“Garden is holding up same as always this time of year, Tom.”
Tom was out of icebreakers. He looked to Anne for help. “Joe, we’re so sorry to hear about Charlie. We’re all going to miss him around Bayberry Cove,” she said.
Joe chuckled. “The way everyone is acting around here, you would think Charlie and I were married. He was a good man, and I’ll miss him, but we all have bigger things to worry about now.”
Anne perked up. “Bigger things to worry about? What are you talking about, Joe?”
“Doesn’t your husband tell you anything?” the old man asked.
“Clearly not enough,” she muttered to herself.
“So, wait,” Tom jumped back into the conversation, “you’re tellin’ us somethin’ strange is goin’ on around here, Joe?”
Joe Tabor sighed deeply. He stared at the darkening sky. You two better get inside – there’s a storm coming. Wouldn’t want to get caught out in that mess.”
Tom and Anne stepping into Joe’s house. The décor hadn’t changed for forty years – brown, shag carpeting, two couches covered with floral prints, and walls painted a light shade of pea green.
“Wow, love what you’ve done with the place,” Tom leaned over and whispered into Anne’s ear. She choked back a giggle when Joe turned toward them.
“Let me brew a pot of coffee. Make yourselves comfortable and I’ll be right back.” Joe exited the living room, leaving Tom and Anne sitting together on the more hideous of the two couches.
“This should be good,” Tom said.
“This should be…something.”
* * * * * * * * * *
“Ok, now what?” Sam asked after the five men had walked the length of Bayberry Cove’s shoreline.
Fear bubbled to the surface of Larry’s eyes. “You don’t think she would have gone for a swim, do you, Jed?”
“Sheriff, I don’t know what that girl is capable of doing,” he replied.
“Caroline!” shouted Sam. Bobby joined in. Larry followed, and suddenly a chorus of “Carolines” rang out from the beach. It was hopeless, of course – their screams were quickly swallowed up by the roar of the lake. Waves were choppy and crashing loudly against the rocky terrain.
Max stared at the oncoming storm clouds. “Unless one of you is gonna jump into the cove, we aren’t findin’ Caroline out here. She’s either someplace else or she’s swimmin’. Either way, we need to get back to town before that storm hits.”
Larry, Sam, and Bobby glanced skyward and reluctantly gave up .
Jed hadn’t spoken in minutes, having separated himself from the rest of the group. Larry saw him sitting about twenty feet away and jogged up to the teenager.
The sheriff crouched down next to Jed. “What’s this?”
“That’s Caroline’s diagram of Bayberry Cove. She drew it in the sand last night to explain how we were all trapped here.”
“She’s a smart girl, isn’t she, Jed?”
“Yeah, she’s…something.”
* * * * * * * * * *
Anne’s jaw hovered somewhere near Joe’s shag carpeting. Tom’s jaw hung even lower. The two investigative journalists just heard a story they refused to believe. How could they wrap their minds around such a bizarre tale? They were educated… intelligent… sophisticated. Joe Tabor was offering them a ghost story.
“Joe, you can’t be serious,” Tom finally broke the silence. “You’re expectin’ us to believe some wizard cast a spell on Bayberry Cove four hundred years ago? And now there are two monsters ready to kill anyone who tries to leave our town? Charlie was murdered by a sea creature?”
“I’m old, sonny. Frankly, I don’t care what you believe. You asked for an explanation, and I gave you one. That’s all I can do.”
Tom stood and thanked Joe for his hospitality. Thunder boomed overhead and the walk back to Bayberry Square was exposed to the elements. He wanted to get back before they were caught in a torrential downpour. Anne hesitated, but agreed to leave after Joe’s living room lit up from the first flash of lightning.
As they walked, he spoke. “So what do you make of all this, Anne? You didn’t say much in there.”
“Just processing, Tom.”
“Well, let’s hear it,” he said.
“I’m not really sure, yet. Something Joe said sparked a memory. You up for a trip to the library, or do you have to get back to finish writing that big Pumpkin Festival story you’re working on?” she mocked.
“I think the Pumpkin Festival just got bumped to page two,” he laughed.
* * * * * * * * * *
“That’s it!” Jed shouted.
Larry was so startled that he almost lost his balance. “What’s it?”
Max, Sam, and Bobby joined Larry and Jed around Caroline’s sand diagram.
“Look at the map!” Jed shouted. “If she’s not in the forest, and she’s not in the water, then where else would Caroline be?”
“Mt. Misery,” all four men said together.
“We have to get to Mt. Misery. That’s where Caroline is. I’m sure of it!” Jed pleaded.
Larry seemed to age significantly with each passing second. He thought for what felt like an eternity, then said, “Ok, how about Max and I head toward Mt. Misery. Sam, you take Jed and Bobby back into town and make sure everything is ok. If people are starting to realize what is happening, the Pumpkin Festival could turn into a riot.”
Sam and Bobby nodded in agreement. Jed stubbornly shook his head. “There is no way I am going back into town, sheriff. I should have gone with Caroline in the first place. I am going with you and Max and there is no way you can talk me out of it.”
Larry saw a desperation in Jed’s eyes that took him back two decades. The fiery passion of young love, he thought. A longing grin flashed across his face as he thought about his wife, Anne. He would crawl down into the pits of hell to rescue her from danger.
“Ok, Jed, you can come,” Larry said. “But listen to me…Max is in charge. We listen to him, or we could all end up dead. Do you understand me?”
Jed nodded in agreement.
“Sam, get Bobby back into town and you two make sure everyone is safe.”
Sam and Bobby nodded again and turned to walk away. Thunder boomed overhead. Lightning lit up the darkening sky. The first few drops of a cold, autumn rain began dotting the sand.
“You guys ready?” shouted Max. Larry and Jed gave a thumbs up and they were off.
