The Secrets of Lake Road: A Novel

by Karen Katchur

  “No,” the fisherman said. “I mean, I’m sorry, it’s not your little girl.”

  Stimpy picked up a six-foot eel and tossed it onto the beach without thinking twice about how it might be received. Jo looked away. Idiot, she whispered. The eel’s skin was shredded, its flesh ripped and torn and full of holes.

  Patricia turned her head away, wriggling free from the deputy. She stumbled. The sheriff caught her.

  “What happened to it?” Patricia asked him.

  “Snappers,” the sheriff said. “Get her out of here,” he said to his deputy.

  The deputy took Patricia by the elbow and guided her across the beach to the parking lot, far away from the scene. Her sobs cut across the night air.

  A few people from the bar came forward now that Patricia had gone. Someone said, “Would you look at the size of that thing?”

  “It’s a big one,” Stimpy said, and nudged it with his foot. “We stock them in these waters, but I’ve never seen one this big. The biggest I’ve ever seen is a four- or five-footer.”

  By this time everyone on the beach came forward to see the fish, even Kevin. He stood next to Jo. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets. Caroline, Megan, and a couple of their friends appeared from across the way. They stopped to stare at the dead fish.

  Heil walked onto the pier and stood next to the sheriff.

  “I didn’t agree to this,” the sheriff said to him. “I won’t agree to this.”

  Heil slapped the sheriff on the shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.”

  “You better,” the sheriff said, and strode to his car, where the deputy and Patricia were waiting.

  Stimpy and the other fisherman fumbled with the caged snappers on the boat.

  “How many in there?” Heil pointed to the traps.

  “Four.” Stimpy scratched his head. “Some of them got tangled, and we had to cut the lines.”

  “Well, we’re going to need more.” He motioned to the lake. “You see how big it is out there. We need more boats, too. You tell the other fishermen, I want every last one of them on the lake. We’ve got to find this girl.”

  “Yeah, okay, okay,” Stimpy said.

  “You hear me?” Heil addressed the crowd behind him. “We’re all in agreement?”

  There was a collective rumble from the group. Jo and Kevin exchanged a look.

  When no one else spoke up, Heil spit in the general direction of Stimpy and the mutilated eel. “Now get that damn thing off my beach.”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Caroline spent another night tossing and turning, tangled in sheets. Her dreams were filled with snakes and eels and disfigured fish. And in the center, amidst the slithering and thrashing prey, was the rock behind Chris’s cabin, the one painted with the initials J + B.

  Somehow the image of the heart, the initials, disturbed her more than the mangled fish. She was certain it was another piece of the puzzle that had to do with her mother and Billy. Maybe if she learned the secret of Billy, she could end whatever it was that haunted her mother. What she wanted most and longed to know was what made her mother run. But her mother wasn’t running, not in the dream. She was swimming, farther and farther away, all while Caroline was drowning in the lake.

  Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up in bed. A cool breeze pulled the curtains against the window screen. Light from the moon cut across the floor and the far wall. She could hear her father snoring in the room next door, the sound comforting. She had been dreaming. It was only a dream. But it wasn’t.

  She leaned back against the pillow, too afraid to close her eyes, fearing the images that swam behind them in the dark. She wasn’t going to get any more sleep tonight. Willow’s branches scratched against the side of the cabin, beckoning her to come out and play.

  She tossed the covers aside. After making sure her bedroom door was closed tight, she lifted the screen and climbed out. She crawled into the crook of the trunk between two big branches about a third of the way up the tree. It was big enough for her to fit comfortably, stretching her legs on the thick branch in front of her and maintaining her balance in the pocket. It was better than any deer stand that had been constructed in the woods on the other side of the colony in the open field far from the cabins.

  In summers past she and Megan, the twins, and Adam would hike to the field and play games in the deer stands. They’d use sticks for guns and knives, pretend to track animals, play King of the Mountain. Other times they’d hike farther into the woods where a tree had fallen across the creek that fed the lake. They’d swing on vines, balance on the fallen tree, and hang out far away from the jeering of Johnny and Chris’s gang and where the grown-ups could never find them. They’d catch crawfish and salamanders and frogs. They’d make mud pies and build stick huts.

  Caroline wished they were doing those things again this summer. What she wouldn’t give to go back to the way things were between her and Megan, before Megan went all girly and goofy over boys.

  She thought about Chris and felt funny inside, warm and icky at the same time. The way he looked at her when she caught the line drive down the third baseline made her heart flutter. It was as though he were seeing her for the first time, and it made her cheeks burn.

  She willed herself to think of something else and pulled her legs to her chest, resting her chin on top of her knees. The willow’s long fingerlike branches rocked in the breeze. The leaves rustled softly, gently lulling her. She leaned back against the trunk. Her thoughts settled. Her eyelids grew heavy. She fought to keep them open for a moment or two before giving in. What could it hurt to rest her eyes for a few minutes?

  She was unaware of time passing. The wind picked up and the swinging branches roused her. She wondered how long she was asleep when she heard the sound of footsteps.

  Who’s there? she asked.

  A twig snapped.

  Hello? she said, squinting into the shadows below.

  A little girl appeared underneath the tree. She was wearing the same yellow-and-pink polka dot bathing suit as Sara had worn that day on the beach. Water dripped from her braids down the front of her chest. Bits and pieces of her arms and legs were missing as though someone had taken an eraser to her limbs. Sara?

  Caroline rubbed her eyes. She must be dreaming. Her spine pressed into the cold hard trunk. Her right leg tingled from sleep. The wind blew her hair across her face, the strands sticking to her lips. She swiped them away from her mouth.

  What are you doing here? Everyone is looking for you.

  Don’t let them find me, Sara said in a whispery voice that seemed to blow with the wind.

  Who don’t you want to find you?

  I want my mommy.

  Caroline’s body shivered from the breeze. She was confused. Was she dreaming? Wake up, she told herself. You need to wake up.

  Sara, she said, hearing her voice inside her chest just before she felt herself falling, the kind of falling that happens in dreams. She hit the ground with a thud. The air in her chest burst from her lungs in a whoosh.

  When she opened her eyes, her arms were splayed in front of her. Her left cheek was pressed in the dirt. Her legs were spread wide. Leaves and twigs stuck to her skin. She sat up, feeling dizzy. She couldn’t catch her breath. Her chest constricted. She sucked in, once, twice, and finally, finally, her chest opened and her lungs filled with air.

  She looked up at Willow. She had never fallen from the tree before. She had never had the wind knocked out of her. Slowly, she stood and rubbed her sore shoulder before brushing off the debris from her hands and knees. The hem of her nightgown was torn and hanging on the ground.

  It was almost dawn. The leaves were covered in dew. She had been in the tree for longer than she had thought. She slipped back through the window, pulled her nightgown over her head, and shoved it into the back of a drawer. Trembling, she put on a T-shirt and shorts and crawled into bed. It wasn’t until she was buried under the covers that she curled into a ball and thought about what she had seen a
nd heard in her dream. It had felt so real. The fall had been real. Her torn nightgown and aching shoulder were proof.

  She was scared, but she couldn’t tell Gram or her parents what had happened. They would be angry with her for crawling out of the window in the first place. They would say she was stupid for falling asleep in a tree. And what if her father insisted on fixing the screen? Or worse, what if he forbid her to ever climb the tree again?

  And even though she was frightened, her mind raced ahead, turning over the dream and what Sara had said. She couldn’t let Stimpy and his men follow the snappers and do to Sara what they had done to the eel.

  She closed her eyes. Somehow, someway she’d help Sara find her mommy. And maybe in the process, Caroline would find her mother too.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The lake turned into a spectacle of rowboats, motorboats, and canoes. Every local fisherman and their kin were out on the water. Stimpy and his men must’ve trapped two dozen or more of the turtles overnight. It was the only sense Kevin could make of the scene.

  Day four of the drowned little girl, and all that remained of the original recovery team was the single watercraft and three crew members. The rest of the team was called to another location in the Poconos, another tragedy, this one occurring along the Delaware River. It had been all over the eleven-o’clock news. A couple of teenagers had been tubing down the Delaware when one of them got sucked under by the current. Kevin had been watching TV with Gram in the cramped living room. Jo had already gone to bed. It had been an early night for everyone after the drama on the beach with the fishermen and the eel.

  The word at the lake was that the underwater recovery unit from the next county over would’ve pitched in and covered the Delaware River drowning, but they were tied up in another recovery farther north.

  Welcome to summer in the Poconos, Kevin thought, where the water was refreshing and cool—and deadly. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He was standing on the dock next to the parking lot for a little more than half an hour. The sun burned the tops of his feet and the tips of his ears. Sweat dripped between his shoulder blades. His T-shirt was moist and sticky.

  The lake water rocked with chaos. The ducks honked their grievances. Men shouted when they felt sure they had found something. Stimpy and his crew scrambled from fishing boat to fishing boat, pulling up drudge and carrion off the bottom, but nothing of the little girl was recovered. It was midafternoon, and they had been at it for several hours. All the while, the underwater recovery team went about their search methodically, professionally.

  The Pavilion doors were flung open. Songs played on the jukebox, and bells rang from pinball machines. Two or three families sat on the beach and played in the sand with their young children. The floating pier was surrounded by boats rather than teenagers. The diving boards were empty. And yet, the strangest part was that on a day as hot as today, not one person entered the water. Heil could open the beach, but he couldn’t force people to swim.

  Kevin raked his fingers through his hair. The scene was all too familiar. But he wasn’t thinking about why it was familiar. He wasn’t thinking about Billy and the five long days of searching the lake for his body. Instead he was thinking about Jo when she was sixteen years old. He had been standing on this same dock under the hot sun. Jo had been sitting alone on the back steps that led to the upstairs bar. Her dark hair glistened in the sunlight. Her head tilted to the side as though she were deep in thought.

  When she looked his way, he lifted his hand and waved. At first she didn’t acknowledge him and he had been hurt. He considered walking away, heading back to his parents’ cabin—to do what? Sulk? Listen to his dad berate him, how he wasn’t tough enough, how he was a pansy for playing his guitar all day long, how he’d never get lucky with a girl? Not like Billy. Now there was a boy who would grow to be a man’s man.

  While he debated his next move, she started walking in his direction. His pulse quickened. He knew Billy was gone for the day, off with his sister, Dee Dee, to visit family in New York. The closer Jo got, the faster his heart raced. By the time she stepped onto the dock, he was sure his chest would burst wide open.

  For a moment neither of them spoke. Kevin had never been alone with Jo before. In all the summers he had been coming to the lake, Billy had been a permanent fixture between them. As for Eddie and Sheila, he wasn’t sure where they were nor did he care.

  Although, now that he had Jo alone, he realized he had no idea what to say to her.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Nothing.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  She touched his hand. Her skin was soft and warm. “Come on,” she said.

  He walked alongside her, aware of her body next to his, the curve of her hips, the rise and fall of her chest, the casual swing of her arms. He supposed he knew where they were heading. He shouldn’t have been surprised. The last few days they had stared at each other, sometimes for long stretches of time. He’d catch her watching him, going out of her way to brush up against him. And once, she ran her fingers through his hair while he was playing his guitar. Billy had laughed. “Careful, Kev,” he said. “She’ll steal your heart.”

  Billy had never felt threatened by Kevin. Why should he? Why would Jo want Kevin when she had him? Every girl at the lake had wanted Billy. And Jo had never shown the slightest interest in Kevin.

  Until now, he reminded himself, walking so close to her, their hips bumped. So what had changed? Or maybe it was wishful thinking on his part. He owed it to himself to find out and Billy, be damned, because it was too late. She had stolen Kevin’s heart a long time ago.

  Kevin followed her lead and, as he suspected, or rather hoped, she wound her way around the bend on the opposite side of the lake to the private beaches far from the crowd. She slipped behind Hawkes’ cabin, Billy’s cabin, sly and surefooted, and crept through the woods. He followed, pausing briefly when he noticed the painted rock with the initials J+B. He felt the first pinch of guilt, but not enough for him to stop and turn around. He had to be alone with her and if not now then maybe never. He had to know what she was thinking, feeling.

  Neither one spoke. They stepped onto the private beach in front of the only cabin that wasn’t rented for the summer. Jo turned to face him. He opened his mouth to say something, but what? He didn’t know. Jesus, he thought. She was Billy’s girl. What was he doing?

  “Jo,” he said.

  She touched his lips with her finger. “Don’t say anything,” she said.

  He longed to put his arms around her and kiss her. God, the things he wanted to do to her. It took all his strength to keep his hands at his sides. She was his best friend’s girl.

  She leaned in close. She smelled like suntan lotion and bubble gum. He closed his eyes when she whispered, her breath hot in his ear, “Do you want me?”

  He swallowed hard. “Please, Jo,” he begged. “Don’t tease me.” He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, that is, if she ever let him start.

  “Answer the question.”

  “Don’t.” His voice trembled. “Don’t do this to me.”

  “Just answer the question. Do you want me?”

  “Yes,” he croaked.

  She tossed her head back and laughed. “Oh, Kevin.” She stepped back, pulled her T-shirt off, and slipped out of her shorts, revealing the red bikini she often wore that summer. He would dream about her in that bikini, waking up drenched in sweat, his erection bursting in his shorts.

  She stood still, allowing him to soak up every inch of her, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. She reached around her back and untied her top, letting it fall to the ground. She slowly edged the bottoms down her hips until they dropped at her feet. She moved to within an inch of him. Her body was so close, so close. He couldn’t stop from trembling.

  “Jo,” he groaned.

  * * *

  The sound of a car door slamming jolted Kevin from the memory, bringing him back to the dock, th
e hot sun, and the fishing boats on the lake. The sheriff had gotten out of his patrol car, and he was looking out at the water. Heil emerged from the Pavilion, hand outstretched to greet him. The two exchanged words and made their way toward the dock.

  The sheriff tipped his hat as he approached. Kevin gave a terse nod.

  “Stick around,” the sheriff said to him as he walked by. “Something came up, and I may have a few questions for you.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Caroline hopped on her bicycle and sped down the dirt hill. She paused briefly to check for traffic before crossing onto Lake Road and making her way toward the Pavilion. The doors were wide open for business, but the place was deserted by summer standards. Johnny and his gang weren’t sitting on the steps like they normally did. She wondered for a moment where they might be. She continued on through the parking lot and stopped at the dock, spewing pebbles when the back tire of the bike kicked out from under her, almost throwing her off.

  In a glance she knew she was too late. Stimpy and his men were already on the lake along with the underwater recovery team, although they didn’t appear to be working together. Several other fishing boats crowded the area around the floating pier as though they were waiting for orders. Ducks milled around the dock, honking at all the commotion.

  The hot sun scorched her shoulders and back as she surveyed the scene. She felt a tightening in her chest, thinking about her dream, somehow feeling as though she had let Sara down. She had overslept, having been awake much of the night. It was well past noon. She vowed not to make the same mistake tomorrow if given the chance, although exactly what her plan was to help Sara still lingered somewhere in the back of her mind, not fully formed as of yet.

  She pedaled back to the Pavilion and dropped her bike beside the stairs. Inside was dark and cool and quieter than usual. A family of three sat at a booth near the snack stand. The jukebox finished playing a record. Two men racked balls for a game of pool. A scraping noise came from the side wall near one of the pinball machines. She looked behind it and found Adam.