“Maybe . . . maybe we can land on the beach and ask for temporary shelter if it starts to storm,” I said.

Bess sighed.

“You’re both right,” she agreed. “Turning back now in this wind would be more dangerous than going ashore here.”

Bess and I paddled hard. The gusts picked up while George gripped the sides of the canoe. The wind started whipping at us from every direction, but there was nothing else to do but press on. If we could make it to the beach, we’d be safe from the storm.

The shadowy figure watched us from the shore. He or she didn’t wave or yell out to us. It just watched us struggle. I put my head down and used all my strength as I pulled on the paddle. The waves were getting bigger, and every time one hit us, we rocked unsteadily from side to side.

“Whoa!” Bess cried out.

“Ugh,” George moaned. “This rocking motion is making me feel ill.”

“Try to keep the canoe cutting through the water perpendicular to the waves!” I called to Bess over the wind. “That way we won’t tip over.”

“Okay!” Bess called back as she and I both tried hard to turn the canoe so the bow of the boat was slicing through the waves at a right angle. Suddenly the wind changed, and a swell of water hit us hard from the left, causing us to tip toward the right.

“Yikes!” Bess screamed. At that moment George pointed to a floating dock that seemingly just appeared.

“Nancy! Bess!” she shouted. “Watch out!”

In trying not to hit the dock, Bess and I managed to turn the canoe so that we were once again parallel to the waves. A second later we were hit from the left with another giant swell. Before I even realized what was happening, the boat lurched wildly to the right, throwing us into the violent waters.

“Help!” I yelled out.

But my screams were lost in the wind.

CHAPTER FOUR

No Trespassing

I GASPED WHEN I HIT the lake, sucking down a mouthful of frigid water. Luckily, the life vest kept me afloat as I coughed and spluttered until I had spit most of it out. George and Bess bobbed next to me.

“Are you both okay?” George yelled, wiping a handful of weeds off her face.

“I’m fine,” I yelled back as I grabbed hold of the side of the canoe. “Just drank about half the lake, but other than that, I’m okay.”

“Ugh!” Bess screamed. She combed a muddy twig out of her hair with her fingers, and she was covered in lake gunk. She swam around to the other side of the canoe and grabbed hold as well.

I glanced toward the beach to wave for help, but the person who was there before had disappeared. That was strange. Whoever it was had just been there a moment ago. Had the person really watched us capsize and then vanished without offering to help? I was certain since we had also spotted the bear that this was Lacey O’Brien’s house.

“Looks like we’re on our own,” I told my friends. I studied the canoe I was gripping. After we capsized, the canoe had flipped right side up again, only it was now full of water. Then I felt raindrops. So much for getting an accurate weather forecast before we’d set out.

“Hey! Where did that person go?” George asked, incredulous. “What if we were in real trouble out here?”

“Maybe they’re going to get help?” Bess said.

George shook her head. “Doubt it,” she replied. “Nancy’s right—we’re going to take care of this. Do either of you have any idea how to empty a swamped canoe?”

I could barely hear her above the wind, and we kept screaming back and forth to one another.

“Well, I did see it in a movie once,” I admitted. “First we’ll have to dump out most of the water. I guess we’ll have to turn it over to do that.”

George shook her head. “We’re only about thirty yards from shore,” she said. “Let’s swim in and tow the canoe behind us. We’ll wait out the storm on the beach.”

Amazingly, we made our way to shore, kicking hard as we towed the boat through the thickening sheets of rain. Luckily, we didn’t see any lightning or hear any thunder as we slogged through the lake. It was slow going, but we finally got close enough to the shore so we could stand and dump the water out before we pulled the boat the rest of the way in.

We collapsed on the ground, soaking wet and exhausted. Dragging that canoe was one of the most physically challenging things we had ever done together. Once we were somewhat rested, I stood up, looked around, and saw that the property was covered in NO TRESPASSING signs.

“Not exactly rolling out the welcome mat, right?” Bess commented. “I guess I understand why that person on the beach disappeared.”

“Well, I’m not going to let those signs stop me,” I replied. “If that was Lacey—or someone else—I want to meet whoever wouldn’t help three people stranded on a lake in the middle of a storm.”

“And we’ve got to make it back to our cabin,” Bess said, which was something I hadn’t actually considered.

The rain had let up somewhat, so George and Bess parked themselves under a tree, while I climbed the wooden steps that led from the shore to the cabin.

I pounded on the back door, waited a good two minutes, and then pounded again. “Hello? Ms. O’Brien?” But nobody came to the door.

When I backed away from the cabin, though, I caught a flutter of curtains at the window beside the back door.

“Hello?” I called out loudly. “Is someone there? We’re just looking for a place to dry off for a few minutes until the storm passes. Hello?”

Still nothing. I waited another minute, but the door remained firmly closed. The curtains didn’t move again.

I returned to the beach and to George and Bess. The canoe was emptied, leaning on its side. Just as quickly as the storm had formed, it had let up.

“I thought I saw the curtains flutter when I knocked on the door, but I could have been mistaken,” I told them, shaking my head.

“What now?” Bess asked.

“We get back in the canoe and then head back to our cabin,” I replied with a shrug. “And we try to figure out why Lacey O’Brien or whoever that was on the beach earlier refused to help us. If that was her, no wonder she has a terrible reputation in town.”

George bit her lip thoughtfully. “It was pretty rude,” she agreed. “Maybe the fire was set to sabotage her book signing—she may have enemies right here in Avondale.”

At that moment, a small motorboat with two men aboard headed toward the shore. I could see the words AVONDALE POLICE stenciled on the hull.

“You folks okay?” one of the men shouted. “We received a call that a canoe had capsized in the storm. And that trespassers were on this property.”

“We’re fine,” Bess called back. “Just cold, wet, and exhausted.”

The boat pulled up to a small dock, and the second officer climbed out. He was much younger than the first and had dark brown hair and eyes. More importantly, he was carrying an armload of thick, heavy blankets.

He walked across the beach and handed one to each of us.

“Thanks!” Bess said, a smile crossing her face. “I haven’t been so happy to see a blanket in a long time.”

He smiled back at her, blushing slightly and revealing two enormous dimples. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds for a second. Bess lowered her eyes and her cheeks reddened. It was all a little ridiculous, considering what had just happened to us.

George rolled her eyes.

The other officer started talking. “Ladies, I’m Sheriff Garrison. I’m relieved you are all okay, but you must have known how dangerous it was for you to be on the lake with a storm of this magnitude. And trespassing is a serious offense in Avondale. What were you doing here, anyway?”

“The storm came up suddenly and we headed for the nearest shore. Then we tried to get help from the owner of the cabin. We didn’t mean to trespass.”