Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Dink woke up when he heard someone singing outside the tent. He peeked out and saw Jack opening the coolers. Sunlight slanted across the water, turning the Gulf to gold. A sweet-smelling breeze came with the sun. It was a perfect morning, and Dink was hungry. As Dink pulled on his sneakers, he thought of last night. He laughed. No way could that have been Jack in the grave. No way. Dink nudged Josh and Ruth Rose awake, then unzipped the flap and left the tent.

Jack was wearing shorts and a T-shirt again. "Hey," he said, smiling at Dink. "I brought fruit and bagels and juice. You hungry?" "Yeah, my stomach is rumbling," Dink said. "Mine is, too!" Josh said, joining them. Ruth Rose came next, fixing her headband. Jack carried the food down to one of the flatbottomed boats to use it as a tabletop. They looked out over the water as they ate. "Look," Jack said, pointing along the shore. A mother squirrel and two young ones were sitting at the water's edge. They washed their hands and faces, then waddled back into the trees. "When are we going to go see the alligator nest?" Josh asked. Jack checked his watch. "Pretty soon. But I want to check in on Myrna first. Do you mind?" he asked. "She seemed worried yesterday." "Sure," Dink said. "But what will we do with the tent and stuff?" "I'll get it later," Jack said. "Are you going to tell Myrna what we saw last night?" asked Ruth Rose. Jack chewed his lower lip for a few seconds. "If I'm right and it was one of the village men, she'd

already know about it," he said. "But I'll definitely mention it to her." The kids helped Jack tidy up. Then they hiked toward the small village. Myrna was there, weeding her garden. Myrna looked up at Jack. "Everyone is at the graveyard," she said. "I came to see how you're doing," Jack told her. Myrna sat on the edge of her porch. She stretched her back and wiped dirt from her hands. "My friend Bo wants to leave here. One of

the robbed graves is his father's." She glanced up at Jack. "I am worried, too." Just then Jack's cell phone rang. He answered, listened, then said, "Okay, hon, see you in a few minutes." "Is the baby coming?" asked Dink. "I don't know, but my wife said she feels funny," Jack said. "She wants to go see her doctor. Do you mind if I take you back to the hotel for a while? I'll pick you up later and we can check out that alligator nest." "They can stay with me," Myrna offered. "Go see your wife. The kids will be fine here until you get back." "Is that okay with you guys?" Jack asked. "Sure," Ruth Rose said. "But will you let my grandmother know? She keeps her cell phone with her while she's painting." Jack nodded. "I'll call her from the van," he said. He took off jogging back toward the trail. "See you in an hour!" he called over his shoulder. "I'd better finish this weeding," Myrna said. She hiked her dress up and got down on her knees

in the garden. The bottoms of her feet were black from the rich soil. "Myrna, did one of the men go out to guard the cemetery last night?" Dink asked. The woman sat back. "Why are you asking?" "Uh … Jack was going to ask you, but he forgot," Dink said. Myrna shook her head. "I don't know. Listen, while I work on the garden, why don't you kids go out and explore?" she said. "What if we get lost?" Josh asked. "Then I'll come get you," Myrna said, reaching into a deep pocket and pulling out a whistle on a lanyard. "My grandkids use this when they come to visit me," she said, dropping the lanyard around Josh's neck. "Don't your grandchildren live here?" Dink asked. Myrna shook her head. "My son took his family and moved away" she said, gazing at her simple hut. Myrna yanked a weed from in between some clumps of lettuce. "Go play for a while," she said.

The kids left Myrna and walked to the edge of the clearing. "I want to go back to the cemetery," Ruth Rose said. "Yuck! Why?" Josh asked. "Aren't you curious?" Ruth Rose asked. "Or do you believe we saw a zombie last night?" "I don't know and I don't care," Josh said. "That totally creeped me out." "Oh, come on, Josh," Dink said. "Now that it's daylight, we might find a clue to who was down in that grave." "Okay, I'll go, but don't try to get me to climb down in it!" Josh said. The kids found the path to the graveyard. When they got there, they saw dozens of village people on their knees near the two empty graves. Their heads were bowed, and no one was saying a word. "I think they're praying," Dink whispered. "Let's keep going." They moved quietly away, following the iron fence. They came to the beginning of another narrow path, opposite the one that led back to Myrna's hut.