

  Miracles weren’t because of lucky charms or healing water or wishes. Miracles didn’t happen by chance, and they weren’t a coincidence or plain old good luck. They were real. People took a risk to help someone and got a Miracle in return.

  A lightness expanded inside Rosie. There was such goodness in this world. There was such goodness right here in Glimmer Creek, and Rosie wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to be the kind of person who believed in magic, who was brave, who took a risk for someone else. She wanted to be the kind of person who believed in Miracles.

  Rosie shot straight up. She wouldn’t waste another second on anger or jealousy. Those things never did anyone a bit of good. They certainly never caused a Miracle. All she had thought about the past few weeks was herself instead of what was really important, like Mama and Henry and Cam. Rosie needed to make things right with everyone she loved. Starting now! As her favorite director, Michael Curtiz, used to say, “The only things you regret are the things you don’t do.”

  The kitchen door swung open, and Mama appeared holding a mug with steam rising out of it. “Hello, gentlemen. Did I hear you brought supper? How lovely. I made an extra pot of coffee if you’re interested. It’s in the kitchen.”

  The Blue brothers perked up and started toward the kitchen.

  Rosie bounded over to Mama and clasped her in a tight hug. “I love you.”

  Mama laughed. “Well, I love you too. What brought this on?”

  “I just realized something important about, well, everything,” Rosie said urgently. “And I have to go right now.”

  “But I’ve made you hot chocolate with raspberry syrup, and the Blue brothers brought supper,” Mama protested.

  “I need to see Cam,” Rosie said, already at the door.

  “I don’t want you out right now. I should come with you, unless … ” Mama’s voice trailed off. She set the mug on the foyer table and considered Rosie. “Do you need to do this alone?”

  Rosie nodded. “I’m only going to Cam’s house.”

  “Home in a half hour, okay?” Mama said.

  Rosie was already throwing open the door to find Cam coming up the front walk. She halted in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “Coming to see you,” Cam said.

  “That’s funny. I was on my way to your house,” Rosie said. She looked at Cam, with her understanding eyes and sturdy shoulders, which had seen Rosie through a million different adventures, and found it wasn’t hard at all to tell her the truth. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Cam said.

  “It’s my fault for yelling at you today.”

  “You wouldn’t have gotten mad if I’d listened to you.”

  “I still shouldn’t have said you changed for the worse,” Rosie said.

  “And I don’t think you’re bossy,” Cam said.

  “Well … I can be a little bossy,” Rosie said. “But can you forgive me anyway?”

  Cam’s face cracked into a smile, and that was all the encouragement Rosie needed. She threw her arms around Cam. The breeze softened, the porch light brightened, and everything seemed better all at once.

  Cam pulled back. “I know I haven’t been around as much since school started. Soccer and the team took up a lot more time than I expected.”

  “That’s okay. You should play soccer. You’re great at it, and I understand you don’t want to work on my movies anymore.” It was a tough thing to admit, but she wanted Cam to know they were friends no matter what.

  “That’s not true. I like helping you, except when you get me in trouble,” Cam said ruefully. “But there’s less time now. There’s more homework, more practices—”

  “More friends,” Rosie offered.

  “The eighth graders on the soccer team were really nice when we first started school,” Cam said, sounding defensive. “They’re the ones who introduced me around.”

  “I don’t blame you for wanting to meet new friends.”

  The wind whistled through the tree branches, and Cam tapped her toe against the porch floorboard. It was quiet for a moment.

  Cam cleared her throat. “If I’m being honest, I guess maybe I … I guess maybe I tried to get to know Leila and Aimee and Macon. Everyone in school likes them, and I wanted them to like me. I wanted to hang out in the Lounge and work on the doughnut fund-raiser and go to Leila’s parties. You probably think it’s stupid to care about stuff like that.”

  “No, I don’t. Everybody cares about stuff like that.” Rosie exhaled. “That’s part of what’s hard. When I’m around you and Leila, I feel really left out … and jealous. But that’s my problem, not yours.” There. She’d said it.

  Cam nodded slowly. “I get it. I feel that way around her too, and then sometimes she starts talking and I nod my head even if I don’t agree with her. I think I’m flattered she wants to hang out with me.” She covered her face. “That’s so embarrassing to even say.”

  “No, it’s not. She’s the most popular girl in eighth grade.”

  “Yeah, but she’s not my best friend. You are,” Cam said.

  Rosie smiled. Warmth seeped into her chest. “You’re my best friend too, but it’s okay for you to have other good friends. And I don’t have to always be included in everything you’re doing.”

  “But I want you there! When I was at Leila’s party, I was by myself on the couch while everyone else talked to the boys. I pretended to watch the movie because I didn’t know where else to look. It was so awkward. I think Chase only sat down next to me because he felt sorry for me. I really wished you were there. I always have more fun when you’re around.”

  Rosie couldn’t believe it. She’d figured Leila’s party was the most fun thing since they’d gone to see The Wizard of Oz on the big movie screen in Gloster.

  “I guess we can’t always do everything together anymore,” Rosie said.

  “I guess not,” Cam replied. “But sometimes I miss how it used to be—just you, me, and Henry.”

  “Me too,” Rosie said sadly.

  But neither was smiling anymore because one of them wasn’t there.

  “If only I had listened to Henry about the treasure instead of thinking about my documentary again,” Rosie said.

  “If only I had gone after him at lunch instead of going to see Leila,” Cam added.

  “Hey there!”

  Cam and Rosie looked up. Betsy was coming up the walk, holding something bulky in her arms.

  “Is Henry here?” Betsy asked.

  “You haven’t heard?” Cam said. “Henry is missing.”

  Betsy’s mouth fell open. “Oh no. He forgot this.” She held out the bulky thing in her arms, and Rosie immediately saw that it was an orange life jacket.

&n
bsp; Rosie swallowed. “Where did you find that?”

  Betsy shrugged. “I was on my way to the festival and noticed it out in Henry’s driveway. I knew right away he’d forgotten it. I figured I might find him here since you three are always together, but if he’s missing … ” Her voice trailed off.

  The hair rose on Rosie’s arms. If Henry was missing and he forgot a life jacket, there was only one place he could be—on the water somewhere. Rosie thought back to the times Henry talked about the treasure and froze.

  “Henry told me Lonnie used to fish at White Stone Beach,” Rosie said in a rush. “What if he thinks the treasure is there?”

  Cam went still. “White Stone Beach is on that little island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. You can only get there by boat. You don’t think he’d actually go there by himself, do you?”

  “He might.” Rosie thought of Henry’s determined face when he stormed away from her, and then she remembered Hazel’s clue. “I talked to Hazel Maywell tonight. I know you don’t believe in the Miracles, but we have to listen to her. She’s our one hope, and she said the train treasure was under the leaves of Lonnie’s safe house. Are there any trees on the island?”

  Betsy nodded. “I used to climb them when my daddy took me fishing there.”

  The sky rumbled overhead. “A nor’easter is headed our way. If he’s on the water—” Rosie couldn’t finish her sentence.

  Rosie met Cam’s eyes, which were wide and frightened. Rosie grabbed Cam’s hand and set her shoulders. It wasn’t too late. She knew it wasn’t. Between Hazel and Betsy, they’d gotten clues to where Henry was … Now it was up to them to find him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Cam discovered Mr. Joe’s rusted-out jonboat missing from the dock. Rosie rushed back inside and told Mama everything. After contacting the police station, Mama left to go tell Miss Betty what they’d learned. Cam and Rosie hopped on their bikes. Rosie left a note this time explaining how she’d gone to help Henry. She hoped Mama understood she had no choice.