Chapter 36 - Ethan
I might be wrong about this. I could be taking Aiden, Mara, and Zoe away from wherever the girls are. I could be leading them on a wild goose chase.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think I am. I saw the hatred in Margaret’s face when I told her she was pure evil. I saw the fury in her eyes when I told her I’d burn down her hotel a thousand times over. I know that she came back for revenge, and it would be just like her to cut us all where it hurts the most: our kids.
Her look told me enough–I just had to realize what she was saying. She wants my brothers and me to feel pain. She always has. Ever since my father, her lover, died, she’s blamed the three of us brothers for his death. She’s blamed her daughter for it, too. It was Mara my dad jumped in the river to save.
His death hit us all differently, and at the Fall Festival, I saw the depth of her pain. Instead of dealing with it, she’s let it fester for a decade, until the original wound is almost unrecognizable. She’s turned into a vindictive, bitter person. She’s tried to take business and love away from the three of us brothers. It hasn’t worked.
Until now.
Now, with Audrey and Hailey in her custody, she can bring ruin to both Dominic and me. She can see how much he cares for his daughter, and how much I care for Zoe and Audrey. She sniffs love out like a bloodhound, and now she’s trying to end it.
I know it in my soul. I know that she has them, and in her mind, it’s the final payback for my father’s death.
I haven’t been back to that spot by the river since my father died. It’s on the opposite end of town to where Audrey fell in. There, the river bends and there are many rapids and eddies and undercurrents that make the already frigid water turn lethal.
If I were a crazed, bitter woman intent on hurting two little girls in some sort of twisted poetic justice, I’d bring them there.
My heart is in my throat as I turn off the main road onto the gravel path that leads towards the river. The trees are thick here, blocking out most of the light from the sun. It’s been dry, so the truck bounces along the gravel road kicking up a big cloud of dust behind me.
I tighten my hold on the steering wheel and push my foot further down onto the pedal. Images of my childhood are flashing through my mind. My brothers and I used to walk down this path with my parents, hauling picnic baskets and fishing poles to spend the day by the river. We’d run ahead, laughing and playing, throwing sticks and rocks into the river once we got there.
I haven’t been back since my father’s death, but it all looks the same.
The trees are sparser when I get closer to the river. I see Margaret’s car parked on the side of the road and my heart jumps in my throat.
I wasn’t wrong, and somehow that makes me feel even worse. My worst nightmare is coming true. I know Aiden, Mara and Zoe aren’t far behind, but there’s no time to wait. I start running towards the little path through the trees that leads to the clearing where my father jumped in to save Mara over a decade ago.
Hesitating, I glance back at my truck and rush back. I grab a length of rope and sling it over my shoulder, sprinting back towards the trees. If someone falls in the river, I’m going to need something to haul them back in. Or as a worst case, I’m going to need something to hold onto when I jump in to get them.
I can’t hear any birds, or any rustling of leaves. The forest is deathly quiet as I run. My footsteps sound too loud, and I’m panting as I try to speed up. My foot slips and I almost roll my ankle on a tree root. I swear and jump to save myself at the last second. I hold out my arms and catch myself on a branch before continuing my sprint through the forest.
The rushing water is getting louder, and I try my hardest to hear something else. Anything else. Crying, or screaming, or voices. I need to know that they’re still here. Still alive.
The trees thin and I can finally see a glimpse of the river. My heart starts pounding even harder as I see flashes of memories in my mind. They’re all muddled together. I see happy memories, when both my parents were alive. Then, I hear Mara’s panicked screams when she fell in as a little girl. I can still see the look of terror on her face right before she went under. I remember the way my father ran in, the way the water splashed around him. I can still remember the fear in everyone’s face and the relief when he brought her back. I remember the hospital, and the weeks of darkness that followed.
The memories pulse through my mind at a dizzying speed, one by one with every step I take closer to the water. Finally, the trees clear and my stomach lurches.
They’re here.
They’re alive.
Margaret has her back to me, and she’s pushing the two girls out towards the worst of the rapids in an old, rickety tin canoe. She wades in, thigh-deep, and pushes the dilapidated watercraft out towards the rushing water.
That’s when I scream. Audrey is holding Hailey in her arms, and just as Margaret’s hands leave the boat, Audrey’s smile melts away and her face is gripped with a terror so strong it makes my heart ache. She sees me then, and I think she screams my name, but I don’t hear anything.
I just see Margaret, turning towards me and snarling. Audrey is looking back at the rushing white water behind her, and then turning back and yelling something towards me. She can’t move with the baby in her arms.
Margaret rushes toward me in a low crouch. She looks as if she’s part panther. At the same time, I drop the rope from my shoulder and get ready to fling it towards the girls as I run to the water’s edge. Audrey is clinging on to the baby, and the boat is getting closer and closer to the rushing water. It’s rocking from side to side. Even from the banks, with Margaret just about to crash into me, I can see the whites of Audrey’s eyes when she looks at me in fear.
Margaret’s wily body crashes into mine and we roll on the ground. She’s like a wildcat. She bites and scratches and hangs onto me with all her might. I manage to throw her off and run towards the water.
“Audrey, catch this rope!” I scream as I hurl the rope towards her. I watch as the boat rocks when Audrey moves, holding the baby in one hand and trying to extend her other arm towards the rope. It lands across the front of the canoe and the boat rocks dangerously from side to side. It’s just out of Audrey’s grasp, but before I can see if she gets it, Margaret attacks me again. She yells and pushes me to the ground, mashing my face into the rocks at the water’s edge. I look up through one eye to see Audrey grab the rope.
I throw Margaret off and take hold of the rope, pulling the girls towards me.
“Tie it off on someth–” I don’t finish, because Margaret is tackling me to the ground again. This time, I fall face first into the water. Water fills my nose and mouth, and my hands scrape the rocky bottom of the river. I’m disoriented and for a moment, I lose my grip on the girls’ lifeline.
She’s holding my head underwater as I flail and try to fight her off, grab the rope, and come up for air at the same time. My lungs are burning as she holds me down. I can’t get any leverage as the water washes over me and I slide on the rocks. I’m reaching around me, splashing frantically when I feel the rough thread of the rope against my arm. I grab onto it and hold it as tight as I can as my lungs scream for oxygen.
This could be it for me. In this moment, with a crazed woman holding me down, I could drown right here where my father jumped in to save another young girl over a decade ago. I cling onto the rope as my arms turn to lead and I know I’m losing this fight. My lungs are on fire, and I know I only have a couple seconds before my world goes dark.
Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I instinctively understand why my father jumped in to save Mara all those years ago. The anger and resentment I had for him melts away. When I face my own death, I finally make peace with his.
If my face wasn’t being held underwater by a deranged woman, I might laugh at the beautiful irony of it all.