Snapper (27 page)

JJ snuggled closer to Mary. Their eyes closed as their lips met.

Suddenly, JJ let out a low moan. Mary opened her eyes and smiled.

“That felt
that
good?” she said.

“Yes,” said JJ. “It did. But that’s not why I moaned. I just felt something – like somehow the snapper is truly and finally gone.”

Mary eased JJ down onto his back. She untucked his shirt and lifted it up. The scabs across his stomach, so raw and ugly just a few weeks before, were now fading. Mary gently traced the streaks with her fingertips.

And then, in a soft chanting voice, she whispered into JJ’s ear.

“Hey, ho, snapper guy, now it’s time you said goodbye.”

And it was true. The great snapper was finally gone from the waters of Turtleback Lake.

* * * *

In the spring, after the lake had thawed, the town hired specialists to remove the graffiti from Turtleback Rock. Also in spring, they found – and buried – bits and pieces of Tanner and Savarese that had floated to the surface.

By summer, even the local real estate market had rebounded. Judd Clayton, as always, got most of the new listings. He even handled the sale of the former Burt bungalow. August Andersen had asked Deena to come back with him to Ithaca. She had said, “Yes,” in a heartbeat and gave the high school two weeks notice the next day.

The baby that came in the spring was a bit of a surprise, but a most pleasant and welcome one. They named it Isaac Owen Andersen. Its eyes were neither green like August’s nor brown like Deena’s. They were a Nordic blue.

The color secretly troubled Deena.

“Eye color can change over time,” said August. “Who knows what color they’ll eventually end up?”

When Deena and August came to spend that summer in August’s cabin, they stopped by to see Judd at Clayton Realty.

“What a beautiful baby,” said Judd, looking at the bundled infant cradled in Deena’s arms.

The coo of a newborn caught the ear of Judd’s new assistant. She popped out of the supply closet. She was a tall slender blonde in shimmering pink shorts.

“What beautiful eyes,” she said, looking at little Isaac Owen. “They’re as blue as yours, Judd.”

Deena felt a brief pang of panic but then Judd cut in.

“I don’t know whether either of you have ever met my neighbor,” said Judd. “Deena and August, this is Connie Konsulis. She started working here a few weeks ago.”

Deena could tell from the way Judd and Connie looked at each other that they were more than just workmates. Something was going on between them. Deena was happy for Judd. He’d been lonely too long.

Judd hung a “Be Back Soon” sign on the door of his office and they all went down for a walk along the lakeshore. They took turns pushing the baby carriage. As they strolled along, JJ, Mary, and Ian Copeland joined them.

Off in the distance, out in the middle of the lake, two men were sitting in a rowboat. Nobody needed binoculars to know who they were. Bill Lupo and his old friend, Oscar Hall, had become fishing buddies. Oscar went with Bill every time he went out. As the party on shore looked on, Bill caught a fish. It was a pickerel. Oscar took it off the hook and tossed it back into the lake. If only they had kept and cleaned it, they would have discovered a shiny bullet lodged in its digestive tract.

Beyond the two old anglers was Turtleback Rock. It was once again the landmark it had always been: white, sun bleached – with rumors of whirlpools swirling around it. A couple of small snappers lazed on its surface, basking in the sun.

August’s mind dived under the surface of the rock to the labyrinth he had discovered in the mountain beneath it. He thought maybe one day he might explore it again.

And if he does, and if he goes far enough, August will make an astounding discovery: The other end of the tunnel is more than a mile away, on the far side of a mountain, in another lake.

There have been no reported attacks by a giant snapper there
…yet.