The Lake

Chapter Three

Bartie woke up from his afternoon nap to the sound of Charlie scratching at the door. He, Kate and Brooklyn were curled up inside Brooklyn's play castle in her playroom. After lunch they had all come here to play, and later nestled inside the castle for storytelling and a nap. Kate and Brooklyn were still sound asleep. He crawled out of the nest of soft pillows and climbed down out of the castle. Charlie was sniffing at the bottom of the door and looking over at him expectantly, wiggling his furry behind. 

Bartie whispered, "Hold on a second Charlie, I'll get it for you."

The soft carpet absorbed the thumping of his sock feet as he ran over. Reaching for the doorknob, he glances back at the playcastle and then pulls the door open to follow the dog out into the hall. He looked both ways and then ran giggling down the hall after the dog. "Wait up Charlie, where are you going?"

Bartie had never been down this section of the manor before and all of the doors looked the same; making him nervous of getting lost. Charlie seemed to know where he was going though, and since he lived here, he figured the dog was a good enough tour guide. As they turned around a corner that came to a dead end, Charlie sniffed at the bottom of the door at the end of the hall, looking back at Bartie with a bark.

He shrugged, hoping they would soon find a bathroom. All of this running paired with the two glasses of juice he had with lunch were starting to get to him in a bad way. "What's behind the door doggy?"

Bartie looked back over his shoulder again and then reached for the door to open it. He's surprised to find that it wasn't locked. The corridor was dark on the other side. "I...don't know, Charlie. Maybe we shouldn't go down there."

Charlie shoved his nose into the opening and forced the door open so he could wiggle through. "Hey! Come back!"

Bartie stepped through the doorway, running his hand along the wall so he could feel for doors. Few inner hallways in the manor had access to window light, especially the upper floors, so he was hoping to find a room with an open door so he could get some natural light.

 "Ch..Charlie? Where did you go?"

He nearly falls down into the open space when he finally finds a bedroom  with an open door. The curtains are drawn, but there is a sliver of light peeking through. He stumbles across the room, bumping into the edges of furniture, his heart pounding in his chest with anticipation of seeing outside and escaping the darkness.

He pushes open the curtains and squints his eyes shut at the bright afternoon sun. Charlie joins him at the window, jumping up on his back paws to look over the windowsill. They have a perfect view of the lake. Bartie's heart leapt with joy upon seeing the tiny rowboat with his Uncles in it. He taps on the window glass excitedly.

"Hey, look Charlie! I see Uncle Max and Uncle Drake."

His smile fades though as he watches the scene unfold in front of him. "But they don't look like they're fishing anymore."

Drake is standing in the boat waving his hands angrily at Maxwell, pointing to the bottom of the boat and then gesturing at the shoreline. Bartie gasps as he sees the water swirl in a big circle around the boat. It reminded him of bath time when his Momma would pull the plug and the water would go down the drain. The back of something big breaks the surface of water. To Bartie it looked like one of the whales on the nature shows he watched in the afternoons back at  home. Bartie feels his bladder let go as the thing in the water rushes over to tip both of his Uncles out of the boat and into the lake.

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Author's Note:
From this point on you have the choice of two endings.  Ending A or B.  Read them both, or jump out and pick A or B out of the chapter list.
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