Bobby spoke up first. “What are you talkin’ about, Caroline? We ain’t gonna do nothin’ because there ain't nothin’ we can do.”
She looked annoyed. “Do you always talk like a stupid hillbilly when you’re scared?”
“Now come on, Caroline,” Jed interjected, “leave Bobby alone. We’re all scared, even Mr. Tucker.”
“There’s a difference between being afraid and acting like a coward, and being afraid and acting like a hero,” she replied.
“So we’re going to be heroes?” asked Jed.
“Exactly,” Caroline grinned.
Bobby suddenly felt sick to his stomach. A knot formed in his throat, and he could barely cough out a sentence. “And how the heck are we gonna do that?”
“Well,” Caroline began, but before she could spit out another word, Sam came bursting into his son’s bedroom.
“Kids, come quick, somethin’s happened to Charlie!”
“Charlie!” they shouted simultaneously. The response sounded choreographed.
“Mayor, what happened? Did the beast get him?” Jed asked.
“No, it was…” Sam stopped, unsure how to even explain what happened in the cove’s waters. “Listen, just get your stuff together and meet at Max Tucker’s house in fifteen minutes. I spoke to the sheriff and we have a lot to talk about.”
Sam exited as abruptly as he entered, leaving Jed, Bobby, and Caroline alone. Silence filled the room. Caroline frantically paced in a circle, her mind busy with possibilities. Jed stared out the window at the early morning sunshine peaking above a patch of trees. Bobby wiped beads of sweat away from his forehead and upper lip.
“Let’s go,” Caroline finally announced.
“Go? Go where? To Mr. Tucker’s?” asked Bobby. Jed continued to stare at two squirrels leaping from tree limb to tree limb in search of breakfast.
“Yeah,” she replied, “but we need to make a pit stop first.”
“No way!” shouted Bobby. “No more of your crazy adventures. We almost got killed last night because we listened to you. Me and Jed are goin’ to Mr. Tucker’s. Ain’t that right, Jed?”
“Huh?”
“Jed, we need to get to Mr. Tucker’s,” Bobby pleaded.
Caroline looked at the cutest boy in town, hoping she would be chosen over his best friend.
“Well,” Jed mumbled, “I think we should probably listen to the mayor and get over to Mr. Tucker’s house.” Caroline looked crushed by the response. Bobby exhaled a deep sigh of relief. “We’ll have plenty of time to explore after the meeting, but I want to hear more about what happened to Charlie. Don’t you, Caroline?”
She pouted. “I know exactly what they are going to say – that it’s getting too dangerous for us to be involved, and we’re all going to get a curfew. Is that what you guys want?”
“Maybe we should stay out of it,” Bobby suggested. “We’re just kids; what can we do about two monsters runnin’ around our town?”
Caroline shook her head. “You are such a chicken.”
Bobby stood up and stormed out of his own bedroom.
“Jed,” she asked longingly, “what about you?”
He looked into Caroline’s brown eyes. “I’m sorry. Bobby may be a chicken, but I think he is right. We need to stick together on this one so no one gets hurt. Let’s go meet the sheriff and the mayor at Max Tucker’s house, and then we can figure out a plan.”
Caroline’s eyes watered. Her heart ached. She couldn’t find words, so she turned around and ran out of Bobby’s bedroom, then out of his house, and into the crowds of townspeople preparing for the Pumpkin Festival. Jed watched her bony legs flail wildly as she picked up speed and disappeared into the masses. His mind and heart warred against each other, but logic always won out in the life of Jed Rogers.
* * * * * * * * * *
Max, Larry, and Sam were already inside when Jed and Bobby arrived. Their voices lowered when the two teenagers stepped through Max's front door.
“Where is Caroline?” Larry asked.
Jed and Bobby exchanged an uncertain glance. “She didn’t want to come,” Bobby finally said.
“What do you mean, she didn’t want to come?” Sam asked, frustration heavy in his voice.
Jed sighed. “She wanted to check something out on her own – do some more investigating. She might show up later.”
“We need her here now!” Sam shouted. The boys flinched nervously.
“Calm down, Sam,” Larry said calmly. “Jed, Bobby, where did she go?”
“Honestly, sheriff, we have no idea,” Jed answered. “She asked us to come with her, but we wanted to hear about Charlie. What happened to him?”
“He realized what was happening. A few of the old-timers around here remember the last time the beast and the creature showed up. He made a swim for freedom, but didn’t make it.”
Bobby panicked. “So what do we do? Are we all gonna die?”
“Listen, boys, this part is very important. Joe Tabor told me we could defeat Boreas.”
“How?” Jed shouted.
“Well, that is why all six of us needed to meet. Joe told me one of us had the gift to overpower him.”
“And how does he know that?”
Max spoke up for the first time. “Because last night I didn’t fire that first shot at the beast.”
Jed and Bobby looked confused. “So what does that mean?” Jed asked. “Who took the shot?”
Larry continued. “Well, we’re not really sure how it all happened, but one of us hurt the beast. Maybe with our mind, maybe we created some imaginary gun…we really don’t know. All we know is that we need to figure out who it was so we can plan our next step.”
“So how do we figure out who has the gift?” Bobby asked.
“I found some information in one of the journals,” his father answered. “Max, Larry, and I have been readin’ it for the past hour, and we think we know what to look for...a mark.”
“What mark!” both boys screamed.
“One of us should have a birthmark on the small of his neck, just above the hairline. Whoever has the birthmark is going to save our town.”
“So, let’s get to lookin!” said Bobby.
“We already checked one another,” said Larry. “It’s not one of us. That leaves you two and Caroline. Bobby, let your dad check your neck. Jed, come here and turn around.”
The two boys stepped forward and turned around.
First, Bobby.
Nothing.
Next, Jed.
“Well, it looks like we figured out who our hero is going to be,” announced Larry. “We need to find Caroline immediately. She’s going to save Bayberry Cove.”
