Brilliant Hues
Authors: Naomi Kinsman
Brilliant Hues
Book Four
Naomi Kinsman
For my writer friends who challenge
and inspire me and who share my love of
sea wind and crashing waves.
Chapter 1: The Man on the Beach
Chapter 11: Bouncing Off the Walls
Chapter 13: What Happens After You Die?
Chapter 24: Even When You Don’t Know
The Man on the Beach
I
kicked off my flip-flops, dropped them on the pile of towels and bags, and chased Pippa across the sand. Salty wind whipped the laughter out of my mouth and carried it out to sea in gusty swirls. All week, my parents and I had unpacked boxes and settled in to our new house, but not until right now, this second, did I feel like I’d really come home. The first days of summer vacation, on my favorite Santa Cruz beach with Pippa. Higgins and Cocoa ran circles around us, barking and nipping at one another’s paws. When we splashed into the waves, the icy water drove needles into my bare skin.
“Ow, ow, ow!” I hopped from foot to foot, trying not to let either stay in too long.
“Sadie, look out!” Pips pointed to the crest of white water barreling toward us.
We sprinted toward dry land but the wave slammed into our legs anyway, soaking us to our waists. Pips shrieked and high-footed it out of the water, untangling seaweed from between her toes.
She draped a slimy strand over my shoulder and grinned. “Wanna go again?”
My crazy best friend. No matter how much had changed, Pips was still Pips.
I tossed the seaweed back at her. “Are you kidding me?”
“You’re out of practice.”
“A year in Michigan can do that to you.” I threw her an evil grin. “I’m not sure what
your
excuse is.”
Higgins and Cocoa waited, tails wagging, their eyes following my every move.
“Cocoa is gonna tackle you.” Pips took the ball out of my sweatshirt pocket and pitched it into the water. Higgins watched, head cocked, as Cocoa leapt into the waves.
I scratched his ears. “You going to learn to swim today, Higgins?”
Higgy licked my nose and then tore into the water after Cocoa.
“Guess that’s a yes,” Pippa said. “Wanna dry out?”
I brushed the sand off my hands. “Good call.”
Higgins and Cocoa caught up to us halfway back to the towels, soaking us again as they shook seawater out of their fur. Pips threw the ball and the dogs chased one another back to the water. Mom and Pippa’s mom, Alexis, had found a spot further down the beach where they busily covered
their arms and legs with sunscreen. Mom always said that cloudy days gave you the worst sunburns of all. I shivered, but I didn’t really mind the cold. Being here at the beach, having Mom with us, was almost too good to be true. It wasn’t like her Chronic Fatigue Syndrome was gone or anything. Mom still got tired and had to take it easy lots of the time, but ever since we talked—really talked—and promised each other to stop pretending nothing was wrong, she’d had much more energy.
“I’ll get the sunscreen from Mom.” The dogs bounded toward us soaking wet from the waves. “You keep the crazies off our towels.”
Pips grimaced. “Right. Wish me luck.”
Mom and Alexis stopped talking when I got close.
“Secrets?” I asked.
Usually, sudden silences from them ended up with a detour to frozen yogurt or the movies. But as they eyed each other strangely, I wondered if this time wasn’t that kind of secret.
“Everything okay?”
Without meaning to, I looked over my shoulder at the rocks on the bluff, where Mom and I used to come to try to catch the wind, back before she got sick. When the wind whipped through my fingers and tugged at the ends of my hair, nearly lifting me up off the rocks, it blew away bad feelings too. Like the time Pips and I got in an enormous fight over which cake to bake for her sister’s birthday, or the day my goldfish died. No matter how impossible things seemed when
I climbed up, after trying to catch the wind, I’d climb down light and clean and ready for whatever might come next.
Mom smiled at Alexis. “There Sadie goes, worrying about me again.”
“When she’s the one plowing full steam into the ocean,” Alexis said. “You girls make sure to dry off. It’s cold.”
I grinned. “No kidding. Can we borrow the sunscreen?”
Mom handed me the bottle. “Sure. And watch Hig, will you? The beach is new for him.”
“Did you see his flying leap into the ocean?”
“That’s what I mean. He might decide to join the seals or something.”
Just then, Higgins slimed me with his sandy nose, and amazingly, dropped the ball. I threw it again and then took the sunscreen back to Pips.
“This game might never end,” I told her as we lathered up and the dogs raced toward the ball.
“They’ll get tired soon.” She pointed to a Labradoodle that bounced over to join Higgy and Cocoa in the waves. “Or distracted.”
The three dogs chased one another up the beach, sending foam into the air behind them.
“Doesn’t take much to make them happy.” I twisted my star earring around in a circle. Before I left Owl Creek for California, Andrew had given me the earrings. They matched the necklace he’d given me for Easter.
“Don’t be sad,” Pips said. “You’re here now, with me. I’ve been waiting for this all year.”
“I’m not sad.”
“But you miss Andrew and Ruth and everything.” She nudged me, smiling. “I know.”
Pips could still see right through me.
She took out her iPhone and jealousy stabbed through me yet again. My parents were making me wait for my 13
th
birthday — all the way in August—to let me get my own phone.
Pippa tapped her photo app. “While the dogs are busy, I’ll catch you up.”
The first picture was of all the girls, arms around each other, in front of a bank of lockers.
“This was the first day of school last year.” Pips said, turning pages quickly, past pictures of lockers the girls had decorated for friends on birthdays and game days, stopping on a page with the girls all making posters.
“Alice ran for school secretary last year, and lost by three votes to this girl named Margo, so she’s been planning next year’s campaign ever since.”
“Did Bri get contacts?” I pointed to the next picture.
“Yes! And you wouldn’t believe how much drama there was for weeks while she figured out how to wear them. I swear, she had to go to the office almost every day because she kept losing them in her eyes.”
The next picture showed the girls dressed up in sparkly dresses, with boys standing next to them.
“The Holiday Ball,” Pips said.
“Juliet went with Rickey?”
His I’m-about-to-make-trouble grin, and out of control hair clashed with his suit and tie.
“Yeah, and probably you don’t want to bring it up, either,” Pips said. “He put a lizard in her purse when she wasn’t looking.”
I could just see Juliet batting the lizard away, dancing like a crazy marionette even after the lizard was long gone.
Pips grinned. “She still hasn’t forgiven him.”
“I bet.”
Pips swiped past picture after picture. Alice organizing pranks around campus, Bri winning an award for a pair of shoes she designed at Spring Break camp, Pippa and Alice holding the 1
st
place soccer trophy above their heads, grinning wildly. Alice was in a lot of pictures with Pips, and Juliet and Bri were together a lot too. Like they’d paired off, kind of. I played with a loose thread on my jeans and swallowed back worry. I loved all the girls, and I knew they’d be happy I was home now. Still, it seemed like the space I used to fill wasn’t there anymore. Not after they’d had all these experiences without me.
Pips swiped quickly past a video of some girl in the mall, and on to another picture of all four girls.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“No one,” Pips said, a little too quickly.
“Pips …” I said.
But she wasn’t looking at her phone anymore. I followed her gaze down to the ocean.
“Where’s Higgins?” she asked.
Cocoa was bouncing around in the waves with the Labradoodle, but Higgins wasn’t anywhere nearby. My heart started to pound and I stood, scanning the beach. He couldn’t have gone far. But what had I been thinking just letting him run wild? I knew better.
I squinted into the sun, and finally saw him, far down the beach. I broke into a run.
“Wait, Sadie—” Pippa said.
I didn’t wait. My mouth was still bitter with dread from those few seconds when I thought I’d lost Higgins, and I wouldn’t feel right until I had his leash clipped to his collar. As I neared, I realized he was circling a man. Even though Higgins wagged his tail, I slowed. Something didn’t feel right about the man. He clearly had treats or something in his pocket that Higgins wanted. The man locked eyes with me, grabbed Higgins’ collar and waited. He didn’t smile. I stopped a few feet away from the man, not sure what to do.
“Your dog, right?” the man asked. “Sadie Douglas?” Okay, something definitely wasn’t right. I wanted Higgins, now. I took a step backward.
“Are you Sadie Douglas?” the man repeated, as though I might not have heard him the first time.
I glanced over my shoulder. Pips had followed me, thank goodness, but she was still far enough away that she probably couldn’t hear this conversation.
Hurry, Pips
.
I held out my hand. “Here, Hig.”
“It’s okay,” the man said. “I know your dad. I work with your dad, actually.”
“Higgins?” My voice quavered.
“What’s going on?” Pippa asked, coming up next to me. “Hello,” she said to the man and frowned. “Thanks for catching Higgins for us.”
She stepped forward to take Higgins’ collar, but the man grabbed her wrist. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. It was like watching one of those movies they show in school about what not to do around strangers.
Sharp barking sounded from behind me, and Cocoa bounded up, his hackles raised. Higgins started barking too and snapped at the man, who let go of both Pips and Higgins, surprised. Both dogs turned toward him, growling. I’d never seen either of them act this way.
“Call off your dogs,” the man said.
“Yeah, right,” Pips said.
Shoulder to shoulder, Higgins and Cocoa closed in on the man. He backed away, his hands raised. I wanted to grab Higgy and run with Pips up the beach, but then I’d have to turn my back on this man.
“Just tell your dad,” the man said. “Tell him that Karl wants to talk to him.”
He tossed a piece of paper toward us. “And give him that.”
Higgins and Cocoa didn’t budge as he turned and jogged away. As the distance between us grew, my muscles relaxed until I collapsed onto my knees in the sand and buried my face in Higgins’ fur.
“Um … What just happened?” Pips knelt down next
to me. “You okay? Who was that guy, anyway? I thought your dad was working with Tyler, from my grandma’s church.”
I couldn’t stop shivering.
Pippa picked up the note and read it. “It says: Be careful who you side with.”
She rubbed her wrist and stared after the man. I watched her anger fade away, and the realization of all the things that could have happened come over her.
“Sadie …” she said, her voice a little shaky now.
“I know …” I whispered.
Mom and Alexis weren’t even looking at us. We leashed up the dogs, ran back up the beach, and told our moms what had happened.
Mom grabbed the note from me. “Where’s this man?”
Alexis gave Mom a don’t-overreact look. “It’s okay, Cindy. The girls are okay.”
Even though I’d been really scared, Mom’s reaction surprised me, almost as though she had expected something bad to happen today. Her hands shook as she stuffed things into her bag.
“Are we leaving?” I asked.
“Girls, grab your things and get in the car now.”
Mom rarely used this tone of voice. Pips and I ran for our towels, scooped everything into our arms and raced the dogs to the parking lot. Once we were all in the car, Alexis locked the doors and started the engine.
“What’s going on?” Pips asked.
Alexis put the car in gear. “I don’t want you girls to worry.”
I shot a questioning look at Pips and she shrugged back. Our moms were silent, and in the mirror I could see their matching grave expressions. Something was going on, something bigger than what Pippa and I had told them, something bad enough to swallow up all the air in the car. Higgins curled up in my lap and Cocoa flopped onto Pips. I scratched Higgy’s ears, my questions hot and scratchy in my throat, as we turned onto the highway and headed toward home.
