The Secrets of Lake Road - Karen Katchur Page 0,25

drink it up.”

“Yes,” Jo said, wanting to sound agreeable if only Dee Dee would let her go. “It can be irresistible.”

“It was for my brother. I wish he would’ve stayed the hell away from you.”

Dee Dee was no longer talking about the lake; rather, she was referring to Jo, blaming her for what had happened to him.

“Did you hear they found his bones?” Dee Dee continued, squeezing Jo’s bicep.

“So it’s true? They’re Billy’s?”

“Don’t be stupid. Of course, they are. And I should have a report soon to prove it.”

“Right,” Jo said, thinking out loud. “The sheriff would’ve had to send them to a lab or something.”

“That’s right.” Dee Dee moved in closer, her sour breath warm on Jo’s face. “Do you want to tell me what they’ll find now? Or later?”

“Nothing. How should I know? It was ruled an accident.” Her upper arm was stinging, her lower arm nearly numb.

“It wasn’t an accident,” Dee Dee said. “And you know it.” She shoved Jo and stumbled. Jo caught her. Somehow their arms and legs entwined. They took an awkward step backward and sideways as though they were stepping to some kind of strange dance. It took all Jo’s strength to keep from falling, or maybe it was Dee Dee’s sturdy body that kept them off the ground. It happened so quickly, Jo couldn’t be sure. But once they found their footing, they couldn’t get away from each other fast enough. They broke apart and stared at each other. A moment of silence stretched between them.

Finally Dee Dee said, “You were his girlfriend. He trusted you.”

I know he did! Jo wanted to scream.

CHAPTER TEN

Caroline woke with her sheets damp and sticky. Already the day felt warm and muggy, but it was the dreams of Sara that had kept her tossing and turning through the night, making her break out in a cold sweat. Her mouth was dry, her throat sore. She remembered yelling in the last dream, screaming really, for Sara to swim faster lest the snappers in the water drag her down. In the real world, snappers didn’t behave as predators, but rather more like scavengers, eating what was dead at the bottom of the lake. In dreamland, of course, rules of nature were broken and all bets were off.

She threw back the covers and shuffled into the kitchen in her pajamas in search of a cool drink. Her mother was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. Her eyes were cast down, but she looked up when Caroline opened the refrigerator door and removed the jug of water that had been pumped from the well. Lake water.

“Don’t drink that,” her mother said, and grabbed the jug from Caroline’s hands.

“Why? What’s wrong with it?” she asked.

“Just drink something else for once, will you?” Her mother stood and poured the lake water down the drain in the kitchen sink.

“Why?” Her mother was acting as though Caroline wanted to drink poison.

“Have some milk or orange juice,” her mother said.

She yanked open the refrigerator door for the second time and pulled out the pitcher of juice. Sometimes it felt as though everything she did annoyed her mother, including her choice of beverage.

She poured a glass of OJ and sank onto the bench at the table. Her mother picked up her coffee and rather than sit next to Caroline, she stood at the sink with it.

Last night her mother had held her; this morning she had pushed her away. She wondered what it was about her that made her mother treat her this way. What did she do wrong?

“Is Gram still sleeping?” she asked. At least Gram could stand to be around her even if her mother couldn’t.

“I don’t know, Caroline.” She put the cup into the sink. “I’m getting a shower.”

In the next minute, Caroline heard the bathroom door lock and the pipes clank as the water turned on. She stood from the bench seat. Somehow the cold treatment from her mother always stung more after the times she had shown her the slightest bit of affection.

Well, she’d show her. She picked up the empty water jug and carried it back to her bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and twisted the cap on and off, debating whether or not she had the courage to go through with what she was thinking about doing.

The well was located on the other side of the lake, and Caroline had been filling jugs with water for as long as she could remember.