Free Lake Justice by Devon Ellington Page B

team--he's new this year, too. Two of his players, Philip and George, over in his van, are in the class. They don't say much in class, but I guess they like it enough to talk about it during practice. Lake Justice has a fascinating history, so we thought it might be fun to combine some fitness and some humanities over a weekend."
    "What kind of history?" I felt a prickle, like I do before I'm about to plunge into something that perhaps needs further thought.
    "Ah, all will be revealed," he teased. "Don't want to give anything away before it's time. I'm surprised you don't know about it--I thought you lived with Jamie's family."
    I wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. "I'm here for a couple of months. Ever hear of Taggett Island? It's off the coast of Maine. Small island, small year-round population, bigger in summer. Anyway, I bought one of those crazy old Victorian gothic houses, like an Addams Family house. It's undergoing restoration.
    "Caroline needed help moving here to Vermont after her divorce, getting the kids settled, finding her feet in her new job. It's not like the bonehead ex ever keeps his word. I'm staying with them through Thanksgiving. My house should be livable by then, and I'll go back to Maine. I'm much more of a rocky, sea-swept person than an inland one. I need to be close to the ocean."
    "Lake Justice is pretty big. I think you'll like that." He slowed down, as a figure appeared on the side of the road. "Is that a young woman hitchhiking?" He frowned as the van ahead of us sped up, passing her. She jumped back to avoid being spattered with slush.
    "Hitchhiking?" Bertram looked up. "I thought that went out in, like, the seventies."
    "There are always people who will try it." I looked at the thin young woman, with long, dark hair caught up in a braid and wearing an oversized rucksack. "She must be miserable in this weather."
    "Go ahead and pick her up," urged Felicia.
    "What if she's, like crazy or something?" Bert asked.
    "It's okay. I've got a knife."
    Kyle's eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror to look at her. "You brought a weapon on a school trip?"
    "It's camping. Shouldn't I have a Swiss army knife?" she flashed back. "Shouldn't I be prepared for anything? "
    "We brought plenty of equipment--"
    "She's right," I cut Kyle off. "We're not in the school building. We're going into the wilderness."
    "Lake Justice is hardly the wilderness."
    "It doesn't have plumbing or a motel. It's wilderness. We're camping. "
    "The kids aren't supposed to be armed."
    "If you were worried a knife fight would break out, you shouldn't have suggested camping." I wasn't about to give an inch. "Besides, I've got a knife, too. Strapped to my ankle." I wasn't about to tell him about the other knives I had stashed in my luggage.
    "Got a permit for that?"
    The question threw me for a loop, but I quickly recovered. "Honey, I've got carry permits for things you couldn't even imagine."
    "And why would that be?" Something about his cool, flat delivery struck me as odd for a teacher.
    "Because I have a long and complicated history."
    "I see." He pulled up a little ahead of the young woman.
    I rolled down my window. "Can we give you a ride? At least as far as the entrance to Lake Justice?"
    "That's perfect." She hurried forward as Felicia slid open the van door. "I'm meeting someone there."
    Felicia leaned down to accept the rucksack, and the young woman stepped into the van. She looked like she was in her early twenties, but there was something worn and aged about her. Jamie and Louisa shifted farther into the van to make room for her on the seat. She slid the door shut and settled back.
    "Thanks," she said. "It's getting nasty out there."
    "Dontcha know it's, like, totally dangerous to hitchhike?" Bertram leaned forward. "Like, you could die or something."
    "Watch out for him 'cause he might puke on you," said Jamie.
    Gee, did he learn that dry, sarcastic tone from me?
    "Will not! I'm 'kay now 'cause of that stuff Ms. Rowan