She poured a glass of OJ and sank onto the bench at the table. Her mother picked up her coffee and rather than sit next to Caroline, she stood at the sink with it.
Last night her mother had held her; this morning she had pushed her away. She wondered what it was about her that made her mother treat her this way. What did she do wrong?
“Is Gram still sleeping?” she asked. At least Gram could stand to be around her even if her mother couldn’t.
“I don’t know, Caroline.” She put the cup into the sink. “I’m getting a shower.”
In the next minute, Caroline heard the bathroom door lock and the pipes clank as the water turned on. She stood from the bench seat. Somehow the cold treatment from her mother always stung more after the times she had shown her the slightest bit of affection.
Well, she’d show her. She picked up the empty water jug and carried it back to her bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and twisted the cap on and off, debating whether or not she had the courage to go through with what she was thinking about doing.
The well was located on the other side of the lake, and Caroline had been filling jugs with water for as long as she could remember. When she had been little and too weak to carry them on her own, Gram had accompanied her, and the two of them had made the trek. Her job was to hold the jug steady under the stream of clear cool water while Gram pumped. Gram said it was the best tasting water around. After all, the lake was one of the few freshwater lakes in the state of Pennsylvania, and she felt lucky to have a summer cabin next to it.
Caroline was sure Gram had other jugs of water in the pantry, and she’d replace the one in the refrigerator soon enough, but this wasn’t about replenishing their supply. Her mother made her feel bad about herself all over one stupid drink, and that in turn made her angry. She chewed on these emotions, biting her bottom lip for a minute more. She decided she would refill it. She’d take only the one jug for no other reason than for spite.
After a quick change into shorts and a T-shirt, she stuck her baseball cap on, grabbed the jug, and slipped out the screen door, making sure not to let it bang shut.
When she reached Lake Road, she paused, thinking of the best route to take without being seen. She didn’t think she could bear another day watching underwater recovery on the lake, and she certainly didn’t want to risk bumping into Johnny or Chris or anyone else for that matter. She wasn’t sure, but she imagined her eyes looked as if she had been crying. Her face was probably pink and blotchy. Her mother had told her once she wore her heart on her sleeve—right before she had advised her to toughen up.
Thinking about her mother’s words enraged her more, and she stomped through the woods, taking the same path she had the night before. She wasn’t halfway down the narrow trail, staying clear of the poison ivy that covered most of the area on her left, when the same dog started barking again. Darn dog. She spotted the mutt through the oak and maple trees. He was tied to a dog coop on the side of a cabin. She recognized him: Cougar, a name that mocked the poor animal before it ever stood a chance. No wonder he barked incessantly. He was looking for attention and, knowing his owners, Stimpy and his wife, he was hungry, too. She made a mental note to bring poor Cougar some food at some point during the day.
When she came to the edge of the parking lot, she spied the underwater recovery team’s vehicle. Two of the men stood next to the truck, drinking coffee. Three other cars were parked in the lot. A couple sat on the hood of a sedan parked closest to the truck and men. Caroline recognized Sara’s mother. She was wearing the big sun hat she had worn on the day Sara disappeared. Her knees were pulled close to her chest, and she was hugging her legs tightly. A man sat next to her, presumably Sara’s father, hunched over with his feet propped on the front bumper. Both parents’ shoulders slumped, but Caroline could tell solely from the way they held their heads, necks craned forward and chins lifted, that their eyes had never left the water.
She turned away from the scene, her stomach feeling as if a thousand minnows swam back and forth in it, making her seasick. She wound her way unnoticed to the far side of the Pavilion. The sign on the door was the same from yesterday: CLOSED.
Turning at the sound of a car coming down Lake Road, she took off in the opposite direction of the beach and the recovery team, deciding on the longer route to the well. She’d have to walk in a near full circle around the lake, but the idea appealed to her. She wasn’t in any hurry to return to The Pop-Inn and face her mother, or Johnny the Jerk for that matter. Nor was she in any mood to listen to Megan’s obsessive talk about makeup and boys and kissing.
She stuck close to the back of the cabins alongside the lake, smelling bacon and eggs as she passed. Sometimes she’d hear voices and the clinking of silverware inside. When she came to the last cabin before a stretch of woods, she saw Adam sitting on the pier all alone, holding a fishing pole.
“Hey, Adam,” she said. “Catch anything?”
He looked up. “Just a couple of sunnies.”
There were a few slices of bread next to him. He was using dough balls, sticking them on the end of the hook, the perfect bait to catch sunnies. She had done the same thing so many times, she couldn’t keep count. All the kids fished for sunnies at some point during their time at the lake. Of course, you tossed the small fish back as soon as they were caught. They were too small to eat, and she was certain they wouldn’t taste good if you could.
She sat next to him. Several fish had gathered around his hook, sneaking pieces of bread before darting away. A half dozen ducks were making their way across the water looking for handouts. Underwater recovery loaded their watercraft, preparing for another sweep.
“Do you think Heil will ever give the horse’s bit back to me?” Adam asked.
“I doubt it,” she said, and tossed a few bread crumbs to the ducks.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” He rolled another dough ball and stuck it on the end of the hook. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Do you believe in the lake legend?”
She had never really thought hard about it. It was one of those things you heard, and being a kid, you accepted without question that it was true. “I believe in it,” she said. “Do you?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You know what I think?” His voice was serious. “I think you have to be a kid to believe in stuff like legends.”
Caroline smiled, thinking he was right. She picked up the water jug. “Do you want to come to the well with me?”
* * *
They walked single file with Caroline in the lead, ducking under low branches and jumping across muddy patches where the lake water receded. They walked a good stretch in the woods following along the lake’s shoreline, until they came to a private beach and stopped.
“Should we go around?” Adam asked.
Caroline looked at the cabin not twenty yards away. It looked dark and quiet. “Let’s cut across. I don’t think anyone’s home.”
They jogged across, kicking up sand onto the backs of their legs. They were halfway to the other side when someone yelled out a window, “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Run!” Caroline shouted. She dashed to the next patch of woods and didn’t stop until she was under the cover of trees.
Adam caught up to her, huffing and puffing. His cheeks were flushed. The excitement and exertion caused them both to burst out laughing. “Holy moly,” he said. “That scared the crap out of me.”
“Me too,” she said, thinking if Megan had been with her, they would’ve gotten caught. Megan was terrible at anything physical, especially running. “Come on.”
They continued to follow the meandering path around the lake, passing several more cabins with private beaches. Each time they stopped, counted to three, and darted across. No one caught them. No one yelled for them to keep out. Only once were the cabin owners outside, and they had to walk around rather than cut across the property. Caroline had to admit, she was having fun, the first bit of fun she had had since the summer had started.