Secrets of the Great Oak

Chapter 32

Stella pulled up to Anna's house in her Beige Slug Bug and honked to alert Anna of her arrival.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! I'll be back later tonight!" Anna called to her parents before rushing out the door.

She heard a harmony of "bye, sweetie" as the door swung shut behind her.

Stella was playing suspenseful background music as Anna slipped into the passenger seat.

"You are such a dork! Shut this off and play some real music." Anna laughed.

"This is to get us into detective-mystery mode! We're going investigating, so I'm creating the ambiance," Stella said as she pulled out of the driveway and began to drive towards Radnor Lake.

"You're ridiculous. You know that?"

"That's why you love me." Stella's shoulders touched her ears in an exaggerated shrug. "So what exactly are we looking for tonight."

Anna thought it over for a minute. "Anything, really." She filled Stells in on the details about the clearing and the journal. "So, we're going to go to this clearing and see what's there. There's definitely something weird about the place."

"It's also weird that everyone remembers that party being at Weaver's house. I lived in Memphis at the time and even I thought that party was a house party, not a woods party."

"That's why we're going to investigate. Too many things just don't add up."

For the rest of the ride to Radnor Lake, Stella pestered Anna for more details about her weekend with Jake and dropped way too many details about her own relationship with Grayson. Anna obliged and told her everything she wanted to know and then listened to all she had to say. It was nice to see her friend so happy and so well taken care of in a relationship. Stella had been through a pretty severe "bad boy" stage previous to this and had been treated poorly by most of those guys.

"So, just follow the signs for the campgrounds and park on the edge of the road. We'll have to walk to the hiking trail."

Stella's headlight illuminated the signs and as she neared the campgrounds, there was a car parked precisely where Anna meant for her to park.

A beat-up old Buick.

"Isn't that--" Stella started, but Anna was already whipping out her phone and dialing Jake's number.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

No answer.

"What's he doing here?" Anna said under her breath.

It took her a moment to realize that Stella was staring at her, looking to her for direction on where to go next. Anna called Jake again and got his voicemail for a second time.

"Maybe he got your text and decided to meet us here?" Stella offered.

"Maybe... But, why wouldn't he tell me or answer his phone now?" Anna could find no satisfactory explanation. "Let's just get to the clearing."

"You got it," Stella said, saluting Anna and getting out of the car.

They walked the trail in silence with a single flashlight to lead them. Apparently, Stella didn't feel the need to grab hers out of the car when they began their trek. Theories were flying through Anna's head, but nothing made sense. Why would Jake be here and not tell her? Why would he come to investigate by himself and tell her that he was with his mom?

"It's just a little bit further and then you'll see the tree with the balloon carving nailed to it on the right." Anna offered, trying to clear her head. She needed to be focused on Maggie right now. On the case. But, Jake kept popping up in her thoughts.