Summer Island - A Prince in Peril

24 - The Predicament

"Go ahead and try screaming,"Jake taunted them. "Everyone's back at the bazaar and they're just about to start the fireworks." As if to punctuate his words there was a sharp blast followed seconds later by a shower of red and blue lights blazing above them. Greta looked at Zoë, trying to gauge her fear. Zoë stared blankly at Jake, her face implacable.

"I'm not sure if you have the same rules where you come from..." Jake started to walk toward them but his eyes were focused solely on Zoë. "...but around here, it's illegal to break into a building. Did you not know that?"

Zoë said nothing.

"I asked you a question!" he screamed at her.

Greta jumped. Zoë still said nothing. Someone who didn't know her might have thought she was scared senseless or frozen with fear. Greta couldn't imagine it was either. She wasn't sure what was going on in Zoë's mind but she knew it must be something. Zoë was smart and brave-and gutsy. Greta was confident this girl she'd come to idolize was taking this all in, strategically assessing their situation and evaluating their options. Greta decided she was safe in Zoë's hands.

"Get some rope," Jake said under his breath.

"Rope?" one of his friends replied-the stocky one with red hair.

"Yeah, stupid. Rope. We don't want our criminals to get away do we?" The boys found some rope and tossed it to Jake.

"Hey, I'm not sure this-" the red-haired boy started.

"Shut up, Ben," Jake bit back.

It all happened so quickly. Greta didn't know what to do. She kept waiting for Zoë to yell at them or try to intimidate them with her fake karate. Zoë did neither, just stared blankly. She didn't even struggle when Jake roughly pulled her arms and tied them behind her.

He forced both girls back into the store before gently lowering Zoë to a sitting position. The care he showed was discordant and gave Greta goose bumps along her arms. It reminded her of a book she had once read, in which this character, Lenny, doesn't know his own strength. At the end of the story he tries to be gentle with a puppy but ends up killing it instead. Greta looked at the way Jake was holding Zoë as he knelt down next to her. Definitely a Lenny.

Before he got up, Jake moved closer to Zoë and whispered something in her ear. Greta shuddered to think of what it might be. Zoë gave no indication she was listening at all.

"You guys go get Officer Maddox."

"Listen, Sewall, is this really necessary? I mean, they just-"

"What did I tell you?" Jake shouted at his friend, a few droplets of spittle flying out of his mouth.

"Sewall?" Greta asked softly. "Is that your surname?"

"What?" Jake looked at her incredulously, as if shocked both that she could speak and that she'd dare speak to him.

"I was wondering if you might be related to Captain Ignatius Sewall."

Jake's entire demeanor shifted. "Yeah," he said calmly. "He was my dad's great grandfather."

"And one of the town founders," boasted one of the two boys who hadn't yet spoken. He had the nasal, ingratiating voice Greta expected from a sycophant.

"Shut up, Evan," Jake ordered. The boy obeyed instantly. "What, you've been studying our local history, huh?" he asked Greta snidely.

She didn't know what to say. She kept waiting for Zoë to do something but was afraid it might be up to her. Greta began to worry that getting in trouble for breaking into the Lobster Co-op was not the worst thing that could happen to them tonight.