The Reservoir (8 page)

Holly struggled to keep her wits about her.  “Uh, I thought you said you weren’t sleeping before,” she reminded him.  “If you weren’t sleeping, how could you snore or … talk in your sleep?”  She smiled.  “Or take a bite out of my neck?”

“I’m a multitasker.  Holly, talk to me.  What’s wrong?”

“What’s right?” she quipped.  “I mean, really, what’s right about this trip so far.”

“I can think of two things,” he said.  “You … and … me.”

Holly couldn’t force back the smile from her lips.

“You’re smiling…” he said in a sing-song voice.  “Now tell me, what frightened you?”

“I got really cold all of a sudden, as if…”

“It gets cold up here at night,” he said.  “Even during the summer.”

“Oh,” she said with relief.  “I figured the ghost had decided to join our slumber party.”

“If that were the case, you would have heard the sound of a diesel truck engine roaring to life…”

“Yeah, and I’d be on the seat beside you.”

“Where else would you be?  I’d never leave without you,” he said matter-of- factly.  “Are you cold now?”

She shivered.  “Yeah.  I don’t know why.  I have plenty of blankets.”

Suddenly, Zack rose slightly and pulled her close, settling her body against him.  He wrapped a strong arm around her and whispered in her ear, “Extenuating circumstances.  Your mother will just have to understand.”

Holly felt her heart tumble, and his warm breath against her cheek sent sensations fluttering against her nerve endings.  But admittedly, these sensations were far more conducive to restful slumber than abject terror.  Well, maybe…  

***

Holly and Zack heard the sounds of voices in their respective sleep states.  In Holly’s semi-awake state, she wondered, who do those voices belong to?  Girl ghosts?  When she felt a kick against her foot, she stirred and muttered a protest.  Had the ghost entered the cabin and kicked her?  It wasn’t a very polite thing to do, even for a ghost.

It was a ridiculous idea, contemplating a ghost’s manners, or the lack thereof, but she just wasn’t thinking straight.  She hadn’t slept well at all, despite Zack wrapping her in his protective embrace.  Zack was tall, muscular, and strong, but according to him and Daniel, that girl ghost had a grip of steel. 

Holly’s thoughts were a muddled mess, until a second kick brought some measure of clarity to her brain, particularly when the kick connected with her wound. 

She bolted upright and clutched her foot.  “Owww!”

Zack bolted upright.  He glanced around frantically, and then his eyes lighted first on his friends, and then back to Holly.  He gave her a tired, loopy grin.

“Dudes!” Niqui cried, “what’s going on here?”

“You two didn’t…?” Kendall murmured, letting the implication of her words hang in the air.

“Of course not!” Zack said testily, quick to defend Holly’s honor.  “Holly was scared, and frankly, so was I.  While you all drifted off to La-La land like this place is some sort of ghost-free zone, we had a semi-close encounter with Daniel’s dead girlfriend.”

“Wha—!” Daniel cried from his place at the dinette table in the kitchen.  “You saw her?  You believe me!”  Daniel charged into the living room and stood at Zack and Holly’s feet.  “You really don’t think I’m crazy anymore?!”

Zack ran a hand through his hair.  “Yeah, we believe you.”  He stuck out a hand toward Daniel, who accepted it.  They shook hands, Daniel watching Zack quizzically.  “Congratulations, son, you’re not crazy.”

Zack rose from the floor then, doing a quick side-to-side stretch, before reaching for Holly’s hand.  “Did you manage to get any sleep?” he asked her, pulling her up in an easy motion.

“More than I would have if…”

“Zack hadn’t wrapped you in his tender embrace,” Kendall cut in, failing to keep the displeasure from her voice.

Holly briefly watched her friend, attempting to read her.  Sometimes it was hard to gauge Kendall’s true feelings.  Unfortunately, she didn’t have the time or the inclination to try right now.  Courtesy of Kendall’s kick to her foot, it was throbbing and now bleeding through the bandage.  “Shoot!” she muttered.  “I’m going to get a shower and clean up my foot.”

“How did
that
happen?” Kendall said, her eyes widened in stunned surprise at the sight of the injury.

“You just did it when you kicked her,” Zack said.  “You probably shouldn’t go around kicking people.”

“Holly, I’m so sor—”

She waved off the apology.  “You didn’t do it.  I stepped on a broken plate.”

“When?” Daniel asked, and Holly was glad to see he looked and sounded like his old self again.    

“We’ll tell you all about it after Holly and I get ready,” Zack told them.  He turned to her.  “Need any help getting to the bathroom?”

She shook her head and hobbled toward the back porch.

“I need to get something from my truck,” Zack said, and jogged off.

Their friends glanced at one another, eyes narrowed in speculation.  They sensed the shift in their friends’ relationship, and weren’t sure how they felt about it.  They knew as well as Holly that it could alter the smoothly functioning dynamic of the group if things didn’t go well.

“I’ll start cooking breakfast,” Niqui said, spurring the others into action.

“I’ll help,” Kendall said.

“And I’m … going down to the lake,” Daniel said.

“Daniel, no!” Niqui cried.

“I don’t get you, Daniel,” Kendall groused.  “Why would you go down there, considering how scared you were yesterday?  Need I remind you, you were fully convinced you’d lost your mind until a few minutes ago.  Frankly,” she added drolly, “
we
were pretty convinced you’d lost your mind.”

“Well, news flash!  I haven’t.  Call me when breakfast is ready.”

***

Daniel left the cabin and dropped down the dusty path to the water’s edge.  He scanned the surface and saw nothing out of the ordinary.  He took a hesitant step onto the dock.  His heart began to drum in his chest.  “If she had wanted to hurt me, she would have,” he told himself.  He repeated the words like a mantra.

Finally, he managed to work up the nerve to walk to the end of the dock.  He stood silently, listening to the soothing sound of the waves as they lapped against the dock and shore.  Although it was early, the sun shone bright and the day promised to be warm. 

Daniel glanced out across the lake.  Already, a few boats were speeding across the water—some pulling skiers and others pulling single and double-ride towable tubes.  A couple small boats dotted the shoreline, anchored, and with anglers fishing over the sides.  In another nearby boat, a couple with young children allowed the youngsters to frolic in water Daniel knew to be both deep and … ghost infested.    

He shuddered at the thought of the children encountering the girl in the water.  He wanted to warn the couple, but knew that to do so would definitely lead to speculation about his sanity.  He envisioned the conversation. 
Hello, there, folks.  Nice day.  Hey, you might want to get the tots out of the water, because as it happens, there’s a ghost down there.  Turns out too, she has a mighty impressive grip.  Those babies of yours might end up fish bait if you don’t pull them out of the water and soon.  Have a nice day. 

Nope, probably wouldn’t be in his best interest to have that particular conversation. 

Daniel wondered, had the ghost made herself known to others?  Or had she singled out him and his friends?  But if she had shown herself to others, was that perhaps the reason Yale Reservoir wasn’t as crowded as it typically was during mid to late summer? 

Did the locals know anything about a missing girl?  Had there been sightings of said missing girl hovering over the myriad docks along the shores of Yale?  Would there be a way to have that particular conversation with people?  If he framed his questions properly, he felt could obtain information.  He was sure of it.

He inhaled a deep, lung inflating mouthful of air.  He promptly sneezed.  His allergies had been acting up all summer.  He suddenly remembered his allergy pills, left behind on the table beside his bed at home.  “Great,” he muttered aloud.

“What’s great?” Zack said from behind him.  “Or rather, what’s not great?—as is indicated by your sarcastic tone.”

“I forgot my allergy pills.”

“Shoot, Daniel, don’t you take those things twice a day?”

He nodded his head.  “I’ll manage to live without them.”

“Let’s hope so,” Zack muttered doubtfully, and then studied his friend’s face. 

“What?” Daniel snapped.

Zack shook his head and gave a humorless laugh.  “I don’t get you.  You’re standing out here on this dock as if you’re totally unconcerned about the fact that a girl ghost might suddenly reach up and pull you into the water.”

Daniel glanced around nervously at the prospect, but remained standing at the end of the dock.  He turned to Zack.  “Right back at ya.”

“Good point.  But I can’t very well leave you standing here alone, can I?”

“You would never leave me standing here alone.  You’ve never left anyone standing alone.  You’re a Boy Scout, Zack.  If I jumped off a cliff, you’d jump too and try to beat me to the bottom to cushion my fall.”

Zack eyed him curiously, and then shrugged his shoulders.  “And what are you trying to tell me exactly?”

“I’m telling you you’re a good guy, Zack.  My best friend.”  He laughed.  “Had it turned out I am actually crazy, you would have remained by my side, making sure I got my three squares a day and didn’t end up on the streets, scaring small children.”

“Daniel…”

“Hey!  But I’m not crazy, because if I am, my four best friends are crazy too.  By the way, what’s going on between you and Holly?”

Zack smiled a high voltage smile, which he promptly tried to subdue.  “Nothing.”

Daniel wasn’t fooled.  “Yeah, right.  Hence, the big, goofy smile you’re barely managing to hide.”

“Okay, I like her.”

“You’ve always liked her.”

“Maybe,” Zack admitted, still smiling.

“Watch the PDA’s,” Daniel warned.

“Okaaay.”

Daniel sought his eyes.  “Kendall likes you too, you know.”

“Kendall?”

“Yeah, and you need to be sensitive to her feelings too.”

“Well, thank you, Dr. Phil.  And you’re telling me I’m a Boy Scout?  Here you are trying to protect Kendall, despite the fact that you and Kendall typically fight like cats and dogs.”  Zack narrowed his eyes.  “Oh, my gosh.  You like her!”

“Leave your gosh out of it, and yeah, dude, I like her.  There, I said it.”  He dropped his eyes and began kicking at the dock with the toe of his shoe.

“Tell her!”

“She doesn’t like me back.  Did you hear anything I just said?  I didn’t skip over the part about her liking you.”

“Oh.”  Zack shook his head to clear it.  “I … don’t think Kendall likes me.”

Daniel glanced up.  “Cut the crap.”

“Hmmm,” was all Zack could manage.

Daniel spoke up again.  “Unlike you, I’m no Boy Scout, as we both well know.  But what I do know is this…  If you flaunt—no, no, strike that word.  It’s the wrong word.  You wouldn’t deliberately ‘flaunt’ anything.  What I’m trying to say is, Kendall’s gonna be hurt that you like Holly and not her.  It’s going to create some uncomfortable tension between you and her, Holly and her, and maybe even with Niqui, who will likely be caught in the middle of her two friends.  And if I see Kendall feeling all dejected and rejected, I’m going to hurt for her, because, damn … love sucks!”

“Love?”  Zack raked his hands along either side of his head.  “Ah, Danny Boy, you’ve got it bad for Kendall,” he muttered, glancing off across the lake.  “I hate drama.  I hate causing drama, but…  I like Holly, Daniel.  I think I always have.”

“You can’t help your feelings for Holly any more than I can help my feelings for Kendall, or Aaron can help his feelings for…

Zack’s jaw dropped open.  “Niqui!”

“Bingo!”

Zack laughed uproariously.  “Oh, dude, how did this happen?  Hey, does Niqui like Aaron back?”

Daniel shrugged.  “Your guess is as good as mine.” 

Suddenly, a loud thumping sound emanated from somewhere to the left of the dock.  Both boys startled, and then turned.  They didn’t immediately spot the source of the sound.

“Is it her?” Daniel murmured softly.

Zack took a step closer to the edge of the dock.  Daniel snaked an arm out and grabbed a hold of him.  “Zack, too close!”

Suddenly, Zack gave a self-deprecating laugh.  “It’s a log—hitting against that other log over there.  Whew!”

“Breakfast!” Niqui shouted from up above, causing the boys to nearly jump out of their skins a second time. 

“Whew is right,” Daniel uttered, leaving the dock behind.  “I thought for sure it was the girl,” he said sheepishly.

Zack fell into step beside his friend.  “I did too.  I was sure we were going to see her face below the surface of the water, looking up at us from the side of the dock.”

Unbeknownst to them, she
was
watching them—from the other side.

Zack and Daniel strode into the cabin and immediately smelled the mouth watering scent of bacon and eggs cooking on the stove.  Niqui was pulling biscuits from the oven, while Kendall and Holly were setting places at the small dinette.

“Any ghost sightings?” Kendall asked.

“Happy to report—no,” Zack said.

He dropped into a chair beside Daniel, and then pulled out the chair on the other side of him.  He nodded toward Holly, who accepted the seat with a smile. 

Daniel leaned back in his chair, resting an arm across the back of the chair beside him.  “Kendall,” he said, encouraging her to sit down by arching his eyebrows repeatedly and suggestively.

“Something in your eye?” she said with a disgusted snort.

“No!”

Zack laughed.  “Well played,” he teased his friend.

“I beg to differ,” Kendall said.

“Good thing I like ‘em mean and feisty,” Daniel muttered under his breath.

Zack burst out laughing, and Holly gave Daniel a puzzled glance.  Did Daniel like Kendall?