The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,11
man stood at the top of the high dive, surveying the lake. Four men on the recovery team, two in dry suits, loaded the boat and began searching the swimming area around the pier and diving boards. The process was slow, methodical. Caroline knew they had to search with zero visibility. And Sara was small, so small.
She had told the man from underwater recovery, the one who appeared to be in charge, she had last seen Sara on the pier. What she had wanted to tell him but somehow couldn’t, was to search deep where the diving boards were located, where Sara had overheard the boys daring each other to try to touch the bottom of the lake. But how could she tell him what she was afraid had happened without sounding guilty? When had adults ever listened to kids?
An hour passed.
The crowd gradually dispersed, or at least the regular crowd who had witnessed a similar scene in summer’s past. First-timers to the lake hung around, never having seen a drowning before. It sounded cruel, but sometimes it was hard to look away from something so horrifying. No one passed judgment on the onlookers. Let them look. Let them know what could happen. Let them understand that these were the dues collected by the lake in its splendor.
Megan pulled on Caroline’s wrist in an attempt to lead her back into the Pavilion. Caroline yanked her hand free. She wasn’t going anywhere. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the divers. After twenty minute shifts they’d surface, shaking their heads. She wondered if they could even reach the bottom. She didn’t believe anyone could.
She had witnessed a drowning three years prior, the man’s body gray and gorged in death. It had been a boating accident. He had fallen and hit his head on the side of the fishing boat when he went overboard. He was knocked unconscious and drowned. It was awful and sad, but this was different. This was a young girl swimming near the beach where other kids swim. People were around. Parents were watching. And bad things weren’t supposed to happen to kids.
Another hour passed.
Skillfully, the underwater recovery team continued their systematic search in the area where they believed Sara most likely went under. With zero visibility, they used a side scanner for the localized search, but it became apparent they would have to branch out and cover more territory.
Caroline’s stomach dropped and swayed with their every movement. From the gossip on the beach, no one could say for sure exactly when Sara had entered the water. No one had been paying attention. The part-time lifeguard had been on break.
Johnny and Chris and friends retreated to the beach steps to watch and smoke their cigarettes. No one talked. Megan stayed with Caroline as the whop, whop, whop of a helicopter sounded overhead. It circled the length of the lake a half dozen times. And then it was gone. The sun’s rays faded. Storm clouds had started gathering over the mountain, growing increasingly darker, blacker. The wind started to blow. But otherwise, the lake was silent except for the occasional splash from a diver emerging from what lay hidden below, coming up empty.
Megan’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, appeared. Mrs. Roberts placed a hand on Megan’s shoulder. “Come on, honey. It’s time to go.”
“Are you coming?” Megan asked Caroline.
“No,” Caroline said, and kept her eyes on the watercraft. She wasn’t ready to make the walk back to the colony where the news was sure to have traveled. The gossip would start as early as this evening, and she would learn more about the family who had lost a daughter to the lake than she had known about her own family. It seemed wrong. All of it was wrong, and she felt a deep sadness that left a dark and empty space inside her heart.
Perhaps this was how her mother felt, how it felt to be a grown-up. And she wanted no part of it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jo stood next to Eddie on the balcony of the bar overlooking the beach and lake. After hearing the screaming and rushing outside, they had remained quiet in the hours they had watched the scene unfold, unable to turn away, knowing the intimate details of each practiced step of underwater recovery by heart.
Shadows moved across the water, typical and somehow remarkable at the same time. A warm wind blew, and in the near distance thunder rolled. Eddie untied the red bandanna from around his head