Page 60 of Dead of Summer
“I won’t leave.” She patted his hand. “I will be right here with you, always.”
His vision blurred then and he had to look away, to the wood paneling on the walls, slowly going in and out of focus.
“Promise me you’ll do what I ask.” He had only been able to give her a short nod before leaving her there on the bed. He wanted to shut it out. He’d felt like a curse had been cast as he backed quickly out of the room. As though her saying it out loud was willing it all into existence.
He doesn’t have any more time to think. He runs to the boat and drops into the hull. It’s been so long since his feet have left the Rock, they feel uncertain in the bottom of the boat. His chest is floating as he pushes off from the dock. Henry pulls at the starter of the small motor with all his might. It sputters at first and then roars to life, drowning out everything else.
FAITH
Up.Faith chokes on the salt water as she thrashes in the surf looking for Gemma. She’d been there only a moment ago. But she’d lost hold of Gemma’s hand in that dark water. Now there is no sign of her. Struggling to stay afloat she turns her neck up at the yacht. She catches a glimpse of Geoffrey then. He’s been standing at the back of the yacht watching them struggle. As the yacht moves away, his broad shoulders and square head turn from the railing and disappear into the cabin. Satisfied that she and Gemma are done for.
Faith tries to scream. A wave obscures her view, crashing over her head.Down.Water rushes into her mouth as she descends. It burns her throat. She kicks, kicks. She is getting tired now.
Up.She looks longingly at the shoreline, where the Clarkes’ party glitters in the distance. A song carries lightly across the waves. Something her mom used to play on the jukebox at their local dive bar.
Down.Her limbs are getting heavy. They move in slow motion against the waves, fighting, fighting.
Up.This will surely be the last time. Faith barely hits the surface, tilting her head back only to release a scream from her raw throat for the last time. She looks up at the sky, the deep gray film of clouds moving across the field of stars.
Down down down.Below the surface everything is smooth and black. Faith shouldn’t have risked it. It was reckless. What was any of it worth now? She sees her mother’s face, disappointed. Her mouth twists in pain. “You know I did my best.”
I know, Faith says to her.I’m sorry too.A hand reaches hers in the darkness, fingers interlacing with her own. But it is too late. She can’t stay awake anymore.
HENRY
Henry finds Gemma first. She is holding Faith’s head above the water as best she can, bobbing and coughing as the two of them are bounced around by the swells. He cuts the engine and reaches into the waves, bracing himself against the thin metal as the boat tilts precariously. With all his might he pulls Faith from the water onto the floor of the little boat.
As he takes Gemma’s hands and helps her up over the side he glances up, halfway expecting a beam of light to expose him just like it did last time. But the yacht is far away from them now, speeding away from shore as though trying to escape what its inhabitants have done.
Faith coughs violently in the hull of the boat. The force of the cold air and rocking boat assaults her at once. Turning to the side, she throws up violently onto the hard metal hull of the boat. Her eyes fly open. They go wide with fear when she sees him above her. He can imagine what he looks like. Pale, slack-jawed, his wild hair catching the light. She lets out a guttural scream and thrashes violently, kicking her bare feet out at him. Henry dodges them, rocking onto his heels.
“It’s okay,” Gemma says from just behind him. “He helped us, Faith.”
“Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Henry’s voice is hoarse.
Faith looks down at herself and nods. She shakily pulls herself up on her arms in the bottom of the boat. The soaking fabric of her party dress wraps around her, curling at her feet.
They sway there, quietly. Henry watches as she assesses the situation, the tiny boat, surrounded by dark waves, and finally him, the strange man across from her.
“You’re Henry Wright, aren’t you?” Faith says. Her voice, wobbly and thin, startles him. When he turns to her, she is looking at him with curiosity.
He nods in affirmation.
“David told me about you.”
Henry clears his throat, feeling a hot buzz of shame travel through his body. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” he says quietly. He begins to row again, heading into the shore.
“I would never. Not from that family.” Faith wraps her arms tighter around herself.
As though just now remembering what happened, her fingers grasp the side of the boat, and she turns herself frantically looking out over the water. “Where is it?”
“The yacht? It left.” He shakes his head.
“They meant to just let us drown out there,” Gemma says, shivering.
Henry squints at the shore. The lights from the harbor blur in front of him. “Margie, my wife, never trusted Geoffrey.”
“That vile man.” Faith looks down at the ring on her finger, her mouth twisting in disgust.
