Nancy K. Duplechain - Dark Trilogy 01 - Dark Bayou by Nancy K. Duplechain

cursing. He ordered us to go home. We did and laughed all the way.
     
    “Lake Martin,” I reminisced.
     
    He chuckled. “Yeah.”
     
    “David was so mad at me that night.”
     
    “So was I. I would have strangled all of you girls if you were in arm’s reach. But after you left, we continued with our dates and, well, let’s just say the night ended on a good note.”
     
    I glanced at him, and his boyish grin made me laugh. “So, what are we doing here?”
     
    He shrugged. “Not sure. Just seemed like the best place to talk.”
     
    “We drove all the way out of town, down two long country roads, just to talk?”
     
    “It’s easy to talk here. No distractions. Besides, this is where I usually come on my day off.” He gestured to several boats along the bank. “I own a few of these boats that I rent out. I bring Jonathan out here a lot during the summer. He loves to go fishing. Sometimes, we just go out in the middle of the lake and relax after the sun sets.”
     
    “That sounds nice,” I said. He bent down and started pushing one of the boats into the water. “You really want to do this now?”
     
    He squinted up at the sun. “We can stay on the shady side.”
     
    That’s not what I meant, though. I wasn’t so much worried about the sun as I was about what he wanted to talk about. I felt a surge of panic at the thought of spilling my worried guts to him. I hadn’t been kidding when I told him I was up for weirdo of the year. He would ask me again why I was really back in Louisiana, and I didn’t want to be dishonest with him. I would tell him I was there for Lyla, but he would think I meant that I was there to take care of her and raise her. But I was really there to protect her from some monster with a pet bird. How would that sound? Pretty damned crazy , my mind taunted. I agreed with myself. Ghosts or no ghosts. I didn’t care what mysterious cases Lucas had to deal with at work. It still wouldn’t prepare him for my crazy dreams and impulses.
     
    “You comin’?” While I was lost in thought, he had pulled the boat into the water and was holding his hand out for me. I knew I wasn’t going to win. I didn’t want to see him get angry again. He was a good friend, and they seemed far and few between these days. I took his hand, and he steadied me as I climbed into the little motor boat. We sat and he started the motor, steering us around the lake, careful to avoid the big roots on the sides of the Cypresses and Tupelos.
     
    I had forgotten how truly beautiful South Louisiana waters can be, especially the swamps and bayous. If the moss-draped trees weren’t pleasing enough to the eye, there were beautiful and exotic-looking plants and flowers seeming to float on the surface of the murky water. Now and again, we would see a snake, lazily meandering through the shallow water. Turtles perched on fallen logs, warming themselves in the sun. We didn’t see any alligators today, but egrets and blue heron kept a silent watch from the trees and banks, every now and then stretching their great wings in the sun. These birds weren’t frightening. They were majestic. Of course, doves were always beautiful, but the Dark Man’s dove was terrifying because it did his bidding. It was a part of him somehow. I fought off a shudder and returned my focus to the tranquility of Lake Martin.
     
    We finally settled on one shady spot near the northeast bank. He let the motor die down and we sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in our peaceful surroundings. I suddenly remembered my dream last night. I found myself scanning the bank, looking for an old cabin with a front porch, but I didn’t see one. And it didn’t have the same feel here as I had in the dream. This couldn’t be the same lake that Lucas and I had escaped to after the Dark Man chased us. It all looked familiar, but that’s what dreams do. They take what you know and use that as reference points. After all, if these dreams were somehow