We leave Sarah’s and get back on the road to Guilford Falls in Mercy’s old car. Before we go, I promise Sarah I’ll let her know if we find out anything else. Her mom gives us a container full of homemade blueberry muffins.
I sit in the back seat, the wind from Mercy’s open window whipping my hair. I think about what Sarah told us.
“What are you thinking?” Owen asks from the passenger seat, one cheek stuffed with muffin.
“I think I want to see this pond scum for myself.”
“Why?” asks Mercy. “What do you think it has to do with anything?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Sarah said it was north of camp. The Nebula is north, and so is the Black Hole. Maybe Mike went back to check it out by himself. Maybe he got lost somehow or maybe…I don’t know. Maybe the water level was too high, and he lost control. Maybe someone scared him. I don’t know! But that’s the point, isn’t it? We don’t know what happened. All we can do is look for clues. Maybe this is one.”
Owen and Mercy exchange glances but don’t say anything. I know they think I’m crazy. But I don’t hear them coming up with any better ideas.
“And what if,” Mercy says, slowly, carefully, “we don’t find any answers with this pond-scum business?”
Then we’re at a dead end.
I’m quiet, not wanting to say what I’m thinking. But I know that they are thinking it too.
We drive in silence, and I stare out the window, watching the pine and birch whip by.
WHAP!
Owen and I nearly fall over as Mercy swerves the car. There’s a growl under the wheels as we skid on the gravel. Mercy brings us to a stop at the side of the road.
“What was that?” Owen gasps.
“A rock,” says Mercy. “Oh man, my windshield.”
There’s a crack spidering out from the middle of the windshield. It’s a big crack, obscuring some of the view.
“I’m going to have to get a new windshield!”
“How much will that cost?”
“I don’t know, Owen!” she snaps. “Probably a lot!” She takes out her phone and starts to type.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Trying to figure out where to go to get my windshield fixed.”
Owen is way ahead of her. “There’s a place just outside downtown Guilford Falls. Higgins Autobody. The map says it’s about six miles.”
The body shop looks run-down. The metal fence is rusted and falling down in places, and junk parts are strewn everywhere around the property. But the garage itself looks busy. Several men are working on various cars. Owen and I wait against the wall, watching customers come and go. Most of them look annoyed.
A shiny silver pickup comes tearing into the lot, the roar from its muffler drowning out all the sounds of the shop. It drives up to the office door, and for a second I think it’s going to punch straight through the wall. But the driver slams on the brakes at the last second. I realize I’ve seen the truck before. At the vigil.
A big man steps out wearing a tan leather jacket—Mr. Evans’s friend. He looks furious. He slams the door of the truck. The license plate says Higgins. I guess this is his shop. He whips open the door to the office. “Eddie!” he booms.
Mercy comes back to the car. She has been talking to one of the mechanics. “He says it’ll take a few hours,” she tells us.
“What are we supposed to do for a few hours?” Owen asks.
Mercy shrugs. “It’s about a fifteen-minute walk into town. Maybe we could get ice cream or something at Smokin’ Elliot’s?”
“Great idea!” says Owen.
But I am not interested. I don’t feel like sitting around eating ice cream while Mike is still missing.
“You guys go ahead,” I tell them. “I’m going to try to check out the pond scum.”
“What?” says Mercy. “Sarah said it was close to camp.”
“Yeah?”
“Nate,” says Owen, “that’s, like, a half-hour drive. It’ll take you hours to walk there.”
I shrug. “It’ll take hours for the car to be ready.”
“You don’t even know exactly where it is.”
“That’s why I need to start looking.” I am not changing my mind.
Nate and Mercy exchange glances again.
“We’ll come with you,” says Mercy.
I shake my head. “You have to stick around for the car. Thanks, but I’ll be fine, guys. I have my phone.”
“Fine,” Mercy says finally. “Text us when you get there. Let us know exactly where you are, and we can pick you up.”
“Cool,” I agree. “Text you later.”
With that, I make my way toward the main road to camp. After a few minutes I glance back and see that Mercy and Owen have started making their way into town. Great! Now I’m free to follow the Starling. I double back, toward the riverbank. I know Mercy and Owen wouldn’t like this plan, me walking alone in the woods, but it will be faster. Following the river toward camp will take me half the amount of time that taking the road would. And besides, Mike saw the pools of pond scum from the Starling, not the road. It will be easier for me to find them this way.
I hope.