Bluehour: A Water Magic Novel Part 20

She opened the wallet and looked through it. Her eyes widened. "Fifty four dollars and a golf pa.s.s."

"Is there an I.D.?"

"No." She shook her head and glanced around. "Look over there."

I followed the direction of her pointer finger to a boulder several feet away. "Oh!"

We both walked over to the large rock.

"A Peter Segal bikini top!" Mom picked a garment up off the boulder by her nail. Her jaw was clenched and her nostrils flared.

"There's blood on it," I said in a whisper.

She threw the thing down as if grossed out.

I examined the boulder more closely and saw wet blood that had splattered against the other side of the rock.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Mom mumbled as she examined it. "Some girl probably just had her period."

I scoffed and then shook my head. "And splattered it against a rock?"

"Did you hear that?" I asked suddenly.

Her eyes widened. "What?"

My body tensed. "Whispers." I looked around through the trees.

"No. I didn't hear anything." Her thoughts seemed distant. And then in the dim light of the forest she started to sing softly. It was a gentle lullaby and under the circ.u.mstances totally out of place. Though I could never figure her out entirely, I think she sang like that to calm herself or maybe to calm me.

Even though I was used to her unusual behaviors, I found myself lost in her melody. The sounds were so soft and entrancing. For a moment, I felt like I was floating in the clouds.

When she stopped singing, I felt suddenly irritated. "Let's go," I snapped as I pulled Mom by the arm.

She looked agitated now too as I led her through the trees back to the camp.

Dad turned to us with a wrench in his hand. "The car is ready to go," he said in a proud voice. A wind coming off the ocean was blowing through his s.h.a.ggy brown hair.

"We found a wallet in the woods and Hailey is going bonkers," Mom sang the words teasingly.

"Where's the money?" Dad chuckled as he walked over to the picnic table to set his wrench down.

Mom smiled playfully. "There was fifty four dollars in it." Her hand was on one hip.

Then a thought struck me. "Where is it?" I demanded as I glanced at the tote bag of sticks that rested over her shoulder.

"Oops," she rolled her eyes. "I dropped it."

I got the feeling she left it in the forest on purpose.

"We could use that money for dinner," Dad joked. "Especially with the way you eat, Jo."

I ignored his play. "We should at least return it to the park ranger," I said sternly. "Somebody could be looking for it. Maybe even the police."

"I'll go back and get it," Mom suggested.

My eyes widened. "No way!"

Dad was shaking his head now. "Women and their dramatics." He liked to play the chauvinist to get us riled. But this time we hardly paid attention. "I'll get it."

"No, Dad. Stay here." I looked at him, but he was already stepping into the woods.

I chased after him. "It's over by that boulder," I said pointing through the trees.

"I don't see anything," He murmured as he looked around on the ground.

"That's strange. It's not here." I looked over by the rock. "There was a bikini top here too, but it's gone." Dirt covered the blood on the boulder now as if someone had taken a handful from the ground and thrown it against the wetness to hide the mess.

I walked back over to where we saw the cigarette b.u.t.ts, but they were gone too. "This is so weird, Dad."

"What are you upset about?" he asked.

"It's nothing." I sighed. "Let's get out of here."

But just as we turned to leave, I heard the sounds of footsteps advancing toward us, crunching the fallen leaves upon the ground with every step. "Hey, there," a masculine voice called through the trees.

Dad and I stopped and turned to look. The three boys I saw at the market were approaching through a cl.u.s.ter of tall pines.

end.