Deep Wate - Sarah Epstein Page 0,100

road, gushing down off the mountain and sloshing across both lanes. It was thick and muddy brown, swirling and foamy in places, clogged with sticks and tree branches. He paused, one foot on the pedal, the other on the road. Could he go through it? Too flooded. He was starting to think he should have stayed at the motel.

Suddenly, the road lit up. A car was coming around the bend. It was hard to hear it approaching over the sound of the floodwater. Would they see the water in time? Henry hadn’t. He’d barely been able to stop his bike, so he didn’t like a car’s chances. He climbed off his bike and left it by the side of the road before moving to the edge of the water. He took off his hat, using it like a flag as he waved his arms to signal the car.

The driver took the bend too wide. Too fast. Henry had barely raised his arms before he realised the headlights were on the wrong side of the road – the side he was standing on. The wheels locked up at the last minute but the car kept coming, skidding along the road’s slick surface until it hit him. He heard the bump rather than felt it, and then he was airborne, flying backwards over the water he’d been trying to avoid. His backpack cracked into the steel guardrail, his body landing like a bag of sand on the road’s shoulder.

The shock of the water in his face made him gulp. The gushing flow pressed him into the guardrail, tossing and tumbling his limbs like a ragdoll. He could make out headlights. A silhouette. Somebody had climbed out of the car. Henry tried to yell. There was water in his mouth, his eyes, his ears. A smaller light swept back and forth over the water, and then it found him, shining directly in his eyes. It must be Mason. His brother had come searching for him.

I’m here! Henry thought. Hurry, Mason. Hurry up and save me.

Now

I step into the shed. Mason is still staring at something I can’t see, as though he’s watching a scene play out in his mind. His focus slides back to me. His breath is quick, his voice floaty and strange. ‘What if he took the car out again after he dropped me home?’

‘Who?’

He continues as if he hasn’t heard me. ‘He said we ran into a tree that had fallen into the road. He even got out to check.’

I crouch in front of him. ‘Who, Mason? Who are you talking about?’

‘Tom,’ he says simply. ‘Tom was driving my car.’

Pushing myself to my feet again, I back away. He’s clearly confused. Sabeen hit him too hard with the shovel. ‘No.’

‘Yes,’ he says. ‘Tom was with me up at the graveyard. Tom drove me home.’

‘No,’ I say again. ‘He told us all he was home that night.’

‘Because I begged him not to tell anyone about it. When he dropped me home I told him to pretend it never happened.’

‘What never happened?’

Mason looks away. ‘It’s private. I don’t want to talk about it, especially to you.’

‘Mason.’

He attempts to stand and then winces, returning to his backside and touching his head. ‘None of that has to do with Henry. On the car ride back from the graveyard, Tom was driving.’

‘Tom doesn’t even have a licence.’

‘That’s why I didn’t want to say anything to Sergeant Doherty.’

I can’t get my head around this, and that’s before I even let myself consider what Mason’s suggesting.

‘We hit something,’ he says. ‘On the way back from the graveyard, Tom hit something with the car.’

I bring my hands to my mouth and shake my head quickly. Mason swallows, slightly dazed.

‘He told me it was a tree that had blown over. He didn’t see it until the last second and he slammed on the brakes. The road was too slippery. I heard the bump and it didn’t seem major. Tom jumped out to look but I didn’t bother. I just wanted to get home.’

‘Where?’ I whisper, my throat closing up.

Mason’s expression is apologetic. ‘I don’t know. I was kinda out of it. Tom and I had had a … disagreement, so I closed my eyes with my head against the window for the whole car ride. I don’t know where it happened. The windows were steamed up and it was raining, I was drunk. I just don’t know.’

I don’t want to believe Mason. But as soon as he says the