Lee kicked the sand.
“So now what?” Sarah asked.
“We go to his house and wait for him,” Lee answered. “He can’t hide forever.”
• • •
Jennifer took a bite of pumpkin pie. Her coffee mug was empty, despite three refills. She looked older than 32, but her nervous demeanor made her seem younger. I don’t know what I’d been thinking, looking her up after all these years. That wasn’t entirely true; I thought if I saw her again something would click. Either we’d hit it off and I could finally tell her how I felt, or nothing would happen and I could walk away laughing at how ridiculous I’d been by holding on to those feelings for so many years.
“Would you be willing to go back?” It was a dumb move, asking her to go back there, but maybe I could help her make peace with the past. If I took her back, and she saw that there was nothing there, then maybe she could move on. Maybe she’d want me to help her.
She didn’t look surprised by my question, but took her time before answering. “I think we should call Lee, too.”
I dropped the fry I’d been holding. “Lee? I wouldn’t even know how to get in touch with him.”
She lifted her chin toward her phone. “I do.”
“You have his number?” I tried to swallow the lump of jealousy that formed in my throat.
“Yeah. We dated for a while, if you could call it that. We were really just hooking up, I guess.”
“Don’t tell me.” The truth was, I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to picture them together. Goddamn Lee. He’d taken advantage of her fragile mental state.
“He was pretty messed up about what happened that summer, too. I know he’ll want to come with us.”
I frowned, chewing another french fry. I did not want Lee to come. I knew this much, but I couldn’t think of a good reason to tell her no. “Fine. Call him. He can meet us there tomorrow, or not, but I’m not waiting for him.”
What was the chance that he’d be able to drop everything and meet us by the cabins the next day, I thought.
The chances were pretty good, as it turned out.
• • •
Marcus’ mom answered the door. “Have you kids had lunch? I can make you some pizza rolls and lemonade while you wait.”
“Thanks, that would be great,” Sarah replied.
Mrs. Matheson rummaged around the kitchen, and in a few moments placed a steaming plate of pizza rolls and pitcher of iced lemonade in front of us.
I kept watching Jennifer, hopeful she’d snap out of her trance. She stared forward, unaware of anything around her.
“Mrs. Matheson, could we ask you something?” Sarah rested her chin on her hand in a staged movement.
“What’s on your mind, kids?”
“Marcus said that Franklin went missing last year from here, at the lake. He said you were all still here when it happened.”
Mrs. Matheson looked at us and sighed. “It was a terrible thing, really.”
“So it’s true?” Sarah asked, eyes shining.
“Yes. Franklin disappeared, and the police did a search of the area. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much more than that. We left soon after he went missing, because Marcus had gotten very sick. He was sleepwalking and mumbling. He was zoning out, almost like he was in a trance. Don’t tell him I told you, but I want you all to watch out for him. Be kind. The doctors said it was stress induced. I didn’t want to come back this year, but he begged. He said it would do him good to see his lake friends.”
I took the last roll from the plate, wiping my greasy hands on my jeans. “We’ll look out for him, Mrs. Matheson. Don’t worry.”
Lee nodded. “Could we leave a note for him in his room?”
“Sure! He’d like that.”
Sarah lifted the plate from the counter. “You guys go ahead, I’ll help clean up.”
His room was exactly as I remembered it. All of his things were still there, right down to the Ninja Turtles duffle bag lying in the corner.
“Look around.” Lee ordered. “See if you find anything useful, or any clues to where he might have gone.”
Brandon searched the bookshelf. Lee paced, muttering to himself. He stopped in front of the desk. I watched as he lifted a notebook and flipped through the pages before rolling it up and sticking it in his back pocket.
I took Jennifer’s hand, a gesture that was becoming more natural each time. “Let’s check over here.”
I opened the closet door and pushed the clothes aside. Jennifer made a strangled sound in the back of her throat. I saw a flash of red, and immediately pushed the clothes back. I was too late. She’d already seen the writing.
Lee and Brandon rushed over. Behind the clothes in his closet, in crimson letters, was the rhyme: Don’t get lost along the way, Forest Man is here to play.
Lee kicked the closet door. “He’s somewhere. And when I find him, I’m going to pound him.” He stormed out of the room, and we fell in line behind him.
We spent the rest of that afternoon on the beach. Lee and Brandon cast line after line into the lake, catching nothing. Sarah spread out on a beach towel with a Nancy Drew novel in hand. I stayed with Jennifer, trying to get her interested in building a sand castle. She mostly watched.
None of us mentioned Marcus. No one said much of anything.
By sunset Mrs. Matheson had walked down to the beach. “Have you kids seen Marcus? He never came home.”
Lee flinched. Brandon placed a hand on his shoulder. “No ma’am. We haven’t seen him.”
She turned and left, her face a mask of concern.
Sarah looked up from her book. “What was that about?”
Brandon threw down his fishing pole. “You know what! Marcus is gone,
