Anne Brown - Lies Beneath

A school of coho salmon chased alewives around the underwater rock where I sat. I buried my face in my hands and dove to a depth they wouldn’t go. But the silence at ten fathoms had its own snares; I was left with my own thoughts.

My stomach twisted unbearably with the knowledge of Tallulah’s feelings for me. Not that it was real love. The closest approximation to love for a mermaid was obsession. If I was being honest, I’d always known Tallulah felt more for me than she should have. But Tallulah’s affection was the only gentleness I’d known since my mother’s death. What was I supposed to do with this information now? There was no way I would sleep tonight. I needed someone to talk to. Someone with good advice …

I followed the Madeline Island shoreline south and picked up the high-pitched vibration of the Ashland paper factory. Its tenor told me when it was time to cut through the pass between Long Island and Chequamegon Point. I bore southeast to Little Girl’s Point, then north into the lake, along the Wisconsin-Michigan line, for the wreck of the J.P. Brodie .

The last time I’d come to this site, Reagan had been president, but not much had changed. I tasted the old oak on the water and circled the broken mast down to the hull. It was just as I remembered. Hand over hand, I trailed the starboard side to the third porthole window. I had to smile just a little to see Joe’s gaunt face bobbing on the other side of the filmy glass.

It probably wasn’t his real name, but I’d called him that as a kid. He looked as good as the first day we met, back in ’74. Joe and his crew had already been dead ninety years by then, but the cold water preserved them. Bacteria couldn’t grow at these temperatures, so the bodies didn’t rot or bloat. The sleeve of Joe’s peacoat was caught on something, which kept his face forever bouncing against the glass.

It was good to see him again. He’d always been a willing ear, and he’d heard plenty from me over the years. After Mother died, I visited him often and pretended he was giving me fatherly advice. It helped sometimes when I was at my lowest.

“Hey, Joe,” I said, leaning my shoulder against the exterior of the ship. “Looking good, man.” Out of politeness, I waited for him to respond, then imagined the rest.

“Where y’been, kid?” he’d ask.

“Here, there.”

“Staying out of trouble, I hope. I don’t want to get any bad reports.”

“Hmm,” I said, smiling at his joke.

“What’s bothering you?”

I ran my fingers through my hair. “That obvious?”

“Those sisters giving you trouble again?”

I nodded and pressed my hands to the portal glass.

“That bad?”

“That bad.”

“Let me guess, you didn’t let Tallulah beat you in a race? Put sneezewort in Pavati’s hair again?”

“No.”

“Snakeroot?”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Joe.”

“Right. Right. Listen, you and your sisters will always butt heads. I suppose that’s only natural.” I didn’t say anything, so Joe finally asked straight out, “What did you do this time?”

“I got between them and Jason Hancock.”

Joe laughed a big, hearty laugh. “Wow, kid. I didn’t realize Maris had found him. You got a death wish or something?”

“Something like that.”

A long, morbid silence stretched out between us as he waited for me to elaborate and I waited for his sage advice. Joe spoke first.

“Well, I’m sure you had your reasons.”

I rolled over my shoulder so my back was flat against the hull. “Mm-hmm.”

“And this reason … she must have been very pretty.”

“Very.”

“Good conversationalist?”

I smiled and nodded.

“Then what the hell are you talking to me for, son?”

I turned back to face him and slapped my hand on the side of the hull as if to say, “Thanks, Dad.” My place was with Lily. I’d promised her safety. I would keep that promise—whether she wanted me to or not.

My body whipped itself toward the surface, a wake of white bubbles trailing behind me. I cut straight west and looped the big island to my now familiar willow tree. From there I would watch and wait.

When I got to the Hancocks’ dock, I hovered just outside the floodlights. The front door opened, letting a slice of light cut across the front yard. I held my breath. It was Lily. Of course it was Lily. She must have been watching for me. She was wearing a thin cotton nightgown. The light from the house shone through the fabric, revealing the curve of her legs.

She walked on tiptoe in bare feet across the porch and down the repaired steps, carrying a flashlight in one hand and pressing something else against her chest. The flashlight battery was weak, and the beam barely reached five feet ahead of her.

I started toward the dock. Slowly. I took hope in her coming to the water, but I still wasn’t sure what she’d want to say. Regardless of what reparation I’d made for my sins in saving Hancock, I was sure she’d have more fury to dole out.

“Calder,” she whispered, her voice carrying over the surface of the water.

“I’m here,” I whispered back, bracing myself for what was coming.

She sighed and lay down on the dock, reaching out in the water for me. I swam in, tentatively, and she took my hands. She pulled me closer. As my chest came up against the edge of the dock, I saw what she’d been carrying. My new clothes were neatly folded beside her. How long had it taken her to find them in the dark?

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” I said. “Not yet, anyway.”

“I was so afraid they’d hurt you. How much trouble are you in?”

“Trouble doesn’t begin to cover it.”

She kissed me, and her fingers laced through my hair. “I’m sorry. I should have never doubted you.”

An apology. It hurt more than her forgiveness, which I didn’t deserve, either. What did she have to be sorry for? It was more punishing than her anger. I shook my head and pushed myself away. “I told you I planned to kill your father, Lily. You reacted exactly the way you should have.”

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to her, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I’m still sorry.”

“Please don’t say that.”

She kissed me, cupping my cheek in her hand, brushing her thumb across my bottom lip. “What will happen to you now?”

“I don’t know.” I could picture Maris plotting against me, pacing on the beach. “They’ve shunned me.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” she whispered, her eyes on my lips. “I thought you wanted to be free of them.”

I almost laughed. “I’m hardly free. I may be shunned, but I’m still mentally tied to them, and Maris will never give me my freedom now. Worse, being shunned from the island, I won’t have the benefit of knowing what their next move will be. If they attack again, I won’t be able to hold them off.”

Lily shook her head. “You’re strong.”

“So are they. And there are three of them.”

“Not even Tallulah will side with you?”

Tallulah’s name on Lily’s lips was like a curse from an angel. I made a disgusted sound that she didn’t understand. I had no intention of explaining that development. “We’ve got to keep your dad off the water, Lily.”

“He never goes out on the lake. Well … except for tonight. But I don’t think we have to worry. He’s on the computer right now, posting a classified ad. ‘Boat for Sale.’ ”