Haunted || Leo Valdez

44 - Anne is Disappointed By the Gorgeous Man Staring at His Reflection

Riding Arion was the best thing that had happened to Anne all day—which wasn't saying much, since her day had sucked. The horse's hooves turned the surface of the lake to salty mist.

Ahead of them lay an island—a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders.

They sat single-file: Hazel was up front, and Anne sat right behind her. Leo, who was being uncharacteristically quiet, sat in the back.

"Alright, Valdez?" Anne asked.

"Yeah," Leo said. "Just thinking."

Anne knew him well enough to realize that "thinking" meant "thinking about Rebecca." She wanted to tell him that Rebecca was going to be alright, but she knew better than that.

Arion thundered onto the beach. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, like Coach Hedge yelling a battle cry.

Hazel and Leo dismounted. Arion pawed the sand.

"He needs to eat," Hazel explained. "He likes gold, but—"

"Gold?" Leo asked.

Anne rolled her eyes. "We literally got chased by nymphs drunk on eggnog this past winter, and this is what gives you the hold up?"

"You've got a point," Leo said. He looked at Hazel. "My apologies, please continue."

"Um," Hazel said, "He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you."

Just like that, the horse was gone—nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.

"Fast horse," Leo said, "and expensive to feed."

"Not really," Hazel said. "Gold is easy for me."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."

"She's Rebecca's sister, Leo," Anne said. "Gold is easy for Rebecca, too."

"Well yeah, but--" Leo stopped when he saw Anne's warning gaze.

Hazel pursed her lips, as if she regretted raising the subject. "Never mind."

Leo knelt and cupped a handful of white sand. "Well...one problem solved, anyway. This is lime."

Hazel frowned. "The whole beach?"

"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate." Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime. Suddenly he froze, frowning at the beach.

"Um, Leo?" Hazel tried.

"No, when he gets like this, he needs something big to catch his attention." Anne cleared her throat before letting out a very loud scream.

Leo jumped and looked at her indignantly. "Stop."

"Well, you were staring at the sand -- lime, whatever. Are you okay?"

Leo took a shaky breath. "Yeah. Yeah, fine." He started to fill the bag.

Hazel and Anne knelt next to him and helped.

"We should've brought a pail and shovels," Hazel murmured.

The idea seemed to cheer Leo up. He even smiled. "We could've made a sand castle."

"A lime castle."

Their eyes locked for a second too long. Anne frowned and cleared her throat. There was absolutely no need for this, especially after all the effort she'd put into Rebecca and Leo.