The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,103

thought she might be sick. The boys stared at her, sensing whatever was wrong was important.

“Cougar,” she said. “He found Sara’s…” She couldn’t finish. She couldn’t say the word body.

They didn’t ask what she meant. They didn’t have to. Every kid knew Sara’s name. Every kid knew she hadn’t been found. They may have been pretending she hadn’t drowned the last few days, but they didn’t forget even if their parents had moved on. Kids wouldn’t forget about another kid dying.

“Are you sure? Where?” Ned asked.

Caroline pointed downstream. “It’s her,” she said, swallowing the warm saliva in the back of her throat.

“How did she get all the way down here?” Ted asked. “It doesn’t seem possible.”

“It’s totally possible,” Adam said, his wet eyes darting from Caroline to the twins. “The water current carries a lot of cool stuff here.” He scrunched up his face. “You know what I mean.” He continued, “Once, I found an old license plate and a Coke bottle. And don’t forget about the snappers. They love the mud. Maybe they drag stuff here and, you know, eat it. I know they like to burrow in mud so only their eyes and nostrils stick out. Then they wiggle their tongues like tiny worms to attract small fish. When the fish gets close”—he smacked his hands together—“they grab it and chomp it to pieces.”

“I thought they only ate dead stuff,” Ted said.

“No. They eat small fish and plants, too. But I think they prefer the dead stuff.…” Adam’s voice trailed off.

Maybe they realized the impact of what Adam was saying because after this, they were quiet. Even Cougar didn’t make a sound. In the silence Adam and the twins stared at one another, each muttering to the other, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” All Caroline heard was the sound of her own breathing.

Adam put his finger to his lips.

She strained to listen.

“There it is again,” Adam said.

“I don’t hear anything,” she said.

Adam looked at her. “It’s a full moon,” he said, and pointed to the sky, his hand shaking. “You can hear the horse during a full moon.”

“I bet it’s because you found Sara,” Ted said to her. “I mean, she drowned the same day Adam found that bit.”

“It was probably the wind,” Ned said.

“You didn’t hear anything?” Adam asked her.

“No,” Caroline said. “I didn’t.” She knew Adam was disappointed in her. But what could she say? Too much had happened. She no longer believed in the things she once had at the start of summer, the kinds of things that only kids believed in like lake legends. She wasn’t the same girl who had once accepted the world as it was without question. For her the world had forever changed.

Megan and Jeff came crashing through the brush. “What?” Megan asked, and looked at them. “What’s going on?” It was obvious Megan and Jeff didn’t hear anything either.

“Cougar found Sara,” Caroline said, because finding the little girl was the most important thing. “I know where she is.”

“You do?” Megan asked. “Where?”

“Maybe it’s not even her,” Ned said. “We’re all a little spooked right now.”

Caroline shook her head. “It’s her.” There was no mistake. The image of Sara’s body flashed in her mind’s eye, the face of an angel resting peacefully on a tattered body.

“Let’s make sure,” Ted said to the others. “Adam, you stay here with Cougar. We don’t want that dog to get a hold of her. If it’s really her,” he added.

“Cougar wouldn’t do that,” Caroline said at the same time the dog lowered his head as though he were ashamed. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said to Cougar.

“I’m coming with you, guys,” Adam said.

“No.” Caroline reached for Adam’s hand. “Stay here with me. You don’t want to see.” She didn’t want to treat Adam like a baby, but she knew it wasn’t something he should look at. He was too young. It was bad enough the others were going to look.

No kid, no matter how old, should ever have to see another kid’s dead body.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Kevin stood on the balcony of the Pavilion, which overlooked the lake. It was a clear night. The sky was littered with stars, and the moonlight bounced off the still water. The air was warm, but not uncomfortably so. He kept his back to the bar and the crowd inside. The live band belted out a cover song, the electric guitar singing louder than the girl’s voice into the mic. He had stepped outside in need of fresh air,