Silurid

by Gerry Griffiths

  He’d escaped injury during last night’s crash except for a gash on the top of his head. After a while, he’d used the portable pump and inflated the raft. But once he hooked up the gas line to the outboard motor, the fumes had given him a headache, so he had decided to sleep.

  The nightmares haunted him, eventually waking him up.

  Vernon adjusted the dial on the portable tracking device. He wished he had thought to recharge the battery. He had spent an hour reconfiguring the display so that it would represent the circumference of the lake, rather than the perimeter of the pond back at the hatchery. He cursed himself for not bringing the map, having to make his adjustments from memory.

  He turned on the unit.

  Two blips came on the screen.

  Zeus and Athena were still alive.

  ***

  “And what does the word ecology mean?” Kate asked, helping Nell with her studies at her table behind the store’s counter.

  “It’s how we learn to live together and not spoil the land,” Nell replied, fidgeting in her chair.

  “Good answer. What is a dominant species?”

  Nell thought for a moment.

  “An animal that is stronger and meaner that the other animals. And eats all their food.”

  “Good! Well, that should do for today.” Kate figured with the road closed, there was no point in keeping the store open. Besides, it was almost time to prepare dinner.

  “I thought we’d never be done,” Nell said, jumping out of her chair.

  “Go down and tell your brother dinner will be ready in an hour.”

  “Sure, Mom.” Nell ran out of the store like a critter that had just gnawed itself free from a trap.

  ***

  “That’s incredible,” Professor Stone said, once Jess was through. He held the book differently now, almost reverently. He knew the pages within held a remarkable discovery.

  “I need time to study this. Can you give me a couple of hours?”

  “Sure. I’m going to look for Vernon.”

  “You might ask Devon to help you. Maybe he’s seen your brother.”

  Jess paused at the door then left without saying a word.

  ***

  Bernie arrived back at the van three hours later, pushing the same flat tire.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Victoria shouted.

  “Hey, I thought it was only a mile. I was wrong. When I finally got to the station, the damn place was closed. So, I tried hitching a ride back, but do you think anyone would pick me up. Hell no! That Highway Marauder has everyone spooked. Nobody trusts anyone these days. So, don’t be yelling at me,” Bernie said, and kicked the tire.

  “We’ve wasted valuable time. If I knew you were going to be so long…” Victoria paused. It was late in the afternoon and she was tired from being up since three in the morning. A hot shower and some clean clothes were in order, but they would have to wait.

  She reached into her purse and pulled out her cellular phone.

  “What, you let me walk all that way and you had that damn thing the whole time!”

  “Don’t turn this around on me. It was your idea to take off with that tire. Besides, do you have any idea of what minutes cost these days?”

  “Man, I don’t believe it,” Bernie said.

  “That’ll teach you for gallivanting all over the countryside.”

  “Tony, I’m going to kill her.”

  “Save it for later. Right now, we need some help,” Tony said. “It’s going to be dark soon. I don’t want to get lost out here.”

  ***

  Jess walked out on the dock, daylight waning into dusk. She approached the boathouse, found the door ajar, and peered inside the dimly lit structure.

  The only light was a cone-shaded bulb dangling from a rafter, shining down on a workbench cluttered with engine parts, gears, and propellers. Screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, and various other tools hung on a pegboard.

  Two fifty-gallon drums, filled with water, stood in one corner. An outboard motor was mounted on the rim of one of the drums. The engine belched blue smoke while the propeller churned up the water inside the drum.

  Double doors closed off a vacant slip used for repairing a boat while it was still in the water.

  Devon was working on the carburetor of an outboard engine at the workbench. He began fastening the engine cover back in place. He picked up a Philips head screwdriver, placed a screw on the end, and tried to line up the threads. The screw slipped out and fell on the floorboards.

  “Oh, hell,” he said, bending down to search for the screw.

  “Here, I have it,” Jess said, snatching the screw before it fell through a gap between the floorboards.

  Devon looked at her as if she were a ghost. The shocked look on his face quickly transformed into a perplexed stare. He stood up and leaned against the workbench.

  “Aren’t you going to say something?” Jess asked, standing up.

  “What am I supposed to say? Hell, Jess.”

  “I know it’s been awhile.”

  “That’s an understatement,” Devon said sarcastically.

  “Somehow, I thought you might act this way.”

  “What did you expect? You stop coming around, and suddenly, you just drop in like it’s nothing.” Devon grabbed a rag and began rubbing the grease from his hands.

  “Devon. I’ve just been so—”

  “Busy? Yeah, I get it. I guess I was a fool to think that we would ever get married, raise a family together.”

  “Oh, Devon. That’s exactly why I couldn’t come back.” Jess fought back the tears.

  “What?”

  “A family.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “When would I have time with the hatchery, worrying about Vernon…?”

  Devon stood silent, his hands worrying the shop rag.

  “I better leave,” Jess said, turning away.

  “We could still be a family: you and me.”

  Jess paused at the door.

  “Who says you have to have kids. Heck, I have a dog. Well, he’s the family dog but…” Devon smiled. He took her arm and pulled her toward him. He put his hand up to her face and kissed her.

  Jess put her arms around his waist, squeezed him so hard that he let out a little gasp when their lips parted.

  “Sorry, grease,” Devon said. He grabbed a clean rag from the workbench and wiped her cheek. She reached up, closed her eyes, and kissed him again.

  The boathouse trembled.

  “Did you feel that?” Jess asked, opening her eyes. She glanced down at their shadows cast along the floor and saw them moving due to the overhead light swinging back and forth.

  “You bet,” Devon said, his eyes still closed.

  Another jolt shook the boathouse. The tools on the pegboard rattled and water sloshed out of the fifty-gallon drums.

  “What was that? Felt like an earthquake,” Devon said, opening his eyes.

  “That wasn’t an earthquake,” Jess said.

  The floorboards beneath their feet suddenly buckled upward. Thrown to the floor, Jess and Devon got drenched when the heavy drums toppled over.

  The outboard motor struck the floor. The engine spun around out of control, the blades of the propeller chopping along the wood planks. Jess was about to push herself up from the floor when she saw the propeller coming straight for her face.

  She rolled out of the propeller’s path.

  Devon caught up with the runaway outboard motor and hit the kill switch.

  Jess saw something emerge in the slip.

  Algae-green and sleek, it was enormous. Patterned plates covered the massive body. She tried to gauge its length as it undulated through the water. It was at least thirty feet in length.

  The creature buckled the decking and ripped the boards from the rear wall of the boathouse with its thrashing fluked tail.

  Devon ran over and grabbed Jess.

  The monster scraped the bottom of the doors of the slip
and tore them from their hinges.

  And then it submerged and was gone.

  “What was that?” Devon asked.

  “I don’t know, but I think we are about to find out,” Jess said.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Where could he be? It’s getting dark,” Nell said.

  “This isn’t like Max to be gone this long,” Sean said, wishing that they had started their search sooner, having not seen Max for most of the afternoon.

  Sean thought that Max might be over at Landon Cove, but he’d been wrong. They had scouted the south shore with no luck. That is when Sean decided to cut across the lake to see if Max was over by the creeks.

  They were in the middle of the lake when the noisy 5-horsepower outboard motor shook the transom, sputtered, and died. Sean tried restarting the engine, but it refused to fire up.

  “What’s wrong with it?” Nell asked.

  “I don’t believe it,” Sean said, hitting the motor with his fist.

  “Don’t tell me we’re out of gas.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you.”

  “Then you better start rowing,” Nell said.

  “Who made you skipper?” Sean snapped. He took the oars and slipped them into the oarlocks. He tilted the motor up to raise the propeller out of the water.

  Sean paddled one oar in the water to turn the boat around.

  The lights in the trailer park were about a mile away.

  “Man, it’s going to take us forever to get back. What else could go wrong?” Sean said as he rowed.

  The sprinkling rain stiffened into a steady downpour.

  “That’ll teach me to keep my mouth shut,” Sean said.

  That’s when they heard a dog howling in the night.

  “It’s Max,” Nell said.

  “How did he get way out here?”

  “I don’t know. You don’t think Mom is going to be mad we took the boat?”

  “Not if we find Max. You know how she loves that dog.” Sean put his shoulders into the oars.

  ***

  Liz Fallow zipped up her pink raincoat. She was worried about Rosie. It was not like Rosie to be gone for so long and not be home in time for supper. Liz checked her flashlight. It seemed to be working fine.

  She closed the front door behind her and went outside.

  “Miserable rain,” she mumbled, climbing into her pink golf cart. Pink tassels ran along the inside lip of the cab’s roof.

  She decided to drive around the trailer park then check along the shoreline until she found Rosie. She turned the key on the golf cart and proceeded down the road.

  No treats for you tonight, you naughty girl, for making Mommy worry!

  ***

  Kate removed the roast from the table and put it in the microwave oven to keep warm. Why aren’t those kids home, yet? She thought to herself. They were always prompt for dinner, even if the menu was not to their liking. Her rump roast was their favorite.

  She heard a knock, walked over, and opened the front door.

  “Hi, Kate. Did you know the road is closed?” Kelly said, shaking the rain off before she stepped inside. “I tried going to class, but the road is blocked off due to a mudslide.”

  “I know,” Kate said, closing the door after Kelly.

  “Was it on the news?”

  “No. Jess told me,” Kate said.

  “Who’s Jess?” asked Kelly.

  “Someone that Devon used to date after high school years ago. You haven’t seen Sean or Nell, have you?”

  “No.”

  “Could you do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “I need to go over to Jonathan’s. Call me when those kids get in.”

  “Will do.”

  “See you in a bit,” Kate said, grabbing her coat.

  Outside, Kate flipped her hood over her head. She stepped down from the deck and turned on her flashlight. She walked over to the stairs that led down to the beach hoping that she would see Sean and Nell. She directed the beam of the torch down, tracking the light along the beach. Only there wasn’t a sandy beach anymore, only water.

  The lake was rising.

  She shined the light on the steps. She counted only ten steps to the water. But how could that be?

  Kate flashed back to the newscast about the levee breaking. Of course, the runoff from the levee was filling the lake.

  Stark realization hit her like a mallet. Unless the levee was repaired—and damn fast—the trailer park would soon be flooded.

  ***

  Jess and Devon walked up to Professor Stone’s trailer and knocked on the door. They heard a voice call out, “Come in,” and they went inside.

  Professor Stone was standing in the middle of his living room, surrounded by fish tanks. He held Vernon’s journal tightly to his chest like a priest clutching a prayer book. He seemed to be in a trance-like state.

  “Professor, are you okay?” asked Devon.

  “Is Vernon of sound mind?” Professor Stone asked, returning to his senses.

  “I don’t know?” Jess said. “He might be ill.”

  “Might explain some things,” Professor Stone said, holding up Vernon’s journal.

  “That’s not all. There’s something in the lake,” Jess said.

  “Yeah, and whatever it is, it’s big! It attacked us in the boathouse,” Devon said.

  Professor Stone stared reverently at Vernon’s journal. “My God, the boy’s done it.”

  ***

  Kate pounded on Professor Stone’s door.

  “Kate, what’s wrong?” the professor said, letting her in.

  “The lake is flooding from the levee break up at Madison. I’m afraid it won’t be long before it reaches the trailers,” Kate said, her heart beating faster than the wings of a hummingbird. She was unaccustomed to panic.

  Where the hell were the kids?

  “Kate, get on the phone. We need everyone over here. I’m afraid that this is going to be one helluva night!” Professor Stone said.

  ***

  Professor Stone paced the floor preparing for what he had to say. It brought him back to those days behind the lectern, conjuring up a dazzling thought that might reside in his student’s heads longer than the class period.

  Jess and Devon sat at the kitchen table. Jasper and Claude had just arrived and were milling around impatiently, still unsure of why they were summoned. Kelly was still over at Kate’s, waiting for Sean and Nell to show up.

  Kate was on the phone. She waited for a moment then hung up the receiver.

  “Liz still doesn’t answer,” she said.

  “Probably took a sleeping pill and is dead to the world,” Jasper said, shaking his head.

  ***

  Liz bounced up and almost hit her head on the roof of the cab. She had not seen the speed bump in time to slow down. The golf cart’s rear tires spun a few times on the wet pavement then held to the road.

  The night sky was black as the inside of a coal bin. The persistent clouds kept the moon at bay and prevented it from shining through.

  She was chilled from the rain. If she did not find Rosie soon, she would have to go back. Her hands ached trying to keep the wheel steady. Maybe Kate would help her search for Rosie. After all, it was Max’s fault that her poor Rosie was out in this frightful weather.

  Liz stopped the golf cart. She shined her flashlight on the No Trespassing sign on the chain-link fence at the edge of the turnaround. Reaching the end of the line, Liz was about to head back when she heard something whimpering from the other side of the fence.

  Rosie, is that you?

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Devon studied the professor, who was lost in his own thoughts, still clutching Vernon’s journal as though he were holding the Holy Scripture.

  “Should we get started?” Devon asked, impatiently.

  “We called you all over to tell you that there is a crisis about to happen. Let me put it this way; all hell is about to let loose,” Professor Stone said.

>   “What the hell are you talking about?” asked Jasper.

  “Kate has just informed me that she believes that the trailer park is in danger of being flooded.”

  “Flooded?” Claude piped in.

  “The levee up in Madison has ruptured, and the runoff is feeding into the lake. It won’t be long before the lake rises up to the park,” Kate told everyone.

  “Then we better pack our valuables and get to high ground,” Jasper said.

  “That is the least of our worries,” Professor Stone said.

  “Losing our homes, all of our possessions, is the least of our worries,” Jasper said, his face beginning to fluster.

  “Let’s not start a panic,” Devon said, holding up his hands.

  “Devon’s right,” Professor Stone said. “We need to remain calm.”

  “Before we go any further professor, I don’t believe Jess has ever met Jasper and Claude,” Devon said. “Jasper, Claude, this is Jess Murdock.”

  “It’s a pleasure, Jess,” Jasper said, extending his hand.

  Jess exchanged a pumping handshake with Jasper and gave him a warm smile.

  “Glad to meet you,” Claude said, jumping down from the counter to shake her hand.

  Devon could tell that Jasper and Claude were instantly taken with Jess.

  “So, tell us about this bad news,” Jasper said to Professor Stone.

  “All right. Jess brought her brother’s journal and asked me to read it. Vernon, a past biology student of mine, has been working on a particular project for the last four years. He was supposed to produce a prime aquaculture food source, one that could be harvested in abundance. It was meant to be a food source intended to put an end to world hunger.”

  “Sounds like a noble endeavor, but how does that propose a threat to us?” Claude asked.

  “That is what I am about to tell you based upon what I was able to read. In the first fifty or so pages, his work seemed brilliant, despite the failures. After that, his writing seemed to drift, become incoherent at times. Most of the pages from that point on were ruined from water damage. It is from those that are still decipherable, that I was able to piece some of the puzzle together.”