“I can do it,” a man said. He was one of the many curious passengers on the ferry who had been observing the crazy scene. Without being invited, he knelt down by Doug’s feet and put his ear to the lock. “Quiet, everyone!” he hollered. The stranger began to work the lock.
In less than two minutes, the man had the lock open. A spontaneous cheer rose from the girls and the observers. Katie, who was standing with Heather at the other end of the ferry, turned around to see what everyone was cheering about. Sierra considered joining them. She wanted to see the guys’ reaction, too.
“This is what I do for a living,” the man said, pushing up his glasses. “I’m a locksmith. Here’s my card.”
“May I pay you?” Doug said, slipping his foot out of the now open shackle.
“Nope. Consider it a wedding present. Just make sure you show up at the altar.”
“No need to worry about that,” Doug said.
Sierra noticed they were nearing the island. The guys had set up their own viewing area, complete with beach chairs, ice chest, and binoculars. She could see Larry standing in the middle of them with his hands cupped over his mouth.
He called out, “Why did the chicken cross the bay?”
“I thought they would have run out of those jokes by now,” Doug muttered. He had unzipped the back of the chicken suit and was stepping out of it. His T-shirt and shorts were soaked with sweat. “Now it’s time for me to play a little joke on them,” he said, crouching behind one of the cars.
“Here, Tawni. Hide this.” He handed her the big fluffy costume.
“Hide it? Where?”
“And Sierra, when I give the signal, you throw the ball and chain into the water. Ready?”
Sierra lifted the heavy ball. The ferry nosed its way into the dock, and Doug hid himself in a shadow at the edge of the deck. Grinning, he climbed onto the railing.
“Doug,” Tracy yelled, rushing over to him, “what are you doing?”
“Playing the best trick of my life,” he whispered.
THE FERRY DOCKED, and Doug yelled, “I can’t take this anymore!” Then, with a quick nod to Sierra, he jumped feet first into the bay.
Sierra was startled for a moment. Then she remembered his instructions and threw the bowling ball into the water, far away from where Doug had jumped.
Tracy let out a loud shriek.
Larry bellowed, “What’s he doing? There’s a bowling ball on his leg!”
Katie immediately ran back to where Sierra and Tracy stood and frantically yelled, “Isn’t anyone going to do something?”
Before they could stop her, Katie whipped off her jacket and scrambled over the side of the ferry into the water.
“You guys can’t do that!” the ferry pilot called out to the swimmers. The pilot threw up his arms in frustration as Todd and Jeremy ran onto the ferry, with Larry and the other guys right behind them.
“It’s okay!” Christy yelled at them.
“He didn’t have the bowling ball on!” Sierra yelled.
“It was supposed to be a joke!” Tracy yelled.
Todd leaped over the side and swam over to Katie.
“I can’t find him!” Katie screamed, surfacing in a panic.
“It’s okay,” Todd said, coming up beside her and shouting for her to calm down. “Doug is playing a joke on us.”
“He is?” Katie treaded water and looked around.
From Sierra’s vantage point, the water looked disgusting. It had a thin film of oil on the surface that caught the lights from the shore and made wobbly, distorted rings around Todd and Katie.
“Then where is he?” Katie cried out, scanning her surroundings.
Todd immediately dove down to look while Katie kept treading water.
“Is he on the other side?” Katie called out.
Tracy and Christy dashed to the other side of the ferry and searched the water, along with a dozen onlookers who hadn’t exited yet.
Leaning out of his control booth, the captain said to Sierra, “Is there somebody still in the water? They can’t do that.”
“Three people are in the water. One of them hasn’t surfaced yet, though,” Sierra responded.
“That’s it. I’m making the call,” the captain said and ducked back inside.
“Doug!” Tracy screamed. “Doug!”
“Is he over there?” Tawni asked, her voice filled with panic.
Jeremy had his arm around her, and they were looking back and forth across both sides of the water.
Tracy screamed out again, “Doug, this isn’t funny!”
“I’m over here,” a voice called from the side of the ferry where Sierra stood. She scanned the water but couldn’t see anyone.
“Tracy, he’s over here!” Sierra called out.
Immediately, two dozen people ran to that side of the ferry.
“What are you doing?!” Tracy yelled into the dark water. “Where are you? I can’t see you!”
Todd surfaced, and Christy cried out, “Todd, he’s okay. He’s in the water somewhere.”
“Where?” Katie asked, her head bobbing. Suddenly, a glaring searchlight shone from the side of the ferry, lighting up the water and revealing the heads of Todd, Katie, and far to the side, Doug.
“All right,” the captain called through his bullhorn, “everyone out of the water. Now! I’ve called the authorities. This prank has gone on too long. Get out now.”
Katie and Todd swam toward the shore, but Doug didn’t move.
The light shone on him, and the captain called, “Get out of the water immediately.”
“I’d like to,” Doug said as the large audience on the ferry and on the shore watched him in the spotlight. “But you see, I, um…I seem to have lost my shorts somewhere here in the water and ah…”
The audience burst out laughing. Someone took a picture.
The locksmith stepped up next to Sierra and said, “Here. I have an extra pair.”
He unzipped the small gym bag he had with him and threw a pair of swim trunks to Doug.
Everyone watched while Doug grabbed the trunks and then maneuvered underwater to get them on.
Katie and Todd were scrambling up the sharp rocks by the dock, trying to get out of the water. Suddenly, Katie let out a cry of pain. Sierra thought she heard Katie say, “My foot.” But so much noise and confusion filled the air that it was hard to tell. The cars on the shore side were honking to get onto the ferry, a siren wailed as a police car tried to get through behind them, and everyone was heckling Doug as he dog-paddled toward the rocks.
“Come on,” Tawni said. “Let’s get off the boat.”
She and Jeremy led the way, with Sierra, Tracy, and Christy right behind. The other guys from the group and three of the other girls were already off the ferry. They had gathered around the rocks, where Todd was trying to help Katie get up on level ground.
When Sierra arrived, she could see that Katie was in serious pain. She was lying on her side, soaking wet, shivering, and holding her ankle.
“Try not to move it,” Todd said, leaning over her, dripping wet.
“What happened?” Christy yelled over the siren, which was now right behind them.
“She caught her foot between the rocks,” Todd said. He flipped his hair back in his surfer fashion, sending droplets everywhere.
“I twisted it,” Katie said between gasps for breath. “Ouch! It really hurts.”
Sierra noticed that the vehicle with the siren was an ambulance, not a police car.
Larry motioned to the paramedic and called out, “Over here.”
The crowd seemed to grow larger as the paramedic bent over Katie and began to ask her questions. Doug, who was safely out of the water and wearing the loaned swim trunks, which were too small for him, stood beside Todd. Christy and Tracy had joined them, but Sierra hung back with Tawni, Jeremy, and some of their friends.
“This turned out to be a mess,” Tawni said. She held the bulky chicken costume in front of her.
“Maybe we should go back to Doug’s house,” Jeremy suggested. “Or were you planning to go back to Tracy’s?”
“I think we should go to Tracy’s, as long as Katie is okay.”
One of the girls from their group ventured over to the thick of the action and returned to say the paramedics were taking Katie to the hospital. It was possible her foot was broken.
“That’s awful,” Sierra said. “Isn’t she supposed to be in the wedding?”
“Not really,” Tawni said. “Christy is the maid of honor, and Katie was going to do the guest book, I think.”
“She might end up on crutches,” Sierra speculated.
“I’m sure she’ll find a way to blame it on Doug,” Heather said.
“Well, if he hadn’t jumped in…” Tawni said in Katie’s defense. “She was acting out of concern. Obviously, she didn’t know he had taken off the bowling ball.”
“That shouldn’t matter,” Jeremy said. “Why would it be Doug’s fault? Katie didn’t have to go flying into the water like some superhero. Why did she feel responsible to save Doug?”
“That’s the way she is,” Sierra interjected, hoping to calm the brewing argument between Jeremy and Tawni. “Same with Todd. The two of them respond quickly in a crisis and then think about it later.”
“If you ask me,” Tawni said, “Doug was the one who wasn’t thinking. It was a bad move for him to try to pull off this joke. He practically scared Tracy to death. I bet she’s furious with him.”
Tawni was right. Tracy was furious.
Katie was taken to the hospital, and Christy and Todd went along in the ambulance. The rest of the group gathered back at Tracy’s house; anger was written all over Tracy’s usually sweet face. Her mom invited them to come in and have some cake. Tracy was the only one who didn’t eat any.
Doug didn’t seem to take the incident too lightly either. He kept looking at Tracy as if hoping for a sign that she had calmed down.
“I think the locksmith was your guardian angel,” Heather told Doug. “I mean, how many guys do you know who can open a lock like that and then just happen to have an extra pair of shorts with them?”
“What a ridiculous notion!” Marti spouted. “How absurd to think God would send help to save you from your own foolishness.”
Doug immediately spoke up in agreement with her. “It was foolish. I can say before everyone here”—he looked at Tracy and attempted a sincere smile—“that I learned my lesson tonight. I’m finished with practical jokes. It’s no fun when someone gets hurt. Or scared,” he added.
“I should say not,” Marti agreed. “I’m ready to go home. Who is going with me?”
Sierra looked around. She was the only one left of the group that had ridden over with Marti. Katie and Christy were still at the hospital, and Tawni and Jeremy had left earlier, since they had a long ride down the coast. “I guess I am,” she said.
All the way home, Marti vented her concerns and frustrations about Christy’s friends’ foolishness. “It’s time they grew up,” Marti said. “You’re new to this group, so you don’t know them the way I do, Sierra. I’ve known these young people for years. It’s absolutely ridiculous the way they carry on like immature teenagers. It’s a good thing Robert wasn’t there tonight. I’m sure my foolish husband would have been right in the middle of it all.”
Marti pressed the garage door opener. “This only proves what I’ve thought all along. Christy must go away to school, or Todd will never mature. That young man hardly has an ounce of responsibility in his body.”
Sierra thought of how Todd had turned down the invitation to go to Switzerland because he couldn’t take any more time off from work. That sounded pretty responsible to her.
“There’s no reason Christy shouldn’t go to school in Europe. I can’t understand why she would even consider passing up such and opportunity, to stay around here with friends like that.”
“Don’t you like Todd?” Sierra asked as Marti turned off the engine.
Marti looked shocked. “Of course! We love Todd like our own son. How can you ask such a thing?”
Sierra shrugged.
“My concern is for Christina. She is not the kind of woman who should marry young. This is her chance to see the world. Otherwise, she will regret it years later.”
Sierra wasn’t sure how Marti had come up with such logic. I wonder how old Marti was when she and Bob married. Sierra decided she had better not say anything, so she focused on keeping her lips sealed as they went inside.
On the kitchen counter was a note from Bob, saying he had received a call from Todd and had gone to the hospital.
“Who knows when they’ll be back,” Marti said. “I’m going to bed. Please make yourself at home.”
“Thank you,” Sierra said. “Goodnight.”
“It’s been a night, all right,” Marti muttered. “If those two ever make it to the altar, I’ll be amazed.”
Sierra didn’t know if Marti was referring to Doug and Tracy or to Todd and Christy.
THE NEXT DAY SPED BY in a wild and colorful blur. Katie and Christy had arrived home from the hospital late the night before when Sierra was already asleep. In the morning, Katie modeled the cast on her right foot and asked Sierra to sign it. Despite the trauma of the night before, Katie was in good spirits.
The phone rang all morning with calls from friends checking in on Katie. Of course, everyone had to go over his or her version of what had happened. Heather told them it was in the paper. Christy and Sierra ran downstairs to find the story, leaving Katie limping behind.
The write-up was on the second page of the local news section and consisted of nine lines describing a prank played by some college students on their friend who was getting married. The last line said, “Police Chief Sanders warned that such activities can be dangerous, as was evidenced by one of the teens’ being taken to the hospital with a broken leg.”
“Foot,” Katie corrected Christy as she read the article aloud in the kitchen. “I’m going to call them and tell them it was a broken foot, not a broken leg.”
Before she had the opportunity to make good on her threat, the phone rang. Bob took it and went into the other room.
The three girls were still in their nightshirts when Sierra noticed the time. “It’s almost noon, you guys. We should probably get dressed soon.”
“It can’t be that late!” Christy said. “I have to be at the church at four for the dress rehearsal, and then at six, there’s a fancy dinner for the wedding party and relatives. I still don’t know what I’m going to wear, and I need to call my parents.”
Christy spent close to an hour on the phone with her parents, discussing Marti’s plans for the Switzerland trip, which only seemed to stress Christy out more. She talked Sierra into ironing a blouse for her while she jumped into the shower.
Katie hopped around on her crutches but seemed to have lost some of her spring. The cast went up to her knee and had to be uncomfortable; also, she was probably still dealing with the trauma of having a broken bone.
Marti fluttered around the house, worrying about everything for everyone. Did Todd pick up his tux yet? Should they call Tracy’s mom to see if she needed help on any last-minute details?
Marti followed Sierra up to the guest bedroom, where she put the freshly ironed blouse on a hanger in the closet.
Katie had stretched out on the bed and propped up her foot with some pillows.
“What about Doug?” Marti continued her worry-fest. “Should Bob call him to make sure he has picked up the ring from the jeweler? And what about the marriage license? Todd and Christy will be required to sign it tomorrow as the witnesses. Do you think Doug will remember to bring it to the church?”
Marti finally left Christy, Katie, and Sierra alone in the bedroom when she realized she hadn’t called her favorite department store to make sure the wedding gift had been delivered to Tracy’s house.
“Remind me to elope,” Christy said, towel-drying her long, nutmeg-colored
hair.
“Oh?” Katie said. “Is this something we should start reminding you of very soon?”
“No,” Christy stepped back into the adjoining bathroom and turned on the hair dryer.
Katie and Sierra exchanged glances.
“I give them six months,” Katie said.
“What if she goes to Switzerland?” Sierra asked.
“She won’t go. Would you?”
“Yes, I definitely would,” Sierra said.
“So would I, but Christy won’t. She hasn’t been bitten by the same adventure bug that got you and me.”
“I heard that,” Christy said, turning off the blow-dryer. “And for your information, I think I’m going to go.”
“You are?” Katie and Sierra said in unison.
Christy stepped back in the bedroom and said calmly, “I think I’m going to go with my aunt to check things out next week. I asked my mom to go with us, and she’s going to talk to Dad about it. They’ll be at the wedding tomorrow night, and she said she would tell me then. If Mom goes, then I’ll go.”
“Rats,” Katie said. “I was hoping you would take me.”
“Oh, I’m sure you would have a lot of fun hopping around Europe on crutches.”
“Hey, it’s not as bad as that girl in the Heidi movie. What was her name? The rich one from the city? She managed to get around the Alps in a wheelchair.”
“Yes,” said Christy with a laugh, “but she had Heidi and the grandfather to push her around, and all you would have is Aunt Marti and me.”
Just then the door swung open, and Marti blew in, her face pink. Sierra wondered if she had radar that could detect when they were joking about her.
“I’ve canceled my account at that store,” she said. “I ordered two settings of Doug and Tracy’s china, and the store told me they delivered everything but the salad plates.”
Sierra and Katie looked at each other. This did not seem like a tragedy.
“Only, just now they informed me that the salad plates are, in fact, in stock and available if I’d like to come down and get them myself. That means, if Doug and Tracy are going to receive the complete set, I have to pick them up. Who wants to go with me?”