Chapter P6: Guiding Star

Chapter P6: Guiding Star

The smell of fish and wet canvas overpowers Joey to the point that his head spins. He breathes through his mouth, holding his nose with one hand in an attempt to keep the odor at bay. He doesn’t know how much longer he can hold out and the boat hasn’t left port yet.

He hears footsteps on the deck. “I don’t want to go,” he hears Molly say.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but we have to go back,” Mommy says. “The others are waiting for us.”

“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Aunt Veronica asks.

“No, honey. We have to go before it gets too cold. We don’t want to be stuck here all winter.”

“When are we coming back?” Molly asks.

“We’ll be back in springtime, when all the pretty flowers are in bloom. Now you two go on and take your seats. And put your lifejackets on. Don’t give me that look, young lady.”

From his position beneath the tarp, Joey can see Mommy’s feet as she walks along the deck to untie the boat. Two smaller pairs of feet—one in pink sneakers and the other in saddle shoes—approach the tarp. The saddle shoes stop. “Did you hear that?” Molly asks.

“Hear what?” Aunt Veronica says.

“I think something’s under there.” The saddle shoes take a step back. “Do you think it’s a monster?”

“It’s probably a rat,” Aunt Veronica says.

“A rat?” Molly screams and then her shoes disappear. The pink sneakers come closer. A chubby face peers beneath the tarp. Joey puts a finger to his lips, but Aunt Veronica only smiles and pulls the tarp away.

“It’s not a rat or a monster. It’s only Joe,” she says.

Joey stands up and takes a few deep breaths to clear his head. Mommy rushes forward to scoop him up. “Joe, what are you doing here?” she asks.

“I wanted to go with you,” he says.

“We’ve discussed this already. You can’t come with us.”

“But—”

“Look at the baby cry,” Aunt Veronica says.

“That’s enough,” Mommy scolds. She presses her tan cheek against Joey’s face. “You know you can’t go with me.”

“But you’re taking them!” he says, pointing to Veronica.

“They have to go.”

“Why?” Molly asks. She cowers in a corner of the boat, as if still afraid a rat might appear. “Why can’t we stay here?”

“That’s enough, young lady,” Mommy says. “You know the rules. You can’t stay here. This isn’t your home.”

“Why can’t it be?” Molly says.

“Because you don’t belong here. Put your lifejacket on and wait for me here.” Mommy carries Joe off the boat and over to a stack of rope, where she sets him down. “Joe, we’ve talked about this. It’s too dangerous for you to come with me.”

“Then why can they go? They’re littler than me.”

“They’re used to it,” she says. She sits down next to him and puts an arm around his shoulder. “If anything happened to you, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“I can take care of myself,” he says, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

“I know you think so, but there are dangers there you can’t understand. If you saw—” she breaks off with a shudder.

“I’m not scared,” he says. “Stop treating me like a baby.”

She smiles and kisses him on the forehead, dark brown hair caressing his face. He brushes it away to kiss her on the cheek. “I don’t want you to leave me,” he says.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

“Not until spring. That’s what you told them.”

“It’s not so long. Three months. Maybe sooner.”

“I don’t want to wait three months.”

“Please, Joe, I need you to stay here and look after your father. He needs you.”

“I don’t care about him. I only care about you.”

“I know you don’t mean that,” she says. She stands up and for a moment bites down on her lip. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Tears come to her midnight blue eyes at last. She offers Joey her hand. “Come and say goodbye to the girls.”

He follows her back along the dock to the boat, where the girls are running from one end to the other. Aunt Veronica chases after Molly with something in her hand. “Girls, what are you doing?” Mommy shouts.

“She started it,” Molly says. “She tried to put a fish down my dress.”

“Can’t you two behave for even a few minutes?” Mommy says. The girls look down at the deck and then Aunt Veronica tosses a fish over the side of the boat. “Say goodbye to Joseph.”

“Goodbye,” the girls say together.

“Goodbye,” he says.

“You two sit down and behave.” Before going to her seat, Veronica grins at Joey and winks. Something in her eyes gives him a chill. He wants to warn Mommy, but she’s already hugging him and saying, “I’ll be back real soon.”

“Don’t go, please,” he says. His entire body shakes with sobs. She isn’t coming back, he thinks. He tries to say something, but she doesn’t hear. She pushes the boat away from the dock. He can only stand there and watch her grow smaller as she gets farther away. Aunt Veronica turns to him and waves. The sound of her laughter brings him to his knees.

A hand tore Joey from the bed. He opened his eyes to find himself looking into those of Aunt Veronica. Her eyes have the same menacing look as in his dream. “Time’s up,” she said. “Now, what about the algae?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

She turned him to face the corner. Molly huddled there, wearing Samantha’s pink dress from the party. The dress fits much looser on her than Samantha. Aunt Veronica tossed him on the bed to seize Molly by her curly hair. “You see what you’ve done to her?” She pinched Molly’s tear-stained cheeks. “She’s a baby now because of you.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Joey said.

“That’s the point.” Aunt Veronica let little Molly slip to the ground and then hefted Joey again. “We’ve tried her way. Now we’re going to do things my way. You’re going to tell me what I want to know or I’m going to kill her and you and everyone else on this island. Do you get it?”

He nodded. Before he could say anything, she banged his head into the wall. As his world turned dark, he thought of Mommy. Somewhere, he knew she was in danger.