Dark Waters Read Online Free PDF Page B

truth,’ I said. ‘There were more cousins – boys – both older and younger than those three.’
    â€˜Yeah, I got a shitpot of names here, mostly male.’
    â€˜One girl in the bunch – Vivica. She was as big as the boys and a little bit meaner.’
    â€˜I’m not looking forward to this,’ Emmett said.
    â€˜Look, keep me posted, but if I don’t get back to my cabin pronto I’m in for a world of hurt.’
    â€˜I hear ya,’ Emmett said. ‘But you know I’m gonna be calling?’
    â€˜Without a doubt.’ I hung up and headed toward the cabin.
    When I opened the door, the one small light between the beds was still burning but the rest of the suite was dark. Jean was in the bathroom, and when she heard me come in she opened the door. Her face was clean of makeup – the way I liked it best – and by the taste of her kiss, her teeth were brushed.
    She whispered, ‘I thought I’d wait for you to check on them.’
    We tiptoed into the boys’ part of the suite. Early was snoring like he meant it. Johnny Mac was totally still, almost rigid. Oh, they were both awake all right!
    We went ahead with our nightly rituals, careful not to discuss anything we didn’t want the kids to hear. But then I decided to get creative.
    â€˜So what did you think of that show tonight?’ I asked my wife.
    â€˜The show?’
    â€˜Yeah. Did you believe that was a real vampire?’
    â€˜Well,’ she said, picking it up quickly, ‘I wasn’t quite sure about the vampire, but that thing with two heads was definitely real!’
    â€˜I want to go back tomorrow night after the kids are down and see the mummy,’ I said.
    â€˜Do you believe it really walks?’ she asked.
    â€˜More than I believe there are real-life zombies,’ I said.
    I caught movement out of the corner of my eye in the boys’ area.
    â€˜I’m not so sure,’ Jean said. ‘There is some medical evidence regarding the existence of zombie-like creatures, at least in nature. And if it’s true in nature, why not with humans, too?’
    â€˜Gosh, I didn’t know that!’ I said. ‘Tell me all, but keep it quiet. We don’t want to wake up the boys.’
    â€˜OK,’ Jean whispered, and it wasn’t two seconds before both boys were in the room with us.
    â€˜Mom, really? What part of nature? What do they look like? Have you seen one? Are we talking reptiles, insects, or mammals?’
    â€˜We’re talking you should go to bed when we tell you to, instead of staying up all night talking!’ I said.
    â€˜There are no zombies. Or vampires,’ Jean said.
    â€˜Or mummies, or two-headed things—’ I started, but Jean cut me off.
    â€˜Well, there are two-headed calves, occasionally.’
    I laughed. ‘Honey, you’ve been to too many carnival sideshows.’
    â€˜No, they’re real!’ she insisted.
    I laughed indulgently. That pissed her off. She grabbed her laptop, pulled up Google and downloaded a video of a two-headed calf somewhere where the one-headed people didn’t speak English. So we had to watch the video and discuss the phenomenon. That took us to almost two a.m.
    We finally got the boys down and ourselves in bed. No reading for either of us tonight. Tomorrow would be our first full day aboard ship.
Milt – Day Two
    Having seen the menu for breakfast posted in the main dining room the night before, I knew where I was going, but the boys were having none of that. So I took them down to the buffet line where they got all the crap they wanted to eat, got them seated at a table, gave Johnny Mac his mother’s cell phone and told him to call me when they were ready to leave the buffet area.
    I got lost on my way back to the cabin and ended up on the first deck, where they rented jet skis, water skis and other watercraft fun. They also rented scooter chairs – those