The Oak Hotel - Watty Awards 2013 Finalist

Chapter Thirteen - The Painted Lighthouse

Chapter Thirteen

The Painted Lighthouse

The shoreline at port and starboard drifted by in muted shades of green and grey. The sound of the river and the chuckling it made against the hull of the boat were both welcomed.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Lincoln whispered.

“I knew you’d come,” Kayleigh replied at once, and Lincoln could almost see her smile. He reached out and helped to pull her toward the center of the boat. She sat beside him and allowed herself the indulgence of leaning against him while wrapping her arms gently around his shoulders. “You would never let him take me away.”

“I did on Te’hæra Thorn.”

“There was nothing you could have done then. But you came back for me. That’s the important thing.”

Lincoln didn’t know what else to say. The simple act of sitting there, feeling her beside him, was something beyond words. For the span of endless minutes, they breathed deeply of the fresh, moist river air. Finally, Kayleigh couldn’t help but ask, “Okay, so what’s the plan. Seeing as you’re actually getting away with breaking me out, what’s next?”

Lincoln quickly explained what had happened to him after she was abducted by Stitch. He told her about his quiet days in Kana Hove, how he escaped from the quiet planet through the remains of Ka Tolerates and returned to Autumn Harbor. Kayleigh accepted everything without question until he told mentioned Lea Ruttier, the town librarian.

“She actually knew my Grandfather?” she asked dubiously.

“He kind of put her in charge when he left Autumn Harbor. She’s been watching over us. She told me that your Grandfather thought we’d be the ones to bring back the de’Malange oak trees. The last thing she said was that we needed to find a boy named David Grey on the coast of the Eastern Sea.”

“That’s kind of vague,” Kayleigh said.

“That’s what I said. Unfortunately, the police came and there wasn’t any more time to talk. She told me where to find another copy of The History, which was how I got back here. Oh, she also said that I might have been born here in Burnam Tau’roh. I was only found in Autumn Harbor when I was a baby.”

Kayleigh was silent for a while. Lincoln was about to speak when she said, “So it’s not just me then. With a connection, I mean.”

“I guess not. But we still haven’t found your grandmother.”

“My grandfather said she might be here in Burnam Tau’roh.”

“We’ll just have to keep our eyes open, then.”

Neither knew when their words began to slide into nonsense. The border between the wakeful world and dreams was not well defined. Their sleep, however well deserved, was short-lived. The boat slid noisily up onto a sand bar not far from the estuary that would have dumped them out into the softly rolling Eastern Sea. It wasn’t the sound of the boat on the pebbly shore that caused them to start awake, however, but the raucous peal of laughter and merriment. Lincoln stood up first, helping Kayleigh to her feet. Pulling the boat up onto the narrow beach, they then pushed it into a dense stand of sea oats in an attempt to conceal it. Light spilled out over the dunes before them along with a rising din of voices.

“What time is it?” Kayleigh asked.

“It doesn’t feel too late,” Lincoln said. “Near midnight?”

Kayleigh held a finger to her lips as they moved toward the crest of the dune. Rising into the night beyond was the lighthouse, reflecting the glow of hidden, colored lights. At once, they were engulfed by a roiling sea of partygoers, a chaotic mass of people dressed in a bizarre assortment of colors and styles. Lincoln could now hear music, though from where it came he could not tell. A striking woman, wearing a dress with ever-changing cascades of color, moved close to him and took him by the hands. They performed a half dozen turns before she let go and melted back into the crowd. Head spinning, Lincoln searched for Kayleigh; he found her only a few feet away, smiling.