Free The Dead End by Mimi McCoy

stick headed toward a tangle of roots.
    As she nudged it free, Erik’s stick got caught on a rock. He threw pebbles at it to knock it loose.
    “Ha-ha!” Casey shouted. “I’m winning!”
    “The race isn’t over yet!” Erik warned as his boat sped after hers.
    In the end, Erik won by a small margin, but Casey was laughing too much to care. “So is this what people do for fun in Stillness?” she asked him.
    Erik shrugged. “Not everyone. I guess it probably seems boring to you. What do you do for fun … wherever it is you’re from?”
    “New York,” Casey replied. “I hang out with my friends. My best friend, Jillian, mostly. We goshopping and listen to music, that kind of stuff. We had all these great plans for this summer, before I found out I was coming here.” Casey wasn’t sure why she was telling Erik this, but it felt good to talk to someone.
    “What kind of plans?” he asked.
    “Like going to Six Flags and to the beach.” Casey decided to leave out the part about finding boyfriends. “Anyway, Jillian’s been doing all that stuff without me. So at least one of us is having a good summer.” She sighed.
    “Beach,” Erik said with a dismissive wave. “Who needs the beach when you can have your own private island?”
    “What do you mean?” Casey asked.
    He smiled. “Follow me.”
    Erik led the way around a little bend in the stream. “There,” he said, pointing.
    A large, mossy boulder jutted up like an island in the middle of the stream. Part of its top had broken away, forming a sort of bench. It looked like a perfect place to sit. “See? My own private island,” said Erik.
    “Cool! But how do you get out there?” Caseyasked. The stream was at least two feet deep and flowing fast.
    Erik went to the water’s edge and stepped out onto a dry rock poking up from the surface. With light hops, he skipped from rock to rock in the stream, until he had reached the boulder. He looked back at Casey. “Come on.”
    Casey hesitantly stepped onto the first rock. Holding her arms out for balance, she took another small step forward.
    “Now there,” said Erik, pointing to a bit of dry rock peeking up from the water.
    Casey reached for it. It wobbled beneath her foot, and she gasped.
    “It’s okay,” said Erik. “Just go fast.”
    The next rock was wide, but it was far away and it looked slippery. Casey glanced down at the water rushing around her feet. “I can’t do it.”
    “Yes you can,” said Erik. “Two more steps, and you’re there.”
    Casey tried to step forward, but her legs seemed to be frozen. She hovered there for a long moment. “I’m scared,” she said finally.
    Erik leaned forward and held out his hand. It was just out of Casey’s reach. “Come on,” he said. “What’s the worst thing that can happen?”
    Casey thought about that. “I’ll get wet.”
    “Exactly,” he said.
    Casey took a deep breath. Mustering all her courage, she leaped onto the slippery rock. Her foot started to slide. But a second later, Erik’s hand was grasping hers and he was pulling her onto the island.
    “Not too bad for a city girl,” he said.
    Casey made a face.
    They settled onto the mossy bench, leaning their backs against the cool stone. Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the trees overhead, dappling their legs.
    For a while they just sat listening to the water. Casey was surprised at how nice it felt. Boys usually made her nervous.
    Eventually, Erik turned to her and asked, “What happened to your hand?”
    Casey looked down at the bandage. Instead of answering, she said, “What do you know about our house?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “There’s something weird about it, isn’t there?”
    Erik didn’t answer at first. He picked up a twig and began to peel off the bark. He looked like he was considering what to say. “Some folks think that place is haunted,” he told her finally.
    A shiver went down Casey’s spine. She’d had the exact same thought, but it was