Adventure Deferred

by Jeanell McFarlane

“Water, water on the lake, who’s the fairest, me or Kate! “Nell rang out over and over again while dangling her legs over the edge of the pier and splashing her feet. Footsteps, gaining speed, caused her to stop and look around, but not in time to stop her from being pushed into the water! “Nooooooooooo!” her verbal protest and audible splash could be heard by all. When she had finished spitting out water from her mouth and wiping her eyes, she looked back at the place where she had previously occupied before being so rudely displaced. Her eyes met squarely with Kate’s, her newly met roommate. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded with an insulted tone. “Dispelling any doubt and giving you an answer – the fairest is above water and dry, the not so is in the water and wet!” she laughed victoriously, turned and ran off, leaving Nell to fight her way back to land. She grabbed a post to hoist herself back onto the pier, but it turned! At first, she didn’t know if that was what had happened, so not being sure if her hand had slipped, she tried holding on to it one more time. It turned again! This time she was sure. The occurrence puzzled her. She moved under the pier, looked up and around, and discovered that the post that she had tried to hold on to didn’t quite look like the others, close, but not the same. “Hmm”, she said half out loud and half to herself. She wanted to look around a little longer, but just then the sound of the dinner bell summoned and as if on cue, her stomach growled. “Oh, now I’ll have just 15 minutes to get showered and dress”, she lamented as she grabbed the side of the pier to pull herself up. She ran along the pier and towards her room as fast as she could. All through dinner she couldn’t help thinking about the shifting pier post. Not even Kate’s incessant chatter could take her mind off it. She mentioned it to Kate as they walked through the garden back to their room. It seemed to be a trivial matter to her. “Why so much interest in a pier post”, she said, “it’s just a post.” “Maybe”, Nell said, “it’s just that I didn’t expect it to do that, and then it looked strange. It’s evident that something is happening there.” Kate shrugged her shoulders as she turned the key in the lock and opened the door to their room. The structure was also a new addition to the grounds. Maybe she could bring it to the attention of Mr. Shelby, the resort groundskeeper, in the morning. She fell asleep with that very intention. The next morning, Nell was up and about, leaving Kate still in bed, going to breakfast earlier than usual. She finished breakfast and promptly went searching for Mr. Shelby. She tried to pinpoint where he would at this time. She almost completed an entire tour of the grounds before she located him checking for cracked walkways on the very far side. “Hi Mr. Shelby”, she called out and hastened her steps. Mr. Shelby looked up and smiled. “Hey there Ms. Nell.” She smiled back and approached him. He was an amiable person and they had struck up an affable relationship. She relayed to him the events of the day before. “I don’t know”, she said, “it is just a post, echoing Kate’s words, “but it seemed a little strange”, reinforcing her own. “And I didn’t get to finish exploring.” “Well little lady, why don’t we just go and see. Wouldn’t hurt to take a look, now would it?” She shook her head in agreement. He winked at her and followed her to the lake. They hadn’t even gotten half-way down the pier when he stopped and looked down at the boards. “That’s strange,” he said. They resumed walking and he stopped again. He asked Nell to look closely at the boards and if she noticed anything. She squinted her eyes as she proceeded to examine them. Just then, they heard footsteps coming towards them. It was Kate. “I thought you’d be here,” she chided. “Guess you couldn’t leave it alone.” There was a slight edge to her voice. Mr. Shelby had continued walking and now called to them at the end of the pier. He called their attention to the boards and commented, “I was out here last week, and this area doesn’t look the same.” He looked over the side at the water. “It’s a little murky around here too.” he remarked. He laid down flat on his stomach and leaned over the edge, stuck his hand in the water, whirled it around and then stood up. “Looks like a little activity has been going on around here, some loose dirt.” He frowned. “I don’t like the looks of this either, Ms. Nell, it seems that you may have found something here. I’ll have someone come out and check on this. In the meantime, I’ll have the pier closed off.” Nell nodded her head and looked at Kate. She didn’t look so good. She turned and left Nell and Mr. Shelby standing there. “What’s wrong with your friend”, Mr. Shelby asked as they walked back. “I’m not sure”, she answered. They parted ways, Mr. Shelby to his arrangements and Nell to trying to see if she could catch up with Kate. Nell found her at the pool, sulking. “Hey, Kate” Nell called out. Kate looked at her and then turned away. “Is something wrong?” Nell inquired. “Nothing”, she said. “I just don’t see what all the fuss is about a piece of wood.” Nell looked at her questioningly. “Why would that bother you?” No response. Nell continued to look at her and then it came to her. “Kate, you wouldn’t know anything about it, would you?!” she cried out unbelievably. No answer. “Kate?” prodded Nell. Kate slowly got up and walked away. Nell stared after her in disbelief. The vacation had taken an unexpected turn. Back at the main building, everyone was talking about the “closed pier” sign. Later that afternoon, with the help of the authorities, several valuable items had been retrieved from digging in the lake area under discussion. Everyone was being questioned, and all abuzz with excitement, but Kate was nowhere to be found. Where she had gone, was anyone’s guess. Her belongings were no longer in the room – she had simply disappeared!