Shadow Cave (35 page)

I sighed in frustration.
“
Well what about ocean beasts?
”
I could not be sure, of course, but ocean beasts sounded much worse than lake beasts.
It was hard to imagine anything more deadly than the Naule.
Its sheer size alone put it into a whole other category as far as I was concerned.

“
Relax, Annabelle.
You will not find any ocean beasts out here.
I promise.
”

“
And what a fine promise that is, Mark.
”

“
What is that supposed to mean?
”

“
It means that if you break your promise we will be dead.
Hence, your promise means very little to me.
”
I crossed my arms and waited for his comeback to my flawless logic.

“
Now what would it profit me to lie to you if I honestly thought that we would both be dead because of it?
”

I frowned and racked my brain for an argument, any argument
...
anything
that would succeed in wiping the smug look from his face would do just fine
, I thought defiantly.

“
Maybe you don
’
t plan to be dead by supper time.
”

“
What?
”

“
That
’
s right.
Maybe you
’
re just trying to trick me into the water to…
.
”
I stopped in midsentence, struck by the ridiculousness of what I had been about to say.
After all, he had not left me to die the day before when I had been a complete stranger to him.
I pointed a finger at him in warning anyways.
“
You know what I mean.
”

“
Not really.
”
He grinned and shook his head.
“
But here, how is this?
”

He bent to unlace his own sneakers, tossed them to me for safekeeping, and waded into the ocean.

He stayed in the shallows, the water forming seamlessly around his calves.

“
See?
I
’
ll go first.
You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Annabelle.
You
’
re safe here, I promise.
”

I watched him for a moment.
This gorgeous man holding his hand out to me in the ocean...I thought about all that I had overcome and everything that had brought me to this place.
And then I thought about all of the promises I had made to myself and every dream I had ever been fortunate enough to have.
I made the decision then and there to take the first step and join him in the water.
“
No regrets,
”
I whispered to myself as I took his hand.

We splashed in the water so long that my skin began to tingle from the scorching sun
,
and I realized that I had not been lying earlier that morning.
I really didn
’
t have any sunscreen.
Oh, well, I reasoned.
It had literally been years since I had been sunburned.
It did not really matter all that much anyways.
Nothing short of a Naule would have gotten me out of the water at that moment.
I felt both relaxed and exhilarated at the same time.
I didn
’
t try to delude myself into thinking that Mark had nothing to do with that.

“
Want to go farther out?
”

“
Hmmm.
You know what?
”

“
What?
”
He smiled warmly at me.

“
I think that I do.
Let
’
s go.
”

I dove into the deeper water and kicked off from the bottom of the ocean floor.
I stayed low to the bottom and glided forward, reve
l
ling in the feel of the sand brushing the tops of my thighs and the water on my face.

I felt something brush against my arm and glanced over to find Mark swimming next to me.
He motioned me to the surface.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
I was immediately scanning the area for oncoming danger.

“
Nothing.
But there
’
s an island up ahead.
It gets pretty deep between here and there, but last time I checked, it was full of seashells
—
if you like that sort of thing.
”

“
Are you kidding?
I love seashells!
Lead the way.
”

Mark neglected to mention that
‘
deep
’
was a bit of an understatement.
Halfway to the island, the bottom of the ocean floor literally dropped away.
Even with the high clarity of the water, I was unable to see all the way to the bottom.
I squeezed my eyes shut and swam blindly ahead, willing myself not to imagine water demons spewing forth from the darkness to claim me.

I crawled onto the island exactly
356
seconds later
—
I counted
—
and hugged the sand like a
shipwreck
survivor.

“
Hey
,
are you ok
ay
?
”

“
I
’
m fine.
”
I ran my fingers through my wet hair and tried rather unsuccessfully to steady my voice.

Mark was beside me in an instant.
“
Are you sure?
”

“
Yes.
At least, I will be in a minute.
I couldn
’
t see the floor back there.
”

He nodded and slipped an arm around my shoulders for a quick embrace.

“
That
’
s what I figured.
You did it though
,
”
h
e pointed out quietly.

“
Yes, I did.
”

“
How do you feel now?
”

“
Strong?
”

“
That
’
s my girl.
”

“
Exactly.
”
I hugged him back and surveyed the island.
It was small, no more than twenty feet in diameter
, but
it was sunny and there were seashells everywhere.
The largest of the shells were scattered further up the sand towards the center of the island.
I picked up a few and examined them before discarding them in favor of the small to medium sized shells clustered around the islands shore.

Mark and I each took a side and knelt down to hunt for the prettiest shells.
By the time we bumped shoulders in the middle, the sun had set and the island was bathed in moonlight.

“
It
’
s dark
,
”
I announced dumbly.

I could see Marks lips curve in the moonlight.
“
Yes it is.
I can
’
t believe we
’
ve been out here for so long.
I don
’
t suppose you have a watch?
”

I looked down at myself and laughed.
“
Where would I possibly be hiding a watch?
”

“
Interesting question…
.
”
he murmured.

I backed up several feet and tried not to look at him.

“
You don
’
t have a watch either?
”
I asked.

“
Not on me, no.
”

“
Unless you stashed
one
up you
r
rear end, that is.
”
I looked at him with mock suspicion.

His laughter echoed long and loud through the warm night air.

“
Annabelle…
.
”
He finally sputtered weakly.

I smiled slyly and gathered my collection of seashells in my arms.

“
I don
’
t have anything to do tomorrow, do you?
”

“
Not really.
”

“
Well then
,
I guess it doesn
’
t really matter what time it is, does it?
”

I grinned.
“
Not really, no.
But how are we going to carry all of these back to the shore?
”

He studied the collection and shook his head.

“
Now there
’
s the real interesting question.
Any ideas?
”

“
Well…
.
”
I chewed a fingernail and thought hard.

“
Forget it, Annabelle.
I am not stashing them in my butt.
”

I rolled my eyes towards the sky and tried not to giggle.

“
Well, if you aren
’
t willing to sacrifice yourself.
”
I eyed the shells with a wistful longing that went bone deep.
I did not want to leave my shells behind.
I would never be able to replace them, for one thing.
The question was
,
how far was I willing to go in order to keep them?
Pretty darn far, I admitted after a little soul searching.

“
Turn around.
”

“
What?
”

“
I said turn around, please.
”

“
Oh, no, what are you doing?
”

“
Nothing, just turn around.
”

“
You
’
re taking off your underpants
,
aren
’
t you?
”
he
accused.

“
Who are you
,
the panty police?
”
I scoffed.
“
Besides, it
’
s the only way to get all of these back there.
It
’
s that or the top.
”

“
No, the top will never hold all of these.
”

I turned around
to
glare at him.
“
That was the wrong thing to say
;
you know that
,
right?
”

“
Sorry.
”
He had the decency to look sheepish.
“
How about I put them in mine instead?
”
He offered like a gentleman.

“
No,
”
I shook my head.
“
They would never fit.
”

“
Ouch.
”

“
Really, though, mine
has
these strings on the side.
I don
’
t see any other way.
”

We both
looked around the island for a better solution to our dilemma and found none.

“
Damn.
Alright, I am turning around.
”

“
Thank you.
”
Ten minutes later, I was the one swearing.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”

I sat back and regarded my makeshift sling in disgust.