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“Anything in your car we should worry about if you don’t return?” Junior smirked.
“Don’t get any funny ideas about my car. It’s a transformer, and he’ll eat you if I don’t come back,” I hissed, making Junior flinch.
Kaye let out a nervous chuckle and gave him a reassuring smile.
“Don’t mind her. That car is her baby. But we do have someone coming to pick it up if something happens to us.”
“Good luck. Hopefully, you just run into Julia’s shack and miss the LaCombs. Either way, there’s a storm com’n in. It’ll be dangerous on the bayou,” Junior said as he pushed the boat away from the dock.
I grabbed the oar and tried to figure out how to paddle properly. This wasn’t something we went over in class.
How to survive the bayou 101. Nope, never was a subject on our ever-changing syllabus.
Shit, we might die out here, and it wasn’t going to be from wildlife or the witch. It was going to be because neither one of us knew how to operate this damn thing.
CHAPTER 6
Pitted Wetlands
Kaye
We were off to a shaky start, and I didn’t just mean the way we were rocking the boat.
“Calm down, Thorn, you’re not helping,” Rave hissed as the boat slightly rocked. Thorn’s legs sprawled out in a panic as he tried to stabilize himself again. The wind was picking up, and with Thorn constantly trying to balance as he stood, he was going to cause us to tip over, which was not what any of us wanted.
When Junior saw us struggling, he took pity on us and took a few minutes to show us how to use the pole and oars. He also went into more detail about the LaCombs. If the rumor was true, they had fallen under Miss Julia’s spell and did her bidding. So not only did we have to worry about her, but possible civilian casualties and/or hostages. But that was for later.
Rave decided it was best for her to handle the pole and oars since my arm was still healing, and I wasn’t going to fight her. I knew once her mind was made up, it was almost impossible to make her change it. Although, with how she was grunting and fighting with the pole, I’d bet she wished to take back her words.
“Come here, Thorn.” I beckoned him over and gently petted him until he settled. “Just lay down and try to relax. You moving around is shaking the boat.” Thorn laid down but kept raising his head to look over the edge of the vessel with dilated eyes and sporadic breathing. I threw Rave a look in question, and she snorted.
“He doesn’t like not seeing his surroundings.”
That made sense, I guess.
“Okay, how about this, Thorn? You pay attention to the trees and sky around us, and I’ll keep my eyes on the water and shore that you can’t see.”
He snorted and just stared at me. I swear he even arched an eyebrow.
“See, I have to do it anyways since I’m navigating,” I said as I waved the map before him. He let out a small growl but averted his eyes toward the trees.
“Why the trees?” Rave asked.
She probably thought I was just placating Thorn, but we were in the middle of swamps where anything could happen. My biggest fear was snakes dropping onto us, and I told her that.
She snorted again and rolled her eyes.
“Don’t laugh. I’ve seen videos where snakes have launched themselves from roofs and trees and landed and just slithered away. You, out of all people, should know that not everything is black and white.”
“Are you serious? They launch themselves?”
“Yep, like a trapezist at the circus.” I pursed my lips and watched silently as Rave glanced up at the trees and shuddered.
There was something about the Southern wetlands that was magical. The low-hanging moss and the gentle lapping of the water were almost relaxing.
Slam.
What the hell?
