“No offense taken.Iamlike a GPS, and it’s gotten me out of some hairy situations while on an investigation.”
“I got lost on the property once before we’d cleared the main area and put in electricity,” Ellen admitted.“But my brother found me.He always knows where we are.”
“That’s good.It could get scary out in the woods alone,” Rocko agreed.
“Yeah, it got spooky fast.”She shivered.“Come on.Let’s go see the dock.”
“Dock?”Rocko asked.
“Yeah, we built a dock,” Ellen said.
“‘We’?”Hendrix asked with amusement.
“I was there for moral support.”She laughed.“And I brought lunch.”
A dock made sense given how close it was to the lake.Rocko followed the pair from the main house, across the clearing, and into the tree line, headed east.He zipped his coat up a little higher as the sun’s warmth was blocked by the evergreen trees and bare branches.It was still early spring, and patches of snow speckled here and there, mostly under the trees.His boots crunched on the thawing earth and on partially frozen dried leaves.Even with the chill in the air, Rocko couldn’t help but be entranced by the natural beauty around him.
He’d grown up in southern Florida, where snow was a rare sight and palm trees were the typical foliage.Now, he had the opportunity to explore a completely different landscape, and Rocko was enjoying the surreal experiences.The temperature warmed substantially when the sun peeked through, and soon, the trees thinned out again, and he could hear the water lapping at a shoreline.
When they cleared the last tree, Rocko’s boots crunched on a newly laid patch of gravel.Ahead of him stood Lake Champlain, only partially frozen, with a newly constructed wooden dock on the shore ready to go in once the ice had fully cleared.The view was stunning and vast.
“I can’t wait until summer to go swimming and boating,” Ellen said.“Depending on the blue-green algae, when it blooms.Or at least that’s what my brother said.”
“Yeah, Cyanobacteria would grow well in these waters, and when in bloom, they can cause a rash, allergic reactions, stomachaches, and liver damage.”
“Walking encyclopedia,” Hendrix chuckled.“That’s still more useful than knowing someone’s genealogy.”
“Hey, don’t knock yourself.Because of you, Brick and Stryker now know they’re first cousins, which led to an investigation into some serious generational criminal activity.In the end, it saved an entire town from some land-stealing assholes.”
“I guess,” Hendrix said, appearing less than convinced.
“If you hadn’t dropped the hint they were so closely related, there wouldn’t have been an investigation into how,” Ellen said.“Before that, they’d pretty much given up on figuring out the mystery of Sophia’s multiple boxes of paperwork she’d left behind in the house Brick had inherited.”
“Yeah, I suppose the two separate issues were related in the end,” Hendrix conceded, looking happier.
“That’s Vermont over there,” Ellen said as she pointed across the lake.
“Mount Independence is right there,” Rocko said as he pointed north.“It’s not as big as the Rockies, but it’s still a great hike.”
“There’s a marina, maybe this summer we could boat over,” Ellen suggested.
“I won’t be here, but I’m sure plenty of people will be willing to go with you,” Rocko said.
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Ellen said.
“Sure of what?People willing to go with you?”
“No.About you not being here.Don’t you like it here?”Ellen asked.
“Yeah, I do, but this is only a two-week arrangement.”
“Whatever.Let’s go see the well that was dug.We get safe, fresh water from it.Nice not to have to haul water in from town anymore,” Ellen said, effectively changing the subject as only a teenager could.
He’d been given the two-week deadline multiple times by the powers that be and doubted that it’d change, regardless of what Ellen believed.
***
Rocko was only partly listening as Jagger spoke enthusiastically about the way the compound utilities worked.He was more focused on the man by his side - Rocko wasn’t oblivious to the calm in his mind, and he was convinced Apollo had something to do with it.
