Thin Ice by Marsha Qualey Read Free Book Online Page B

tavern door. The buzz of conversation had been so loud I’d heard it through the door, but as soon as I walked in, dead silence.
    “Geez, Arden,” Al said. “Everyone, this is Scott’s sister.” People crowded around, touching my arm, tugging my sleeves, laying hands on my shoulders; talking. I heard only snippets and kept jerking my head back and forth, trying to respond to each with a nod or a smile.
    …snow cover on the river…
    …if I’d known he was alone…
    …river ice…
    …search and rescue…
    …river current…
    The river, the river, the river. On and on, people kept talking about the river.
    “I want to go out,” I said, and they all shut up.
    “Arden,” Al replied, “you don’t even have boots.” Everyone looked at my feet.
    True, no boots. I sagged, and someone put an arm around me. “I want to know what you’re doing,” I said to everyone. “Don’t hide it from me.”
    A big guy came over and introduced himself, Buck Winker. “How ’bout some eggs?” he said. I nodded and let myself be led to a booth. Someone brought me cocoa. I warmed my hands. Just the walk from the car had chilled me through. Twenty below windchill, Buck said when he delivered the eggs.
    A woman wearing deputy brown slid into the booth. “Felicity Kay. I’m the search coordinator. We’ve got twenty people out, Arden. They’re doing a systematic search of the area. The patrol helicopter should arrive soon. We’ll have it do a flyover of the river, and then we’ll pull in the people and let it cover the woods.”
    I peppered my eggs.
    “I’ve led a lot of searches, Arden. I know you want to help. And you can.”
    I set down the pepper shaker. “Stay out of the way?”
    “If you don’t want to wait at home, and I can certainly understand that, then just stay here. Buck will take care of you.”
    I looked at Buck, who stood behind the bar, a wooden toothpick rolling across his lips. He winked. Felicity Kay rose and zipped up her coat. In spite of the panic that was gripping me, I had to smile—she even zipped with authority.
    There’s maybe no sound louder than a helicopter, and the one that buzzed the bar at that moment nearly knocked me out of the booth and rocked glasses off the shelves. Buck cocked his head and looked up. Deputy Kay turned and strode out of the building.
    In a moment it was just Buck and me in the tavern. “Good eggs,” I said.
    He leaned on his arms on the bar. “Scotty started coming here this winter and we all liked him real well, Arden. Kind of a greenhorn, considering he’d lived in Penokee for a while.”
    Twelve years, I thought, if you count the year at Yale.
    “Never even hunted, he told me.”
    “Didn’t fish, either,” I said.
    “Not like most of the guys, that’s for sure. But we liked him. He was funny, sheesh. Always had one to make you laugh. And sure, maybe he didn’t know the first thing about what was around him once he stepped outside, but the guy could work his way through an engine.” Buck stood erect and stretched. “I’ll be in the back doctoring numbers for the taxman. Just yell if you want anything.”
    I poked at my eggs, then smashed what remained under the tines of the fork.
    Okay, so I’d always gotten lousy grades in English, but I was alert enough to have learned one thing: past tense. I knew what that was and why you used it
    Past tense. Buck had used it to talk about my brother.

CHAPTER 18
    I fell asleep in a bar. I realize that for most people this would not be an event you’d want to talk about. After I ate my eggs and finished my cocoa, I stretched my legs out on the booth’s bench, covered myself with my coat, and prepared to spend the morning watching the entrance of the tavern. But I slept.
    Drool dripping across my chin woke me up. Or maybe it was the yelping dog. Or the sound of car doors slamming. Or maybe I’d just had enough rest. I woke up hurting, my neck stiff and my butt sore from the hard wood. I knew then I’d never