“The British international school?” Pepper said. “That’s where Jesus and Pita went!”

“They went to my school?”

Pepper nodded. “Their dad was rich like yours. But that was a long time ago.”

“How long?”

“More than ten years.”

“Wow, I didn’t know they were so old.”

“Don’t tell Pita that,” I said.

“She’s like as old as my mom—”

Nitro called out abruptly, cutting Rosa off.

Twenty feet ahead was the canoe.

3

The canoe was pulled up onto the bank so it wouldn’t float away. Scuffs and dents marred the aluminum hull. Two wooden paddles lay within it, propped against the yoke.

“This is the one you came in?” I asked Rosa, using my hand to shield my eyes against the rain, which had become a steady drizzle. The once mirror-smooth canal was now a simmering boil. Waves crashed against the bank, the penumbra of their spray dissolving into fine droplets.

She nodded. “That means the campground isn’t far. It’s just that way, past a big pond.” She pointed to the trees.

I hesitated. “Maybe it would be better if you stayed here—say, with Pepper—while Nitro and I checked it out. What do you think?”

“Why?”

I didn’t want to splinter the group further, but I hadn’t been thinking clearly before when I’d suggested Rosa lead us to the campground. Exposing her to whatever might have happened to her brother had not been one of my better ideas. “Pepper’s a big scaredy cat,” I told her by way of explanation. “He doesn’t want to go to the campground. He needs someone to look after him.”

Rosa studied Pepper. “He doesn’t look like a scaredy cat. He looks like the Purple People Eater.”

“I should tell you, young miss,” Pepper said, indicating his clothing, “this is a very fashionable ensemble.”

“Well, I guess I can look after him.”

I said to Pepper, “You don’t mind staying back?”

“As long as you two don’t dawdle.”

“You should find some shelter.”

He pointed to a nearby magnolia, the branches of which seemed to be bending beneath the weight of its wet blooms and foliage. “We’ll wait under that.”

“Okay,” I said. “And remember, we’ll be within hearing distance. So if you see anybody, yell.”

Pepper tried a smile. “That’s reassuring, Jack. Thanks.”

4