Black Otter Bay Read Free

stood near the hood looking out over the lake. A big man, she noted, with a clean-shaven dark complexion, wearing black trousers and shirt. His hair was cut close at the sides, but jutted straight up on top, like an overgrown crew-cut. Wrap-around sunglasses fit snug across his face.
    To Ben, Abby whispered, “I think it’s just somebody out for a drive. I’ve never seen the car before.”
    Ben started to sit up, but Abby stopped him. The man walked around to the back of the car. When he stopped at the trunk, he paused to look up and down the shoreline, and Abby dropped flat next to Ben.
    â€œHe’s looking around,” she whispered so quietly Ben could barely hear. “Don’t move.”
    â€œWe’re going to get caught,” Ben whined.
    â€œShhh!”
    The fear on his face surprised her. She could feel her own heart beating fast, but it was more out of excitement than fear. They were only playing hooky, for goodness’ sake! What was the worst that could happen? She reached out to place a reassuring hand on Ben’s cheek. When he turned to look at her, she grinned and winked, but he only scrunched his eyes shut, cramming himself tighter against the ground.
    Several quiet moments passed, until Abby finally sat up to take another look. The man stood near the trunk, awkwardly pulling on hip waders. A feeling of despair descended on Abby.
    â€œBen,” she whispered. Her brother burrowed deeper in the grass. “Ben, I think the guy is a fisherman. We’ll never get out of here now.”
    Ben finally looked up at his sister. “A fisherman?” he asked. “You mean he isn’t trying to catch us skipping school?”
    â€œOf course not,” she whispered. “But he’s an adult, and he knows we’re supposed to be in school, so we can’t let him see us.”
    â€œBut what if he fishes all afternoon? We have to be home soon.”
    â€œI’ll think of something,” she said, patting her brother’s shoulder while she rose to her knees for another look.
    With his hip waders on, the man now leaned over the opening of the trunk. “He’s taking out his fishing gear,” she reported. But then the man bent even further, and with a lurchingyank, pulled out a heavy bundle. Over his shoulder it went, and with her mouth hanging open in disbelief, Abby sat back hard on her butt.
    â€œHoly . . .” she muttered.
    Ben sat up beside her. “What?”
    Abby studied the big man and his heavy load, trying to make it out to be something other than what she guessed it to be. Maybe it was a roll of carpeting, a rug, even a heavy blanket. The man strode directly into the water at the weedline, and when a hand, and then a forearm, slipped into view from the back of the bundle, Abby knew her worst suspicions were true.
    Ben saw it at the same time, and Abby had just enough time to slap a hand over his mouth before he cried out. She pulled him down beside her.
    â€œBen, Ben!” she whispered harshly into his face. “You have to keep quiet.” She held a hand over his mouth while imploring him to silence. His eyes were wide, wild, and his tears warmed her fingers. “It’s okay, Ben. We just have to stay quiet. Please. We’ll get out of here, you’ll see. But you can’t make a sound. Okay?”
    They lay together in the tall grass, Abby’s hand near Ben’s face, ready to clamp down should he begin to cry out again. She worked her thoughts over the situation, trying to make some sense of what they’d seen. There could be no denying those images though, the flopping hand and lifeless arm. She had no idea who the man in the waders might be, much less the person hanging over his shoulder, but Abby was determined to find out.
    When Ben finally relaxed against her, she moved her fingers away from his face and he emitted a whimpering sigh. Up to her knees she rose again, slowly lifting her face to the