Ghost Light on Graveyard Shoal by Elizabeth McDavid Jones

Author:Elizabeth McDavid Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497646582
Publisher: Open Road Media

CHAPTER 10

SHOWDOWN IN THE FISH SHACK

Rhoda tried to slam her mind shut against the idea. How could it be true? Mr. Kimball was a member of the U.S. Lifesaving Service; he risked his life during every rescue, and no one on the crew, according to Daddy, was braver or more daring than he was. The men in the store had even called him a hero.

Suddenly Rhoda was struck with a terrible thought: Was Mr. Kimball’s desperate attempt to save that mother and baby an act of conscience because he was responsible for wrecking the ship?

Without meaning to, Rhoda groaned in anguish, then froze as the shack’s door was yanked open and light spilled out onto the sand not five feet from where she stood. There was no place to hide, except in the folds of darkness. Rhoda shrank back against the dune, fearing even to breathe.

“Whatsa matter?” came Jake’s voice from inside the shack.

“Thought I heard something out here,” Mr. Kimball answered. Every muscle in Rhoda’s body ached with the need to remain perfectly still. If she didn’t move, maybe Mr. Kimball wouldn’t notice her. She didn’t think he could see her from the doorway, but if he stepped out and looked around …

After an endless moment, the door rattled shut. “Reckon it was the wind,” she heard Mr. Kimball say.

Rhoda didn’t wait to hear more. Like a wild animal freed from a trap, she bolted, up and over the dune and down the beach, running across the hard-packed sand, until the fish shack was far behind her. Finally she stopped, a stitch splitting her side, and tried to catch her breath. She shivered from the wind on her sweaty skin.

She hadn’t realized how scared she’d been. And for what reason? It wasn’t as if she had been in any danger. It had, after all, only been Mr. Kimball, her best friend’s father, coming out of the shack, not some ax murderer. Why had she been so scared?

Because you can’t trust him anymore, said a voice inside her head. He’s been doing something wrong—something he doesn’t want anyone to know about—and taking money from Jake Piggott to do it.

“That doesn’t mean he’s a wrecker!” Rhoda shouted to the sky. She didn’t want to believe such a thing of Mr. Kimball. She’d rather believe in the Mangled Mariner! She picked up a piece of driftwood and flung it out into the waves. How she wished she had never seen those lights on the cape! But she had, and she couldn’t ignore the evidence that suggested Mr. Kimball and Jake Piggott might have been responsible for them. To do so would make her accountable if the wrecker struck again—and more people died.

Yet Rhoda’s heart twisted when she thought of Pearl. Pearl would be devastated by Rhoda’s suspicions. She might even have a relapse, or worse.

Then Pearl mustn’t find out, Rhoda told herself. What she had to do, Rhoda determined, was find out for sure what Mr. Kimball and Jake Piggott were up to.

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