Page 38 of Lake Hollow Curses

Passing traffic slows with some taking pictures on their phones. One woman passing with her dog, a poodle mix, bursts into tears claiming that the mural highlights the town perfectly.“Don’t let my dog bother you,” she says as he jumps on me repeatedly.

“Oh, I insist. I don’t want to make this awkward, but I’m only standing here right now because of the dog.” She laughs at my reply, but I wasn’t joking. The attention we’re garnering for the completed wall isn’t needed. I only sign my initials to the mural after Ceily asks me again.

“The artist needs to be credited.” She hands me a bottle of black spray paint. “Please.”

Father Chris, the dog walker, and Keenan, all cajole me into it. My ‘RJ’ gets sprayed over part of the mini putt course I painted. Somewhat fitting, since I’ve spent a lot of hours at the Funpark this summer.

“Did the priests that painted your mural have to sign their work, too?”

Father Chris smiles warmly. “They didn’t paint it. I can’t even imagine that. No, that mural was done by a group of students decades ago. It was a student club that did it. Now that you ask, I think they did sign with their club’s name. WPL.”

“Huh? What did you just say? What was the name of the club?” I feel the color drain from my face. What are the odds that the letters ‘WPL’ is in the cabin in The Bends, on a note in the locket and it’s not related?

Just one more freaking layer.

“WPL? It stands for Water Provides Life, it was a student club that formed, golly I don’t remember the year. It was a group of students that started it. In fact, Daniel Gibson… you may have heard about him? He headed the whole thing up.”

I don’t take much in about Ceily and Father Chris’ talk after that about the way the church has changed over the years, as I try to figure out… why would the Poe quote be signed with WPL, why is it scratched into the doorframe at the cabin? Less and less seems coincidental.

I’m not sure anything in Lake Hollow is anymore.

Chapter Twenty-four

Grady Marlow

My hand automatically claps over my mouth as I stare up at the east side wall of Hidden Treasure’s building. Standing in the alley with Wilder, Cal, and Charlie, all of us are in awe. Once the pictures we’ve snapped on our phones are taken, I point to the birds. “Look at that, you can see our names around the hearts… if you’re close enough.” Every sweep of my eyes over the wall I see something else. “Holy shit, look at the detail on the Drive-In movie screen.” Our girl is really fucking talented. I knew that, but this shows everyone that ventures through Lake Hollow.

“Those caricatures, they’re perfect,” Cal says taking another picture.

Remi walks up behind us, clearing her throat she says, “I heard there were four lunatics out here. Guess I should’ve known who it was.” She tugs at my shirt playfully. “How did you manage to get here without an entourage?”

Scooping her close with a hand around her waist, I give her a kiss near her ear. “Babe, this is incredible. The sketch you did, doesn’t even compare. I had to see it in person. Who gives a shit if I make the news, because then this will, too.”

She blushes while pushing me back. “Sir, we are in public.”

“That’s the point,” Wilder says teasingly. He puts his arms around her waist from behind her. Cal takes one of her hands, while Charlie backs up further to take a couple more pictures.

“Um, I’m all for gettin’ a little handsy, but let’s not do it for the whole downtown to see. I was called the town doorknob yesterday.” She wiggles away from us, dropping Cal’s hand. “Ya know… everyone takes a turn.”

I groan in irritation. “Are you fucking with us? It's disgusting that someone said that to you, babe.”

A warning goes off in my mind. We laid it all out for each other in my cabin a couple nights ago. It had to happen, but as a side effect I’ve noticed she’s been putting space between her and us. She doesn’t know who she can trust, and I don’t blame her.

Remi never dwells on the bullshit; she blows it off. She changes the subject with a wave of her hand then adds, “Meh. It was that woman on the corner of Main street and Eighth that said it, anyway. The one that mows her lawn twice a day. Keenan said her uppers don’t mix well with the thermos of Rum she drinks daily. I’m fine.”

“Rem, you’re destined for greatness. I mean it. You did this in what… five days? Unbelievable,” Charlie says, stepping our way. “I bet in the next day or two someone from the city will contact you about doing prints of it, putting it on travel brochures… you name it.” If they do, it’s because Gibson put it in motion.

We’re keeping Remi’s going away party a surprise. She’s not working tomorrow night, the plan is for Natalie to find her at eight, tell her that Skip is having problems at the Funpark and needs help closing up. She’s responsible for getting her there,but I’m worried she might be a weak link in the scheme. Natalie James is the ditsiest person I’ve ever talked to. For some reason, I’m the only one worried.

I’m all for devising a backup plan right now. “Rem, what are you doing tomorrow night?” Cal looks at me in confusion.

She blows a strand of her hair from her face, before scratching nervously on her elbow. Coming up with an excuse to stay away? Damn it. I’m not the only one noticing her reluctance in answering. She says, “Uh, so this might sound weird, but Father Chris mentioned a mural in the rectory at St. James that needs to be repainted. I’m having dinner with Keenan and then I’m going to scope it out.”

I know the mural she’s referring to. It’s existed on the wall into the rectory chapel all my life. The only thing that ever stood out to me is all the red fruit in the picture blended into the water of the river. It gave me nightmares as a kid.

“It needs to be redone, badly. You’ll understand when you see it. It’s a bit gruesome.” I make a face shaking my head.

Wilder turns to me. “I’ve never been in the rectory. Why’s it ‘gruesome’?” He mocks my word choice with air quotes, and a laugh.

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