Page 70 of Serenity Falls

He gestured at the map again. ‘So, to reach the cabin you’d need to take a boat out to about here on the remaining river. There’s possibly still a smaller branch off that. But then, you’d have to head off on foot for about a mile or two. I mean, it might be swampy, but it’s the only way.’ He smiled triumphantly and sat back.

I stared at him. ‘How long have you been looking into this?’

He shrugged. ‘A couple of weeks. I was just curious.’

‘Where did you even find these maps?’

‘The new one you can get in the gift shop. The old one was hidden right behind a ton of other geography books here in the library.’

‘And you never mentioned it to me?’ I couldn’t quite disguise the note of hurt in my voice. Milo and I were supposed to share everything. No secrets.

He had the grace to look sheepish. ‘I thought you might think it was boring.’

‘The map stuff, definitely. But the fact you might know where Harold’s cabin is, now that is interesting.’

We looked at each other, the idea hanging between us. I think it was me who spoke first, but I might be wrong. We all like to be the stars of our own story. I guess it doesn’t really matter. One of us was going to say it eventually:

‘So, you want to try and find it?’

19

The yellow monstrosity is parked outside the house when Sadie gets back.

She lets herself in and the aircon welcomes her into its blissfully chilly embrace. She stands for a moment in the hallway, letting it evaporate the sweat off her skin. Fucking Florida, she thinks again.

She looks around, wondering where her dad is. There are still several boxes in the hallway, so he obviously hasn’t made much of a dent in the unpacking. Then she hears the shower running upstairs. Right. She kicks off her trainers, wanders into the kitchen and pulls open the fridge. Half empty. Dad still hasn’t been shopping.

Upstairs, the shower stops. Sadie grabs a Diet Coke and slams the fridge door shut, feeling annoyed. Dad can be a bit hapless, but he’s normally pretty good at the basics, like food. She slings herself on to the sofa and thumbs through her phone while she waits for him to come back downstairs.

‘Hey! You’re home.’ Dad walks into the room, hair wet, smelling of shower gel, dressed in his ‘dad uniform’ of faded Hong Kong Phooey T-shirt and cut-off jeans.

‘I thought you were going shopping?’ she says, unable to mask the accusation in her voice.

‘Oh, yeah. Sorry, I got a little sidetracked.’

‘How?’

‘I bumped into someone.’

‘Who? Lockhart?’

‘No, erm, Hailey – the young mum from the park, whose little boy got lost.’

‘Right. And?’

‘I stopped by her house for some lemonade. Seemed rude to refuse again.’

Sadie’s eyebrows shoot up. ‘I see.’

‘I don’t think you do. Honestly, Sadie. It was just lemonade … oh, and cookies.’

‘Well, if there were cookies, I guess you’ll be proposing next.’

‘Don’t, Sadie. She’s a nice girl, And I mean, a girl.’

Dad walks to the fridge and grabs a beer. He pops the tab, walks over and sits in the armchair.

‘There was one thing you might be interested in,’ he says.