Abilene rubbed her arms and the nape of her neck. Her hot skin, slick with sweat, was pebbled with goosebumps.
‘Sure looks deserted,’ Vivian whispered, as if afraid to raise her voice in the stillness.
‘Doesn’t anybody live around here?’ Finley said.
‘Creepy,’ Vivian muttered.
‘It’s like the whole lake’s been abandoned,’ Abilene said, still rubbing the achy skin on the back of her neck.
‘There might be houses we just can’t see from here,’ Cora said. ‘Hidden off in the trees. I’d bet on it’
Leaving the shelter of the forest’s edge, they made their way down to the foot of the dock.
Just to the left, Abilene saw what looked like the remains of a beach. The small area sloped down gently to the shore. It had probably been cleared by workers from the lodge, sand carted in to create a nice little beach for the guests. Now, weeds and bushes grew there and the sand was littered with driftwood.
At the far side of the beach area was an overturned canoe. The wooden hull was bashed in as if someone had stomped through it with a boot. The canoe’s green paint was flaking. Painted in white near its bow, faded but still legible, were upside-down letters that read Totem Pole Lodge and a large number 3.
Abilene walked over to the canoe, dropped down to all fours and peered underneath it. Nothing but weeds and sand. Getting to her feet, she said, ‘Just wanted to make sure.’ She brushed sand off her hands and knees.
‘I think we should circle the lake,’ Cora said.
‘That’ll take hours,’ Vivian protested.
‘You got an appointment or something?’ Finley said.
‘Maybe whoever took Helen lives along the shore,’ Cora explained. ‘Somebody must. This lake can’t be as deserted as it looks.’
‘The kid we saw has to live somewhere,’ Abilene said. ‘And the trail led here.’
‘One did, anyway,’ Finley said.
‘You think he’d take her home?’ Vivian said.
‘Who knows?’ Cora said. ‘He took her someplace, didn’t he?’
‘Somebody did,’ Finley said. ‘Probably.’
‘So why not back to his cabin or shack or wherever the hell it is he came from?’ Cora asked. ‘And what are our alternatives, anyway? Wander around in the woods all day? Go back to the lodge and hope for the best?’
‘If we could just get some help…’ Vivian muttered.
‘By the time we could get help,’ Cora said, ‘it might be way too late for Helen.’
‘I think we’re her only chance,’ Abilene said.
‘We’ll find her,’ Finley said. ‘And if she isn’t a hundred per cent fine, God help the bastards that did it.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
In case someone might be watching, they walked away from the lake and entered the woods. They didn’t go far, however, before turning north. Through breaks in the trees, they kept track of the lake and stayed roughly parallel to its shoreline.
Here, there was no path. They tromped through undergrowth, ducked under low branches, circled around brambles and deadfalls and boulders that sometimes blocked their way, climbed down and up the sides of shallow slopes.
Near the north end of the lake, they were stopped by an inlet. It was twenty or thirty feet across at the mouth, but from there the glassy water reached westward at least a hundred yards before it vanished under a field of reeds and lily pads.
‘Great,’ Vivian muttered. ‘Now what?’
‘Simple,’ Cora said. ‘We either cross here or go around.’
‘Going around would be a bitch,’ Finley said. ‘Let’s take a dip.’
‘Might be nice,’ Abilene said.
They made their way to the right, walking along the top of a fallen trunk, then hopping down and climbing out on a low clump of rocks where the inlet joined the lake. Abilene sat on a boulder and struggled to catch her breath.
Cora, hands on hips, stood at the edge of the outcropping and peered down. ‘Doesn’t look very deep,’ she said, and jumped.
Her splash showered Finley and Vivian.
‘Hey, feels good,’ Finley said.
Abilene got to her feet.
‘Deeper than it looked,’ Cora said. The water covered her to the neck. She dipped her head in, apparently just to get it wet, then swept a hand over her matted hair and began gliding toward the other side.
Halfway across, the water level began to lower. It uncovered her shoulders, descended her back. When it reached her waist, she turned around. ‘A piece of cake,’ she said. ‘And it’s nice and cool.’ Instead of continuing to the other side, she squatted and dunked her head again.
Finley leaped in, waving the plastic bottle and bag of chips overhead.
Vivian looked down at her white Reeboks. She crouched, untied the lace of her right shoe, hesitated, apparently changed her mind about removing her shoes, then retied the lace and stepped off the rock.
Abilene, afraid she might lose her moccasins in the water, took them off. Clutching them tightly in one hand, she jumped. The water swarmed up her body. She gasped at the unexpected chill of it. Her bare feet met slippery rocks on the bottom. They slid out from under her, but she grabbed a breath of air before her head plunged into the cold.
Once submerged, she was in no hurry to rise.
The water felt incredibly wonderful. She imagined steam rising off her skin.
But there was no time to waste, so she swam forward underwater, surfaced just behind Vivian, and saw that Cora was already climbing out.
As Finley and Vivian boosted themselves onto the rocks, she dropped into the coldness one more time. Then she scurried up the outcropping. She shook water out of her moccasins, slipped into them, and followed the others back into the shadows of the forest.
The water on her skin and clothes was like a cool shield against the heat. Making her way through the woods beyond the northern end of the lake, she felt refreshed and strong, and even found herself strangely optimistic about Helen.
Maybe they’d blown her disappearance out of all proportion. Maybe there was a simple, innocent explanation. She’d just gone wandering off. Thought she’d do some exploring. Come back later and pick up her shoes. Maybe she’d stretched out in the shade somewhere and fallen asleep. It was possible. She might’ve been too nervous — or hungry — to get much sleep last night. But in the light of day, and after eating half a bag of tortilla chips, drowsiness could’ve overcome her.
She might be wandering around the lodge right now, looking for them, worried sick, thinking they were the ones who’d disappeared.
Abilene considered mentioning this to the others, but decided to keep quiet. They would only point out flaws in her reasoning and depress her again.
As she followed them across a bright pasture, the sunlight baked the last of the lingering coolness out of her wet clothes and skin. Hot and sweaty, she realized her hopeful scenario about Helen was probably ridiculous. Nothing more than wishful thinking. She tried to hold onto it, but just couldn’t.
Helen didn’t wander off and fall asleep. She was grabbed and taken away.
We might never find her.
We might never see her again.
What’ll we tell Tony? The hell with Tony. He gave her all kinds of crap. He’ll probably be glad to be rid of her, the bastard. We’re the ones who care about her. We’re the ones who love her.
What’ll we do if…?
Cora suddenly leaped sideways and crouched against a tree. She raised a hand to warn the others. They rushed up behind her. Huddling near her back, they peered around the trunk.
At first, Abilene saw only more trees and rocks and bushes in the gloom ahead. Then she noticed some sort of platform surrounded by a railing of split wood. A rocking chair sat empty on the platform. Wooden stairs led down to a sloping ground. A porch? That’s what it was all right. And now that Abilene recognized it, she was able to make out the vague shape of the log cabin that hovered in the shadows behind it.