Page 22

Seventeen

Benny

Present Day

“Where is he?” Zara barked, pacing the dock the next morning, sounding more anxious than Benny did. “We said ten a.m., didn’t we? If I can get Grams to let me out of helping her at the museum this morning, the least he can do is be on time.”

“I’ll text him again,” Benny said. She did and saw bubbles pop up as if Ryan was typing back; then they disappeared. Weird. “We’ll give him another ten minutes; then we try to get a ride to the lighthouse without him while this weather holds.”

She looked up at the sky, which was an inky gray, big puffy clouds rolling across the sky as if they were running away. Please don’t rain. Please don’t rain. I’ve got two days to finish the game and find the island. I’m running out of time. While the remnants of a tropical storm had passed, the air was still thick and humid, and the meteorologist said more rain was in the forecast along with high wind. At the moment, it was just a breeze, and the water was only a little choppy. Benny had a strong stomach. She could survive a bumpy ten-minute boat ride to get the lighthouse. Unfortunately not everyone was in agreement on boating in this weather. Most of the boats on the dock were not going out. Even the card-playing older guys from the other day weren’t sitting on their boats in this weather.

“We can’t wait. It could rain any minute,” Zara decided, pulling up her hood as it started to mist. “I don’t see anyone else out here today. We are going to need to suck it up and ask Ansel. He’s probably the only one on his boat on a day like this. I swear, I think the guy lives on the water.”

“Hopefully money talks and he’ll take us,” Benny said. If there was one thing she’d learned over the years, it was that money was a good motivator.

Benny and Zara headed to the end of the dock, keeping their heads down as the wind picked up. Benny snuck a glance at the aging fishing boat. She could see a figure in a black hoodie sitting at a table on the deck.

They were still several feet from the boat when they heard him yell down. “Whatever you’re selling, I’m not interested,” Ansel said, not looking up. “Magazines, those foul candy bars, a ticket to win a trip to Disney World, you can keep it all.”

Up close, Benny sized him up. He looked a few years older than her mom. He seemed both world-weary and young at the same time. If she wasn’t mistaken, the same orange tabby cat from the other day was sitting on his lap, watching Benny with interest. But what really caught her eye was what was on the table in front of him. Scrabble.

“We aren’t selling anything,” Zara said. “We were hoping for a ride to the lighthouse.”

“We can pay,” Benny added.

“Lots!” Zara added, shrugging at Benny. “Right?”

“I’m not a taxi, kid, and either way, the lighthouse is closed during the week. And I’m not going anywhere in this weather. Especially to the lighthouse.”

Benny couldn’t place his accent—was it American? Or British? It seemed a mix. “You don’t have to stop the boat,” Benny yelled up to him. “You can toss us over, and we can swim.” She thought she saw a hint of a smile make a brief appearance. “Or you can just pull up, and we’ll jump off?”

“As tempting as it would be to toss two annoying kids overboard, I’m in the middle of a game.” He waved them off. “Now go away.”

Benny stood on her tippy-toes and glanced at the letters on his board. “If you use the A and the F on your board, you can add a P and a J and make flapjack . It’s worth twenty-six points. And you could make at least fifty other words with that one word, you know.”

At this, Ansel looked at her. His eyes were bright blue. “Not bad. Thanks, kid.”

“No problem.” Benny felt a flash of something familiar in his eyes, like a memory. She had the feeling like she’d seen his face before. She shook her head. Evelyn’s story was making her second-guess her own. Benny held up several twenties. “A hundred dollars for a ride to the lighthouse?”

“Two hundred!” Zara seconded. “Three!”

Benny nudged her. “Hey. Stop giving away my money.”

“Sorry.” Zara shrugged. “I felt like an auctioneer for a moment.”

“Kid, I don’t care what you offer.” He glanced over his shoulder at the choppy water. “I’m sticking close to land today.”

“Please.” Benny wasn’t beyond begging. “You don’t understand. We have to get to that lighthouse today.”

He put down a Scrabble tile and looked at her. “Listen, kid, I’m going to teach you a valuable lesson that is good to learn early in life: the journey is more important than the final destination.”

Benny froze. She’d heard that advice before. Those exact words were written in Evelyn’s journal. “In this case though, it’s all about the journey. To the lighthouse,” she tried.

He sighed. “Go. I have a game to finish.” He scratched the stubble on his chin and stared at the board again, clearly done with this conversation.

Coincidence or not? She tried not to overthink it and focus on the problem at hand. It was no fun playing Scrabble alone. She’d done it. No wonder Ansel looked miserable. The cat jumped off his lap, sat on the edge of the boat, and stared at Benny again with its one good eye.

“Winks!” Ansel growled. “Get back here.”

Winks. Just like Aggy’s cat, who had one eye? Benny asked herself. But then she shook the thought away. Winks wasn’t a completely unusual name for a one-eyed cat. She was grasping at straws again.

“Come on. We’ll find someone else,” Zara said. She started to walk away, annoyed.

Benny wasn’t ready to give up. “What if I could make it five hundred dollars?” she tried. She noticed him hesitate. “Not a bad deal for an hour’s work.”

He chuckled to himself. “Don’t take no for an answer, do you, kid?”

“Never,” Benny said fiercely.

He looked at her then, his gaze was steady, and Benny noticed a diamond stud in his left ear. Benny could almost see his brain working. “Do I know you?” he asked curiously.

“BENNY!” Zara was waving to her from the other end of the dock. She was standing with Ryan and Harris. “We’ve got a ride!”

“You snooze; you lose,” Benny told Ansel and put the five twenties she actually did have on her back in her pocket before turning to walk away.

“Wait! Your name is Benny?” he yelled after her.

“It’s short for my last name—Benedict. Everly Benedict,” she said, walking backwards for a moment, before she took off toward Zara in a run. “Bye, Captain.”

She could hear him calling her name as she took off down the dock, but she didn’t look back. She had places to be. They had a ride, and the lighthouse couldn’t wait.