by Deb Lewis
“We’re so glad you invited us. Why did you decide to have this retreat, anyway?” Linda asked, turning to Deb.
“Because we’re still crazy after all these years, I guess,” Deb joked. “Seriously, though, we had been thinking about those times when we got together years ago when our kids were little. Remember how we were crazy young single parents back then and how good it felt to get away for a weekend? Remember the freedom we felt to do whatever we wanted?”
“Those were the days,” Carolyn said. “Remember how Linda made us all get up to watch the sunrise over Lake Superior?”
“I remember laughter, escape, and growing,” Deb said. “And not around the belly, either. Seems to me we were all pretty svelte back then.”
“And at least two of you still are,” Julie chimed in.
“Anyway, we wanted to try to create a renewed sense of community by gathering women at solstice… doing things we love to do… trying to feel a little younger… maybe take a few risks in our thinking.”
They put their heads together and brainstormed for the next half an hour - where the writing workshop should be; how to set up for extras at the painting class; and where they would feed everyone.
“Jeeze, I gotta stop,” Deb said suddenly. “I thought this was just going to be a great weekend for fun.” She stood up and rubbed her lower back with her hands. “I need to just lie down and think. I need a time out. I’m going in my room for while.”
“Go ahead Deb. We’ll just finish up deciding where everything’s going to take place. Don’t worry,” Pat said.
Settling into the comforter on the bed, Deb kept thinking about the dream she and Pat had envisioned. It was so simple: friends coming, good food, and laughter. Whatever happened to that idea anyway?
“What about bathrooms?” Deb heard Linda ask from the next room.
Damn! The weekend the stranger went missing from the ferry! And how could she be missing anyway? There were so many people on the boat. Truth is, Deb thought, they probably wouldn’t have noticed. People go through life as if it’s a dream and purposely don’t notice anything that might cause them to wake up and look around. Well; I’m not going to sleep through life!
And with that last thought she promptly fell asleep.
Chapter Eight
June 20
Deb’s rest was shortlived. Just as she settled into her nap, she heard the island tune of her cell singing faintly from another part of the cabin. She awoke with a small snort and reached for it on the night stand. It wasn’t there.
“Snap! Where is that crazy thing? Anyone see my cell out there?” she called. “Sometimes I swear it has legs and just waits for me to turn the other way so it can run and hide.”
Having gotten up to follow the sound, Pat handed Deb the ringing phone as she came out of the bedroom.
“Here it is. It was in a white Macy’s bag on the sofa.”
“Bag? See what I mean?” Deb said. It stopped ringing just as she opened the lid. She sighed. “Missed that one. Oh well. Oh, look there’s three more messages I missed.”
Putting her feet up on Noreen’s chair rung, Deb squinted at the small symbols and pressed the button she hoped would bring up messages. For some reason known only to the mysterious phone gods, the setting was on speaker phone.
“Hello, Deb. Pick up if you’re there. This is St. John’s. Are you on the island yet? Call me as soon as you can. I’ve got my secretary calling in food for the breakfast feast, and we’ll open the weaving room to set up more seating. We’re on top of it, although we probably could use a few more dishwashers. Oh, and dishes. The church only has settings for one-fifty. Never mind, but call me with the crowd number. There are other things to decide. Bye for now. Call me.” Click.
She pressed the button again, while the others listened curiously.
Beep. “Hi, Deb. I tried to get Pat, but it seems her phone is off. The signup sheets we put up for the workshops are almost all full. Should we start making second sessions for all of them? Need to know ASAP. Oh, and we have permission to close off Bell Street for Tai Chi in the mornings. You’re very welcome. It doesn’t hurt to be one of the only police officers on the island. Call me.” Click.
Beep. “Hi, Mom. This is Cliffy. Are you picking me up from school? Call me.” Click.
“That kid! He knows I’m gone.” She pressed the button again.
Beep. “Hi, my darling. I tried calling Patty but she never answers. What kind of a person has a phone if they never bother to answer it, anyway? Would you tell her your Mom and I are on our way? We’ll be on the 8:30 ferry tonight. No need to pick us up. See you at your cabin.” There was a pause. “Oh yes… this is Jessie. Call me. Bye.” Click.
Just as she closed her phone and was about to put it down on the table, it rang again.
“Hello? This is Deb.”
“Deb, glad I caught you. Say, now that there’s so gosh awful many coming, is it okay if we have two specials and then when they’re out we can have people order off the menu? The discount will still apply. We didn’t really plan for this kind of crowd.”
“Lotta, is that you? Are you talking about lunch tomorrow? You think it will be that crowded?”
“Well, we have one hundred reservations already. Say, did you happen to reserve a table? We’re a popular place, you know. Just kidding. We’ve reserved a head table for you and yours at noon.”
“That would be great, thanks,” Deb replied. “I just can’t believe this yet. Thanks for the heads up, Lotta. Bye.”
“Is that a coupon special?” Carolyn asked. “Do I need a coupon?”
Deb sat silently for a moment.
Pat looked at her friend and was concerned by her pallor. “Are you okay?”
“Okay? If by okay you mean crazy nuts, then I’m okay. This is another fine mess you’ve got me in, Ollie,” she joked, holding her head in her hands.
“We’ll figure this out,” Pat replied, patting her back. She was about to say more when there was another knock on the door.
“What now?” Pat rose from the table and opened the door to five women she had never met before in her life.
“Halloo, is this where we register for the solstice, or is there a tent somewhere to sign in?” the voice floated.
Deb’s groan could be heard all the way from the kitchen.
“Is someone ill?” the voice asked politely.
“If only I were,” replied the voice as if through a brain fog.
“I’m going to work on a master schedule until it’s time to meet Bev in Bayfield,” Deb said, turning to the others.
“I’ll go check on how many people can fit on the beach,” Linda offered.
“C’mon, Noreen,” Julie said. “Let’s go see where your class is going to be held.”
* * *
While engrossed in her scheduling project Deb noticed her cell phone buzzing with a signal of another unheard message.
Jeeze, didn’t I turn the ringer off? she thought.
Beep. “Hi, Deb. It’s Mike, from the ferry line. Just wanted to let you know that my wife would like to join you for part of the retreat tomorrow.” The voice hesitated.
“And you probably heard already, but I thought I would give you a heads up. There seems to be a woman missing off the ferry from the morning trek right after yours. It serves me right to brag about my record. I’ll catch you later. Bye. Call me.” Click.
So someone really is missing. It’s probably not as bad as I think, Deb reassured herself. Don’t go making a big deal about this. You’ve got enough to do.
She picked up her pen and paper and added Mike’s wife to the list. She returned all her phone calls and made an even bigger list, trying to distract her mind from her creeping anxiety. Having finished all that she could for the moment, and taking a deep breath, she glanced at the clock in the corner.
Having no more chores to do before it was time to leave for the ferry, she picked up another journal from a pile on the shelf in the corner. She paged thr
ough it slowly, enjoying the messages of past guests. One in particular caught her eye.
Deb smiled, remembering herself at age ten in those long ago days of summer innocence.
How I wish that Pat and I had known each other as little girls.
“C’mon, Deb, time to go, or we’ll miss the ferry,” Pat’s voice called.
“Coming!” Deb replied, placing the book tenderly back on the shelf.
“Anything we can do while you’re gone to help get ready?” Julie asked cheerfully from her perch in the rocker.
“Let me think. We need to make sure we have enough garbage cans,” Pat replied as she grabbed her jacket from the hook. “You can call the Bell Street Tavern to ask for more. We need to make sure there are enough toilets available to accommodate all the people. Linda, you were right. You could call some of the Main Street businesses and see if they will act as a D.T.”
“What’s a D.T?” asked Noreen.
“A designated toilet, of course,” Pat replied.
“Oh, and one more thing,” she continued, as she opened the door to the cabin.
“What’s that?” Julie asked. “Lay it on me your highness.”
“Pray for a miracle.”
“A solstice miracle,” Deb added over her shoulder as she closed the door behind them.
Chapter Nine
June 20
Forty minutes later, Pat sat once again on the bench by the Bayfield dock, waiting for Bev to arrive. As she waited she indulged in her favorite hobby of people watching. There were people bringing wagons of fresh veggies for restaurants, a couple with bicycles, and a cute little baby boy squirming in his mother’s arms. All of them were hurrying to get on the ferry before it left.
Just think, Pat daydreamed. In a few days, I’ll be holding my own little squirming JoJo.
A noise startled her out of her grandmotherly thoughts. Driving right past all the other cars waiting in line, her least favorite policeman brought his squad car to a screeching halt. Red-faced, he turned to the pretty woman sitting next to him. Even from a distance Pat could see that he was yelling as he stopped the car. The woman opened the door, pulled out a small suitcase and slammed it shut. Spying a free space on the bench, she sat down. He glared at the two of them sitting together and sped off.
“Damn. I forgot my sunglasses in the car. Look at him go,” she said shaking her head. “Don’t you think he should get a ticket for tearing out of a public lot like that?” she asked, without looking up.
“I don’t think he would give himself a ticket,” Pat ventured. “Though he’s given one to just about everyone else in the area.”
“Don’t I know it? He’s given me three, and I’m his wife!”
“Oops, sorry.”
“Believe it, not half as sorry as he’s going to be.”
Glancing at Pat for the first time, a look of recognition registered in the woman’s eyes.
“Don’t I know you?”
“I seem to be getting a lot of that lately.”
“Anyway, I’m going out for the retreat. I took off from work and I’m coming all three days.”
“Well, good for you. I’m just waiting for a friend who has to get her scooter on the ferry. She probably doesn’t need the help, but she might appreciate me clearing pathways for her.”
“Oh her? I saw her with a redhead over in the parking lot as we came through. I hope my husband doesn’t give her a ticket,” the woman grumbled. Catching Pat’s eye, they laughed.
“Husbands!” they both said at exactly the same time. Smiling, Pat waved at Deb and Bev coming towards them. The red scooter was making a path through the crowd.
“What are you waiting for? I’ve got Tarot cards to read!” Bev called out excitedly. “Thanks for meeting me, but I could have handled it.”
Pat stood up and gave Bev a big hug.
“I know, but I couldn’t wait. It’s so good to see you.” Greetings over, the three friends made their way toward the ferry as the policeman’s wife followed them.
Soon, they sat gabbing in the shelter of the small porch of the ferry with legs stretched out in front of them.
“I just got back from San Antonio last week,” Bev chirped happily. How are your kids doing in Houston? I thought of going to see them while I was down there but just didn’t make it happen.”
The women’s gaiety was interrupted just then by a banging of the red metal door. Captain Mike entered the small space. Deb looked up and smiled.
“Hi, Mike. How are you doing?”
Mike just stared at her silently.
“Mike, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine. This is Beverly from Minneapolis. Bev, this is Mike, the captain of this ferry.”
“Nice to meet you,” Bev said sweetly, offering her hand in greeting. “But how on earth are we moving without the Captain steering this boat?” she puzzled aloud.
“I left my assistant at the helm.”
Mike’s shoulders were slumped and there was a deep furrow in his brow.
“Hey, Mike, is everything taken care of?” Deb asked. “I got your message just before we came. Did it all work out?”
“Well… no,” he started slowly. “It’s just that our counts didn’t match after we arrived back at the Bayfield dock.”
“What counts do you mean?” Deb asked.
“We always keep tabs on the cars and people. We try to head off any attempts to cheat the system with stowaways.
“Jeez, I had no idea you did that for every single trip. It must be a lot of work keeping track of everyone.”
“Sure is. But it’s got to be done,” Mike replied. “So, wouldn’t you know it? Right after I was bragging about my perfect record this morning, we ended up missing someone on the trip right after yours. And I don’t know who it is,” he continued. “I asked the ticket taker if maybe she had miscounted. ‘Oh, no,’ she said, ‘I am very careful.’ And she is. Her numbers matched mine, so that lessens the likelihood of a mistake.”
“So what do you think it means?” Deb inquired attentively, her attention piqued by Mike’s serious tone.
“I have my hunches, but I just can’t be sure at this point. The simplest explanation is that someone just hitched a ride in someone else’s car and wasn’t seen leaving by my employees.”
Pat and Bev listened silently with wide eyes.
“Marc always says that the simplest explanation is usually the most likely. That’s how he approaches medical diagnoses anyway,” Deb agreed.
“I want to be optimistic about this,” Mike answered, “but if someone fell or was pushed overboard, we are quickly losing our window for rescue in these cold waters. Even a strong swimmer can’t last long in waves like these. We had to call the Coast Guard,” he said glumly. “That was humbling.”
“Do you really think someone went overboard?” Pat asked.
“Here’s what troubles me. One of the other passengers approached me and told me something as we were verifying our counts at the dock.”
“What was that?” Deb pried.
“The guy is a year round islander. He knows everyone and can tell locals from tourists. He went gaga over a woman while he was waiting at the dock. She was about sixty, with gorgeous hair. He joined her on the bench and they talked about the weather while they waited.
He’s been a widower for a number of years and it’s been awhile since he has been in the company of a good woman. Poor guy. I could tell by the gleam in his eye that he really liked that one.”
“How old is he?” Deb inquired.
“Oh, he retired a few years ago, so he must be in his late sixties. But he’s still sharp as a tack and a man of his word. If he says something is so, then it is,” Mike said with assurance.
“Anyway, the story he told me is that he lost the woman in the crowd as he started off the ferry. He saw her disappear between the cars. He was following her, hoping to get her phone number. He searched upstairs and down afterwards and found no sign of her. He assumed that she had somehow s
nuck past him and gotten off the boat without him seeing her and had chalked it up to just another day of striking out. Then he overheard me and the ticket taker talking about our counts not matching.”
“Wow,” Deb and Pat said at once, slowly putting together the pieces.
“Do you think someone really disappeared? Could it have been that woman?” Deb wondered aloud.
“I think it was just a coincidence,” Pat asserted. “With all the crowds today, there were just way too many people to keep track of.”
“I wish we could help you sort this out, Mike,” Deb replied sympathetically. “Sorry, we have bigger fish to fry right now, like how we’re going to feed and house all these people we weren’t expecting. But, where do you go from here, Mike?”
“Well, I have to investigate this more. As much as I hate to do it, I will need to file a report on the discrepancy. The problem is, I can’t spare the staff to go talk to people. We are just too damn busy with all these women coming here today. I’m already paying overtime the way it is. They keep coming in waves. You’d think it was July fourth or something!”
“What did the Coast Guard say?” Deb asked, feeling somewhat responsible for his predicament due to the large crowds coming to the retreat.
“The last I heard they haven’t found a thing.”
“Are they doing a search and rescue?” Pat asked.
“Not officially. They sent one boat to look around. The problem is, no one saw anyone go over and there’s no real description of a person, so it’s hard to even know where to look.”
“What can we do to help?” Deb blurted out.
Oops, she thought. Once again, my lips move in response to a situation I can’t control. If there had been a table on the boat, Pat would have kicked Deb’s leg under it. Instead, she gave Deb a reproachful look.
“I know you’re busy,” Mike said gratefully. “Here’s what you can do. You two women seem to notice things that others don’t. Make me a list of people to talk to. Maybe you can ask around and see if anyone else noticed anything the least bit unusual or noticed the woman. See what you can find out. I’d really appreciate it.”
