Read Online Ghost Island by Bonnie Hearn Hill - Free Book Online Page B

seconds before. He couldn’t have gone that far. I opened the door and ran out into the rain. “Aaron, are you there? Aaron?”
    No answer, only the rattling of the trees and the thunder growing louder by the moment. Through dense dripping foliage, I spotted a small wooden shed. I started toward it, my teeth chattering from the cold.
    It flickered before me in a disjointed burst of light.
    “ Livia ,” Grace shouted from the door. “Get your ass back in here. You’re going to be electrocuted.”
    I ran back just as lightning struck again.
    “Geez, thank god you’re okay.” She hugged me.
    “I’m soaking wet.”
    “What did you expect?” Grace said. “You’re
lu
cky you didn’t get struck by lightning.”
    Peggy held a large faded turquoise beach towel. She paused as if trying to decide which one of us needed it more, and then handed it to me. “Here you go. I usually hang my towels out to dry, but I haven’t been able to do that for a few days. I’m afraid this is my only clean one.”
    “There’s no one out there,” I told her. “What kind of game are you playing?”
    “No game,” she said. “Our property is larger than it looks, and the storm appears to be even worse now. You girls need to stay here until it passes.”
    “That’s not a bad idea.” Grace sipped her cocoa. “I don’t know about you, Livia , but I’m tired. Let’s hang around here until it lets up.”
    “No,” I said. “I need to talk to Aaron. I know he was here just a few minutes ago. Come on, Peggy. Tell me where he is?”
    “He could have gone back to the casino. You know how hard he works.”
    “Then let’s go there,” I said. “Let’s all go to the theater.”
    “Not today. They’ve had some problems down there.”
    As she spoke, lightning struck in the backyard, and thunder shuttered the tiny house.
    Grace shrieked and grabbed my arm, the way she had on the boat that first night. I took the lightning as a challenge. It was trying to stop me, and I wouldn’t be stopped, not today.
    “I am going to the theater,” I shouted back at the storm.
    The house shook again. Lightning shot through the sky.
    “Please, Miss.” Peggy took my arm. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be so, well, insistent.”
    “Are you going to let me into the theater, or am I going to have to break into it?” I asked.
    “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” She frowned and glanced at Grace.
    “But if Aaron’s there,” I said, “why can’t we go there too?”
    “He is, but he’s staying upstairs, not in the theater. He has no choice until this storm passes. Besides, he’s used to the disruptions.”
    “What disruptions?”
    “The workers hammering and slamming things around. Aaron knows how to stay away from the theater until the construction crew has gone.”
    “I’m going to find him,” I said, “with or without you.”
    “Well, I guess I can’t stop you.” Peggy gazed through the kitchen window into the backyard, then back at me again. “Please, be careful, though. It really isn’t safe.”
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 12
     
     
    Although I thought I knew the way, we quickly got lost in the storm. The street signs b
lu
rred, and although we walked for minutes that turned into hours, we couldn’t find our way to the theater. Finally, we spotted a nearly deserted café. Except for the guy behind the counter, the only other people in the place were some loud drunks at a back table eating jalapeño poppers and bragging about how
lu
cky they were that their boat had survived the storm.
    First we drank coffee. Then, we split a veggie sandwich. All the time, we talked. About the dreams, and most of all, how much we needed to get back to the casino. The answers were there, and if Peggy couldn’t help us, we would find another way.
    Finally, the sun began to set.
    “The taxis aren’t running, and the golf cart rental places are probably closed,” I told her. “We’re just going to have to suck it up and climb the hill to the