She knew enough to be afraid, he understood that. But she refused to allow fear to dictate her moves. He hoped he could say the same as he had more to risk now. He had her.
He stood watch until he heard Fox use his key to unlock the front door, then Cal went down to join them, and to gather his things for the day.
Fog smoked the ground that the cold had hardened like stone overnight. By midday, Cal knew the path would be sloppy again, but for now it was quick and easy going.
There were still pockets and lumpy hills of snow, and he identified the hoofprints of the deer that roamed the woods, to Layla’s delight. If any of them were nervous, they hid it well, at least on this first leg of the hike.
It was so different from that long-ago day in July when he and Fox and Gage had made this trip. No boom box pumping out rap or heavy metal, no snacks of Little Debbies, no innocent, youthful excitement of a stolen day, and the night to come.
None of them had ever been so innocent again.
He caught himself lifting a hand to his face, where his glasses used to slide down the bridge of his nose.
“How you doing, Captain?” Quinn stepped up to match her pace to his, gave him a light arm bump.
“Okay. I was just thinking about that day. Everything hot and green, Fox hauling that stupid boom box. My mother’s lemonade, snack cakes.”
“Sweat rolling,” Fox continued from just behind him.
“We’re coming up on Hester’s Pool,” Gage said, breaking the memory.
The water made Cal think of quicksand rather than the cool and forbidden pool he and his friends had leaped into so long ago. He could imagine going in now, being sucked in, deeper and deeper until he never saw light again.
They stopped as they had before, but now it was coffee instead of lemonade.
“There’s been deer here, too.” Layla pointed at the ground. “Those are deer prints, right?”
“Some deer,” Fox confirmed. “Raccoon.” He took her arm to turn her, pointed to the prints on the ground.
“Raccoons?” Grinning, she bent to take a closer look. “What else might be in here?”
“Some of my namesakes, wild turkey, now and then-though mostly north of here-you might see bear.”
She straightened quickly. “Bear.”
“Mostly north,” he repeated, but found it as good an excuse as any to take her hand.
Cybil crouched by the edge of the pool, stared at the water.
“A little cold to think about taking a dip,” Gage told her.
“Hester drowned herself here.” She glanced up, then looked over at Cal. “And when you went in that day, you saw her.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I saw her.”
“And you and Quinn have both seen her in your heads. Layla’s dreamed of her, vividly. So…maybe I can get something.”
“I thought yours was precog, not the past,” Cal began.
“It is, but I still get vibes from people, from places that are strong enough to send them out. How about you?” She looked back at Gage. “We might stir up more in tandem. Are you up for that?”
Saying nothing, he held out a hand. She took it, rose to her feet. Together, they stared at that still, brown surface.
The water began to beat and froth. It began to spin, to spew up white-tipped waves. It roared like a sea mating with a wild and vicious storm.
And a hand shot out to claw at the ground.
Hester pulled herself out of that churning water-bone white skin, a mass of wet, tangled hair, dark, glassy eyes. The effort, or her madness, peeled her lips back from her teeth.
Cybil heard herself scream as Hester Deale’s arms opened, as they locked around her and dragged her toward that swirling brown pool.
“Cyb! Cyb! Cybil!”
She came back struggling, and found herself locked not in Hester’s arms, but Gage’s. “What the hell was that?”
“You were going in.”
She stayed where she was, feeling her heart hammer against his as Quinn gripped her shoulder. Cybil took another look at the still surface of the pool. “That would’ve been really unpleasant.”
She was trembling, one hard jolt after the next, but Gage had to give her points for keeping her voice even.
“Did you get anything?” she asked him.
“Water kicked up; she came up. You started to tip.”
“She grabbed me. She…embraced me. That’s what I think, but I wasn’t focused enough to feel or sense what she felt. Maybe if we tried it again-”
“We’ve got to get moving now,” Cal interrupted.
“It only took a minute.”
“Try nearly fifteen,” Fox corrected.
“But…” Cybil eased back from Gage when she realized she was still in his arms. “Did it seem that long to you?”
“No. It was immediate.”
“It wasn’t.” Layla held out another thermos lid of coffee. “We were arguing about whether we should pull you back, and how we should if we did. Quinn said to leave you be for another few minutes, that sometimes it took you a while to warm up.”
“Well, it felt like a minute, no more than, for the whole deal. And it didn’t feel like something from before.” Again, Cybil looked at Gage.
“No, it didn’t. So if I were you, I wouldn’t think about taking a dip anytime soon.”
“I prefer a nice blue pool, with a swim-up bar.”
“Bikini margaritas.” Quinn rubbed her hand up and down Cybil’s arm.
“Spring break, two thousand.” Cybil caught Quinn’s hand, squeezed. “I’m fine, Q.”
“I’ll buy the first round of those margaritas when this is done. Ready to move on?” Cal asked.
He hitched up his pack, turned. Then shook his head. “This isn’t right.”
“We’re leaving the haunted pool to walk through the demonic woods.” Quinn worked up a smile. “What could be wrong?”
“That’s not the path.” He gestured toward the thawing track. “That’s not the direction.” He squinted up at the sun as he pulled his old Boy Scout compass out of his pocket.
“Ever thought about upgrading to a GPS?” Gage asked him.
“This does the job. See, we need to head west from here. That trail’s leading north. That trail shouldn’t even be there.”
“It’s not there.” Fox’s eyes narrowed, darkened. “There’s no trail, just underbrush, a thicket of wild blackberries. It’s not real.” He shifted, angled himself. “It’s that way.” He gestured west. “It’s hard to see, it’s like looking through mud, but…”
Layla stepped forward, took his hand.
“Okay, yeah. That’s better.”
“You’re pointing at a really big-ass tree,” Cybil told him.
“That isn’t there.” Still holding Layla’s hand, Fox walked forward. The image of the large oak broke apart as he walked through it.
“Nice trick.” Quinn let out a breath. “So, Twisse doesn’t want us to go to the clearing. I’ll take point.”
“I’ll take point.” Cal took her arm to tug her behind him. “I’ve got the compass.” He had only to glance back at his friends to have them falling in line. Fox taking center, Gage the rear with the women between.
As soon as the track widened enough to allow it, Quinn moved up beside Cal. “This is the way it has to work.” She glanced back to see the other women had followed her lead, and now walked abreast with their partners. “We’re linked up this way, Cal. Two-by-two, trios, the group of six. Whatever the reasons are, that’s the way it is.”
“We’re walking into something. I can’t see what it is, but I’m walking you and the others right into it.”
“We’re all on our own two feet, Cal.” She passed him the bottle of water she carried in her coat pocket. “I don’t know if I love you because you’re Mr. Responsibility or in spite of it.”
“As long as you do. And since you do, maybe we should think about the idea of getting married.”
“I like the idea,” she said after a moment. “If you want my thoughts on it.”