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Jules stopped at the edge of the dock and pointed to the raft. His son quickly went to work to pull the decrepit floating wood pile up on the overgrown lawn. A grunt escaped me as Thorn shifted, and his claws dug into my waist. Thankfully, I was wearing my jacket, or I would have been sporting a new scar.
‘Thorn, I can’t do this anymore. Look, we’re out in the open. If something were to come for you, you could escape before it came close.’
‘You’re a lousy friend,' he whined.
‘And you’re the weakest link. Goodbye,’ I said as I dropped him and rolled my eyes as he landed on his feet.
As I joined Kaye, Jules asked her to hand him a wooden box on the pier’s edge. He opened it, and inside was a worn and folded piece of paper.
“E’res a map,” he said, handing out the paper.
Kaye gently opened it and showed me the crude drawing. How the hell are we going to find our way with this? There was a bunch of water and land masses, but besides that, I had no idea what the hell I was looking at, and I said as much.
“The swamp is the only way to get there,” Jules's son retorted.
“It’s okay, Rave. I think I can figure it out and follow it,” Kaye said as she looked at the bayou before us and back at the map.
‘Sweet, so we can use the Gater Bater then,’' Thorn cheered as he hopped like a ferret to the big motorized boat with that name sprawled across the back.
“Don’t know where yer going, little feller, but if yer going after ol’ Julia, you can’t go in that. She’d hear ya a mile out,” Jules said, nodding his head toward his son. “Junior’s just makin’ sure the pirogue’s in top shape ’fore ye head out,” Jules said.
Thorn immediately stopped hopping around and turned, giving Jules an evil eye. ‘But if we go into that other monstrosity, we’ll sink!’ Thorn pouted yet moved away.
“Smart little critter,” he said in surprise.
‘Well, I guess we’ll go down as a team, bitch. Now come on.’
I hated to admit it as I mustered up my own insecurities, but Thorn was right; we were probably going to sink.
“She’s alright,” Junior called, standing back up and approaching us. “Lantern has fresh batteries, and oars are freshly slick,” he addressed his dad before turning to us. “Just need your deposit before ya go.”
“Deposit?” Kaye asks, eyeing the floating wood pile.
“Have to replace the equipment when you don’t come back.”
Well damn.
“How much?” Kaye asked.
“Grand,” Junior said.
“A grand? For that floating hunk of junk?” I sputtered out.
“It’s an heirloom. Been in the family since the beginning,” Jules murmured.
‘Since the beginning of time, maybe. Rave, it’s a dinosaur’s toothpick. It’s not worth dirt,’ Thorn whined.
He had a point, but at least it wasn’t my money I was shelling out. It was the agencies. I reached into my jacket and grabbed my wallet as Junior’s greedy eyes watched my movements.
“I plan on getting at least half of that back when we return,” I grumbled as I handed over the cash into Junior’s meaty palm and walked over to Kaye. She was cautiously studying our mode of transportation.
“We might die before we get there,” she whispered.
“Thorn has the same thoughts,” I replied, keeping my voice down and our proprietors in my sight.
“And you don’t?” Kaye questioned as she used her boot to gently push on the boat.
Junior walked over and held the boat secure as Kaye, Thorn, and I cautiously entered and got situated. Jules’ eerie eyes tracked our movements, and if I didn’t know better, I would say there was something ‘otherly’ about him.
