‘Thanks.’
As she waded toward her friends, she lifted her hand out of the water to see what she had retrieved. Helen’s plaid, Bermuda shorts. She had snagged them only by one leg, and they hung upside down.
She gathered them in against her belly. Holding them there along with her shorts and Finley’s shirt, she trudged through the chest deep water. She took only a few steps before the light abandoned her. She almost called out to complain, but decided not to bother. She would be with the others soon.
It was slow going, though. She thought about the darkness at her back. The nape of her neck tingled. A few times, she glanced over her shoulder, but saw nothing.
She gasped when something brushed her thigh. Goosebumps scurried up her skin.
Telling herself it was probably just an article of clothing, she reached down. Her fingers hooked a strap, and she lifted a bra out of the water. From the size of the thing, it had to be Helen’s.
Ahead of her, Helen flung some things at Finley’s feet, then boosted herself out of the water.
Exactly what I’m going to do, she thought. Get out. I’ve had enough of this.
She was nearly to the side when Cora emerged with Vivian’s wadded sundress clutched to her chest.
‘I’m done,’ Abilene said.
‘I think we’ve about got it all,’ Cora told her.
‘I don’t see anything else,’ Finley said, peering down from the rim and sweeping her light through the water.
Abilene and Cora reached the side at the same time.
As Cora climbed out, Abilene tossed the bra and Bermuda shorts to Helen.
‘Thanks,’ she said, catching them.
Finley was looking the other way when Abilene tossed the safari shirt to her. The shirt hit her belly with a sodden smacking sound and clung there long enough for her to bring up an arm and clamp it. ‘Thanks for getting me all wet, Hickok.’
‘Welcome.’ She flung her cut-offs onto the granite, then boosted herself from the pool.
Helen, still in her swimsuit, was stepping into her shorts. She hadn’t even bothered to wring them.
‘We can get dressed upstairs,’ Abilene told her. ‘Let’s just get out of here.’
‘Yeah,’ Cora said. ‘The sooner the better.’
After that, everyone began crouching and squatting, gathering up the things that had been recovered from the pool, not bothering to separate their belongings from those of others, just grabbing as fast as they could, then rolling clothes and shoes and flashlights inside towels.
Cora, a bundle pressed against her side, picked up the lantern. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘We got it all?’
Helen, the last to finish, clutched a lumpy rolled towel to her chest and rose from her crouch, ‘I’m done,’ she muttered.
As they started for the stairs, Finley turned around. Abilene, beside her, also looked back. The light swept over the pool’s apron. Where they’d been, the granite was wet and shiny. If anything had been left behind, Abilene didn’t see it.
She and Finley turned and followed the others up the stairs. At the top, Abilene stepped into the corridor and closed the door. The snap of its latch sounded wonderful to her. She felt as if she had shut away whatever danger lurked in the pool area.
She no longer cared about whether they would have any luck finding a motel. Being far from this place would be enough.
Just a few more minutes.
She felt even better once the lantern was lit, the glare of its mantels filling the lobby with brightness.
The suitcases, bedrolls, video camera and water container didn’t appear to have been disturbed.
She pulled off her bikini, dropped it onto the wet towel, and used a blouse from her suitcase to mop herself dry. She stepped into panties, then put on a bra. The dry garments felt wonderful.
‘You should get out of those wet things,’ she advised Helen.
Helen, still in her swimsuit and Bermudas, shook her head and finished buttoning a blouse from her suitcase.
‘You’ll be sorry,’ Finley said. She wore a fresh pair of baggy tan shorts that were much the same as those that had been rescued from the pool. Adding, ‘You’ll itch,’ she slipped into a big, tan safari shirt identical to her wet one.
Abilene drew a short, denim skirt up her legs and fastened it. She dug her moccasins out of the corners of her suitcase and slipped her feet into them.
While.she put on a blouse, she watched Vivian, dressed in a knit pullover and matching white shorts as if prepared to hit the tennis courts, hop on one foot as she struggled to get into a sock.
Cora, already dressed in a tank top and glossy red shorts, squatted down and shut her suitcase.
Abilene closed her own case and latched it.
She glanced about at the wet bundles, the suitcases and bedrolls, camera, water container and lantern. ‘Can we take all this out in one trip?’
‘Sure as hell try,’ Cora said.
‘Maybe if we consolidate the wet stuff…’
‘Yeah.’
They’d brought five dripping towels, loaded with clothing and shoes and flashlights, up from the pool area. Working together, Abilene and Cora quickly combined the bundles until everything was gathered inside two towels. They knotted corners together, forming a pair of makeshift sacks.
By the time they were done, the others were ready to go. Cora and Abilene each clamped their bedrolls under one arm, picked up their suitcases with the same hand and a wet load with the other. Finley, Helen and Vivian also managed their sleeping bags and suitcases with one arm, leaving hands free to carry the video camera, water and lantern.
Vivian, holding the lantern by its wire loop, led the way to the door. She opened it. She waited until everyone was outside, then shut the door.
‘And so we bid this damn place a fond farewell,’ she said, and followed them down the porch stairs.
‘Farewell, farewell,’ Abilene said. She felt great.
They hurried over the paved area to the north corner of the lodge, then stepped down the slope and walked down alongside the Wagoneer to its rear.
Helen, halting at its tailgate, set down her suitcase and bedroll. She shoved a hand deep into the right front pocket of her Bermuda shorts.
‘Oh my God,’ she muttered.
‘What?’ Cora asked.
Shaking her head, she dug into the left front pocket. Then she patted both seat pockets. Hands clasped against her huge buttocks, she straightened her back and gazed straight ahead. Abilene felt her stomach go cold and tight.
‘Don’t tell me,’ Vivian pleaded.
Cora groaned. ‘You’ve lost the keys?’
The sound that came from Helen was like a low, husky laugh. But it wasn’t laughter. Lowering her head, she pressed her hands against her face and wept.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
‘Are you sure the keys were in your pocket?’ Cora asked.
Helen’s head bobbed up and down as she sobbed.
‘Oh, man,’ Finley said.
Vivian lowered her suitcase and sat on its edge. She put the lantern down beside her. Though it came to
