Charlie St. Cloud Page 0,41

killed by pirates?”

“The very one.”

“So you think your brother and my father are here somewhere?”

“Maybe.” Charlie looked for Sam in the darkness, and he popped up behind a gravestone. “But I don’t think spirits stay here for very long unless they want to,” he said. “I bet your dad has moved on to a better place.”

“You mean heaven?”

“Sure, heaven. Or someplace else. Wherever it is, death isn’t the end. It’s an elevation, really. It’s like catching the moon.”

“Catching the moon?”

“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “I read somewhere that 75 billion human beings have lived and died since the beginning of history, and I believe their souls are out there somewhere.” He looked straight up into the sky. “It makes me think of that John Lennon song. You know, ‘We all shine on in the moon and the stars and the sun.’ ”

Tess was quiet for a long time. She stared into the opening between the clouds. The Milky Way spread out in a great swath. “I like that, Charlie,” she said. “More than anything, I need to know he’s out there somewhere. You know? That he’s okay.”

“He is,” Charlie said. “Trust me. It’s hard to explain, but I’m sure.”

“You’ve got a feeling?”

He smiled. “Yeah, a feeling.”

Then she turned to Charlie and said, “I’m glad you took me here tonight. It really means a lot.”

“Me too.”

They were so close together now that Charlie thought he could actually feel an electrical charge. He had heard touchy-feely types talk about energy fields before, and it seemed like hooey, but Tess definitely had one. He leaned forward the tiniest amount, watching for her reaction, hoping she would give him an opening. They stayed there in each other’s glow for what felt like forever, until she looked down at her watch and said, “I better go.”

For a moment, Charlie felt defeated, but then he decided to be daring. She was leaving in a few days, and who knew if he would see her again. So without saying a word, he reached for her waist and pulled her close. To his surprise, she came to him without resistance. She tilted her head back and her lips parted. He kissed her softly and tumbled into the most incredible feeling. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was bliss. The warmth reached all the way inside and filled him with the most exhilarating sensation he had ever known.

“Tad Baylor, eat your heart out,” she said when they pulled apart. Then she grabbed his flashlight, twirled around, and marched off toward the great iron gates.

The streets were almost entirely deserted as Tess hurried past Five Corners and the Rip Tide Lounge, a fancy name for the rough dive where she had waitressed on breaks from college. Across the street, she saw a burly man staggering down the sidewalk. He was carrying a mug of beer and was trying unsuccessfully to keep it from sloshing. Tess slowed down. It was Minty Weeks, a retired fisherman and one of the better drinkers around. He had earned his nickname back in the great freeze of ’79 when he was spotted ice-skating half-naked on the frozen harbor with a bottle of peppermint schnapps in each hand. An editorial in The Marblehead Messenger had called it the most scandalous display of public nudity since the actress Tallulah Bankhead had run through town with no clothes on and was locked up in the BB-gun closet at the police station because there was no jail for women.

“Hey, Minty,” she called out. “Need any help getting home?”

He grunted, turned away from her, and faced a brick wall. He leaned his forehead against the building, fumbled with his zipper, and began to relieve himself.

She shook her head at this fine Marblehead specimen. “Have a good one,” she said. She walked up Washington and Middle Streets, past Abbot Hall, where the clock on the tower gonged one, then turned on Lookout Court. She jumped the three steps up to her green colonial in a single bound and let herself in the unlocked front door. It was the kind of community where neighbors looked out for each other and no one ever used a dead bolt or key.

“Hey, Bobo!” she said. “Where are you, boy?” She had forgotten to leave a light on and was surprised her retriever wasn’t waiting at the door for her to return. “Bobo?!”

She flipped on the lamp in the living room and saw her dog on the big couch. He was lying with his