They pedaled to the end of Magnolia Street, down Poplar Lane, and over Birch Street, past the shops and churches. Dead cornstalks loomed over either side of the road like sand-colored monsters. The wind had picked up and clawed at their hair. Rosie shivered. The pit in her stomach was the same one she always got when the music to the movie Jaws began, right before the giant shark bit someone’s legs off.
They turned in to the Windwheel Marina parking lot. Rosie threw her bike behind a nest of bushes. A blinking red-and-blue police light cast beams in every direction from the boat on which Sheriff Parker and Deputy Cordell were untying the knots tethering it to the dock.
Deputy Cordell groaned as soon as she saw them.
Sheriff Parker looked up. “Rosie, what are you doing here?”
“We have to come with you,” Rosie said.
Deputy Cordell rolled her eyes. “Sheriff, we don’t have time for this. There’s a storm blowing in.”
Rosie ignored Deputy Cordell and fixed her eyes on Sheriff Parker. “Please let us come. We could help. We know Henry the best, and maybe—maybe we can tell you which direction he may have taken or where he would put down his anchor.”
“Absolutely not,” Deputy Cordell said. “We cannot let a couple of civilians—children civilians at that—accompany us on official police business.”
Rosie squeaked out a protest. There was no way she was staying at the marina.
“If you don’t let us come, we’ll steal a boat and follow you,” Cam said, lifting her chin high and staring them both down.
“Are you threatening a police officer, young lady?” Deputy Cordell asked.
“I’m telling you the truth,” Cam said, crossing her arms.
Sheriff Parker sighed. “Do your parents know you’re here?”
“Mine do,” Cam bluffed.
Rosie kept silent. She’d had enough lying for one lifetime. She just hoped Sheriff Parker agreed to take them anyway.
Sheriff Parker pulled out his phone. “I’m calling both your parents to let them know where you are.” He then gestured to the boat. “Get in.”
“This is highly unusual, Sheriff,” Deputy Cordell protested.
“I agree,” Sheriff Parker said. “But I can’t risk any more kids out here alone tonight.”
Sheriff Parker couldn’t reach Mama or Cam’s parents, but he left a message with both before starting out onto the water. The river was choppy and rough, battling against the wind. The police boat hurdled along, coasting up a wave and slamming back down into the water with a resounding boom every couple of feet.
A flock of birds soared overhead, black against the night sky. A clap of thunder blotted out their cries. Cam reached for Rosie’s hand and held on tight. Rosie knew they were thinking the same thing. Was there any chance of finding Henry in all of this?
They emptied out of the Rappahannock River and into the Chesapeake Bay. As soon as they hit the waters of the bay, the choppiness grew worse. The wind picked up. The boat crashed against the waves, and Rosie feared it would break apart into a thousand pieces.
A few straggly trees were silhouetted up ahead on White Stone Beach. Water crashed against the strip of rocky beach. The island itself was smaller than a football field, and half of it was buried under the rising water. In the distance, a yellow lightning bolt shattered the sky. The wind howled in Rosie’s ears.
Sheriff Parker said nothing and edged the boat closer to the beach. He clicked on the boat’s spotlight and swept it over the island. Rosie squinted and searched, desperate to catch a glimpse of Henry. After several long moments, her stomach sank. Despite the light, there was nothing to see. The beach was empty.
The thunder increased in volume and frequency. All at once, the sky unleashed a torrent of rain. Rosie was soaked in seconds. The drops drove into her skin as if needles were jabbing her exposed face and hands.
“We’ve got to turn back,” Deputy Cordell shouted, her hair flapping in her eyes. “It’s not safe.”
Sheriff Parker turned from the steering wheel. His eyes met Rosie’s. “She’s right.”
“But what if he never made it here?” Rosie asked. “What if he’s still out on the water somewhere?”
“He doesn’t know how to use a compass,” Cam said.
“We have to look for him,” Rosie pleaded.
“We don’t have the right equipment.” Sheriff Parker sounded defeated. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more we can do. We’ve already called the coast guard for help. They’ll be out here soon. I’m sure Henry’s taken shelter somewhere along the shoreline.”
Rosie slumped on the side of the boat. She huddled closer to Cam, feeling her arms tremble at the same time. The rain continued to drive down into her face, but she barely noticed. She didn’t believe Henry was sheltering on the shoreline. He was out there somewhere on the water, and he needed their help now.
Sheriff Parker pulled away from the beach and turned the boat toward the shoreline. The boat careened back and forth, up and down, making Rosie’s teeth rattle.
Rosie closed her eyes, trying not to cry. They needed a Miracle. Henry was trying to save his family tonight. He was doing something good the same way he was always doing something good for his parents, for Cam, for her. Now she could only hope a Miracle would save him back.
Go to the left.
The words popped into Rosie’s mind from out of nowhere. No sooner had she thought it than Sheriff Parker made a sudden and sharp turn to the left. Rosie’s eyes flew open.
Deputy Cordell turned to him. “Sheriff, where are you going? Marina is that way.” She pointed to the right.
Sheriff Parker clutched the wheel, staring straight ahead. “I’ve got a feeling.”
Rosie’s heart jolted up to her throat as she leapt to her feet. Every part of her body tugged to the left side of the boat. She peered over the edge and would have jumped into the water herself if Sheriff Parker weren’t heading in exactly the direction of the strange pull. Something was happening. Something big. Something outside of their control.
“Go faster,” Rosie shouted.
“This is crazy,” Deputy Cordell yelled.
As if to punctuate her point, thunder boomed around them and lightning electrified the sky, closer than ever.
“Girls, get in the cabin,” Deputy Cordell demanded.
But Cam was now standing beside Rosie near the front of the boat, her feet sure despite the unsteadiness beneath them. She looked at Rosie, and hope radiated from her face. Cam could feel it too. Was it her imagination, or had the wind died down a bit? Had the rain slowed slightly? Was the boat cutting through the waves, steady and sure, almost as if it had a mind of its own? There was magic seeping off the water and swirling in the air. The Miracle was on its way.
Rosie held her breath and stared straight ahead at the black expanse of water and the whitecaps churning on the surface. And then somehow, unbelievably, over the wind whooshing and the thunder crashing, she heard it. Henry’s voice! It was faint and nearly indistinguishable, but it was definitely him.
“Help!”
“I hear him!” Rosie said. “His voice is coming from over there.” She pointed straight ahead and yelled above the storm. “Hold on, Henry. We’re coming!”
“We’re almost there!” Cam shouted.
Sheriff Parker shifted the boat in the direction of Rosie’s finger.
A lightning bolt lit up the water only car lengths away. The wind rose higher. Rosie didn’t dare breathe. Her body was immobilized with fear. Henry was in the water. A Miracle might be on its way, but so was danger.
“There!” Cam yelled. “I see him!”
Henry’s head rose out of the waves, then slipped back below the water with a sickening splash. He was gone, swallowed up whole, almost as if he’d never existed at all.
Sheriff Parker pulled the boat to a sudden stop, sending everyone careening forward. Rosie’s knees hit the deck hard, but she lifted her head as Sheriff Parker dove straight down into the darkness wh
ere Henry had disappeared. Rosie clambered to her feet, gripping Cam’s arm, staring at the place where Henry had gone under as the seconds ticked past. The waves rolled and splashed over the side of the boat, and the rain was a thick, gray curtain.
Rosie squeezed her eyes shut. For a single moment, it was as if the entire world stopped midframe. The screaming of the storm silenced. The motion of the waves halted. The rain froze in the air.
I believe. I believe. I believe.
Sheriff Parker broke the surface with a sputtering, gasping Henry. He hauled him toward the boat, swimming with one arm and holding Henry with the other. Rosie rushed to the side, tripping over ropes and life vests, with Cam directly behind her. Deputy Cordell reached down and heaved Henry up and over.
Henry landed on the floor of the boat with a thud. Water dripped into his eyes and down his cheeks. He was pale and soaked, but he was alive. Without stopping to take a breath, Cam and Rosie threw their arms around him and held on as if they would never let go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
People bustled in and out of the waiting room of the police station. Miss Millie, the department secretary, sat behind the lobby desk, fielding phone calls and asking Cam, Henry, and Rosie if they wanted anything every few minutes. They huddled in a row of chairs under a mountain of blankets. Miss Millie had already brought them hot tea. Rosie held the mug and let the warmth flow into her hands.
Sheriff Parker leaned over the reception desk at the front of the lobby. His uniform dripped water onto the table, and he pushed wet hair out of his eyes. “Your parents should be here any minute.”
Rosie studied Sheriff Parker’s steady blue eyes and lined forehead. He wasn’t exciting or flashy like a leading man in a classic old movie, but he was brave. He was the type of person who drove a boat through lightning to save a kid, took Mama to a fancy dinner to make her happy, and fixed the lock on their door because it needed fixing. He was a good person, and Mama deserved someone like that.
Rosie hadn’t given Sheriff Parker a chance. She should have listened to Mama when she said he was trying harder and noticed the nice things he did. But she hadn’t wanted to see those things because she didn’t want Mama to have any reasons to like him. She’d wanted Mama all to herself, the same as always. She’d been jealous, and that wasn’t fair to Mama or Sheriff Parker.
Rosie shrugged off her blanket and walked to the front of the lobby.
Sheriff Parker was shuffling some papers on the reception desk and looked up when Rosie approached. “Everything okay?”
“I wanted to thank you for what you did.”
“That’s my job.”
Rosie met his gaze. “I don’t think your job means you have to drive a boat through a nor’easter and dive into the river at night, in the cold, to rescue my best friend.”
Sheriff Parker ducked his head. “I’m glad he’s okay.”
“You should ask Mama out on another date,” Rosie said.
Sheriff Parker waved a hand. “I don’t think your mama is too interested in me right now. It’s all right.”
“She likes you. I can tell. You should call her or something.” Rosie’s cheeks burned. “I wouldn’t mind.”
Sheriff Parker examined the lid of his coffee cup as if it held the secrets of the whole universe on it. “Well, thank you for … that.”
“You know, your situation follows the rules of a classic romcom, just like Sleepless in Seattle with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks,” Rosie said. “Meg’s a reporter who falls in love with Tom after hearing him on a radio show. She writes a letter asking him to meet her on the top of the Empire State Building. They have so many obstacles, but they find each other in the end.”
“I have no idea what a romcom is,” Sheriff Parker said.
“It stands for romantic comedy, and the rules are simple. One, the hero’s goal is to win the love of another character, which you were trying to do with Mama. Two, there’s always a big date, which was your dinner at Sunsets. Three, there are insurmountable obstacles separating the hero and his love, which was me.”
“What was you?” Sheriff Parker asked.
Rosie really didn’t want to get into how she’d acted like a brat and tried to convince Mama to dump him. “You know what? That part isn’t important. The important part is rule number four: there’s always a happy ending.”
Sheriff Parker shook his head, smiling. “I don’t know about all that, but if anyone deserves a happy ending, it’s Caroline.”
Rosie smiled back at him. “Seems like we can agree on some parts of filmmaking.”
Sheriff Parker walked down the hallway to the offices in the rear of the station, and Rosie sank into her seat between Cam and Henry, pulling the blanket over her shoulders.
“Sheriff Parker deserves a medal for saving my life,” Henry said.
Cam punched him in the shoulder. “Yeah, well, your life wouldn’t have needed saving if you hadn’t tried to take a boat to White Stone Beach on your own. That was so stupid.”
It turned out Henry had never made it to White Stone Beach. He’d left right after school in Mr. Joe’s boat. When he got out into the Chesapeake Bay, his engine stopped; he was stranded when the nor’easter arrived, and his boat capsized in the huge waves.
Henry shook his head. “I don’t know what came over me. I was just so desperate to help my parents. I thought I could fix everything.”
Rosie shook her head. How could she have possibly thought her problems were more important than Henry’s? They weren’t. Everyone’s problems were important.
“It’s my fault too. I could have talked you out of it if only I had listened to you at school. I’m sorry,” Rosie said.
“Me too,” Cam said.
“It’s all right,” Henry replied, his face still pale but also peaceful.
“But you didn’t find the treasure,” Rosie said. “What if you have to move?”
Cam clenched her fists. “Not happening.”
“It might happen. I hope not. I really hope not.” Henry tugged his blanket tighter around him. “If it does, I’ll have to deal with it.”
Hunched beneath the blanket, Henry looked thin and small. But what no one could see on the outside was how strong he was inside. He’d taken a boat out in the middle of a huge storm to save his family. He’d stood up to his best friends to follow his gut. He’d do anything to help the people he loved. Rosie put her mug down on the table. It was time for her to be brave as well.
“I have to talk to Mama about my father,” Rosie said.
Cam clapped a hand over her forehead. “Sheesh, Rosie. I forgot all about him. Did you find him at the festival?”
“No,” Rosie whispered.
“He’s probably at the Glimmer Creek Inn waiting for you,” Henry said, half standing. “We could go over there right now.”
“He’s not at the inn. He never came,” Rosie said, staring down at her hands. She ached inside as if a fishhook were lodged within her heart.
After a few moments, Henry cleared his throat. “Most male beetles abandon their nests and leave the female beetle to care for their offspring alone. Having a single parent isn’t unusual.”
Cam set her face in a grimace. “I’d like to show Michael Weatherton the unusual force of one of my goal kicks into his shin.”
Rosie couldn’t help laughing. “It’s all right. I mean, it’s not, not really, but I’ll live.”
Henry nudged her arm, and Cam scooted closer. Rosie sighed. There wasn’t anything that could make her father missing the festival okay, but having her best friends beside her helped.
“It’s too bad you didn’t find the treasure. Finding a million bucks would do a lot to cheer me up right now,” Rosie joked. “Maybe we should go back to White Stone Beach.”
“When it’s not raining,” Cam said.
“I’m not sure there’s much of a point,” Henry said ruefully. “All I know is Lonnie went fishing there sometimes. I don’t have any real clues. It was just the next place on my list
.”
Rosie and Cam looked at each other and smiled. They hadn’t told him yet about Hazel.
“What is it?” Henry asked.
“We have a clue,” Rosie said. “A real one if we can make sense of it. I talked to Hazel about the treasure tonight. I figured if I found it, maybe I would find you, too. She said we needed to dig under the leaves of Lonnie’s safe house to find the treasure.”
“It’s a pretty random clue,” Cam said, laughing.
Henry sat up, the blanket slipping off his shoulders. “Maybe not.”
Rosie looked at him, her eyes widening. “Are you saying you know where Lonnie hid out after the robbery?”
Henry was already shaking his head. “I don’t know that, but what if she wasn’t talking about where Lonnie hid out after the robbery? What if she was talking about the one place Lonnie felt at home, the only place he felt safe?”
“Okay, I guess that fits, but where is it?” Cam asked.
“After his parents died, Lonnie had only his two best friends. They were like his brothers, and they built this tree house in the woods behind the Gooch place, where they spent all their time. If Lonnie managed to make it all the way back to Glimmer Creek after the robbery, after he was shot, maybe the only thing he wanted was to get back to the tree house.”
“His safe house under the leaves,” Rosie whispered.
The three of them stared at each other, and matching grins broke out across their faces.
“You know, we could film our treasure hunt for another documentary,” Rosie said. “If we find the treasure, we might actually get distribution.”
“Why don’t we focus on coming up with a plan for locating the old tree house first,” Cam said.
Henry held out his hands. “We could always do both. Official HenRoCam on Monday?”
“I can meet after film club,” Rosie said.
“Soccer ends at four,” Cam said.
“Great,” Henry said, and clasped them both by the arms.
It wasn’t going to be the same as elementary school. They couldn’t always do everything together forever, but there would still be official HenRoCams, there would still be adventures, and there would still be friendship, and that was more than enough.
Forever Glimmer Creek Page 18