The Secrets of Lake Road

“Is that so?” Patricia looked at Caroline as though she just now recognized her. Then she eyed the rest of the kids. She looked all around them and past Adam’s mother as though she were searching for something. She continued looking around the beach, turning in circles.

Adam’s mother gave the bit back to him. “Take this to Mr. Heil. It’s his beach, and whatever it is, it belongs to him.”

“But I found it in the lake,” Adam said.

“Go,” his mother said. “All of you.”

Adam sulked but did as he was told and headed toward the Pavilion. They all followed him, dragging their feet in the sand. Behind them, Caroline heard Adam’s mother ask Patricia if everything was all right.

*

Inside the Pavilion, Heil was standing in-between two pinball machines, hanging a sign that read PLAY MACHINES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Although the space between the two machines was wide enough for two people to stand side by side, he was wedged in tightly, his large stomach hanging over the waist of his shorts. His tube socks were pulled high on his calves, covering the lower half of his pasty, tree-trunk legs.

“What do you have there?” he asked, talking through the nail pinched between his lips. With some effort, he got himself out from between the two machines. Adam handed him the bit.

“He found it in the lake,” Ted said.

Heil turned the metal over in his hands. “What is it?”

No one spoke. Not even Megan.

“Well?” he asked. “It looks like a piece of garbage. People shouldn’t litter in our waters. It’s a crime.” He tried to sound authoritative, but the waver in his voice confirmed he was just as anxious as they were about their treasure. “I’ll just hang onto this. It’s not something you kids should be playing with.”

“If it’s garbage,” Adam said, “why can’t I have it back?”

Heil took a step toward Adam, who shrank under Heil’s large belly. “You shouldn’t be playing with a scrap of metal. And don’t you kids be telling tall tales. Do you hear?” He pushed through the center of their circle, taking the horse’s bit with him.

Adam’s shoulders drooped. “Now what?”

“It was nothing but junk anyway,” Ted said.

“But what if it wasn’t junk? And there’s other stuff out there,” Ned said to his brother.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Ned said. “Other things like an old saddle or horseshoe or maybe even a horse’s skull.” He then turned to Adam, excited. “Show us again where you found it.”

“I don’t know,” Adam said. They went around in circles this way for several minutes, trying to coax Adam into showing them the exact spot where he had found the horse’s bit.

Megan took off her sunglasses and inspected her face in the lens. “Can you still see my eye shadow?” she asked Caroline.

“What? No,” Caroline said absently, not paying attention. She could’ve sworn she heard someone scream. By this time, the twins had convinced Adam to show them where he had found the metal. The boys started heading back outside.

“You didn’t even look,” Megan protested.

“Shhh,” she said, bringing her pointer finger to her lips. “Listen.”

The second shriek had both she and Megan turned toward the open doors that led to the beach and lake. The twins disappeared outside. Adam was a step behind them and still in the Pavilion. He turned back and looked at Caroline as if he was asking if she heard it too.

Two guys shooting pool put their sticks down. A family at the snack stand looked over their shoulders. There was another scream, this one higher pitched and more frantic. A man standing near the counter touched his wife’s arm before jogging toward the open doors that led to the swimming area. The guys shooting pool quickly followed.

There was more hollering, followed by another screech that pierced Caroline’s ears. Terror pounded inside her chest. She was afraid to move.

She was too afraid not to move.

*

Caroline grabbed Megan’s arm and pulled her through the Pavilion, down the stairs, and onto the beach. They joined Adam and the twins. A crowd had gathered—men, women, kids, toddlers. Through the crowd, she saw the woman in the wide-brimmed sun hat—Sara’s mother—wading in the water up to her waist. She was screaming a name at first Caroline couldn’t understand. Adam’s mother stood on the pier near the high dive, also calling a name. It sounded like “Sara.”

The man from the snack stand reached Sara’s mother in the water. Her arms flailed as she talked with him. He nodded a few times before he also started calling Sara’s name.

Caroline searched the beach, weaving in and out of the crowd, stepping over blankets, scurrying past beach chairs, and looking for the little girl with the blond braids and bright blue eyes. Her gaze stopped on the sign posted on the chain-link fence: SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK. She glanced at the empty lifeguard stand, where someone should’ve been sitting, watching. But of course no one was, and an overwhelming feeling of guilt backed up in her throat. She shouldn’t have left the little girl alone. She should’ve stayed with her. She should’ve been watching.