This was getting ridiculous; I wasn’t even turning on the juice.
Lily stepped out of the Blue Moon and stopped on the sidewalk, facing us. She looked at me, her gray eyes wide, and then at the girl beside me. Her mouth popped open in a small o.
“Sorry,” I said, not looking the Katie girl in the face. “Gotta go.”
I stood up, tossed the fry box in the garbage, and jogged across the street. Lily looked around nervously and pulled at what appeared to be a pair of striped socks she was wearing on her arms. As I got closer, I saw she had cut holes in the socks for her hands; she clutched a piece of paper in her right.
“Well, you’ve clearly recovered,” I said, keeping my tone low, my cadence slow, in that comforting way I knew put humans at ease. I locked my eyes on hers, preparing to bend her will to mine, but was only able to hold her gaze for a second.
“Um. Yeah. I took a dozen hot showers, y’know? And Mom about drowned me in chamomile tea.”
I smiled and tried to think of something clever to say, but my mind turned to pudding.
“I’m not sure I really thanked you properly the other day,” she said, looking at her shoes.
Is she purposely avoiding eye contact? “Oh, sure you did. You said something that sounded like it, anyway. You were kind of mumbling the whole way back.”
She looked up at me then. “Did you really carry me home?”
I blinked. “No big deal.”
She shook her head and stared past my shoulder. “It was just the weirdest thing ever. One minute I was on the rock, and the next minute I thought I was going to drown, and then it was like I was flying.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said. Electricity seared my veins, and I instinctively took a step back as the first little hairs rose off the back of my neck. “You hit your head really hard on that rock. Did you have to get stitches?”
She didn’t seem to be listening to me.
“It was just so bizarre.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. It sounded like she’d been repeating that line to herself for quite a while. Even now I wasn’t sure she was talking to me. “It was just like … Never mind.” She shook her head again.
“No, tell me. You’ve made me curious.” Terrified was more like it. Did she know she’d been pushed?
“Well, this is going to sound weird, but, there aren’t, like, any dolphins in Lake Superior, are there?”
I forced my face to stay controlled. “Dolphins? Don’t be crazy. This is a freshwater lake. It was probably just the cold affecting your brain.”
She scowled at me. “I know, it’s just that I …”
“So, what’s the paper you got there?” I asked, pointing to the most convenient distraction I could find.
She looked down at her hand as if she’d forgotten she was holding something. She pulled one of the socks up over her elbow.
“Oh. This. I need to get a job.”
“Don’t you have to start your new school on Monday?”
“No. It’s so late in the year, my mom arranged to home-school us for the last couple months. This way I get to graduate with my class back home.”
“So how’s it going?”
“Just got started, but okay, I guess. I’ve got to do a comparative essay on Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ versus Yeats’s ‘Sailing to Byzantium,’ but Mom’s given me a little more time because of my near drowning and all.”
“The advantages of having a parent as a teacher.”
“Were you homeschooled?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I guess you could call it that. I had a very … practical upbringing.”
“Exactly. That’s what I’ve been saying. All you really need to know is how to survive. I love the poetry. At least that’s useful. But where’s advanced calculus going to get me?”
“I wouldn’t know about that,” I said. There was so much I wanted to ask her. Hundreds of questions, really, but for now I could only pick one. The rest would have to wait.
“How come you’ve never come to Bayfield before? I mean, I am right about that, aren’t I?”
“You’re right.” She paused. “I guess my dad was never ready until now.” She looked down at her job application and rolled the paper into a tube. She held it up to her eye like a spyglass and looked at me through it.
“What does that mean?”
She dropped her spyglass and put one hand on her hip. “Y’know, you ask a lot of personal questions.”
“Well, I figure having saved your life and all, I’m entitled to know something about you.” A strand of hair blew across her face, and I hooked it back behind her ear. She slapped at my hand.
“Okay,” she said. “How ’bout this? I’m going to the U of M in September, and I need to make some serious money before then.” She looked back at the Blue Moon doubtfully. “And I like coffee.”
Nodding appreciatively, I wished her good luck on the job search and then stood there, stupidly, with nothing more to say. It was an awkward moment; she was presumably wondering why I didn’t go and I was wondering what she was waiting for.
“I’m supposed to meet some people here,” she said finally.
“You’ve made friends already?” Surprisingly, the words came out angry, and Lily flinched.
“Just Gabrielle and Jack Pettit,” she said in a small voice. “You met them the other day at our house. They said they’d show me around town.”
“I could do that.” Still too angry. I relaxed my shoulders to suppress the bleakness roiling in my brain. “Ditch them. Come with me. It would be more fun, I can promise you that. Besides, you owe me.”
“Y’know … thanks, but no thanks. I already said I’d meet them, and, well, this is going to sound bad but, I mean, I’m so thankful you pulled me out of the lake, but seriously, Calder, you make me a little nervous.”
This wasn’t working. She was supposed to be drawing nearer to me, not backing away. Maybe she had good instincts, but it felt like I was on the fritz or something. That other girl back on the bench hadn’t been repelled. Far from it. What is wrong with this Hancock girl? I wondered. Why didn’t Maris just let me go with my gut? Sophie wouldn’t have been nearly so much trouble.
“Sorry,” I said. I took a step back. Maybe I’d moved too close to her. “I didn’t mean to make you nervous. I just wanted to check up on you. Make sure you’re safe and feeling better. All that stuff. Anyway, I’ll be off now. Places to go, people to see.” Lame.
I raised my hand to wave, but she’d already turned away. I didn’t get it. Not that I wanted human girls to fawn all over me—truly, I didn’t—but they could at least have the decency to do so when I wanted them to. When I needed them to. I walked away, my head hanging, my hands shoved in my pockets. She was a puzzler. And probably not worth the effort. It might not be too late to resurrect the original Sophie plan. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Lily watching me. Blood rushed into her cheeks and she spun around.
Okay. All’s not lost yet. You’ll just have to be patient with this one.…
Jack and Gabrielle Pettit pulled up in a pea-green Pinto. The engine died with a sputter, and they climbed out. Gabrielle looped her arm through Lily’s, laughed at her sock-sleeves, and started walking her away. I followed them with my eyes right up until I felt Pavati watching me from the opposite corner.
Her face and hair blended in with the chocolate-colored paint on the front of the burger joint; I hadn’t noticed her. She skipped kitty-corner across the intersection and took my hand.
“Cal-der,” she drawled. “Whatcha doin’?”
“You know what I’m doing,” I snapped. “I’m getting close to the girl. Like we planned.”
“Really? Then why is she walking away from you?”
“Ha, ha. You’re a riot, Pavati.”
“What’s bugging you? You’re awfully unobservant, and you didn’t come out to the island last night.”
“So?”
“So, I know you, Calder. You always want to be alone when some
thing’s on your mind.”
“Geez, maybe I just like to be alone.”
“Hey, I get it, you not wanting to be around Maris all the time. She’s a little …”
I looked at her knowingly, daring her to fill in the blank.
“Intense,” she said. “It can get exhausting feeding off that kind of energy all day. But I don’t think that’s it.” Worry flashed in her lavender eyes. “You don’t see something going wrong with the plan, do you? Do you think we should just make this one a quick hit?”
“No!”
She stopped with her mouth open.
“No. I mean, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the plan. It’s just going to take a little longer with this girl than I originally thought.” A small part of me lit up at the thought of getting to spend more time with Lily.
“So? What’s her name again?” Pavati finally asked with an exhale. She smelled like smoked fish and … pipe tobacco.
“Where’ve you been, Pav?”
“Never mind.”
I leaned in and gave her a good sniff. “Damn it, you took an old man? You heard Maris. We’re supposed to pace ourselves. It’s a long summer, Pavati. We just got here.”
“Take it easy, Calder. It was only one.”
“And we’ve got a priority target.” The remnants of the old man’s happiness still lit up the corners of Pavati’s mouth. Irritated by her lack of self-control but envious of her catch, I reached up with one finger toward her lips. Perhaps I could scoop just a little bit of the light for myself. She smiled and gently lowered my hand.
“So, what’s the girl’s name, Cal?”
I pulled my gaze from her mouth to her eyes. This time it was my turn to feel sheepish. “Lily.”
“Is she going to pose a problem?”
I furrowed my brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Listen, Calder. As a rule, falling in love with your prey is a mistake.”
I smiled broadly. Out of all of us, Pavati was the only one who had any experience in this department. I knew nothing of love; all I knew was that none of Pavati’s lovers survived to see a second date. “Is that right, Pav? It’s a rule?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and rocked back to get a fuller view of her. “And you think I’m falling in love? With her? Is that even possible?”
She linked her arm through mine. “I’m not sure yet. But you’ll have to be careful. Trust me on this one.”
“You shouldn’t project your own romantic tendencies onto me.” I pulled my arm out. “She’s just a girl.”
“Uh-uh. She’s not just a girl,” Pavati said, shaking her head. “If you fall for her, you’ll ruin everything.”
“I don’t follow. Anyway, just drop it. This is a ridiculous conversation. I have everything under control.”
“Have it your way, but I will be watching.”
I shrugged. “Watch all you want.” We stared after Lily Hancock, who was now almost out of view. “She’s just a means to an end.”
“Whatever you say.”
I sighed. Pavati was going to believe what she wanted to believe. Nothing could change that.
“So don’t you think you should follow her? Maybe start gaining valuable information? Maris will be quizzing you later.”
She pushed me off with a shove on the shoulder. I thrust my hands back into my pockets and strode off in the direction Lily and her new friends had taken. I turned and walked backward a few steps. “See you later at the island, then?”
“Looking forward to it,” Pavati said with a wave, her gold bracelets jangling.
13
LEGEND
I followed the scent of orange blossoms up the street to where it teed and then trailed it to the same playground where we kept our car. Lily and the Pettit kids were sitting on the swings. They weren’t swinging but were simply hanging in the rubber slings, letting their feet drag in the dirt until little tawny dust clouds floated around their ankles.
I ducked behind a sailboat still up in dry dock, then followed a line of bike racks to a large green garbage bin. Dropping to the ground, I pulled my knees up to my chin.
An older couple walked by and looked at me questioningly. There was no good reason to be sitting here on the ground, by the garbage. I nodded to them, and the woman raised a hand to wave tentatively. The old man frowned at me and took his wife’s hand. They walked away, arms swinging happily, apparently satisfied that I wasn’t some juvenile delinquent. Their satisfaction in each other was palpable. It drew a yellow halo around their bodies that tasted like lemon drops.
I thanked God I wasn’t running into them out on the water. My sisters were bad enough in their hunger for that level of emotion. Pavati’s impulsiveness today was just one example. I eyed the old couple. If I came across that kind of love out on the water—well, as thin as I was stretched, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
Lily’s voice rose on the other side of the garbage bin and reminded me why I was there. Gabrielle Pettit was laughing uproariously. It irritated me that she seemed to be mocking Lily.
“You must have hit your head pretty hard,” she said, laughing again.
“Don’t be a jerk,” said Jack. “You don’t know what she saw.”
“I’m sure she didn’t see a dolphin. In fact, I’d bet my life on it. Even if one could find a way to get here.”
So she was still on that stupid dolphin.
“What do you think it was, you guys?” asked Lily. “It was really big.”
“Some sturgeon can get huge,” said Gabrielle. “They’ve been reported at seven feet.” She turned around and around until the chains were twisted all the way to the top of the swing set.
Jack nodded. “These days more like three. Five tops.”
“No, it was bigger than that,” said Lily. “Bigger than me.”
I closed my eyes and let the whole scene play out in my head. I’d thought Lily had been unconscious. What had I done? What had she seen?
“It grabbed me, and we flew out of the water. I mean, I fell, like, way far down. And we flew out of the water and landed on the rock. It was like being shot out of a cannon.”
“Dude,” Gabrielle said, “that definitely sounds like a hallucination.”
“And then Calder carried me home.”
“That hot guy who helped move you in?” Gabrielle picked up her feet and let herself untwist, spinning into a blur of long dark hair. “You didn’t say you’d been hiking with him.”
“I wasn’t really hiking with him. I was hiking with Sophie. He just sort of showed up.”
“See, I don’t like the sound of that,” said Jack. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I’ve never heard of him before. Besides, if he was with you, why didn’t he rescue you?”
“He did. He pulled me out,” said Lily. “I mean, he said he pulled me out.” She shook her head. “I just swear I saw something else there, too. Something big … with a silver ring around its neck.”
“Oh, man,” Jack said. The words came out in a long breath.
Gabrielle looked at him and frowned. “Dude, shut up. Don’t feed her that bullshit.”
“A silver ring?” Jack asked, ignoring his sister.
“Right,” said Lily. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Come on, I’ve got to show you something.”
“No, Jack. Don’t,” Gabrielle said. “The girl’s messed up enough.”
Jack grabbed Lily’s hand and they were running. Gabrielle jogged behind, looking entirely pissed off. I got up and stalked after them, dodging between dry-docked boats, a three-tiered rack of dinghies, and a few parked cars.
They got back to the Pinto, and I figured I’d lost them. Once they were in the car, I wouldn’t be able to keep up. But they didn’t get in. Jack popped open the trunk. He pulled out a square frame and flipped it around for Lily to see. It was an oil painting. Crude. Little talent. But clear enough. It was Pavati. Or something like h
er. Dark brown hair looping and spiraling across her shoulders. Almond-shaped lavender eyes rimmed in thick lashes. Brown skin, shimmering from some unseen light source. The arms, the cobalt-blue tail … the silver ring around her neck. This wasn’t the product of imagination, but if he knew Pavati, how was it he was still alive?
Lily looked from the painting to Jack. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“You said she had a silver ring around her neck.”
“Yeah,” Lily said, focusing on the painting again. Her voice came out barely audible. “A mermaid?” Clearly her imagination hadn’t gone to this extreme.
“I did this for my art class,” said Jack. “We had to do an artistic rendition of an American legend.”
“You guys think there are mermaids in Lake Superior?”
“No,” said Gabrielle, and Jack grimaced. “No, we don’t think that. Jack’s painting is based on a legend from way up in Maine. Tell her, Jack.”
“Sure,” Jack said reluctantly. “There’s a Passamaquoddy legend. The story is that a long time ago there was an Indian, with his wife and two daughters. They lived by a big lake.”
“No. Not a lake,” corrected Gabrielle, “the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Yeah, right. The ocean. So the mom told her daughters never to go into the water because if they did, something terrible would happen. But the girls snuck out. They wanted to swim to an island they could see from their house.”
“Then what happened?” asked Lily.
“They didn’t come home.”
“Geez, Jack.” Gabrielle put her arm around Lily’s shoulders.
Jack continued. “Everyone looked for the girls, but no one could find them. The dad went out in a canoe to search the lake, and he saw the girls swimming, but they didn’t look like his daughters anymore. They were like black snakes, and they were caught in some kind of slime.
“The dad tried to get close to them, but the closer he got, the deeper the girls sank into the slime. The farther they sank, the more beautiful they became. But get this. They had silver rings around their necks.
“After that, whenever the Indians got into their canoes, the girls would sing and carry them. The Indians never needed to paddle. The mermaids were like the guardian angels of the tribe. But then someone wanted to try and catch one of them.”