Come Witch or High Water

by Constance Barker

  “The lake creature.” This time Judy said it. “At least he imagined he did.”

  “I believe him,” Tracy said quietly. “He saw the creature after the boat capsized. It was a large fish-like man with scales and gills. Claimed that the storm wasn’t the real reason they turned over. The storm played a role, of course, but it was the creature that pulled the ship from upright onto its side and ultimately upside down. Every man that jumped from the ship was dragged down to the depths of the lake by the creature, one by one. Until there was only one man left. He was dragged down by the creature but kicked his way free and escaped. When he was found ashore the next day he was waterlogged and confused. He had three large gashes in his leg as though something had gripped him but then released, letting him go free. They never found the men. Authorities dragged the lake and everything.”

  “Why would the creature want to take all the men?” I wasn’t sure I quite bought the story either. It wasn’t typical for a creature to be violent, let alone capsize a whole boat and murder almost it’s entire crew.

  “I don’t know,” Tracy said with a shrug. “Some people think that the creature took them to feast on their flesh,” she pulled a grimace and shook her head. “I don’t know though; I think he might have just been lonely.”

  “Lonely,” Judy scoffed to herself. “Real men lost their lives out there, and it’s nothing more than a scary story people tell their children around a campfire now. They were seasoned fishermen, most of them had been out in the open ocean before coming to the lake. It was nothing short of a tragedy.”

  “It sounds terrible,” I said letting out a breath. It hadn’t been long ago that I read the story to Winnie and Alan, albeit without as much flourish as Tracy had given it. We had treated it like a scary story, like folklore. “I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing for you to be sorry for,” Judy said. “Can I get you more coffee or pie?” She asked quickly wiping a tear away from her eyes. She turned from the window and walked back to the kitchen. It sounded like we were getting more whether we wanted it or not as pans clanked and the coffee machine whirred to life. She would have to have known some of, if not all the men on the ship. They lived such a remote life; they would know anyone who passed through Charybdis.

  “My mom doesn’t like to talk about it,” Tracy whispered to us. “She remembers it happening and I think she always wished she could have done something to help.”

  “It doesn’t sound like there was anything she could have done.” I shook my head, agreeing with Winnie.

  “It still haunts her though.” Tracy sat back and crossed her arms. “I feel bad bringing it up, but I really believe that the lake creature is out there.”

  “There was another incident though?” I asked. “A year ago?” Alan had curled up back inside my jacket and was softly snoring. I wasn’t sure if he had really fallen asleep or if he was just faking it. He had a hard time not talking when we were around others so he would often just pretend to sleep.

  “Yeah, about a year back now. There was a group of teenage boys here for the tourist season. Their parents were here too, but I don’t think they paid attention to anything the boys were doing. One night they went swimming in the lake and something grabbed one of them by the leg, the same way it grabbed the lone survivor of the shipwreck. The one who got grabbed was dragged under, and the rest say it was a fish-man that did it. Ran away as fast as they could to get their parents.”

  “That’s awful,” Winnie shook her head. “Did they survive?” I winced and rubbed my hand along my calf. Every so often, I could feel the physical pain of others. It was completely random when it happened. Winnie had learned about what she called outlier powers when she was youngster in school. She believed that this was one and if I practiced, I could harness it for something. Why I would want to do that was lost on me. I'm not sure I'd want to feel someone else's pain and feeling their joy might seem like an invasion.

  “They did,” Tracy sighed. “But I’m not too sure our town will. The parents went crazy when they found out, contacted the news and even tried to sue our town. I don’t know what for, it’s not like it was our fault that they weren’t watching their kids.”

  “So that’s why it’s so quiet?” I asked. “The news stories are really enough to keep people away?” I half expected the other reaction. A mystery like this usually drew people in, at least people interested in the paranormal.

  “Yeah, tourism’s been down since then. We aren’t exactly the most desirable tourist destination anyways. Why come to a rainy, cold town without internet or cell service when you can go to the Bahama’s?” Tracy laughed. “I’d choose the Bahama’s too.”

  “Is it safe to swim?” Winnie asked.

  “Well, the lake is cold at the best of times, but it’s safe to swim.” Her mood had lightened, and so had Judy’s. She brought out a tray with fresh coffees and another slice of pie. There was even a small glass with coffee in it for Alan. “I swim in the lake nearly every day when it’s warm enough out.”

  “So what do you think happened to the boys?” I asked Judy.

  “I think they were teenagers with too little supervision, and a lot of imagination. You can’t see through the water on a clear day, let alone in the dark. A branch probably scrapped the kid and they panicked. It’s not hard to trick yourself like that, especially when you’re young.” She had seemed to recover from her upset over the shipwreck.

  “Well, my boyfriend and his friends all swear that they saw the creature too,” Tracy insisted. She took a sip of the coffee that her mother made for her. Alan had popped out of my coat when he smelled the fresh coffee and food. He was getting antsy. I could imagine that he had a lot to say about everything we heard.

  “Billy Joe and his buddies wouldn’t know algae from a monster. They’re all drunkards and fools,” Judy said unforgivingly.

  “Billy Joe isn’t a drunkard. He wasn’t even drunk when he saw the creature, he’d only had a couple of beers.” I stifled a giggle when I realized that Tracy was being sincere. We wouldn’t be taking much of this part of her story seriously. From Judy’s distaste and Tracy’s description of Billy Joe I didn’t think we could trust his word for it.

  “He saw the creature too?” Winnie asked. “When?”

  “A few weeks ago. He and his buddies were fishing on the docks and one of them hooked the lake creature and actually got dragged into the water. They all saw the creature flail, trying to get the hook out. For a minute they thought they had him, but as quickly as he showed up, he disappeared. They got their buddy Jimmy out of the water and told everyone what happened. No one really believed them, but no one believed anyone else, did they?” She asked rhetorically. It was strange to me that the lake creature had been sighted twenty years ago and then twice recently. Where had it gone for those decades?

  “I hope all this nonsense won’t ruin your trip or make you want to turn around and leave,” Judy said, giving Tracy another look.

  “It won’t, that much I can assure you,” I said with a shake of my head. If only they knew that this was the only reason why we were there at all. “We hiked out here, but to be honest, I’m hoping we can take a boat back.” Winnie gave me a look that told me exactly how she felt about that suggestion. “We should head out and set up camp, it’s going to be dark soon.”

  “I’m sure you’ll be able to charter a boat; you might even be able to hop on the ferry. It brings us our groceries every few weeks, they might be happy to bring you back. That’s depending on how long you’re planning to stay, of course.” Judy and Tracy had already started to gather everything from the table.

  “That would be great. Thank you for the wonderful food and warm coffee.” I dodged the question about how long we would be. Our assignments never took the amount of time I expected. If we weren’t ready before the next full moon, then we’d be stuck here another month. It was safer to be vague about that detail.

  “You know where you’re headed?” Tracy asked.

  “
Yeah, that way, then that way,” I used my finger to point straight and then right. Tracy laughed and nodded.

  “That’s right,” she said. I settled our bill and left a large tip for the women. They had given us more than just a good plate of food...we’d gotten more than enough information to digest.

  Chapter Three

  My companions were not as excited about setting up camp as I was. The light drizzle didn’t help their moods improve. “Why can’t we just rent a cabin?” Winnie asked again, watching me build the tent. She’d refused to help and was sitting on a log with her hood up covering half her face.

  “We technically could,” I admitted. I had wanted to camp out in tents, it felt more private than setting a camper up in the campgrounds. We would also be able to get closer to the water this way.

  “What!?” Winnie yelled shooting up from the log. “We could be inside right now, out of this rain?” Her hair had spiraled into ringlet curls from the damp air.

  “We would be out of the rain if you would help me set up.” Winnie rolled her eyes at me. “I thought if we camped, we’d get closer to the shoreline, and therefore closer to the lake creature.” Alan ruffled his wet feathers spraying me with water. “Hey!”

  “I vote we rent a cabin,” Alan put his two cents in. “We can get the one closest to the water's edge.” It was clear that I had been outvoted. Stubbornly I wanted to dig my heals in and insist on camping. My memory had been scrambled, and I couldn’t remember how. It made me forget most of my life before I came to Nikatomia and became a detective. I knew little about my childhood, and nothing about my family. When we were camping through the woods, I started having dreams about my past. Memories were trickling in, like one time my grandmother and I set up a tent in what must have been my backyard and camped out the night. My reasoning for wanting to pitch a tent. Maybe more memories would spawn.

  “Fine,” I agreed begrudgingly. Sharing my memories with them wasn’t something I was about to do. They would be all too understanding and agree to camp and I didn't want them to be miserable out of pity for me. I could be stubborn...in weird ways.

  Less than an hour later we were in a modest cabin right on the water. We had booked it at the visitor center, surprising the old man who worked there. He hadn’t been expecting us or anyone to be renting. That meant we had our pick of the lot. We chose the one farthest from the rest of them and closest to the water.

  The back deck of the house was basically a dock. Admittedly, it was nice to be out of the constant swirl of rain. We were also actually closer to the lake than we were with the tents. They had regulations on how close we were allowed to set up camp just in case the water line got too close for comfort. I had made them camp all the way out here, the least I could do was agree to a cabin now. We might end up having to camp our way back out anyway.

  “Much better,” Winnie said with a happy sigh. She had used a spell to smooth out her hair back to its normal soft wave. A log crackled in the fireplace; heat poured into the little room. Alan was jumping back and forth in front of the fireplace. How those spindly legs held that thick bod I didn't know. He liked the heat from the fire but didn’t want to get too hot. “What’s our plan?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “All accounts say that water creatures are kind, lonely souls. They are mostly stuck here by accident and keep to themselves. This one doesn’t seem to fit that descriptor. He seems violent, if we're to believe Tracy’s accounts.”

  “Granted, she is telling them all second hand,” Alan pointed out. “Stories change from teller to teller. The creature could have been far more innocent in someone else’s retelling. Though, this one seems consistently volatile.” Alan knew a lot of the old lore, and water creatures were some of the oldest.

  “He sounds lonely to me,” Winnie said, echoing Tracy’s earlier thoughts. It wasn’t a reach, water creatures were alone most of the time, and probably wished for some kind of companionship. I would.

  “He sounds violent to me.” Anything was possible, and if this lake creature had been stuck here for decades, he could have gone mad.

  “He’s pulling people down to be with him, I say he’s lonely.” Winnie was likely to look on the bright side. “It tracks with all the other lore about water creatures.” She was pining now. In Nikatomia, water creatures were able to shed their scales and fishy features. They were notoriously good looking, both the men and the women. There were other creatures that looked different in Nikatomia than they did in the normal realm, sometimes they looked hideous but in the case of water creatures they were stunning. The only one I had heard of that maintained their looks in both realms was the lady of the lake. I had met her once at a conference in Nikatomia, seemed a little full of herself to me. I don't think I'd be all that confident with snails stuck in my hair.

  “We need to be careful though,” I cautioned. Alan nodded in agreement. “He might be lonely, but what he's done sounds violent in nature. Even if it was an accident, or even if he’s innocent and didn’t actually do those things.” I added that in before Winnie could protest again.

  “I guess first things first is we try and coax him from the water,” Winnie suggested. She hopped up from the couch. Staying in a cabin had brightened her mood considerably. It was my turn now to be annoyed. It was pouring rain out and I didn’t want to have to go down to the lake right now. We had no other choice though. Talk about snail hair. Blech!

  A summoning spell should do the trick, but only if the lake creature wanted to be summoned. They had a sort of immunity to magic, their stubborn natures made it so that only very powerful magic could affect them. It was still worth a shot, though. We trekked out in the rain and walked to the end of the dock.

  “It’s a good thing this place is so un-populated,” Alan commented looking around. From the dock of the cabin I could only see one other building, and it was an empty cabin. The news really did do a number on the tourism here. We hadn’t seen anyone aside from the man who rented out the cabin to us and Tracy and Judy.

  “It’s private, which is good,” I agreed. The last thing we wanted was to have prying eyes on us while we performed magic or when Alan spoke. Our goal was to stay secret to the people of the normal realm, it didn’t always work out that way though. On our last mission more than a few people found out about our secret. We took care of it with a memory wiping spell, but it wasn’t something we wanted to do every time. I didn't like messing with people's minds like that.

  I pulled three candles from my bag and placed them at the edge of the dock. One in the center and the other two as close to the corners as possible. A summoning spell is similar to what ancient religions called offerings to their gods. Way back then, travel between Nikatomia and the normal realm was more fluid, less regulated. Our people integrated themselves into the worlds of the ancient people, like the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. Over time we lost the locations of many portals, or they moved around themselves. Now there was only one pathway that we knew of and travel was regulated. You had to provide identification and how long you would be gone for. It was easy for Winnie, Alan and I to get through because we had special passes that allowed us as much and as easy travel as possible. That’s why so many of our rituals and spell mirrored the ancient ways.

  Each candle flame burst to life with a whisper from Winnie and I. Alan plucked a feather from under his wing and passed it to me with his beak. Having him around was convenient when a spell required a raven feather which happened more often than you would expect. I concentrated and the feather floated above the center candle. It hovered above it slowly curling in on itself as the flames licked at it. Winnie set out some stones with runes carved into them. It was a simple spell, but effective. We would leave the altar for the night; I didn’t want to leave it out for too long and have it noticed. I would also have to keep a small amount of concentration on it to keep the candles lit with all the rain.

  “Hopefully that will work,” I said standing up. I swatted at my pants, trying to get some of
the dirt off. I hadn’t realized how dirty the dock was when I knelt down. I didn’t mind much, I always expected to get dirty on the job. Winnie seemed to be slowly discovering that. She had traded in her fitted dress pants for soft trousers.

  “Ugh,” she said batting at them. On top of the dirt we were also soaking wet from the rain. Hot drinks from the bakery sounded warm and delicious about now. The cabin was fully stocked with food though, so there was no reason to walk all the way back there.

  We had to walk around to the front to get back inside the cabin. The back door to the dock opened easily from the inside, but stuck when we tried to get back in. I was about to perform a spell to dry us all off before heading inside. It was more a habit than anything, in Nikatomia it was very rude to walk inside anywhere wet since it was so easy for us to dry off. I stopped quickly as we heard a voice shout at us.

  “Hello!” A man yelled and walked towards us. He wasn’t yelling in anger...it was just so that we could hear him over the wind.

  “Hi,” I said once he got closer. He limped towards us. “How are you?” The rain had subsided a bit, but I still wished we could get inside.

  “Good, I’m Roger,” he held out his hand. I took it and shook. Winnie did the same. She was still getting used to the action as it wasn’t a typical greeting in Nikatomia. “I thought I’d stop by and make sure things were all set over here, I’m the property manager, so anything you need I can get for you.”

  “Thank you, everything is perfect,” Winnie said. “I’m Winnie, this is Vana and Alan.” He nodded. I wondered if maybe people were used to seeing large birds as pets out here. Perhaps people used hawks for hunting.

  “That’s good to hear,” he said pausing. It seemed to me that he wanted to say more. “Need any food?” He asked. “The boat will be in soon, so if you want anything, we’ll send a list and a blank check with them when they leave for the closest grocery store.”

  “I think we’re all set, thanks though.” I turned to try and head inside. I just wanted to get out of the rain, and I wasn’t keen on this man seeing our spell set up. We could always just pretend we were part of some religion that required it, but that might make the locals distrust us.