area. No telling how deep the hole might be, how far under Alex might have fallen. I didn’t see him anywhere.
I drew in a deep breath. I was a pretty good swimmer. I had passed a CPR and life-saving course and everything. I just never expected to actually need it, especially not to rescue my brother.
Just as I was about to dive into the deep, cold darkness, Alex broke the surface, coughing and sputtering... and laughing. His hair was plastered to his forehead in several pointy wedges, and his eyes were bright and surprised. I hauled him into the shallows. Marty gave me a hand.
“You all right?” Lisa called from the shore.
“I’m okay,” Alex coughed.
I should have known he’d be all right. Like I said, I was a pretty good swimmer, but Alex could backstroke circles around me. He was on a junior swim team back home.
“Something tells me,” Lisa said, “hanging around with the three of you is going to be nothing but trouble. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to take care of you.”
Marty and I looked at each other. An unspoken idea passed between us. At the same time, we jumped up and seized Lisa. I grabbed her left wrist, and Marty took her right.
“No!” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare!”
But it was too late for her. In time, Marty and I swung her arms.
“One!” we cried together.
“Don’t do it!” she yelled.
“Two!”
“I mean it!” Lisa thrashed against us.
“Three!”
We hurled her into the creek, clothes and all. Water burst into the air and rained down around us. We howled with laughter. Alex clapped his hands and cheered.
Lisa surfaced, her hair matted down in her face. A few individually wrapped peppermints bobbed in the water around her. At first I thought she was going to come out after us. I had the feeling she could probably beat both Marty and me in a fight if she wanted to. But instead she started laughing, too, and splashing water up at us.
We swam for a while longer, and Marty impressed (and soaked) us all by cannonballing off the concrete bridge into one of the deep pockets. I wasn’t quite ready to try the stunt, but it sure looked fun.
After our swim, we collapsed on the bank for a while, letting the sun warm us. I took my shoes off, hoping to let them dry a little more quickly, but it didn’t seem to help much.
I closed my eyes and let my mind wander a bit. After all was said and done, being in Crooked Hills wasn’t so bad. I missed my friends back home, sure, but I enjoyed my cousin’s company and I’d made a new friend in Lisa. And I had to admit, all of the strange occurrences and ghostly happenings of the area excited and intrigued me. While Marty shared my fascination with the strange, Lisa seemed to think it was a foolish interest.
“All the ghost stories are just made up to scare little kids,” she said. “They aren’t true at all.”
Marty waved toward the red-headed girl as if presenting her to an audience. “Lisa Summers, ladies and gentlemen, the world’s biggest skeptic.”
She rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue. I noticed her tongue was a deep shade of red, much more red than any normal person’s tongue, probably because of all the peppermints she ate.
“What about Maddie Someday?” I asked.
I forgot to spit twice, but Marty did it for me.
“She’s just a myth,” Lisa said.
“But we saw the Bleeding Rock.”
“That’s just a place where high school kids party on the weekends. Somebody told me the town council wanted to encourage the legends to beef up the tourist trade.” She muttered under her breath. “For all the good it did.”
“You want more tourists around?” I asked. “Why would you? I’d think it would ruin everything, all those noisy, pig-headed sightseers.”
“At least it would bring some interesting people around,” she said.
“Oh, how cold!” I feigned withdrawing a dagger from my heart. Maybe some of Marty’s theatrics were rubbing off on me. “My brother and I aren’t interesting
I drew in a deep breath. I was a pretty good swimmer. I had passed a CPR and life-saving course and everything. I just never expected to actually need it, especially not to rescue my brother.
Just as I was about to dive into the deep, cold darkness, Alex broke the surface, coughing and sputtering... and laughing. His hair was plastered to his forehead in several pointy wedges, and his eyes were bright and surprised. I hauled him into the shallows. Marty gave me a hand.
“You all right?” Lisa called from the shore.
“I’m okay,” Alex coughed.
I should have known he’d be all right. Like I said, I was a pretty good swimmer, but Alex could backstroke circles around me. He was on a junior swim team back home.
“Something tells me,” Lisa said, “hanging around with the three of you is going to be nothing but trouble. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to take care of you.”
Marty and I looked at each other. An unspoken idea passed between us. At the same time, we jumped up and seized Lisa. I grabbed her left wrist, and Marty took her right.
“No!” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare!”
But it was too late for her. In time, Marty and I swung her arms.
“One!” we cried together.
“Don’t do it!” she yelled.
“Two!”
“I mean it!” Lisa thrashed against us.
“Three!”
We hurled her into the creek, clothes and all. Water burst into the air and rained down around us. We howled with laughter. Alex clapped his hands and cheered.
Lisa surfaced, her hair matted down in her face. A few individually wrapped peppermints bobbed in the water around her. At first I thought she was going to come out after us. I had the feeling she could probably beat both Marty and me in a fight if she wanted to. But instead she started laughing, too, and splashing water up at us.
We swam for a while longer, and Marty impressed (and soaked) us all by cannonballing off the concrete bridge into one of the deep pockets. I wasn’t quite ready to try the stunt, but it sure looked fun.
After our swim, we collapsed on the bank for a while, letting the sun warm us. I took my shoes off, hoping to let them dry a little more quickly, but it didn’t seem to help much.
I closed my eyes and let my mind wander a bit. After all was said and done, being in Crooked Hills wasn’t so bad. I missed my friends back home, sure, but I enjoyed my cousin’s company and I’d made a new friend in Lisa. And I had to admit, all of the strange occurrences and ghostly happenings of the area excited and intrigued me. While Marty shared my fascination with the strange, Lisa seemed to think it was a foolish interest.
“All the ghost stories are just made up to scare little kids,” she said. “They aren’t true at all.”
Marty waved toward the red-headed girl as if presenting her to an audience. “Lisa Summers, ladies and gentlemen, the world’s biggest skeptic.”
She rolled her eyes at him and stuck out her tongue. I noticed her tongue was a deep shade of red, much more red than any normal person’s tongue, probably because of all the peppermints she ate.
“What about Maddie Someday?” I asked.
I forgot to spit twice, but Marty did it for me.
“She’s just a myth,” Lisa said.
“But we saw the Bleeding Rock.”
“That’s just a place where high school kids party on the weekends. Somebody told me the town council wanted to encourage the legends to beef up the tourist trade.” She muttered under her breath. “For all the good it did.”
“You want more tourists around?” I asked. “Why would you? I’d think it would ruin everything, all those noisy, pig-headed sightseers.”
“At least it would bring some interesting people around,” she said.
“Oh, how cold!” I feigned withdrawing a dagger from my heart. Maybe some of Marty’s theatrics were rubbing off on me. “My brother and I aren’t interesting
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