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“Got it,” she said, smiling then turning serious at seeing his worry. “I got it. I do. Follow the map to the letter. Get to the rendezvous. Then collect my winnings. Sorry,” she added when he sighed.
Beth focused on playing the astute and terrified right hand to the austere Bishop, treating the test as if it might be her last on the earth. When she was finally making her way to the first point on the map, she let herself grin from ear to ear. She’d taken five minute to study the map just to put his mind at ease. There were five points she needed to reach before rendezvous. The first one was one point two miles away and seemed to connect to Bayou Boudin. Maybe there would be some boudin waiting for her there. That last test had killed her appetite, but her winnings had given her a voracious one.
She arrived at the first marker in record time, curious that it was in a motorboat. She looked around and found an envelope taped to the inside of the boat and got it. Please let it say she got to use the boat. That would be awesome. “Yes!” she cried, her prayer answered. It even had instructions for how to start and operate it. She’d better keep that on her person. She read the instructions until she felt confident she knew them without needing to look. She folded it back and put them in the front pocket of her overalls just in case then got busy starting her handy dandy watercraft.
****
Bishop watched the green blinking dot on his phone, relieved that she’d reached the boat. He felt a lot better about her being in that than on foot. He opened the group chat he’d created just for the husbands and texted.Beth made it to the first marker.
Spook was the first to reply.Maggie is arriving at hers now.
Cherie is about three minutes away from hers
Tully just arrived at hers
Bishop let out a breath of relief. They all knew how to swim but they were required to wear life jackets anyway. You can’t swim if you’re somehow knocked unconscious. Bishop watched Beth’s green dot slowly move.
Cherie made it.
Beth is on the move. Two miles till second marker.
Maggie’s moving.
Good,Bishop typed.
Tully is moving. That was fast.
Was he surprised? She seemed slow in a lot of respects but her performance on these tests was more than a little impressive so far.She’s full of surprising talents,he decided to say, hoping he didn’t take offense.
She holds her talents close to her chest I’m learning.
Interesting.
Cherie is movingSeer texted. I was beginning to worry.
Good, they’re all on target,Bishop typed. Making decent time.He returned to watching his Petite’s green dot. Her next location was the Bright Dock. She couldn’t miss it since it was named for its bright green paint. Her next instructions would be found in plain sight. She didn’t even need to get out of the boat. But the last three markers weren’t that simple.
****
Bishop turned off his boat several miles behind Beth and pulled his phone out.Beth is headed to her final marker. And he was fuckingrelieved.
Cherie is too.
Maggie just arrived.
How’s Tully doing?Bishop typed.
Still three minutes out. Maybe she’s picking flowers.
Bishop chuckled.She likes flowers?
Very much so. I was nearly taken down by twelve daisies. She divines truths with their petals and they’d all lied about my feelings for her.
Bishops brows raised.Wtf.
She asks the flowers questions and uses their petals to divine the answers.
How the hell does she do that?Spook typed.
