At last, they hung up, with promises that they were starting their drive right now and would be there as soon as they could. She was to stay put, and everything would be all right.
Returning to the others, she collapsed into one of the hospital lobby chairs.
Both Mariana and Reyva had finished with their parents as well. “My mom is pissed at my dad for sending me to a camp that doesn’t exist,” Mariana reported.
“Mine remembered sneaking out with Arthur,” Reyva said, “but they were positive he chickened out before they got very far and went back to camp.”
“Not sure how much mine remembered,” Mariana said. “I kind of distracted them when I told them I wanted to finish high school in California.” She flashed a smile at her friends. “You inspired me, Reyva.”
“You told them that?” Claire said. “That’s great!” Also brave.
Reyva high-fived her.
“What did they say?” Claire asked.
“They said we could talk about it,” Mariana said, still smiling. “I’ve got an aunt and uncle who’d probably say yes, if my parents asked. I could live with them. Visit my parents every holiday. They said they’d had no idea I was unhappy—they thought I’d wanted to start over too.”
Both of them congratulated her, and she talked more about moving back to California. It wasn’t a perfect solution, Mariana admitted. She’d miss her parents, but it would let her return to her high school, her extended family, and the home she loved.
“We’re proud of you,” Claire said.
Reyva nodded emphatically. “What she said.”
As they talked, Claire helped herself to another pudding. For now, the hospital staff was leaving them alone, busy with other patients who were in more need than three malnourished girls with bumps and bruises. They’d been told they could stay until their parents arrived, and Mariana’s parents had offered to pay the bill for whatever the three of them ate—Mariana had theircredit card and permission to use it. The park ranger was still present, filling out paperwork at the nurses’ station.
“It’s over,” Mariana said with a sigh.
“Yeah,” Reyva said.
“Guess it really could mess with minds,” Mariana said. “Our parents are proof.”
Claire shuddered. That was a terrifying power. She hoped the spirit stayed sealed in that cave forever. She’d left out an explanation of how they’d trapped it when she’d talked to her parents, not wanting to risk anyone overhearing. The fewer people who knew about the cave, the better.
She tried to focus on the positives: they were saved, they were safe, and they were all going home. But a whisper of a thought crawled into her mind and, without stopping to reconsider whether she should say it out loud, she said out loud, “What if it messed with ours?”
“It didn’t,” Reyva said.
“We defeated it,” Mariana said. “Right?”
Claire stood and began to pace, counting her steps. Now that the idea had taken root, she couldn’t dig it out. “How did we get to the island? It had to have been by boat.” She remembered being on a boat and knew they’d later exploded the boat engine. But whose boat had it been? “Who took us there?”
“The killer,” Reyva said.
“Do you remember that?” Claire asked. “A specific memory, not just what you think must be true. I remember being on the boat. It was porpoising, and Mariana knew how to fix it.”
“Adjust the throttle,” Mariana said.
“But who was driving the boat?” Claire asked.
All three of them looked at each other.
“There was someone else,” Claire insisted. “We’ve forgotten someone.”
Less than an hour later, they were back in the park ranger’s boat. Yes, their parents had said to stay put, but it would be many hours before they arrived, and the doctors had said they were free to go. The tricky part was persuading the park ranger to take them back to the island, in defiance of the no-trespassing rule.
“Why ‘no trespassing’?” Claire had asked her.
“It’s a sanctuary,” she’d answered, “for birds.”
