The Secret Lives of Fish - a sequel to The Thirteenth Year

Ch 20 - Conditions

Jess had wanted to go home first. He knew his dad must be worried sick and he missed him. But it wouldn't take very long for someone to realize he was gone from Sea Haven. Plus, the longer he was gone, the more time they had to experiment on Cody. So, while he raced down the road, his thumb thrust out like a hitchhiker, he made the hard choice. He would go the Griffin's first. From there they could call his dad and they could convene at the lighthouse. Jess figured that would be the second place they would look, so at least that would buy him time.

He had been running for roughly five minutes when someone finally pulled over to help him. His heart hammering, Jess was afraid at first it was some from Sea Haven. Instead, the white-haired and worried-faced lady showed only concern for him. Grateful beyond belief, Jess climbed into her front seat.

"Oh, dear. You look like you're in trouble!" The old lady patted his shoulder and then fished for her purse. "Are you alright? Did you get lost?"

"I'm..." Jess began then paused. What could he tell her? That he had been kidnapped? No, she'd take him to the police station first and he didn't have time for that. "My, I, crashed....my bike."

The lie sounded obvious. He'd never been good at lying.

"Poor thing. Let's get you home then," she said. Finally done rummaging, she pulled a stick of gum from her purse and handed it to him.

Giving her an awkward smile, Jess thanked her for the gum and chewed on it while they drove into town. It took only twenty minutes for him to realize the horrible truth. Sea Haven sat right outside the city limits of Mahone Bay. They had been this close the whole time. That meant his mom had been nearby his whole life and yet had never come home. He had to choke back the tears as a new feeling of abandonment weighed on his heart. It would have been better, he thought, if she had died at sea.

"Are you alright?" The lady was glancing over at him every few seconds, her back hunched as she leaned over her steering wheel.

"F...fine," stammered Jess. "I live on the Island. If you can drop me off at the ferry, I'll be able to make it home from there."

"Of course. I love the island, you know. So quaint and peaceful. And isn't that old lighthouse just beautiful?"

Jess half listened while he watched houses go by. It was all familiar but now so foreign. He really hadn't been gone that long, but in those few short days his whole life had changed. Knowing how close Sea Haven had always been, he'd never be able to look at his town the same way.

The ride was quick and wonderfully uneventful. The old lady patted his knee and reminded him to get a good night's rest as he climbed out of her car. He stood at the entrance to the pier as he watched her small, red car drive away. Now the hard part. Quickly ducking into a nearby public beach bathroom, Jess locked the stall and pulled his feet off the floor. There were too many people around. Also, he needed to be out of sight for a while to make sure he hadn't been followed. He would sit there in that stall all day until he felt it was safe to leave.

The sun was nearing the horizon, getting ready to set on what had been a gorgeous day, when Jess emerged from the bathroom. He guessed it was almost dinner time by how much his stomach growled, and by how few people still meandered around. Now he felt he would have the best chance of making it to the Griffin's without anyone noticing him.

He had one more problem though – Jess wasn't going to be able to take the ferry. Pete would undoubtedly be on the lookout for the missing boys. No, Jess needed to get to the island without anyone noticing him. Dropping his head and hunching his shoulders, Jess made himself as unnoticeable as possible while he sped walked to a lone dock far down from where Pete docked the ferry. He had spent years pretending to be invisible at school and the old habit came easy.