Breeze

chapter 4 fern

Scott's name lit up on my phone. I answered quickly, it was becoming apparent that Tarron was indeed a missing person and no longer assumed to be hiding out.

He had not accessed any of his accounts or been home, he hadn't taken his boat Vivian or been sighted in over a week.

'Scott?' my voice was shaky, I knew being new in town and the last person to see Tarron I was under suspicion. 'Fern, the police called, there isn't any leads at this point but they want to speak to you again tomorrow. They just want to know if you have remembered anything else'. Scott sounded exhausted, I really had began to feel sorry for him and his mother Hannah. I had gotten caught up in such a mess, part of me wished I had never gone on that date. 'Yeah sure' I agreed 'anything to help, but I really don't have anymore information, I wish I did. Are you going out searching again tonight?', 'Yeah I am, going to search the southern caves, I could use some company?' his question caught me by surprise as I had been offering to help with the search efforts all week but was never given a chance. I agreed to meet with Scott in the afternoon and hung up my phone.

It was 10am and the sleepy town of Elsea would only just be opening its doors. I made a bagel with cream cheese and ham and decided to wander down to the boat shed again.

The sun was out and there was an unusual sea fog hanging about, the seaguls danced on the wind and the lobstermen waved as I walked past. I really was going to miss Elsea when my trip was over. The simple town seemed so wholesome and sweet, it was no surprise that no one ever left.

I pulled the scrunchie off my wrist and bundled my hair into a messy bun on top of my head as I walked, little beads of sweat has formed on my neck from the heat and I did not want sweaty hair.

'There's my girl!' Hollard Lance from the top of a stack of boxes. He had his same faded red tshirt and cut off denim shorts on, his brown beard was a bit wild today and his faded tattoos where showing from under his sleeves.

'Hey Lance' I called back 'how about you climb down off there and get my strawberry milkshake happening' I poked my tongue out and he let out a belly laugh that shook the walls of the shed 'you are getting a bit of cheek about ya miss, one strawberry milk coming up', he jumped down and have me a nudge as he passed me on his way to the kitchen. I pulled a stool up to the counter and peered at him as he quickly threw some strawberries and milk into a blender, my tummy grumbled. 'now listen here miss fern' he said sliding the fresh shake towards me and looking around 'you best be careful when it comes to Tarrons family, Tarron isn't the first young man to disappear from Elsea and I am quite sure he won't be the last' I stared at him, hoping for him to elaborate but instead he changed the subject to sea fog and got himself busy cleaning the benches.

Now I really couldn't wait to get back to my computer. Detective Fern had some digging to do.

Scott:

The afternoon sun was beating down as I pulled into Ferns driveway. She was smoking hott and I was happy to have some company on my search but I was really just worried about my brother. Tarron was now listed as a missing person but unfortunately with the town of Elsea being so small, there would be no real progress or searching from law enforcement, I knew this for a fact.

Plus with Tarrons reputation for being... well Tarron, it was going to be even harder to convince people that he really was missing. I had a strange feeling in my gut all week that something was really wrong. Plus my poor mother was beside herself, our family had been through so much loss, the thought of something bad happening to Tarron was unbearable for her and me too.

All I could do was continue to search and hope that we would eventually find Tarron hauled up somewhere so then I could kick his ass for scaring me.

Fern made her way across the porch. She was such a cute little package, her curly hair pulled up into a messy bun and her high top sneakers squeaking as she jogged to the car. I collected myself and reached over to open her door. 'Jump on in' I smiled, she climbed in and we set off south.

Most of the trip was spent in silence as she looked out her window, I decided to attempt a conversation 'Have you been to the southern caves before?' she shook her head 'well its really nice there, we call the area the mermaid pools because at the bottom of some of the cliffs and naturally made pools. Sometimes you can access some of them at low tide, there are caves all around the area too. All carved out by the rough seas. Tarron and I used to come exploring here, even camped a few times'. I remembered our second ever trip to the caves as preteens, it was the dead of summer and we had spent the day swimming in the mermaid pools and finding new caves. We had scaled the edge of a small cliff and camped in a small cave, we made the best bonfire and had some beers we had taken from Lance at the boat shed. We must have gotten pretty wasted off those few beers, we both had dreams of mermaids and music. I looked over at Fern and she smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. I wasn't sure if she was just worried about Tarron or if she just didn't like me... Either way I understood.

It wasn't long until we pulled up into the parking lot at the caves. Fern jumped out and ran ahead excitedly, I grabbed my backpack and followed after her.

The tide was just going out and we followed the shoreline for a few hours, ducking in and out of caves and kicking water at eachother. As we grew more comfortable with eachother Fern stuck out her chin and grinned at me as she reached down and splashed me, I ran to her, throwing her over my shoulder and threatening to dip her into the ocean pools, she squealed in delight but beat her fists against my back. I knew it was an act but I put her down regardless.

The sun began to dip below the horizon and we decided to end our search. There was no sign of Tarron and searching after dark had its own set of dangers. We made our way back to the car and began the drive home.