Gran, already in her favorite sunning chair, with Rudy snoring underneath her, pulled her sunglasses halfway down her nose. She looked at Rick and then Freesia. "I suppose so. But be back before supper. And put that cover-up on. And wear a life jacket."
Freesia rolled her eyes and pulled her beach cover-up over her head. Rick gave a thumbs-up and untied the boat from his dock. He jumped in, started it up and floated over to the Freisen's dock. Rick grabbed the dock while Freesia went over to say goodbye to Sage.
"I won't be long, Sagey," she whispered in her ear. "Have fun, okay?"
Sage reached for her keyboard. Freesia glanced back at Rick and Granddad making small talk while Sage typed. The boat's motor sputtered a cloud of light-gray smoke, wafting the smell of gasoline around their dock.
'I'll be okay. I don't want to go, anyway. I feel good here.'
Freesia hugged Sage's head, pushing her too-big sunhat over her eyes. Sage pushed her away, adjusted her hat and gave a thumbs-up.
"Ready?" Rick held out his hand.
She nodded.
He put one foot up on the dock to keep the boat steady as he helped Freesia in. He wore sporty flip-flops. She loved that.
She settled into the seat beside him and he handed her a life jacket, under Gran's watchful eye. Freesia slid it on and Rick pushed away from the dock. He looked down at her with a smile and lowered into his seat—his left knee on the seat, his right on the gas pedal. As he gave the boat a little gas, they rode away from the dock, her family waving and getting smaller the farther the boat zipped away from the shore.
Freesia closed her eyes, the wind blowing her long tresses in her face. She breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with the sweet, clear air. When they disappeared around the bay, away from Gran's overprotective eyes, she took her life jacket off and threw it in the back. Rick glanced down at her and smiled. Butterflies exploded in her stomach.
No matter what other things were thrown at her, she was pretty sure this would be a summer she wouldn't forget.
Chapter Five
The Goth teen stood in the shallows of the clear, cool water—not even caring that her jeans were submerged up to her knees—watching the two teens until the boat disappeared out of the bay. Her chin was tucked into her chest, her eyes unblinking. Her hair surrounded her shoulders like a shimmering ebony poncho. A smile tugged up one side of her lips.
It's nice to see Freesia happy…free…
Her smile disappeared just as quickly as it came.
If Rick is here, so is his family. And so is…he.
A flash of darkness clouded her eyes. She tightened her small hands into fists until her knuckles turned white. Her heart pounded in her chest as her breathing quickened.
"Do not let anger be your guide," the Watcher's soothing voice came from behind her. "All shall happen the way it is meant to."
Blood trickled from her hands, tiny red drops plunking into the still water engulfing her calves. She opened her hands to see that she'd pierced her palms with her fingernails.
"You see? Anger hurts," the Watcher said. He waded in beside her. "You must control your emotions or all will be lost."
The girl looked up at him, her emerald eyes brimming with tears. "You keep saying that. It's easier said than done. Besides, how do I know that all isn't lost already?"
"Because she is here now," he whispered. He took her hands in his own. "And so are you."
She closed her eyes, two small streams trailing down her deeply tanned cheeks. She felt an intense heat emit from the Watcher's hands to her own, followed by a tingling sensation that shot from her palms all the way up to her shoulders. When she opened her eyes, the Watcher stood facing her, still holding her hands. His head blocked the sun like a lunar eclipse, the sun's rays surrounding his face like a halo.
"It is time," he finally said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Go now and lay the foundation."
She nodded and looked down at her hands, which showed no traces of cuts or scarring. Pulling them deep into her sleeves, she walked back to the shore, dried her feet and pulled on her black, knee-high combat boots.
Without turning around, she pulled her hood up, her long hair spilling down her chest. Feeling the Watcher's eyes on her back, she breathed in deeply before slowly shuffling into the woods until they swallowed her.
It is time.
Chapter Six
While Rick checked his work hours at the Tiki Boat Launch and Snack Bar for the coming week, Freesia sat on the dock beside the boat, dangling her feet in the water. She put her hands behind her, leaned back and lifted her face to the sun. It felt strange to be away from her family…on her own. But it sure felt good too. Just when her body started to relax, icy guilt flooded her stomach as her thoughts drifted to Sage. As if on cue, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about your sister," Rick said. "She's cool with your grandparents for a little while. Besides, we won't be that long. You should go out with kids your own age sometimes, you know?" He was crouched beside her, his hand still on her shoulder.
Freesia's heart fluttered. She swallowed, trying to increase the spit level in her mouth back to normal so she could speak properly. "Yeah, I guess. But she needs me. No one else knows her the way I do. It's just hard…" She sat up, shoving her hands under her thighs. She stared down at her feet as they made tiny ripples, ebbing up to the side of the boat.
Rick gave her shoulder a light squeeze, kicked off his flip-flops and assumed the same position beside her. They didn't speak.
A guy behind them yelled, "Hit it!" The boat yanked him up on his skis.
The smell of gasoline wafted around them from people filling their boat tanks for a day of water fun or fishing. Families and sunbathers slowly made their way onto the main beach.
Rick bumped Freesia's shoulder with his own, bringing her out of her daze. "So? Wanna go for a walk down the beach before heading back?"
Butterflies tickled her stomach. "Sure, I guess."
They stood up, dusted the sand from their butts and headed to the ramp leading from the launch down to the beach. Just before reaching the Tiki Snack Hut, Freesia froze, goose bumps exploding all over her body. Her Goth girl stalker stood halfway down the parking lot overlooking the beach.
Freesia couldn't see her face because the girl had her hood up, but she knew it was her. The girl still had on the same blue hooded sweatshirt she was wearing earlier, but she'd changed into jeans and army-type boots. She leaned into her folded arms on the top of the railing, resting one foot up on the bottom of it, rammed between two bars. She turned and looked right at Freesia.
Adrenaline shot out from Freesia's stomach to her extremities, causing a tingling sensation in her fingers. She drew in a quick breath. She wasn't scared and didn't feel threatened, just ticked off.
That's it.
She slammed her flip-flops on the ground, scrambling to shove her feet in them, while still keeping her eyes on Goth girl. She wasn't going to let her get away this time. "Rick, I have to go up on to the parking lot for a minute first."
Rick stopped at the bottom of the launch ramp, looked up at Freesia and then followed her glare to the railing. Without asking any questions, he ran back up the ramp and said, "I'll go with you."
Freesia walked as fast as she could in non-sensible shoes and still be in control of her steps. She kept looking back over her shoulder to make sure Goth girl was still there. Rick, who walked double-time to keep up with her, said, "What's going on, Freesia? Who is that?"
"I don't know." She walked even faster around the small group of trees obstructing her view. "But I'm going to find out right now."
She stormed up to the girl, stopping when they were an arm's length away from each other. Rick almost crashed into her, placing his hands on Freesia's back to brace himself. Even in her fury, the warmth from his palms and the feeling of his breath on the back of her neck made her knees weak.
Focus, Freesia.
She put her hands on her hips, s
hifting her weight on her left leg. Her chest heaved, her heart thumping so hard she saw sparkles. She glared at the back of Goth girl's hood-covered head, trying to calm her body down.
"Hi," Freesia said, her voice sounding hoarse.
Goth girl didn't even flinch.
Maybe she didn't hear me with all the action going on.
"Hello!" she said louder.
No reaction.
Freesia looked over her shoulder at Rick with her mouth agape, cocking her head at the girl.
Rick shrugged.
Oh, no. You are not going to just ignore me.
She grabbed Goth girl's shoulder, tugging her around to face them. "Hey, I'm talking to—" Freesia drew in a sharp breath.
Goth girl was even more beautiful up close. She had dark brown freckles sprinkled all over her cheeks and her skin was flawless. Her nose was tiny and emphasized her full lips. And her eyes—wow! They were the deepest emerald green Freesia had ever seen, with tiny flecks of gold floating in them. There was something so powerfully familiar about her that Freesia's muscles tightened.
The girl said nothing. She just stood there, motionless. Unblinking.
Freesia swallowed hard. "Who are you?"
A smile tugged up one side of the girl's lips. She bowed her head deeper into the scarf of hair surrounding her face.
"Answer me," Freesia said, her voice more urgent. "I want to know who you are and why you've been following me around and I want to know now."
Goth girl held her smile. "What makes you think I'm following you?"
The dead calm of the girl's voice sent an icy chill down Freesia's spine, shaking her body with a small shiver. But there was no way she was showing her fear.
"Uh…well, let's see. Maybe because you've shown up everywhere I've been since I drove up here. Am I supposed to think it's all a coincidence when you're suddenly standing there staring at me and my family like you know us or something and then you just disappear into thin air?"
The girl shoved her hands deep into the kangaroo pouch in the front of her sweatshirt and raised an eyebrow. Freesia noted that the sweatshirt was old and faded, fraying at the edges. And it was stained with splotches of oil or some other dark substance. Even her jeans looked old and more like a guy's jeans than a girl's.
Why would such a young, beautiful girl wear clothes like that?
The girl shrugged. "Maybe it is just a coincidence. Besides, if I were going to stalk someone, I'd at least pick someone who led a much more exciting life."
Freesia cocked her head, narrowing her eyes. "Seriously? That's your response?"
Goth girl tipped her chin down, her forehead pulling away from her hood. "What am I supposed to say?" she asked, never moving her eyes away from Freesia's. "You came up to me, remember? I was just up here minding my own business—"
"Were you minding your own business at the store yesterday or up the road from our cabin a little while later?" Angry tears burned Freesia's eyes. She wasn't quite sure why. She wasn't a crier. But she refused to let some crazy girl make tears fall when she'd braved everything else she'd gone through without many tears. She wasn't going to break her.
The girl's smile faded. She took a step closer to Freesia, frowning with what seemed to Freesia a look of concern. Rick grabbed Freesia's forearm as if he were ready to pull her away if things escalated. Goth girl's gaze moved to Rick. She looked at him for a second. When she pulled her hands from her pocket, Freesia felt her heart lurch, thinking it was going to come to blows. Instead, the girl held her hands up, changing her face back to its usual stern expression.
She pulled her hood down, gathered her hair at the nape of her neck and ran her hand down the length of it, pulling it to rest down her right arm. Her hair shimmered in the sun, like a shiny black car after a wash.
"Let's start over, okay? Hi, I'm Mizu." She held her hand out to Freesia.
Freesia stared at the girl's hand, still unconvinced she was for real.
The wise words of her dad echoed in her ears. "It's the folks you aren't one hundred percent sure about that you should keep the closest to you. They're the ones who turn out to be 'real,' more than you'd expect, a friend you might need down the road."
She missed his gentle, soothing voice. And his pep talks. And his hugs.
"Freesia." She took Mizu's hand and gave it a limp handshake before nudging her head in Rick's direction. "This is Rick."
He held up a hand. "What's up?"
Mizu cocked her head at him and smiled. "Yeah, I've seen you around. Down by the launch."
Freesia chewed the inside of her lip, trying to push down the jealous ping rising in her throat. I have no reason to be jealous. It's not like we're a thing or anything. Ugh.
She cleared her throat. "So, uh, you have a cabin around here or something?"
"No." Mizu watched her boot scrape tiny rocks around on the road. "I'm staying with someone for the summer. Just outside of the last bay. I have some…family stuff…we're trying to work out. You know…" Her voice trailed off, her attention moving from her boot to the beach. A small breeze blew her hair off her arm and behind her back.
Freesia hugged herself. "Yeah, I do, actually."
Rick moved his hand from Freesia's arm to his pocket. "Are you staying over by the place where the Watcher of the Lake is supposed to be?"
Mizu shot him a look that Freesia thought looked like fear, almost like someone who'd been caught doing something wrong. Or when someone figures something out you don't want them to know. But her facial expression went right back to her regular stoic stance as she tilted her head at him, raising an eyebrow. "The what?"
"You know. The legend of the Watcher of the Lake? There's this story about how some First Nations guy lived up in the hills by the last bay long before any of us had cabins here. His cabin is supposed to be hidden or whatever. Anyway, I guess some drunk guys found his place one night and started giving him a rough time. They accidentally killed him. I don't remember hearing how. Then they tossed his body into the lake."
Both girls stared at him, frowning. He took their silence as a cue to go on.
"It's actually a really cool story if you're into the Native stories. Basically the legend goes that after he was thrown in the lake, Mother Earth gave him the job of watching over the lake. You know, cleansing it and helping souls in need who are hurt or die unjustly the way he did. She even gave him a secret oasis to live in and care for all those lost souls. Helping them to become in tune with their spirits so they can be at peace."
Freesia crossed her arms over her chest. "Why is it that I've lived here all of my life and never heard that story?"
Rick shrugged. "I don't know. My dad told it to me a long time ago. I guess because he likes to fish and hears all the cool stories. Supposedly, whatever we do to the lake over the summer—you know, fishing, skiing, boating or whatever—disrupts the spirit of the lake. All of those things take away from the lake. This Watcher dude sort of cleanses it after we all leave at the end of the summer, restoring the spirit of the lake to where it's supposed to be."
Mizu still looked at him like he had two heads. Freesia didn't know how to respond. She appreciated his trying to keep the conversation going. Before that, it wasn't exactly the type of conversation that would intrigue a guy and she felt bad. But before she could think of an excuse to get them out of there, Mizu spoke again.
"That was…an interesting story there, Rick." She turned to Freesia. "Look. I wasn't following you, okay? I'm sorry you thought that. It sucks being the new chick and I guess wherever I happened to wander to check things out, you were there. Nothing else, I swear. Guess it just means we might like the same kinds of things, you know?"
Freesia gave her a weak smile. "It's all good now. Look, it's getting late and I have to get back to my little sister. Maybe I'll see you around."
"Sure. Cool." Mizu shoved her hair down the back of her sweatshirt, and pulled her hood back up.
A car honked beside them. A family bustled, gather
ing their beach gear for a day by the shore. The smell of hot dogs and deep-fried food wafted up from the Tiki Bar.
Rick broke the silence. "Did you need a ride somewhere? I can drop you off before I take Freesia back to her dock."
Freesia repressed an eye roll. Nice of him to offer, but the thought of sharing a boat ride with that girl didn't sit right with her. Not yet, anyway.
Mizu shook her head. "No. Thanks. I'll walk. It's just…easier."
It was Freesia's turn to extend some hospitality. "Well, uh…did you want to hang out with me and my sister tomorrow? Me and my grandparents might bring her down here in the afternoon for a bit. She can't always handle how busy it is, so we'll have to see how long it lasts, but if you're around…you know…we can meet or something."
A smile stretched Mizu's lips. Her whole face lit up when she smiled. Freesia thought if she did that more often, she'd seem less…scary.
"That'd be okay, I think," Mizu said. "I'd have to check with the guy I'm staying with because I have…a few things to do back there. But if I'm here, I'll look for you."
Guy she's staying with? The girl couldn't be much older than Freesia, so there was no way she'd be 'living with' someone. Or could there be? Freesia made a mental note to dig about that later.
"Okay. We usually sit way over on the other end of the beach. There aren't usually as many people in that area and it's best for my sister. Just look for us."
Mizu nodded. "Okay. See ya, tomorrow. Maybe." She shuffled down the overpass, running her fingers along the fence bars as she went.
Freesia watched her walk away for a few moments and then turned to walk back to the launch. She frowned, not completely sure about what had just happened. How did she go from wanting to beat the crap out of this mystery girl to starting a friendship with her? Was she just played?
"You okay?" Rick pulled her out of her thoughts. "Things were kind of intense back there. I've never seen you like that."
"Yeah, I'm okay. I've never felt like that, actually. It was so weird. She ticked me off so much, but when she started talking to me…I don't know…it just felt…familiar. Weird, I know."
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