The Island - Part 2 (Fallen Earth) by Michael Stark Read Free Book Online Page B

running down her face came from tears or from drops leaked from the dismal sky.
    “You two close?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “Not really. He’s Tyler’s friend.”
    I nodded, still uncertain of the relationships.
    She saw the question on my face.
    “Tyler is my brother. The two of them had been planning on this trip for a year, waiting for Zachary to turn eighteen. I guess you could call me the chaperone, though I was just as excited about it as either one of them.”
    She looked back at the boat. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell his mother.”
    I motioned toward the buggy. “Why don’t we work it out somewhere drier and safer? There’s nothing you can do for him now. “
    Electricity crackled in the trees to my left, close. I heard the sizzle before the thunder boomed. A great rush of wind sliced through the trees, pushing the tops into a tight arc.
    She jumped, startled by the sound.
    I looked up. Clouds boiled in the sky.
    “Like now! Let’s go.”
    The uncertainty in her face vanished. She raced toward the buggy and climbed in the driver’s seat. I snatched up the duffel bag I’d tossed out of the boat and followed her. The trip back took all of ten minutes, ten minutes with wind and rain lashing the buggy and adding more misery to bodies already drenched and cold.
    The station had a ramp off to one side of the steps. A blue sign with a white legend depicting a figure in a wheelchair sat beside it. I motioned for her to take the buggy up under the covered porch. I had no idea if Dad had waterproofed the electric motor and didn’t want to walk out later to find a dead machine.
    She parked near a big window. We both climbed out and raced for the door.
    Inside, a fire crackled in a cast-iron wood heater situated on the right side of the room. Warmth flooded over me. Sleeping bags and people were sprawled out across the floor. Elsie sat in a rocking chair near the stove, a blanket across her lap. A teapot steamed on top of the heater. Behind it sat a coffee pot made for camping. I recognized both from Angel .
    Everyone looked up expectantly when we burst in. I stood framed in the doorway, glancing from face to face, seeing anxiety in some, questions in others. I had a lot to tell them.
    None of it would ease the worry. Nothing I had to say would generate happy thoughts either.
     
    Chapter VII- The Station
     
    The storm raged all through the afternoon. The century old station trembled and shuddered, but held strong against the howling wind and the driving rain. Time after time, I stood near rain-streaked windows, sipped at coffee, and watched the storm-tossed waves crash into the island. Visibility ran no more than a mile or so. Beyond that, the clouds and ocean merged into one solid gray-black wall.
    They had taken the news of Zachary’s death as well as could be expected. Tyler slumped over at the long, low table where he had been sitting, burying his head in his hands. Kelly sat with him, speaking in low tones until he finally straightened up.
    The tall blonde with Joshua’s group gasped and put her hand to her mouth. The rest sat in silence while I relayed the news.
    Elsie rocked in her chair, her gray eyes peering at me over her wir e-rimmed glasses, and then glanced at Daniel. I stared at him too, thinking about the odd remark he had made earlier when he said Zachary made him think of bats. Something about those words hung just at the edge of comprehension, like I had a puzzle piece in my hand that didn’t fit, but should.
    When I looked up, Elsie’s gaze had turned into a frown. She reached down and pulled him closer, the move so obviously protective that it left me with more questions than answers. Barely twenty-four hours earlier, I‘d protested her plan to ride across with me, noting that she hardly knew me. The sudden chill in her demeanor had me wondering what I knew about her, or better, what I didn’t know.
    The life-saving station had been laid out in such a way that the