Part 17 (1/2)
”What?”
”You just take too much time. Thirty seconds, one bullet and that's all there is to it.”
Ian shook his head. ”Not as much satisfaction,” he argued. ”I want to see him suffer.”
”Okay, you got a point there.”
They both looked over to Timmy and Ronny, chasing each other through the forest and laughing like ten year old boys should. It all seemed so...normal. Sighing deeply, Ian tried to forget about the conversation they just had with Ronny. Not only were the details of what happened to Ronny horrific, Timmy's innocent nodding and agreement made it even more disturbing. It was the same person. There were too many similarities to be a coincidence. Whoever killed Ronny had most certainly killed Timmy and the rest of the boys, too.
Suddenly the boys stopped chasing each other and Ronny stared at the lake, frozen in place.
”Hurry, come here,” Timmy called to them. ”Ronny needs you.”
Mike easily glided through the woods, but Ian had to climb over the brush and fallen trees to get to them. ”What...what is it?” Ian asked, a little out of breath.
Ronny looked up at him, his eyes wide and frightened. ”Here,” he stammered. ”This is the place...this is where...”
”Yeah, it's okay,” Mike said. ”This is where he hurt you.”
His translucent eyes filled with tears and Ronny nodded.
”But where did he bury you?” Timmy asked.
Ronny lifted his hand and pointed out to the ice-covered lake. ”Out there.”
Ian shook his head. ”How will we ever...”
”Hey professor,” Mike said. ”Stand back and let a professional handle this.”
Mike glided through the woods to the sh.o.r.e and then walked forward into the water. He really expected to feel the burn of the ice cold water against his skin, but was pleasantly surprised when he realized he felt nothing. The water, and the ice laying on top of it, weren't even disturbed by his presence as he moved further off sh.o.r.e. Slowly he walked towards the middle of the lake, the water getting higher with each step.
When he was chest high in the water, he turned and looked back to sh.o.r.e. Ian and the boys stood on the sh.o.r.e, watching and waiting for him. He waved at them and they waved back. Then he turned back toward the middle of the lake.
Several inches of snow lay on the ice at the edges of the lake, but strong winds had blown most of the snow from the middle and the ice sparkled like diamonds as it caught the rays from the morning sun peeking over the horizon. Habit had him taking a deep breath and bracing himself just before he dove down under the ice and into the murky depth of the lake.
Kicking his powerful legs and arms, he quickly moved forward in the water, leaving the surface far behind. He felt a moment's panic before he realized he really didn't have to hold his breath and after that, swimming started to be a surreal experience. Like an astronaut in a self-contained suit, he was able to slow down and really explore the underwater world around him.
The algae and other plant life were less dense toward the center of the lake, and Mike was able to see the underwater terrain more clearly. He moved to the bottom and glided along, viewing the collection of fis.h.i.+ng poles, oars, shoes and other paraphernalia that had been dropped from boats throughout the history of the lake.
And then he saw it.
The porcelain whiteness of bone was actually easy to spot among the other shades of brown and green. The small skull lay nestled between several large rocks. Mike moved closer and saw a number of bones scattered in the same area; back bones, rib bones and some longer bones that were either from his arm or his leg. He moved closer and finally found what he was looking for. The rope had been nylon, so it hadn't deteriorated as it would have if it had been cloth or hemp, and it was still tied around the large rock. The other end of the rope was looped around what must have been Ronny's pelvic bone. Then he saw where the arm bones and some smaller bones, like those from his hands, lay under the rope, near the rock. Mike felt rage sweep through him as he pictured the young boy tugging desperately on the rope while he slowly drowned in the depths of the lake.
He stepped back and looked around, trying to find some underwater landmarks so he could locate the body once again. Looking up, he could see the sun glinting off the surface about twenty feet above him. He glided up and swam straight up to the surface.
Ian didn't know why he expected Mike to come out of the water soaking wet and cold, and he found himself a little astonished when Mike glided to the top of the ice, his clothes and body dry. But the look on Mike's face told him all he needed to know.
He took out a notepad and sketched several distinctive landmarks on the sh.o.r.e that, when intersected, would represent the place Mike now stood and would mark where Ronny's body lay below.
Ian waved at Mike and watched him glide quickly towards him.
”What did you...,” Ian began.
Mike shook his head. ”Give me a little bit, okay?”
Ian nodded and watched Mike glide away from him and deal with the emotions from his find. He turned back to the woods and saw the boys were still busy chasing each other in the early dawn light. His heart was lightened to see that the human spirit was indomitable and could survive even the torture these young boys had experienced.
He made his way through the snow, brush and trees to where they were exploring some tracks in the snow.
”It's probably a bear,” Ronny said. ”Those look like bear tracks.”
”We don't got bears around here,” Timmy said. ”But it could be a coyote. We got lots of those.”
”Cool,” Ronny responded. ”Should we track it down?”
Timmy nodded, his eyes sparkling with excitement. ”Sure, maybe we could catch him.”
”Well, before you go out on your safari, I wanted to let you know that I'm heading back to Mary's place,” Ian said. ”Timmy, do you want to bring Ronny back there with you when you're done?”
Timmy nodded. ”Yeah, I can do that.”
He turned to Ronny. ”You'll like Mary's house, she's got Batman, the movie, on her TV.”
”Cool,” Ronny agreed.
”Aye, she'd be happy to have you come,” Ian said. ”But, I'm thinking that maybe you shouldn't bring Ronny over to see Maggie.”
”Yeah,” Timmy nodded in agreement, having enough youthful wisdom to understand Ronny's appearance would disturb Maggie. ”Besides, she'll be at school.”
Ian nodded. ”That's true enough,” he said. ”So, I'll see you when you're done hunting for wild beasts.”
He started to walk away, but then thought better of it and turned. ”And don't you be bringing any of them home with you.”
The boys laughed and glided away into the woods.
Ian reached his car after a ten minute walked and was happy to turn it on and feel the heat beginning to circulate. He reached over; picked up the phone he had left on the pa.s.senger seat and read Mary's text. ”Well then, Mary,” he said to himself. ”It will be interesting to see who's had the more exciting morning.”
Chapter Thirty.
Mary held her flashlight in front of her and crossed from the front hallway into the kitchen. The black and white linoleum tiled floor was chipped and faded. A Formica kitchen table, grey with red and chrome trim, stood in the middle of the room flanked with four matching red vinyl chairs. The only item on the table was a white ceramic milk pitcher, with red flowers painted on the side, holding a bouquet of dust-laden silk roses.
”Emil bought that for me,” the soft, shaky voice said, ”on the Mother's Day before they took him away.”
Mary turned towards the voice and saw the pet.i.te, elderly ghost standing next to the stove on the other side of the room. She was wearing a house dress in turquoise blue that dwarfed her size and reached down below her calves.
”Mrs. Forrest?” Mary asked.