Uncertain Summer Read online

  “Oops!”

  Well, that ended things. While Tim washed the mud and the duckweed off the best he could in the lake, Shawna placed her phone back into her purse. I crawled onto the dock with the hopes that no one would notice how my wet clothes revealed my straight up and down frame.

  As soon as I made it onto the warm wood, I peeled my shirt away from my skin and squeezed water from it.

  Shawna scooted out of the way when Tim climbed onto the dock. Emmett spattered us with droplets of lake water. Shawna groaned in disgust. It didn’t help my brother stunk like a toad.

  Something growled, low and rumbly. “Did you hear that?” I asked, glancing near the cypress trees.

  “Hear what?” Emmett asked.

  “Shh,” Tim said, “that could’ve been a vocalization.”

  There was another growl and then a great roar. RRaawwrrrr!

  Shawna gasped and grabbed my arm. I about fell off the dock.

  “It’s just me,” Gramps said, walking out of the trees, laughing so hard he snorted. “I got y’all good!” He did a double take when he saw Shawna. “So good to see that the Four Stooges have been reunited.”

  Gramps kicked off his shoes and joined us, swirling his feet in the water like he was one of us kids. “Your mama wanted me to check on you guys after the whole Bigfoot boat debacle.”

  “Bigfoot boat debacle?” Shawna asked.

  “Didn’t Everdil tell you she got a good look at the Caddo Critter?”

  “He’s just kidding,” I said, regretting the words as soon as they came out of my mouth.

  9

  “How can you say Bigfoot is a joke, Everdil?” Tim asked, his eyes narrowed. “You of all people with your report and big talk.”

  Emmett jumped in. “You weren’t lying to us, were you?”

  “Of course not!” A speck of duckweed described how big I felt at that moment. “I … I lied to avoid involving Shawna.” I reached for my necklace. I panicked for a moment when the pearl wasn’t there, but then I remembered I’d left it on my dresser.

  “Why wouldn’t you want me to get involved?” Shawna asked.

  I shrugged. This was more than I could explain.

  “Because I don’t believe in Bigfoot?” Shawna continued when I stayed silent.

  “I wasn’t sure what I thought about Bigfoot until I got a firsthand look,” I said. Sharing my experience wasn’t violating any of Team Bigfoot’s rules, so I told her about everything that had happened.

  Gramps filled her in on my boat driving skills. Or lack thereof.

  “You might’ve been seeing things,” Shawna said, sounding exactly like Mama.

  “My eyes are fine, I promise.”

  “Yeah, they are,” Tim said.

  What in the world was that supposed to mean?

  “Do you even believe in the possibility of Bigfoot? Thousands of credible people like Mr. Nash and Gramps do,” Emmett said.

  Gramps set an arm around Emmett’s shoulder as if to show him some solidarity.

  Tim has this nerdy tendency to go into encyclopedia mode, and he fully unleashed it now. “Did you know that researchers discovered a primate species named Omomyids amidst 42-million-year-old fossils south of us in Laredo?” he asked.

  Tim took Shawna’s shrug as an invitation to drop another fact. “Bigfoot might be related to the giant Asian ape called Gigantopithecus blacki that coexisted with humans over a hundred thousand years ago.”

  “So Bigfoot is basically an oversized panda,” Shawna said, raising an eyebrow.

  “A panda isn’t an ape. Think really big gorilla capable of stomping on people’s huts,” Tim said.

  “Like Godzilla,” Emmett said.

  Gramps chuckled. “Panda-Godzilla-Bigfoot. I can only imagine.”

  “We’re losing focus,” I said.

  “Fine,” Shawna said, “but why hasn’t someone found evidence of a Bigfoot family living in the woods or Bigfoot bones or fossils?”

  “Some scientists think they have, including my dad. I’ll show you,” Tim said, and then explained how hard the evidence can be to verify, especially with not much to compare it to.

  “You’re a chip off the ol’ block,” Gramps said, referring to Mr. Nash. “I have to get to the marina, but I’ll be around if you need me. I’ll report y’all are just fine to your mama. Before I go, I got a good one that Gram would’ve loved.”

  “What’s that, Gramps?” I asked.

  Gramps chuckled again before he could even get the joke out. “Chuck Norris keeps a Bigfoot rug in his room. Bigfoot isn’t dead, he’s just too afraid to move.”

  We all laughed.

  “You’re right,” I said. “Gram would’ve loved it.”

  As soon as Gramps was out of earshot, Emmett told Shawna, “We plan on discovering some real evidence.” Before I could stop him, he spilled the news about the contest.

  “A million dollars for a photo? You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Shawna had to know we weren’t kidding by now, even if I’d tried to say so earlier.

  “Look, you’re free to think whatever, and you don’t have to join us if you don’t want to. Besides, it might be too dangerous,” I said.

  I’d given her an easy out, and when she stood up, I thought she might’ve stomped off to my room, but she surprised me by saying, “I could help.”

  “How?” I asked, my filter still down.

  “It doesn’t really matter. If Shawna wants in, she’s in,” Emmett said, standing up to shake her hand before checking in with Tim or me. “We’ll split the money between all of us.”

  “She doesn’t need the money like we do,” I argued, but then Shawna interrupted me.

  “Look, I can have my dad send some cash to help us out in the search,” she said.

  “But why would you?”

  “I could use some distraction,” she said, like that explained everything perfectly.

  Money would help us buy some equipment so we wouldn’t have to borrow everything from Papa. I didn’t get a chance to think the decision through because Tim held out his hand and shook her onto our team. I’d been outvoted without the chance to cast my own ballot. “Fine, but Team Bigfoot has rules, and we’re not going to break any more of them.”

  I confess I squeezed Shawna’s hand a little harder than necessary, but to her credit, she didn’t whine or back down.

  All it took was one successfully sent text message, and Shawna’s dad added money to her account. One text message and money just appeared from one place to another! Of course, she’d have to pick it up at the grocery store ATM, but still. Papa had slaved away at the marina for years and did all sorts of odd jobs and never had anything to show for it. Mama worked endless hours at the café and spent all of her remaining effort and funds on trying to make it big in the food industry, but nothing had happened yet. Having extra money seemed like it would never be a possibility for my parents. Not unless something MAJOR changed.

  “I should look into becoming a lawyer someday,” I said to myself, still marveling at how loaded her dad had to be to send money like that.

  “Sure you might be rolling in it, but you’d never have any time to spend with your future kids,” Shawna said. Before Shawna moved to Dallas, she’d only spent a few weeks here and there with her dad. It didn’t seem like her plan to get to know him better was working out all that well.

  Shawna put up her phone after sending her dad a message that simply said, “Thx.”

  As if she was the one in charge of our team, she said, “Let’s plan how and when we’re going to go get the money.” And here she didn’t believe in Bigfoot!

  Mama and Papa had recently pawned their bikes to pay off a bill, so that complicated our plans for now. Shawna wouldn’t get far in those ridiculous sandals of hers.

  “Let’s split up,” Tim suggested. “Two of us can look more into Swamp Sam, and the other two can pick up money and maybe some supplies.”

  “I’ll go with you, Shawna,” Emmett said
. His face broke out in blotches almost like he was having an allergic reaction. His breathing seemed fine enough, so I chalked it up to nerves.

  Tim tinkered with a few small appliances before offering that he could go with her as well. What was this, some sort of competition within a competition to hang out with Shawna? They’d brought her on our team, and this was going to be a miserable hunt for Bigfoot if I didn’t take charge.

  “The boys will go snoop, and the girls will walk to the store,” I said. “Shawna and I haven’t spent time together in ages.”

  Before we parted, Shawna borrowed a pair of my sneakers. “These look … comfy,” she said. Shawna frowned as she put them on.

  Comfy was her nice way of saying my shoes were ratty, which was the truth. They were better than her breaking an ankle in those wedged sandals though.

  Tim and Emmett had the more important task of stalking Swamp Sam, but our mission was important, too. “Hurry up!”

  10

  What seemed like it would be a quick stop at the grocery shop quickly turned into a disaster.

  Shawna made some small talk about her new fancy pants middle school that had electronic this and that and everyone got assigned their own laptop. It had an enormous stadium that put our town’s to shame. When school started in the fall, I’d attend the grade seven through grade twelve campus with the boys. I’d looked forward to it, but now our school felt like a joke in comparison.

  I filled her in on what some of the kids at school were up to now, and then I asked her if she remembered when a skunk wandered into the elementary school gym and how everyone freaked out.

  “You’re younger than me, so it must’ve left a bigger impression.”

  “I’m not that much younger than you.” I kicked a rock. “Do you remember how I gave you that stuffed fish that you named Minnoe the Minnow because of your last name?”

  “Barely. We were such babies then.”

  After a stretch of uncomfortable silence, I said, “Emmett and I recently came up with what we call the Ingredients Game. If you were on that show Garbage Can Gourmet and someone gave you shrimp, candy corn, cheese curds, and a butternut squash, what sort of dinner would you make?”

  Shawna wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Uh, a trash pile patty.”

  Her answer made me laugh. Shawna laughed too and relaxed her shoulders as we continued walking. I took several snapshots of the way the clouds reflected off of the lake. They came out quite artistic if I do say so myself.

  We followed Blair Landing Road and soon passed Gramps’ cabin, right near the water with a short wooden pier where he liked to sit.

  Shawna must’ve noticed me staring at the cabin because she asked, “Your grandpa works at the marina now?”

  I explained how Papa bought the place from Swamp Sam and hired Gramps.

  “That’s a good thing, right?”

  I thought about how Mama reacted to the news. “Maybe. You probably remember how Bigfoot crazy Swamp Sam is—we have a suspicion he sold the marina thinking he might win the competition. That’s why Emmett and Tim are going to find out more information so we can beat him to it.”

  “Makes more sense now,” Shawna said, a touch out of breath since we were walking at a quick pace. “By the way, thanks for letting me join the team.”

  “It’s not like I had much of a choice.”

  Maybe she was just getting sweaty from the walk, but Shawna looked on the verge of tears.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean for that to sound rude.”

  Shawna stopped walking. “Look, Everdil. I’m sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings. When I moved to Dallas, I kind of wanted to reinvent myself, you know?”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that.” It hurt to know she’d purposely wanted to forget about me so she could have a better life. “Let’s get this over with fast so we can meet up with the boys.” I walked on, and she raced to catch up to me.

  The grocery store in Uncertain is small compared to the ones you’ll find in big cities, but it has just about anything you might need, including an ATM. “You think this will work?” I asked before we walked inside. Could a thirteen year old really just slide a card into a machine and get money out?

  “How country are you? Of course this will work,” Shawna said, standing taller and seeming more confident than she had moments before. “Dad got me the account and the card because he wanted to keep the extra cash a secret from Mom. I use it all of the time.”

  Shawna’s parents divorced when she was young, and that’s when Shawna’s mom moved home to Uncertain to be closer to family. Shawna’s parents had more money than either one of them probably knew what to do with. It surprised me that they’d fight over something like how much Shawna could spend, but adults can fight about anything, rich or poor. Take Mama and Papa for example.

  As we neared the front of the store by the machine, Shawna smacked her lips together and adjusted her hair. “Does my makeup look okay?”

  “If you’re into that sort of stuff.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Hey Everdil, stop looking so nervous. People might think you’re going to shoplift or something.”

  At the mention of “shoplift,” I glanced around to see if anyone had overheard her. The last thing I wanted was for someone in town to get the wrong impression of me. Thankfully, no one paid me any attention. I didn’t want to complicate the transaction, so I told Shawna I’d meet her in a few minutes.

  I planned on waiting for her at the front of the store, but I spied a man who kind of looked like George Washington, only with dark hair instead of a white wig. I followed him to the meat case, shoving my hands in my pocket to avoid looking so … thieving or whatever. I’d never seen him in Uncertain before, and trust me, I would’ve remembered. His khaki outfit had pockets galore and looked more appropriate for an African safari than out here in quiet, nowhere East Texas.

  I crept near the case of cheese to get a better look at the man. He gave off this weird vibe.

  “I’m here,” the man said, tossing a pack of thick sliced bacon into his basket. A bony stub was all that was left of his middle finger.

  “Huh?” I answered and then felt dumb because the man wasn’t talking to me but rather into some headset piece that connected to his phone. To play my reaction off, I picked up a block of cheese with eyeball-sized blue chunks in it. I’d have to remember this for the Ingredient Game. The Founding Father lookalike glanced in my direction but kept on talking. He shook his head in annoyance.

  “Some local mentioned seeing a large black creature slightly north of here earlier, but I think its baloney.” Funny enough, the guy had moved on to the lunch meat section and stood close to several selections of bologna. Yet another item for the Ingredient Game.

  I followed the man as he moved along, stopping to inspect some bags of shredded cheese with enough interest that I hopefully didn’t look like a stalker.

  The lookalike snickered at something. “You have no idea! This town is backwards, and the people are no exception.” The man looked over at me again. My nostrils flared in response.

  Swamp Sam was a potential danger, but he didn’t seem as threatening as this man. To keep from drawing more attention to myself, I grabbed the only thing I could afford with the change in my pocket—an individually wrapped piece of string cheese. I sped off to the cash register, my mind racing just as fast.

  Shawna and I would have to forget buying any supplies for now. We had all we needed to win the contest—inside information and my camera. She and I had to head north of here before the presidential lookalike had a chance. We’d consult with Tim and Emmett later.

  Shawna stood at the front of the store waiting for me as planned, though she raised her hands up questioningly as I stood in line to pay for the string cheese. When it was my turn, the man walked around the corner. We had to hurry.

  I tossed my pocket change at the clerk, though most of it clanked on the ground.

  The clerk sighed, and I tried picking up the quar
ters, but my fingers fumbled. Shawna came to my rescue, handing the clerk a dollar bill to pay for the cheese while I collected the remaining coins.

  “You couldn’t wait for a snack?” Shawna asked once we paid up.

  I pocketed the string cheese for now and rushed her outside. “I’ll tell you the story in the minute. I take it you got the money?”

  “No problem at all.” Shawna grinned as she reached into her pocket and flashed a stack of twenties. She kept it secret how much she’d taken from the account, but the stack was so thick it reminded me of a scene from a mob movie, just without any stealing or murder.

  Shawna followed me north to Mound Pond as I shared what I’d overheard. I kept my camera out, almost like a weapon in case we stumbled onto something important … or freaky.

  “I saw that guy. He looks familiar, and I got an off feeling about him,” she said.

  SQUAWK! Shawna and I dropped to the ground, but the sound was only a crow. It swooped across the clearing to a tall pine.

  “Gross!” Shawna said after we’d continued to walk quite aways. She’d stepped in something disgusting as she hiked through a stretch of mud.

  Nasty—those were my shoes she was wearing, and they were now covered in rotted smelling goo. I pinched my nose as Shawna walked over to a rock and tried cleaning off my sneaker.

  Off in the distance, I swear I saw something scuttle.

  “Don’t move,” I whispered to her.

  Shawna turned around. Something scurried again, only a stone’s throw away.

  A creature was crouched low to the ground.

  It fit what I’d overheard that man in the grocery store describe.

  Large.

  Hairy.

  Black-brown.

  I aimed my camera at it. Click.

  11

  A large boar, bigger than Shawna and me put together, stepped out from the brush. Its tusks were a couple of inches long. The boar sniffed the air, stared at us, and charged.

  “Stay calm,” I told Shawna the instant we bolted for the trees. I slid the camera into my remaining free pocket. We needed to climb up a nearby oak if we were going to live through this.