Page 53 of Rise of the Melody
Sewing Our Wild Boats
“Letty!” my aunt called up the stairs. “You have company!”
I turned off the zen music I’d been blasting since I holed myself up in my room the night before, avoiding my aunt.
My heart hammered. Was Zar at the door? Oh, gods…I couldn’t do this.
“Who is it?” I called. Maybe it was Teague at the door. My tummy fluttered at the thought, and I jumped up to swipe on some red lipstick.
“It’s the girls!” Aunt Lorna said in a happy voice. My heart slowed and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I left my room.
Sounds of feminine laughter coming from the kitchen made me smile. I turned the corner to see Clare and Shani eating oatmeal chocolate chip cookies my aunt had made that morning. I’d already had three that she brought up to me. My aunt knew something was wrong with me, but she didn’t press it. She probably thought it was just teen drama. I was going to let her think that while I tried to figure things out.
“Hey,” I said, wondering what was up.
They all three smiled at me.
“Hey!” Clare bounced a little, her hair in two poofy pigtail-buns. “Want to hang out?”
I felt a warm, gooey sensation that I was unfamiliar with. That’s really why they were here? To hang out with me? “Yeah, okay.” I couldn’t hold back a cheesy grin.
“The sun is out,” Aunt Lorna said. “You girls should go enjoy it. I’ll make some snacks.”
“Ooh, snackies,” said Shani.
My aunt hugged me, and shooed us off, but I stood watching her a moment as she bustled around the kitchen with that content smile on her lips.
“Is your bad feeling gone?” I asked quietly.
She smiled at me. “All gone, thank goodness.”
“Good.”
My heart sank and bobbed in my chest, thinking about Zar’s accusation. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. If my aunt was lying…well, that would make her the most Oscar-worthy pathological liar in history. The exact opposite of how I’d always viewed her. I shoved that thought aside and joined the girls on the porch.
Maine was funny. In the shade, it was chilly. Once I walked down into the sun it felt absolutely hot. I stripped off the hoodie and tossed it to the porch. Both stray cats rubbed shamelessly against my friends, who seemed to love it.
“Where’s my lil Coosh-muffin?” Clare asked.
Sadness smacked me and I worked hard not to show it. “Oh, he runs off sometimes. Who knows what he’s up to?”
Other than being a traitor.
“Have you been down there to the water?” Shani asked, pointing to the rocky drop-off.
I shook my head. “I haven’t been brave enough.”
“Oh, we got this,” she assured me. “And it’s low tide, so perfect timing. We won’t get sprayed.” They walked confidently to the small cliff, and I followed behind, not as sure. Clearly, they had done their share of rock climbing here on the island, because the two of them navigated their way down the rocks, turning to wave me down.
“Just go slow,” Clare warned.
I watched them for a second and then sat my bottom on a rock, scooting down to the next level. We felt each rock before putting weight on it, making sure they weren’t going to move. It was actually kind of fun. The sound of the waves was even louder down here. It took less than ten minutes to get to the bottom. We took off our shoes and socks, leaving them on a rock as we walked barefooted on the cold sand and pebbles. We could see down the coast, which rounded at the corners. Our land was on a jut-out.
“This is so awesome!” I said.
I looked up and the house seemed so far away. I realized I was standing right where the creepy guy had been standing that night in the dark, staring up at me. I also realized that ithadto have been Zar. A jolt prickled my spine as I looked around. There was really no other way to get here than climbing down like we had. What kind of magic had he done?
“Oh, my gosh, look!” Clare was leaning down staring between two rocks where crabs scuttled to bury themselves. I shook away the chill that had fallen over me and went to look. We laughed and explored the shore, pointing out every weird, live thing we saw. I wondered if my parents had ever come down here and done this. Of course, they must have.
