Off into the desiccated abyss of Green Lake, I floated in my slumber. I approached a woman, stretched out in front of an overturned boat. Kate Barlow. Her blonde locks peaked out from under her hat. I kneeled next to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, "Ma'am, do you need help?"
She turned to me and her crystal blue eyes lit up with joy. Although heavily fatigued, she mustered up enough energy to give me the time of day. "It's so hot, Sam," she said, "But I feel so cold."
Sam? I thought, standing quickly. Kate Barlow was out of her mind. She smiled softly, "You look just like her."
The sound of a gun cocking caught my attention. An elderly Trout Walker and a tiny red headed woman stood before Kate Barlow and I. "Gimmie the loot," Trout spat. The jittery red head kept behind him.
"Trout Walker, I've been waiting for you," she pulled out a pistol and pointed it at him. "I ain't gon' shoot you," she huffed before tossing the pistol on the ground between them. The nervous red head followed Trout's command and retrieved the pistol. They spoke to each other, Trout and Kate, as if I wasn't there. As if I were just a spirit only Kate Barlow could see.
"I ain't got long now. I'mma count to five and you better give me the loot," Trout threatened.
"That's right Miss Katherine, you heard the man," the red head taunted.
"Linda Miller, is that you?" Kate recognized the young woman after all. Trout began his countdown.
"I've been Linda Walker for the last five years. Now you better give him what he wants. He's a desperate man!" As Linda Walker spoke, I marveled at the uncanny resemblance she had to Lou.
"Oh you were such a good student," Kate snorted with amusement, "Must have married him for his money."
"Well it's all gone now!" Linda said, "It dried up with the lake! It hasn't rained here since the day they killed Sam."
"Four..." Trout continued to count.
"Go on and shoot me then," said Kate, "I don't have it here. I've been dead for a long time, Trout. You, your children, and your children's children will dig for the next 100 years, and you will never find it." A yellow spotted lizard scurried from under the overturned boat. The already nervous Linda Miller shot at it and missed.
Kate reached out for the creature with a firm grip, "Come here, sweet pea. Start diggin', Trout." She held the lizard to her wrist and it bit deep. Kate squirmed and twitched as she took her last breath. The satisfied lizard rested on her shoulder. Linda quickly retrieved the shoulder bag laying at Kate's side, and she and Trout quickly disappeared into the desert dust.
Then, I heard Hector call from behind me. I was relieved to see him standing, alive and well, before me. We ran towards each other, each of us nearly knocking the other over in embrace. "You're alive! I can see you," I cried.
"And I can see you," Hector said, "What's happening? Where are you?"
"I'm back at camp still," I said, "Mr. Sir caught me sneaking out the night of the full moon."
Hector shook his head, "Figures. Don't worry. I'll come back for you. Me and Stanley will come back for you. I promise. But I need to go now," He faded before me and I kept my grip on his jumpsuit, begging for him not to go.
"Hector, wait," I called out to him, but he was gone. I looked down at my feet to see an oasis forming in the desert. Lush green grass rose to my ankles and covered the sand. Then, the woman from my dreams, Clove, appeared in Hector's place. She was strikingly gorgeous. Her ebony skin glowed flawlessly under the sun. She was a goddess. My jaw fell open, involuntarily, as I marveled at her, unable to form words.
She smirked, nodded at my wrists and chanted, "Blood of the creature."
I looked down, following her gaze. Each wrist split open at the command of her words, and my blood spilled into the green grass. "Blood of the creature," she repeated and tall stems extended at my feet, blossoming into red roses. I felt my body grow cold with every drop.
As I started to panic, Clove erupted in a hearty laugh and rumbles of thunder echoed in the distance. That was when I heard their voices, Mr. Sir, Pendanski, and Lou. Floating somewhere in between dream and reality, I felt Lou waiting anxiously at my bedside.
"You don't think we gave her too much, do you?" she said.
"No such thing as too much melatonin. It's a vitamin." Pendanski assured.
"She hasn't been dreaming like she ought to," Lou complained, "That's the only way I can ever get answers."
"Dehydration, I'm thinking," Pendanski added.
"Don't look at me. I left the water out for her," Mr. Sir grumbled.
"Hush now, I think she's wakin' up. Come on darlin', open those eyes." My eyelids fluttered open and I looked up at the ceiling of my own bedroom. I was back in my bed and Lou was dabbing my forehead with a wet towel. Pendanski stood behind her, and Mr. Sir behind him with his arms wrapped around him, seemingly as disappointed to see me as I was to see him.
"Tyler, sweetie, you passed out," she snapped her fingers at Pendanski without taking her eyes off of me. He handed her a glass of water, certainly room temperature, "Here, have some of this. It's just water." She assured, reading the distrust in my eyes.
"A moment alone would be nice," she snapped at Mr. Sir and Pendanski and the two men exited my bedroom.
"You drugged me," I said.
"I know. I shouldn't have, that was my mistake. But I'm so glad you're okay," she used her hands to brush the curls out of my face and I pulled back, "You're angry, I know, and I don't blame you for wanting to be with your brother. But you have to know, I did it for your own good, sweet pea. Sometimes we need to save the people we love, even if that means hurting them."
Don't call me sweet pea. I thought to myself, remembering Kate Barlow's encounter with a yellow spotted lizard.
I took a deep breath and found the courage to address the elephant in the room, "You want me to find out where Kate Barlow hid her treasure," I stared at her with accusing eyes and she nodded. "I don't know anything," I told her, "So you're wasting your time meddling in my abilities."
"I don't want you to think I've been using you," she said.
"You haven't?" I raised my eyebrows, daring her to lie again.
She exhaled sharply and looked down in shame, "I wasn't always using you. You have to know that. When I met you at the courthouse that day, I couldn't refuse you a home. You see, I always wanted to have a little girl. But, with this land and the camp, there was never the opportunity. And then you showed up and it was just...It was perfect...." Now we were getting somewhere.
"When you picked up that journal, your first night here, I saw the connection you had to it. You know, you are the only person alive who can read that thing. Do you know why?" I nodded, "My grandmother, found the journal in Kate Barlow's things. My granddaddy swore it was magic, cursed if she were to dispose of it. My grandaddy drove himself crazy looking for the buried treasure Kate left on this land. Drove himself crazier trying to decode the journal. He dug every day. He made me dig too, even on Christmas. When all I ever wanted was to be treated like a little girl..." Her voice trailed off. At this point, she was more so looking through me than at me.
"And I was your opportunity to start over," I said.
"In both aspects" she added, "I thought if you help me find the money, we could ditch this place. Close Green Lake and buy a real house. Be a family." I shrugged away from her, "But if that's not what you want anymore, because of what I've done, I understand."
Even with her touch, I couldn't tell if she was manipulating me or telling the truth. She was that good. I considered, perhaps, she even believed her own lies, a true sociopath.
"Not without my brother," I assured.
Mr. Pendanski reentered my bedroom and broke the tension. Lou quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and shook back into the soulless tyrant of Camp Green Lake she was. "Lou, we need you out here," he said, "The Yelnats boy, his attorney is asking for you."
Stanley. I sat up in my bed, feeling my eyes grow wide. Someone was here for Stanley. Lou looked at me with soft eyes, "You stay right here in rest. I'm not gonna lock the door because I trust you, okay? Can you trust me too?" I nodded and she left, softly closing the door behind her. I waited to hear her footsteps leave before testing the door's handle. She passed. I opened it a crack and leaned into the hallway, eavesdropping on the conversation.
Stanley's attorney demanded the camp hand him over immediately. He'd been found innocent, the charges absolved. But Stanley wasn't here. Lou made up a bullshit excuse and his attorney grew irate.
"I'll be back first thing tomorrow with the sheriff," she yelled, "Think I'm playin' if you want to!"
"Excuse me?" Lou hissed in the usual curt tone.
"Excuse me?" the attorney mocked before driving off.
________________________________________
Considering I was basically in a coma the last few days; I wasn't in the mood to sleep that night. Instead of going to bed or hanging out in the laundry room, I sat on the porch, flipping through the old journal and practicing this, so-called, magic. Lou agreed to let me go as far as the porch for now. We were working on trusting each other again. I managed to make one of the tulips die and bloom again with my touch. I changed the color of the marigolds from yellow to purple. I even managed to send a scorpion into Squid's bed. However, that didn't go as planned. The scorpion, disgusted by the farts, left his bed without even the tiniest sting. Squid is fine, unfortunately.
I rocked in the chair all night, practicing, and just before the sun rose, I felt a burning sensation in my core. The same feeling, I always get when Hector is anxious. Alas, I looked up and there he was, crouched in front of the marigolds.
"You're here! You're actually here," I struggled to contain my excitement, falling to my knees to meet him at eye level. I looked up at Lou's bedroom window to make sure the light was still off. We were in the clear.
"We don't have long. Get your stuff, we're out of here," he said before darting towards the shovel shed.
I grabbed the journal and followed him, "Where's Stanley?" I asked.
Hector managed to pick the shed's lock and grab a shovel, without answering my question. He hesitated, before closing it again, grabbed another shovel and shoved it into my hand. His eyes spoke for him, "Just in case."
"What are we doing?" I asked, still in a whisper. He brought a finger to his lips and motioned for me to follow him. I remembered we don't need to speak with our mouths to communicate. We had been apart too long. "Wait!" I couldn't leave without my stash. I darted for the laundry room and grabbed my cigs and a box of matches, luckily untouched.
I looked up at Lou's dark bedroom window for the last time before running behind Hector and whispered, "Goodbye."