little cove came into view.
Min and I weren't alone. A man walked
toward us through the trees, up the trail from the
water.
So much for my Veronica
Mars fantasies, I thought.
It wasn't only that. I'd been starting
to think of Amazing as a quiet little oasis from the world for Min
and me, a place out of time. But that was silly too. It's not like
other people didn't have a right to be here.
Min and I kept walking forward, until
we all met at the end of the road.
He was older, in his sixties, but
displayed Vashon Island's usual mix of contradictions: he was big
and burly, but somehow soft and sensitive too. His face was craggy
— like he'd spent a lot of his life outside doing something manly,
maybe working on a fishing boat — but he had hoop earrings in both
ears and a hipster-y man bun. He was wearing flannel and denim with
thick boots, all weathered, but a beaded yin/yang symbol hung down
from the zipper of his jacket.
"Howdy!" he said,
friendly-goofy.
"Hello," Min said.
Then none of us said anything. I
wanted to ask what he was doing here, but that felt a little
territorial.
"We're staying at the Amazing Inn," I
explained. "I'm getting married. I'm Russel, and this is
Min."
"Well, congratulations to you both!"
the man said.
"No," I said, "I'm not
getting married to her." But I didn't tell him who I was getting married to,
that it was a man named Kevin. Even after all these years, it felt
weird to come out to people I didn't know, especially old people
like this guy.
He nodded like what I'd said made
sense. "I'm Walker," he said, giving one of those names where
you're not sure if it's the first name or the last.
"You live here on the island?" Min
asked.
"Sure do. Right over there." He made a
gesture, but I couldn't see any houses through the
trees.
"Christie — the woman we're renting
from — told us all about this place," I said. I nodded to the
ruins. "The town of Amazing? It's a pretty interesting
story."
Walker took it all in, almost inhaling
it. "Isn't it?"
That's when it occurred to me: maybe
my little Veronica Mars investigation didn't have to end after all.
Amateur detectives interviewed people, didn't they? And who knows?
Maybe the people on the island would know secrets that
off-islanders didn't.
"What do you think happened?" I
asked.
"What?" he said.
"To the people of Amazing."
He laughed. "Well, that's the big
question, isn't it?"
Min and I were quiet, listening. It
felt like she was as interested as I was.
Walker eyed us. The fact that we
seemed so genuinely interested was somehow making him take the
mystery of Amazing more seriously too.
"Mass suicide," he said at last. "At
least that's what I always heard."
Mass suicide? I thought. This wasn't a very cheery thought,
especially on my wedding weekend. On the other hand, it made more
sense than an alien abduction. And I had said I wanted to know the
truth.
Min nodded. "That's what the articles
all said."
I felt stupid. Min had mentioned that
album of articles back at the house, but I hadn't even bothered to
look at them. Some amateur sleuth I was.
"But Christie said people disappeared
without a trace," I said. "So what about the bodies?"
He nodded toward the rocky promontory
to the left of the cove, the one that looked out over the water.
"They jumped. The water took them away."
Min and I stared at that outcropping
of land, breathless. The sky was even darker now, but I made out a
vague trail up the hill. It was sort of impossible not to visualize
a line of people standing there, winding their way up to the top of
the rock, and then, one by one, jumping out into the water. I
imagined an old man with a cane and fur hat, and a woman with
fly-away hair and an apron still covered with flour from the
kitchen. A strapping young father stopped to clean his spectacles
on his shirt, and another woman held the hands of two small twin
boys (somehow the fact that it was twins made it especially
tragic). Behind them, down the hill, the line
Min and I weren't alone. A man walked
toward us through the trees, up the trail from the
water.
So much for my Veronica
Mars fantasies, I thought.
It wasn't only that. I'd been starting
to think of Amazing as a quiet little oasis from the world for Min
and me, a place out of time. But that was silly too. It's not like
other people didn't have a right to be here.
Min and I kept walking forward, until
we all met at the end of the road.
He was older, in his sixties, but
displayed Vashon Island's usual mix of contradictions: he was big
and burly, but somehow soft and sensitive too. His face was craggy
— like he'd spent a lot of his life outside doing something manly,
maybe working on a fishing boat — but he had hoop earrings in both
ears and a hipster-y man bun. He was wearing flannel and denim with
thick boots, all weathered, but a beaded yin/yang symbol hung down
from the zipper of his jacket.
"Howdy!" he said,
friendly-goofy.
"Hello," Min said.
Then none of us said anything. I
wanted to ask what he was doing here, but that felt a little
territorial.
"We're staying at the Amazing Inn," I
explained. "I'm getting married. I'm Russel, and this is
Min."
"Well, congratulations to you both!"
the man said.
"No," I said, "I'm not
getting married to her." But I didn't tell him who I was getting married to,
that it was a man named Kevin. Even after all these years, it felt
weird to come out to people I didn't know, especially old people
like this guy.
He nodded like what I'd said made
sense. "I'm Walker," he said, giving one of those names where
you're not sure if it's the first name or the last.
"You live here on the island?" Min
asked.
"Sure do. Right over there." He made a
gesture, but I couldn't see any houses through the
trees.
"Christie — the woman we're renting
from — told us all about this place," I said. I nodded to the
ruins. "The town of Amazing? It's a pretty interesting
story."
Walker took it all in, almost inhaling
it. "Isn't it?"
That's when it occurred to me: maybe
my little Veronica Mars investigation didn't have to end after all.
Amateur detectives interviewed people, didn't they? And who knows?
Maybe the people on the island would know secrets that
off-islanders didn't.
"What do you think happened?" I
asked.
"What?" he said.
"To the people of Amazing."
He laughed. "Well, that's the big
question, isn't it?"
Min and I were quiet, listening. It
felt like she was as interested as I was.
Walker eyed us. The fact that we
seemed so genuinely interested was somehow making him take the
mystery of Amazing more seriously too.
"Mass suicide," he said at last. "At
least that's what I always heard."
Mass suicide? I thought. This wasn't a very cheery thought,
especially on my wedding weekend. On the other hand, it made more
sense than an alien abduction. And I had said I wanted to know the
truth.
Min nodded. "That's what the articles
all said."
I felt stupid. Min had mentioned that
album of articles back at the house, but I hadn't even bothered to
look at them. Some amateur sleuth I was.
"But Christie said people disappeared
without a trace," I said. "So what about the bodies?"
He nodded toward the rocky promontory
to the left of the cove, the one that looked out over the water.
"They jumped. The water took them away."
Min and I stared at that outcropping
of land, breathless. The sky was even darker now, but I made out a
vague trail up the hill. It was sort of impossible not to visualize
a line of people standing there, winding their way up to the top of
the rock, and then, one by one, jumping out into the water. I
imagined an old man with a cane and fur hat, and a woman with
fly-away hair and an apron still covered with flour from the
kitchen. A strapping young father stopped to clean his spectacles
on his shirt, and another woman held the hands of two small twin
boys (somehow the fact that it was twins made it especially
tragic). Behind them, down the hill, the line
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