Rock Harbor Search and Rescue

by Colleen Coble

  For once, Emily was glad Timmy hadn’t been able to find his shoes. If they had arrived any earlier, they would’ve gotten a closer seat. About twelve feet from the yellow rope was close enough for her. She had no desire to feel the spray of the lake on her face.

  She caught sight of Olivia and her parents. “Dad, can I go hang with Olivia?”

  He nodded. “Okay. Mason said your mother is not in the area, and I don’t think she’ll show her face, but just in case, keep your cell on, don’t wander off, and—”

  “Answer if you or Naomi call.” Emily grinned. “I got it, Dad.”

  He smiled. “Have fun.”

  She ran over to her best friend. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Webster. How was your cruise?”

  Olivia’s mom’s blond hair lifted in the breeze. “It was wonderful. Just what we needed. I have some little gifts for you and your parents and brothers. I’ll bring them to church tomorrow.” Her blue eyes sparkled under the bright sun.

  “You didn’t have to do that.” But how cool—presents from a cruise.

  “We just wanted to thank you for letting Olivia stay with you.”

  “That was fun.” Emily grinned at her best friend. “Olivia’s like my sister, you know.”

  Mrs. Webster smiled. “I know.”

  “Mom, can I go with Emily? We want to go wish the team good luck.”

  “Sure. Stay together and keep your cell phone on.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  They passed Mayor Kaleva on the sidewalk. She and her daughter, Zoe, were handing out flyers to every person who passed.

  They walked across the beach, wet sand kicking up behind them as they made their way to where the competitors warmed up. It didn’t take them long to find the Gitchee Gumee Surfers in their new, logoed wet suits. Brandon smiled in their direction as they approached.

  Again, Emily’s stomach knotted. How could she accuse him of having the necklace? She knew what it felt like to be accused of something you didn’t do.

  But she’d seen the necklace. She knew it was the missing Sapphire Beauty.

  At least she was giving him a chance to explain. His aunt hadn’t given her a chance. Emily could only pray she was doing the right thing.

  She should be happy that her name would soon be cleared. But she wasn’t. Not when doing so would ruin Brandon’s reputation. Especially since everyone knew he had his heart set on applying to Stanford in California. It was one of the best schools in the country, and it had an awesome surf team. With his grades, it was the talk of Rock Harbor that he’d not only be accepted but probably win a good scholarship.

  What would this do to his future?

  TWENTY-TWO

  The fog rolled in after the second heat of competition, right after Josh had surfed. Emily shivered as she zipped her jacket. The announcer called for the third-wave competitors. Emily grabbed Olivia’s arm. “This is Brandon’s group.”

  The horn blasted. Six surfers paddled out into the surf. Brandon’s blue team shirt stood out against the water lapping the surfers’ boards.

  “Our team is ahead by seven points after the first two heats. If we can pick up another two points for the lead, there’s no way we won’t place.”

  God, maybe it’s wrong to pray for a certain team to win in a competition, but I sure hope we win. For the team. Yeah, and if she was being honest, for Brandon too.

  A wave started in the back of the lineup, gaining speed and height as its crest shoved toward Brandon. The drop was particularly fierce. He glanced over his shoulder to gauge his position, then began paddling. He duck-dove.

  Emily squeezed Olivia’s arm.

  Brandon popped up and straightened on his board, catching the wave in the middle and maneuvering to the shoulder of the breaking wave. He executed a perfect floater off the lip, then cut back before demonstrating a classical top-turn.

  The rest of the Gitchee Gumee Surfers screamed, hollered, and whistled. Emily found herself jumping up and down along with the crowd as the announcer called out the maneuvers over the loudspeaker.

  “And now the blue surfer looks like he’s going to catch a tube. Here it comes . . . can he hit it?”

  Emily held her breath.

  “And he’s caught it. Look at that tube ride.”

  The people littering the beach stood, clapping and hollering. After what felt like an hour to Emily, when actually it was mere minutes, Brandon’s ride was over. And so was the heat.

  “He had to have pulled in two more points than the other teams. That was awesome,” Olivia said as they waited for the scores to be announced.

  Emily watched Brandon high-five his teammates after retiring his board and getting a clap on the back from Coach Larson. He ducked into the tent the surfers used to change. Minutes later he emerged in sweatpants and a team logo shirt and spoke with the coach.

  Olivia’s cell phone rang. “Hey, Mom. Did you see that? Our team is definitely going to win now.”

  Emily tuned out her friend’s half of the call as Brandon turned in her direction. He smiled at her, and her face heated.

  Brandon said something to the coach before grabbing another towel and rubbing it over his head.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Olivia shoved the phone into her jacket pocket. “Hey, Mom needs me to bring her one of Mayor Kaleva’s flyers. I’ll be right back, okay?”

  Emily nodded absentmindedly as Brandon tossed the towel in the bin and jogged in her direction. She barely registered her best friend running off.

  “What a ride, huh?” Brandon’s eyes were like dark Hershey’s chocolates. “The coach thinks this will put us over the top.”

  “It’s awesome.” Why couldn’t she think of something clever to say?

  He turned as his score was announced: 9.3! The other teams couldn’t catch the Gitchee Gumee Surfers now! His teammates whooped and hollered, screaming his name. He pumped his fist in the air, then without warning, grabbed Emily in a bear hug. He lifted her off the ground and twirled her around.

  Her breath caught sideways in her throat.

  Brandon set her down. “Sorry. But do you realize we just won the competition?”

  She nodded as she worked to catch her balance. She smiled up at him, then froze as her eyes went to the leather cord peeping out from his shirt around his neck. A cord that looked just like the one she used for her copy of the Sapphire Beauty. One just like Mary Dancer used.

  Emily reached up and grabbed the cord, pulling the necklace from the shirt. The fused glass caught in the sunlight fighting against the fog. She gasped as she dropped the necklace against his chest.

  No denying he had the Sapphire Beauty now.

  “I can explain.”

  “I hope so, because I have to tell the sheriff.” She turned, striding toward the hordes of people huddled on the beach.

  “Emily, wait.” He grabbed her elbow. “Please. Just come with me, and I’ll explain everything.” His tanned face had gone two shades paler.

  She chewed her bottom lip. Mrs. Dancer and the sheriff hadn’t really given her much opportunity to explain. Then again, she’d been innocent. Brandon wasn’t. The proof hung around his neck.

  “Please, just hear me out. I didn’t steal it. Just hear me out. In private. If this gets out, I’ll never be able to get into a good college.”

  “What do you mean, you didn’t steal it? You’re wearing it! I don’t understand.” But she wouldn’t want to be the reason he was in trouble if he was innocent. “Okay, I’ll listen.”

  Brandon kept his hand under her elbow and led her away from the beach, up toward town. He kept a steady hold on her as they passed the tavern and ducked down an alley.

  She dug in her heels. “I don’t want to go any farther.”

  “I don’t want to be overheard.” He yanked on her arm and half dragged her deeper behind the storefronts. She took in a deep breath as they stopped in back of Rock Harbor Savings and Loan.

  Brandon turned to face her. “I know what you must think.”

 
Emily crossed her arms over her chest. How could he know what she thought when she didn’t even know what she thought?

  “I didn’t steal the necklace. Aunt Mary gave it to my mother.”

  “I don’t understand. You mean your aunt had it all along?”

  Brandon fingered the necklace and nodded. “Aunt Mary needed to sell more of her jewelry because the bank threatened to foreclose on her house. She couldn’t afford to run any ads in the paper or anything, so she decided she’d report her necklace missing from the festival. It would give her publicity and probably up her sales with people wanting to own something that was worth enough to be stolen.”

  Emily’s mouth went drier. “She set me up?” It was hard for her to imagine that the lady whose talent she’d admired for years would set her up.

  Brandon shook his head. “You were never part of the deal, at least from what I understand. Aunt Mary planned to report the necklace missing, but she didn’t even know your booth was going to be beside hers.” He rested a heavy hand on her shoulder.

  She shrugged it off. “But she didn’t just report it missing, Brandon. She put my copy in its place.” The memory of Mrs. Dancer’s glare made her burn from the inside out. “She even went so far as to suggest I only made a replica because I’d planned to steal hers.” The sheriff sure seemed to give that some serious consideration too.

  “That wasn’t planned, as far as I know, Emily.”

  “So she just took advantage of the opportunity? Made my parents think I was irresponsible or a thief?” Anger slipped into her blood. “Accepted my earnings my parents made me give her while all the time she had the necklace?”

  “I’m so sorry, Emily. Really, I am. You weren’t supposed to be involved.”

  “What was she going to do? She couldn’t very well sell the necklace, not with the police looking for it.”

  His eyes pleaded with her to understand. “Her plan was to take it apart and just make other pieces with the fused glass and beads.”

  Emily pointed to his necklace. “Apparently she didn’t.”

  “My mother saw it the next day. She recognized it from the picture in the paper.”

  “And?”

  “Well, Mom confronted her about it. Mom never wanted her to sell it in the first place—it was blessed so it should stay in the tribe. Aunt Mary explained how the bank was going to take her house. She begged Mom to keep quiet. What could Mom say? That’s her sister.”

  Well, Emily could understand . . . kinda. She wouldn’t want Timmy to lose his house. But that still didn’t explain him wearing the necklace. “So why didn’t she take it apart like she’d originally planned?”

  “Aunt Mary had the necklace blessed by some of our tribal leaders. It truly is blessed with protection against the Windigo. If the necklace was taken apart, the protection would be gone. Any pieces she tried to reuse would prevent any further blessing from that new item.”

  “You really believe that Windigo stuff?”

  Brandon nodded. “I told you I believe in good and evil.”

  “God is good, not some enchantment charm on some necklace. Windigos aren’t real. Evil, real evil, is sin.”

  Brandon shook his head. “My elders wouldn’t say the Windigo was real unless it was true. And this necklace did protect me. Like the night we searched and found the kid.”

  “That necklace had nothing to do with any protection, Brandon.” The more she talked, the more certain she was that everything she’d been taught was true. “God loves us all. He protects us. He made sure that we found Pansy and returned safely. Not a stupid necklace. The Bible tells us not to make idols like that but to put our trust and faith in God.”

  Brandon didn’t look at all convinced. But she couldn’t make someone accept the truth. “So why did your aunt give your mom the necklace anyway? Wasn’t she worried someone would see it, like I did?”

  “Mom told Aunt Mary she wanted to give it to me, knowing the competition was coming up and that some of our elders had said the Windigo was on the prowl. They both wanted to make sure I was protected.”

  “What your aunt did was wrong. Lying about something being stolen is fraud. It’s a crime. And you and your mom not saying anything, that was wrong too.”

  “It’s not so bad. I mean, nobody got hurt. Nobody lost anything.”

  That made her angry. “It hurt me and my reputation. I lost the money I’d made at the festival—my dad made me give it to your aunt because her necklace went missing while I was responsible for it.”

  “I’ll pay you back.” Brandon took a step closer to her.

  She shook her head. “My reputation got hurt. People thought I might have something to do with it.”

  “Not really. Everyone knows what a goody-goody you are.”

  Her face grew hotter. Was that how people thought of her? As a goody-goody? Well, maybe she was. “That doesn’t matter, Brandon. It’s wrong.”

  Her cell phone rang. She fished it out of her jacket pocket and glanced at the caller ID. It was Olivia.

  Brandon snatched it from her hand before she could answer.

  “Give me back my phone.” She reached for it, but he raised it over her head.

  She curled her hands into fists at her side. “I said, give it back.”

  “You have to agree not to say anything. I’ll get your money back, I promise.” He sounded desperate.

  She took a step toward him. “Give me my phone. Now.”

  He turned off the phone. “Let it go, Emily. Seriously. Just let it go.” His face twisted. “I’m not going to let you mess up my future.”

  Suddenly she wasn’t sure about him. Oh, God, I don’t know what to do. He’s scaring me. I don’t know what to say. Please help me. Nobody knows where I am. I need your help.

  She grabbed her phone from his grip but didn’t take the time to turn it back on. There was no telling what he’d do. “Brandon, you have to do the right thing. No matter what. Lying is wrong, even if it’s for family.” She took two steps backward, toward the mouth of the alley. “God loves you, and he’ll take care of you, but you have to do what’s right.”

  Brandon didn’t say anything, just stared at her like she’d grown another head. “I can’t tell anyone or the Windigo will come for me. My aunt knows about these things, and she told me what it would do.”

  Her mouth went dry. “One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 106:3: ‘Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.’ That means God blesses those who do what’s right. You need to tell Sheriff Kaleva the truth. What your aunt did. The truth. All of it.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll get into a lot of trouble. I’ll probably get kicked off the surf team, and there’s no way I’ll get into a college like Stanford with a criminal record.”

  “Maybe you won’t get in trouble. Your aunt is to blame for this—not you. Sure, you should have told someone, but just wearing the necklace isn’t a crime. You have the chance to come forward on your own. That will account for a lot, I think.” She turned and headed toward the beach.

  Brandon stepped in front of her. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  Fear gripped her by the throat, but she couldn’t show it. “I have to tell the truth, Brandon. And you should want to.”

  He reached out, grabbing her arm. Her heart beat double time.

  The foghorn sounded out across the water, and the sound sent shivers up Emily’s spine. “Please, Brandon, you need to do the right thing here.” She pulled away from his tight grip, and he let her go.

  She pointed at the necklace around his neck. “That won’t protect you from God’s disapproval. What you and your aunt did was wrong. You need to tell the sheriff the truth.”

  He hesitated. “I can’t bring shame to my family.”

  “There’s no shame in telling the truth. You aunt is the one who should be ashamed.”

  His face worked, and he swallowed hard. “I don’t know what to do.” He looked like he was about to cry.

  A bark ca
me behind her, and she whirled to see Samson running full speed toward her. He skidded to a stop in front of her and leaped onto her leg with his tail wagging fast enough to make a breeze. Well, almost.

  She fell to her knees and threw her arms around him. “My family will be right behind him, you know.” Moments later Charley arrived and went into a near spasm of joy at finding her. She endured the licks and excitement.

  Brandon backed away and turned toward the other end of the alley as if to run.

  “Don’t run, Brandon,” she said. “Be brave and face this. Tell Sheriff Kaleva what really happened. If you don’t, I will.”

  He hesitated for a long moment, then covered his face with his hands. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have gotten involved in this. I knew all along it was wrong. I’m so sorry you were accused, Emily.”

  Bree’s voice came from down Kitchigami. “Samson!”

  Emily released the hero of a dog, and he seized a stick, then ran off. He would lead them here in moments. Charley wasn’t about to leave her. Dusting off her hands, she rose and stood by Brandon. “I’ll help you.”

  His shoulders sagged. “What will they do to me?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s not like you stole it. Your aunt owned it and gave it to your mom, who gave it to you.”

  “I’m an accessory though, right?”

  “You’re a kid. And it was your family.” She was trying to encourage herself as much as him. She knew that there was a chance he could get in big trouble for this.

  Samson barked, and Bree, with Naomi beside her, emerged out of the fog. The sheriff followed on their heels.

  Naomi broke into a run and reached her first. She threw her arms around Emily and hugged her tight. Emily’s face was smashed into Naomi’s shoulder, smelling of woods and dog.

  “I’m fine, Naomi,” she said, her voice muffled by Naomi’s jacket. “Brandon didn’t hurt me. He just wanted to talk.”

  Naomi released her, and her brows gathered in a fierce frown. “This wasn’t like a date, was it?”