The Probable Future

The oar hit Stella when she turned to see where Hap had gone. It hit her squarely between her shoulder blades, the weakest spot in her body, where the bones had been broken at birth. At that instant of pain she arched her body away from the thing that had hit her. She might have gone overboard as well, but her bracelet, the birthday gift from her father, caught on the screw which held the seat of the Little Pearl in place. Stella tore at her wrist until the bracelet came free. It fell into the water, without a sound, as though it had been swallowed whole.

Stella was not thinking clearly; certainly, she wasn’t thinking someone had tried to hurt them. It must be a branch, an obstacle they’d missed in the dark. All she thought of was Hap. Stella stood without thinking, so that the boat rocked back and forth and she shouted into the dark. The sound of her cry went across the lake and the lawn, through the kitchen window where her mother was making a pot of chamomile tea, down the lane to where Jimmy had kicked some papery oak leaves into a pile, before setting a match to the collection, trying his best to burn out his disappointment with himself for all of his blind, stupid actions.

Jenny Sparrow had been up most of the night with her mother, who was suffering with a fever. At first Jenny thought Elinor had caught the spring flu, but Dr. Stewart had assured Jenny this was not the case. It was the beginning of her unraveling, that was the only way he could describe what was about to happen, and it was best to make Elinor as comfortable as possible with blankets and hot tea. The fever made for terrible shivers, but Dr. Stewart did not mention that tea and blankets would not alleviate this condition. The coldness was formed inside: Elinor’s blood was so thin it was as though ice crystals had formed. Brock Stewart did not tell Jenny Sparrow that he had ministered to patients whose last breaths were entirely made out of ice, so that their lips turned blue at the moment of their death, as the crystals which held their essence melted into the warm air.

Jenny had just set the teapot and cups on a tray when she heard the scream. She was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and she had no shoes on, but she took off running. Every mother knows her child’s cry, and Jenny was no exception. She heard the screen door slam behind her, but she didn’t feel herself push it open. She heard the bullfrogs in the lake, yet she didn’t feel the grass under her bare feet. Up in Elinor’s bedroom, Argus began to bark, and his barking sifted through his mistress’s dreams. By then, Jenny had raced across the lawn where Will and Matt had once stood looking up at her window; she was halfway down the driveway with ruts so deep any one who wasn’t aware of them would surely stumble. She could see the boats on the dark water, like coffins afloat. She could see Stella’s form as the girl leaned toward the lake, too close, and then utterly gone as Stella slipped over the side of the boat, in a desperate attempt to search for Hap. At the same time, Jenny could hear a boy shouting from the lane—Jimmy Elliot, running like a madman in the same direction as Jenny, shouting for Stella, hurdling over clumps of weeds, paying no mind to the nettle and the swamp cabbage, the bloodroot and the water dragons with their fragrant white spikes that snagged on the legs of his jeans.

A man in one of the boats was standing. He saw Jimmy racing through the weeds and right away he thought he spied a demon. He had followed Stella and Hap in The Seahorse, the boat Jenny’s father always said was the more unpredictable of the two, more difficult to row, more likely to tip. The man who’d never been aimlessly passing through town went over the side, and was grateful for the dark water. He had to get away before the demon came any closer, even though he hadn’t managed to get to the girl. Mission not accomplished. He cursed himself and the demon running through the tall grass and everyone he’d ever known. If he’d been a better swimmer he would have gone after the girl, but as it was, he was lucky to get away before Jimmy Elliot got to the shore.

Inside the house, Elinor had reached for the phone. When she pushed 1 she was automatically connected to Brock. The doctor was used to Elinor calling at odd hours and in fact he always swore he slept with the phone on his pillow. Indeed, it must be true because he answered after a single ring and assured her he would phone the police and an ambulance. Elinor wanted to see for herself what was going on. But by the time she managed to get out of bed, Jenny had already reached the waist of the hourglass and dove in. Stella was difficult to make out from a distance; she was treading water, shivering as she tried her best to feel in the cold water for Hap. She cried at the same time she splashed around frantically. Jenny pulled her over to the boat.

“Stay here,” Jenny told her daughter, and for once Stella did as she was told. “I’ll go and get him.”