Chapter 34 #2
Richard shot her a look. “What do you think it means when newlyweds don’t answer the phone.”
Phin laughed as Jessica swatted his arm.
Richard rubbed the spot dramatically. “What? Everybody knows it’s true.”
“Well, if they’re doing that, we should definitely go to the other side of the lake,” Phin said.
Richard grinned. “A good idea. That way we don’t accidentally disturb the copulating couple.”
Jessica burst out laughing. “Richard!”
Phin laughed so hard she nearly snorted.
Richard looked entirely too pleased with himself. “Well, I’m just saying.”
It didn’t take long to turn onto the narrow lane that led to the far side of the lake. If you didn’t know it was there, you would drive right past it.
When they arrived, they parked in a small clearing and headed toward the dock. Betty’s grandfather had built it years ago. He liked to canoe across the lake and fish from it. The only problem with swimming from this side was the lack of a bathroom.
Naturally, the moment they stepped onto the dock, all three looked across the lake toward Betty and Aaron’s cottage. Several lights glowed in the darkness, illuminating the front yard.
“Well,” Jessica said, “if anybody has to go, at least we know they’re probably home.”
With that, she dove into the water.
The water was warm.
Not bathwater warm, but warm enough that Phin could float on her back and stare up at the stars without shivering or chattering her teeth.
Crickets chirped in the trees surrounding the lake, and the lights from Aaron and Betty’s cottage twinkled across the water.
Richard swam nearby while Jessica attempted to dunk him and failed miserably. Finally, she gave up and swam toward Phin. “This is the life, isn’t it?” she said. “A cool lake, a sky full of stars, a pretty moon. Too bad it’s not full.”
Phin sighed contentedly as she gently treaded water. “It is.”
“I bet you wish Rhaz was here, don’t you?” Jessica asked.
“I do, but that’s okay. I’ll bring him here sometime. Maybe tomorrow night.”
“So,” Richard said as he slowly swam toward them, “you’re smitten now, eh?”
Phin considered swimming away. Instead, she sighed. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”
“Way to go, Phin,” Richard said with a grin.
Jessica splashed him. Richard splashed her back.
Phin closed her eyes. For the first time all day, her mind was at peace. Her normal undercurrent of anxiety gone.
She sighed again, opened her eyes, and something blocked the moon. A dark shape swept silently overhead. She gasped and nearly swallowed water as she spun around. “What was that?”
Richard looked at her. “What was what?”
She pointed toward the sky. “That!” The shape was there again then gone.
Jessica frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw it too,” Richard said slowly.
“You did?” Phin scanned the sky. The half-moon cast a pale silver glow across the water.
Richard nodded. “It was big.”
“How big?” Jessica asked.
Richard looked at her. “Really big.”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s helpful.”
“I’m serious.”
Phin continued searching the darkness. “What was it?”
Nobody answered. Mostly because nobody had an answer. Several seconds passed, then a shadow crossed the moon again.
Jessica let out a yelp while Richard’s mouth dropped open. Phin could only stare. The creature glided silently over the lake, its massive wings stretched out on either side. Moonlight flashed across scales and the thing’s long tail trailed behind it.
Jessica, now clinging to the dock, stared with wide eyes. “Oh my God.”
“What is that?” Richard breathed.
The creature banked, and its enormous head turned toward them.
Phin’s heart nearly stopped. “Did it just look at us?!”
“Please tell me it didn’t look at us,” Jessica squeaked.
Richard stiffened. “It looked at us.”
Nobody moved. No one so much as breathed.
What looked like a dragon circled once, then headed toward Aaron and Betty’s cottage. The three watched it descend, the huge shape landing near the house.
For a moment it stood there, silhouetted against the lights. “It’s going to eat Betty,” Jessica whispered.
At that, all three scrambled for shore. They ran through the shallows in their haste to escape the water. Jessica tripped twice, Richard lost a sandal, but nobody cared. By the time they reached the car and piled into it, Phin’s pulse was racing.
“Go!” Jessica yelled.
“I’m going!” Richard dropped the keys, swore, picked them up and got the engine started.
Phin looked back toward the cottage. The dragon was gone. She blinked. “What the...”
“What?” Jessica blurted. “What?”
“The dragon or whatever it was.”
“What about it?” Jessica screeched.
“It’s gone.”
All three stared across the lake. Sure enough, the front yard was empty. The dragon’s massive bulk no longer blocked the view of the cottage. Instead, a lone figure stood in the yard.
At this distance, they couldn’t tell who it was. “Was that person there before?” Richard asked.
“I don’t think so,” Phin said, eyes wide.
Jessica looked between him and Phin. “Wait. Are you saying?—”
“I don’t know what I’m saying,” Phin admitted. “But whoever that is had to have seen it.”
The three sat in stunned silence a moment before Richard looked at them, then toward the cottage and back. “Let’s get closer.”
Jessica’s answer was instantaneous. “No. Absolutely not.”
Richard nodded. “But we should.”
“Why?” Jessica and Phin said at once.
“Because there was a dragon,” he said with a hopeful smile.
“Exactly!” Jessica said.
Phin nodded. “And… now there’s a person.”
“Exactly!” Jessica reiterated.
Richard frowned. “And I have questions.”
Jessica stared at him. “You want to go toward the dragon?”
“I want answers.” He put the car in gear. Phin noticed he never turned on the headlights.
The car rolled slowly forward before he turned it around. Across the lake, the lights of the cottage disappeared behind the trees as they rounded a bend.
Richard wasn’t the only one with questions. Phin had plenty of her own. Because “I’m going crazy” wasn’t going to explain this. All three of them had seen it. Dragon one moment, then person standing where the dragon had been the next.
“I need to know,” Richard muttered to himself as he drove down the dark lane.
They could barely see a thing, and he had to turn on the parking lights just to make it to the highway. Once there, they headed for Betty’s driveway. When they reached it, Richard killed the lights again and eased the car onto the drive.
They crept forward at a snail’s pace, and Phin suddenly felt like a criminal sneaking up on a house to rob it. But that wasn’t what this was. In fact, any sane person would think they were three idiots.
They were.
When they reached the bend before the driveway continued to Betty’s house, Richard parked and the three climbed out.
“What are we doing?” Jessica whispered.
“I don’t know,” Phin admitted. Both women looked at Richard.
“That makes me feel so much better,” he quipped. He started creeping down the driveway.
The lights from the house grew brighter through the trees, and soon they could make out the vehicles. There was Betty’s car. And parked beside it...
“Isn’t that Dr. Blackstone’s van?” Richard asked.
Phin nodded. “It is.”
They slipped behind a cluster of bushes. From there, they had a partial view of the yard. Several figures stood talking. Anon, Caelen, and Quill. She looked beyond the van and saw Aaron, Betty, and…
Phin’s breath caught. “Rhaz,” she whispered.
“What is he doing here?” Jessica whispered back.
“How should I know?” Phin continued watching the gathering. The group stood close together now, speaking in low tones.
“Where’s the dragon?” Richard asked.
Jessica and Phin glanced upward, but the tree branches blocked most of the sky. The group by the house seemed deep in conversation. Almost agitated.
Phin strained to hear, but she couldn’t make out more than a word here and there. Whatever they were discussing sounded serious.
“Maybe they’re dragon hunters,” Richard whispered with obvious delight. Jessica smacked his arm. “Ow!” He rubbed the spot.
“Be quiet,” she hissed.
“Maybe Rhaz works for them…”
“Richard,” Phin warned.
Unfortunately, it was too dark for him to appreciate the look she was giving him. “Okay, then maybe the dragon belongs to one of them.”
“Richard,” Phin and Jessica hissed together.
“Maybe—”
“See something interesting?”
The deep voice came from directly behind them.
Richard yelped. A high-pitched, thoroughly undignified sound escaped him.
Jessica jumped while Phin fell backward into the bushes. She spun around to find Jackson standing behind them, arms folded, his expression unreadable.
Richard clutched his chest. “Don’t do that to people.”
Jackson switched on a flashlight and raised an eyebrow. “Sneak up on them while they’re hiding in bushes?”
“Exactly.”
Jackson studied the three of them, the bushes, and finally the house. A long sigh escaped him. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
“Jackson,” Phin snapped, “what’s going on? What was that thing?”
“Was that a dragon?” Richard asked.
“Where did it go?” Jessica added.
Phin frowned. “Why is Rhaz here?”
The questions came so fast they overlapped.
Jackson pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked toward the house again. “Anon is going to love this.”
“Love what?” Jessica asked.
Jackson nodded toward the driveway. “Come on.”
“Where?” Phin asked.
“The house. Where else?”
The three exchanged nervous looks as Jackson stepped out of the bushes. Phin looked toward Rhaz and the people gathered beneath the outdoor lights. A dragon had landed there only minutes before. What in the world was going on? Had they all imagined it?
“Phin,” Jackson called. “Are you coming?”
She rose and followed the others. Jackson shook his head at the lot of them and started up the driveway. With no better options, they went with him.
Nobody spoke as Phin followed Jackson up the driveway on unsteady legs, Jessica and Richard right behind her.