“I think I do love you,” I said against his lips.
“I’m going to make this right for you, Sophie,” he said. I buried my face into his shoulder. He held me while I sobbed. That’s all I’d done all day, cry. The rubber band that was my nerves had stretched out so much that it was close to snapping, and there was still so much to do.
Chapter 56
Foster stopped the car in front of the large sign announcing we were entering the Mikwa Animal Preserve. Luke’s SUV was big enough to carry a whole football team, and Foster and I could have piled in with everyone, but he’d wanted to drive.
From there, we were all going to hike to the pond. Hannah had loaned me a good pair of hiking boots, and I wore one of Foster’s thick sweatshirts.
Clouds had rolled in from the north. The sun that had allowed Titan to show himself to us was long gone. Hannah had suggested we wait until tomorrow because it was too late in the day, but Sam didn’t have that kind of time.
We arrived before the others. Foster gripped the steering wheel and stared at the image of a bear on the park sign. Of all the predators we could run into out here, bears were the least of our worries.
“You okay?” I asked him. It was a stupid question. I had bubbles of nervous energy under my skin. If he felt half as nervous as I did, he was far from okay.
“Yeah.” He parked and turned in his seat to face me. “I wanted to have a minute with you before the others catch up.”
He leaned in close. His breath warm against my cheek. I laced my arms around his neck. I knew this might be the last time I got to be close to him.
“I’m nervous.”
“So am I.” He kissed my nose. “I wish we’d had more time.”
“You talk like you’re not going to be here tomorrow,” I said, trying to sound cheerier than I was.
He shrugged. The muscles under my hands tensed. “I have a feeling.”
“Then lose it because nothing’s happening to you,” I told him. I hoped it was true, but that faith wasn’t doing anything to dislodge the dread in the pit of my stomach.
“I won’t let your brother die for me, Sophie.” He brushed his lips across my jaw. “I care for you too much to allow that. How could you ever look at me, knowing the price? And then what if it doesn’t work and she still—”
I kissed him. Just to shut him up. I didn’t want to think about the potential situations he was talking about. I knew the risks and knew the dangers. I loved that he was willing to make a sacrifice for my family, but I didn’t need to hear it. I only wanted to steal a few moments with him while we waited on the others. Just in case the worst did happen.
And I got no argument from him.
We kissed again. Then, I pulled away. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes, trying to commit everything about him to memory. His smell, like a cozy campfire and clean laundry. The way he toyed with my hair. The sound of his breathing. Everything.
A horn blared. The others were here, and the moment was lost.
Chapter 57
“I’ve got flashlights and bottles of water for everyone.” Luke opened the back of his SUV and started passing around supplies. I took a bottle of water and a flashlight with a nod.
“There’s also a first aid kit I’m going to carry. It’ll have hand-warmer packets as well.” He looped a bag over his neck, and I wondered if he’d been a bona fide Boy Scout or just an overachiever.
“We all need to stay together, within sight distance as we move through the woods,” Luke droned on.
“We get it,” Lucy cut in. “Don’t wander off; stay hydrated, and don’t get frostbite.”
I smiled. Luke was the overachiever after all, and it irritated his twin.
In the end, we decided to walk in a line. Luke in front, Garner bringing up the rear, and Lucy, Leigh Kate, Foster, me, and Chi in between, respectively.
Hannah had given us a map and drawn a route through the forest. She refused to come with us, not that we pushed hard for her to. The tension and distrust between her and us were painful, and we were all ready for a break from it.
I’d expected a trail, but none was visible; we were in a part of the park that was off-limits to visitors. If we got caught, the rangers would call both the cops and our parents. Luke should have added don’t get caught to his list.
I chuckled to myself, earning a glance from Foster. He winked at me.
After about an hour of traipsing through the undergrowth, Luke called for a break. We sat on fallen logs and sipped our water. I unzipped my sweatshirt; all the walking had warmed me up.
Foster sat down and draped an arm around me. I leaned gently into his side but didn’t want it to be too obvious to the others that I was trying to be close to him. Chi shook her head, and I knew I’d failed.
“I’m down to a couple bars.” Lucy frowned at her phone. “Do you think we’ll have service where we’re going?”
“I doubt it,” said Garner.
“We need to decide on the best way to get the kids out,” said Luke.
“I can carry Chase,” said Garner. “Luke, you can take Lila.”
“Let’s wait until we find them to see what kind of help they need.” Leigh Kate sucked down a mouthful of water. “They might be fine to walk back to the cars.”
“I have a flare gun in my bag,” said Luke.
“Of course, you do,” snorted Lucy.
“I’m just saying that if we need to signal for help, we can,” Luke snapped. “Let’s get back to it.”
Our self-proclaimed leader had a bit of a temper.
Foster stood and held out a hand to me. I was fine, but I took the opportunity to hold his hand anyway. He kept hold and fell into step beside me instead of in line.
Luke sighed and shook his head. Seriously, that boy didn’t appreciate having his cheese moved. He’d make a great CEO someday.
It was comforting having Foster alongside me. He held me steady when I had to climb over branches and bushes. If we hadn’t been where we were and doing what we were doing, it would have been a nice, romantic walk. We should have gone hiking yesterday. Not that I regretted our day of ice cream. I brushed my fingertips over the cord of the necklace he’d bought me.
Instead of paying attention, I’d started daydreaming and stepped on an old branch. It snapped, and my ankle turned under me. Foster caught me before I hit the ground.
“You okay?” he asked, hauling me upright.
“I think so.” Though the sudden swelling of my ankle in the boot wasn’t a great sign.
“Do we need to stop?” Lucy asked, speaking to me directly, which was rare.
I put my weight on it and took a step forward. Pain ripped up my leg, but I gritted my teeth.
“I’m fine,” I answered. We weren’t calling this excursion off, not on my behalf.
“Here.” Foster switched sides and pulled my arm over his shoulder. “Lean on me.”
“You tripped so you could practically have him carry you, didn’t you?” asked Leigh Kate. She was smiling. I guess Foster and my attempts to stay close to each other had been transparent.
“Come on,” said Luke. “This is going to slow us down.”
Garner knelt next to the branch I’d broken. He brushed aside some leaves and frowned.
“Babe?” Chi looked over his shoulder. “What is it?”
“I think . . .” Garner put his finger on what appeared to be a piece of hay and traced it out, away from the log. “Luke. Freeze.”
“What?” Luke stepped back and spun around.
A giant branch twice the size of the one I broke zipped out of a nearby tree and crashed into the trunk of the oak beside Luke, spraying us all with splinters.
“Tripwire,” said Garner.
Luke nodded. His mouth hung open, and I suspected he may have needed a change of undies. If Garner hadn’t called out when he did, the log would have hit Luke, likely breaking bones.
“Clumsy Sophie found it for us,” said Garner. He held it up for u
s all to see. It was only a piece of hay, but it had been wrapped around the branch I had stepped on. “That’s some old technology.”
“We must be getting close,” said Leigh Kate.
“I would think so.” Garner stood and stared up into the canopy of the forest as if he could imagine all the trips and traps in place ahead.
“Is this something Hannah did?” Chi asked Leigh Kate.
“I don’t think so. She wouldn’t have sent us out here to be clobbered.” Leigh Kate chewed on her bottom lip.
“I hope.” Foster murmured low enough for only me to hear.
“This is primitive,” said Garner. He stepped gingerly up to what remained of the log and the rope that tied it to the other tree.
“How come an animal never triggered it? Or someone else?” Lucy plunked her hands on her hips. Her eyes were wide and wild. “Surely, other people have been through here.”
“The tribe donated this land for the animal preserve; it’s certainly possible that it’s been a long time since anyone’s walked through these woods,” said Chi.
“All right, let’s keep moving.” Garner’s ROTC training kicked in. “I’m going to take point and look for any more signs of tampering.”
With no apparent argument from Luke, we started walking again. “I’ll take the back,” he said, “in case someone’s following us.”
I think we all knew he meant Jenny.
Foster wrapped his arm tighter around my waist. My foot was stiff, but the pain wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t stand it. It was about twenty more minutes of walking without mishap when the trees started to thin out. We’d arrived at the clearing Hannah had told us about.
The pond sat symmetrically in the middle of the clearing. The cloudy, late afternoon sky reflected off the surface without so much as the smallest ripple of movement in the water. No fish.
“Hannah said the two ponds shared a water source, an old brackish spring that was too sulfurous to drink,” said Leigh Kate.
On the far edge of the pond, I spotted a building. It was a dilapidated shack, maybe once a temporary cabin, perhaps for ice fishing. None of us moved beyond the small area of cover the trees offered.
“They could be in there,” breathed Lucy.
“Sophie, you should stay here,” said Garner.
I shook my head. “Not happening.”
“It might be best. You too, Foster,” said Luke. “At least until we see what’s inside.”
Foster cocked his head at me as if asking my opinion. The two of us were liabilities. My hobble would slow the rest of them down in the event they needed to run, and Foster, well, if he got close to that water . . .
“We’ll wait,” agreed Foster. He tightened his grip on my waist. A silent plea not to argue. I didn’t like it, but I understood and gave a curt nod.
Leigh Kate touched my arm. “No worries. If Sam is there, we’re going to get him out too.”
I smiled at her. “I know,” I said. I had faith in them.
With that decided, Foster helped me down to sit on a log. Luke left the first aid kit with us but tucked the flare gun into the waist of his jeans.
When they left, a sense of complete uselessness overcame me.
Foster kissed my temple. “This is the best thing,” he said.
Frustration must have been written all over my face.
“I know it is,” I snapped. Sam wouldn’t know any of them, though. Except for Chi, he’d recognize her. She always teased him about his love of Jurassic Park, calling him her little T-rex. He wouldn’t be frightened if she were there. I hoped.
“Sorry.” I rested my head on Foster’s shoulder. “This is nerve-wracking.”
“To say the least.” We huddled close together and watched our friends make their way to the edge of the pond.
As they neared the water, they fanned out. Garner must have decided they were going to approach from both sides. That was a good idea, in case something or someone besides the kids was inside.
I tapped my good foot on the ground. I’d never felt so helpless before. Sitting on the sidelines had to be the worst thing ever. I’d gotten us all here, and then my stupid ankle prevented me from seeing it through.
“You’re fidgety,” said Foster.
“This sucks,” I declared and crossed my arms over my chest with an audible harrumph.
“I know. It –” he paused.
I sighed and waited for him to go on. After a moment of silence, I pulled away to look at him, but his arm was locked around my waist.
The wind had died down with no hint of movement among the trees. When I glanced up, I noticed Leigh Kate had stopped mid-step, one of her hiking boots still in the air. No one else was moving either.
Chapter 58
I wiggled out from under Foster’s arm.
“What’s going on?” I asked under my breath.
“Oh, not much.” Little Sophie appeared beside me. She sat. “Greenteeth carved out a moment of time special for you and me.”
There was something different about her. I tried to pinpoint exactly what it was. She blinked, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. Her eyes. She had beautiful, big brown eyes.
I jumped up. My ankle throbbed, and I stumbled to the ground, catching myself on my knee this time.
“Don’t worry. It’s just you and me.” She smiled, and I could see the girl she had once been. It broke my heart. No longer was she some eyeless, creepy thing following Greenteeth around and appearing to me at random. She was a beautiful, lost girl who deserved to have someone fight for her as hard as I’d been fighting for Sam.
“Do you live here?” I asked and jerked my head back at the still pond.
She shrugged. “Where I live is very subjective. When you’re a ghost, that’s the way it is.”
“Tell me . . .” I was going to ask her how I could set her spirit free when she held up her hand.
“Greenteeth won’t hold this for us much longer,” she said. “She has a message for you.”
“What does she want?” Dread spread through me. Jenny knew we were here and knew we were about to rescue the kids. She couldn’t be happy.
Little Sophie chewed on her bottom lip. “She wants me to tell you . . . thank you.”
“For what?” I drawled out, unbelieving.
Little Sophie frowned. “For bringing them here. She’s stronger here.”
I gasped and glanced over my shoulder at my friends. They were still frozen. What would Greenteeth do? What trick did she have up her rotten sleeve?
“She wants you to know,” Sophie shook her head. A single tear slid down her cheek. I had to wonder if it was real. Or just a figment of my imagination.
“Know what, Sophie?”
“That you brought them to their deaths.” She finished on a sob. The breath left me in a rush, and in the next second, before I could blink, the ghost was gone. We were all plunged into the blackest night.
“Sophie?” Foster called out to me as the wind ripped through the forest. I listened as the others shouted. One by one, they turned on their flashlights. Each of them surrounded by a glow not much more than a firefly’s light. The darkness that had descended upon us was so thick I had no doubt it was Jenny’s doing.
“Foster,” I reached out to where he sat. He gripped my hands; I pulled myself up. “Stay here.”
I kissed him quick and hard.
“No, wait . . .” He grasped at me as I pushed off his shoulders. I’d have to limp it, but I had to hope I could get to the others before anything happened to them. Little Sophie’s final words rang in my ears like a wailing siren. Screw my ankle. Greenteeth was going after my friends.
“Please, Foster, stay here. Stay safe.” I hopped off on my good leg without waiting for an answer. I headed in the direction of the nearest light. Lucy, I guessed.
I could see more than one shack lining the edge of the pond.
“There are, like, five of them now,” Garner shouted to Luke.
“I’m tired of being s
cared.” Lucy swung her light around. It touched me briefly before bouncing off to land on the shack nearest her. “I’m going in.”
“Lucy, wait,” I shouted and limped toward her as fast as I could.
She plunged ahead, running to the door and flinging it open. I couldn’t see inside, but something roared and blew out of the shack like a coiled spring. Lucy was picked up and hurled backward. She landed with a loud splash in the middle of the pond.
“Lucy,” screamed Luke. He stumbled to the ground, falling twice before getting to the water’s edge.
Lucy was sputtering and flailing.
Garner shrugged off his coat and waded into the shallows. “I’ll get her,” he told Luke. “Go for the one in the middle.”
Luke hesitated. Garner, however, with his ROTC training, was a strong swimmer and was nearly to Lucy already.
Something tickled my leg. I looked down to see the thick, white fog, seeping up from the ground itself. Jenny was here.
“Sophie, come here.” Leigh Kate stood back to back with Chi, away from the water. I only hoped it was far enough. Together, they walked in a small circle as Leigh Kate dumped something on the ground.
I turned in their direction, but my ankle slowed me down.
Strong arms lifted me up, and Foster cradled me against his chest.
“No, go back,” I pushed at his shoulders. “She’s stronger here. She’s here. She’ll take you.”
Uncertain if he’d even listened, Foster dropped me off inside Leigh Kate’s circle.
“I hope you girls know what you’re doing,” he said and then started off after Luke.
“I hope so too,” mumbled Leigh Kate.
The fog rolled up to where we stood. It pushed towards us before recoiling.
“Salt,” said Leigh Kate. “Hannah said it would keep her at bay. I poured it on the ground.”
Garner was towing Lucy back toward dry land when the water around them started to bubble. He pulled her onto the shore as a white hand broke the surface and reached for them. Garner didn’t waste any time throwing Lucy over his shoulder and putting some distance between them and the water. But the fog was still rolling toward them.
The Curse of Jenny Greene Page 27
