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“Oh, I’d add fifty if it’d actually make people read it.”
I’m looking at the crushed lichen when movement on the dark water catches my eye. My head jerks up, and for a moment, I’m so certain I see a boat that I open my mouth to say so.Hey, looks like Sadie’s coming back.But then it’s gone, and I’m left squinting and searching.
“Laney?”
“I thought I saw—” I take two more steps. “There!”
There’s definitely something out there. Something pale against the night. It’s not boat-sized, though. It’s an odd shape, floating on the water but low and long.
A lost paddleboard? A canoe that came loose from its moorings? Orpartof a canoe? It happens. New cottagers put up docks that get ripped away by the first storm. It’s Lake Superior, after all. Entire carrier ships lie beneath this inky water.
I notice smaller pale bits moving on the lake, including some close to shore. Whitecaps? As if in answer, the wind whips through my hair. I’d noticed it picking up earlier but had been too preoccupied to give it much thought.
I stare up at the overcast night sky.Tell me that’s not a storm approaching.I always check the marine forecast before coming out but, again, I’d been preoccupied.
Had there been boats on the lake when we came out? Boats tied along the shore? Damn it, why hadn’t I paid more attention?
Because I expected to be back by now. Also, how much does a storm matter when I don’t have a damn boat. It would just mean Sadie won’t be able to send anyone out in the morning, and we’ll be stuck here. Now that we’ve determined that anyone on the island with us is an asshole rather than a killer, that’s more annoying than terrifying.
I squint out again. While I do definitely see whitecaps, the object that first caught my attention isn’t that. It’s still there, along with several other smaller pale things floating in the water.
Wait, is that—?
I take another step.
“Laney!”
It’s the warning shout that does it, ironically. I wheel, thinking Jayla’s in trouble, and my foot slides on the lichen. I scramble, clawing at the air as if that will save me.
As I plummet into the crevice, my flailing hands catch a root. Then my foot slams down hard, ankle twisting. I find myself hugging roots and vegetation, one foot down, the other braced against the rock wall. I test the foot that touched down. It’s on something solid. I look down to see a ledge below me. A very wide, very stable ledge.
Okay, situation noncritical.
“Laney!”
“I’m fine,” I call back with a slight laugh. “I fell onto a ledge. And even if I’d missed that, it’s only another five feet to the bottom.”
Only five feet, but tight, with no easy way out if you get wedged in there. Still, it’s not like toppling off a fifty-foot cliff. At worst, I’d have needed to be hauled out, which is why I avoid this spot when I’m alone on the island.
I look up into Jayla’s face, five feet above me.
She shakes her head, braids swinging. “You get yourself into some real situations, girl.”
“Hey, it’s not just me.” I wave around. “Does this look familiar? Outdoor education class and someone had to get a selfie on the edgeof a bank? Slid over the edge, caught herself, and flipped out… when she was barely a few feet from the bottom.”
“And her best friend videotaped it instead of helping?”
“Jayla Hayes freaked out of her mind. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And the moment where you realized it you could just hop down? Priceless.”
She lifts both middle fingers.
I laugh. “It was fun, though. That entire class was fun. Seeing you out of your element and trying oh-so-hard to play it cool.”
“Some of us find this outdoor shit scarier than any dark alley, okay?”
“And then, you’re down at the bottom, covered in dirt, and Zahra comes along, and you’re trying to pretend you climbed down on purpose, checking out a fossil. How the hell could you not know you liked girls back then? You had such a crush on her.”
“On Zahra? Pfft. I just didn’t want to look silly in front ofanyone.”
