Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Once

After being in the sea for so long, it took a long time for me to warm up.I sat on a chair, wrapped in a towel, with my arms around my knees, my teeth chattering, but my heart was in a mess.Dodge said what I encountered was a jellyfish.Was he just joking among friends when he said that, or was it not a jellyfish at all, but something light and fluffy? I'm also embarrassed.Dodge told Emma and Darren about it, and all I could do was burn my face, which was the only part of my body that was hot.They both actually heard me screaming, but were too far away to see what was happening.The two guys laughed at me together, luckily without malice, and better yet, Dodge winked at me again when I got to the point where I jumped into his arms.

"I'm so sorry," I murmured. I didn't have the guts to make a joke or suggest something that Emma would have done in my place. "Never mind, I love it." Dodge raised an eyebrow at me.He laughed out loud when he saw the look on my face. I looked away in embarrassment, angry at myself for not being able to think of any intelligent responses.They continue to chat. They talked about fishing.Dodge's father is here for this.Dodge didn't know if he ever caught fish, but it was certain that he caught the flu once here.Darren was eager to try, to prove that he had these manly skills.It's just that he has no fishing rod, let alone fishing line and hook.From the trunk of the Volvo car full of sundries, all he found was a long twine, and he was going to tie the frozen sausage to one end of the twine.He insisted that the thing would work, and turned a deaf ear to Dodge's advice.I have no opinion, I know as little about fishing as I know about alternator brushes.But Darren was too optimistic.He was more likely to lure passing Irishmen with sausages.Emma ignored us and just basked in her sun, trying to get a tan and cover her sunburn.As for whether her plan will succeed, I'm skeptical.

They were still talking about fishing, but after a while I couldn't care less about listening to them.I watched the light dancing on the sea, but suddenly, the light disappeared. "Hey!" Emma whined, raising her dark glasses to her forehead and staring at the sky. Only then did I notice that the thick clouds covered the sun and blocked the sun.The clouds were harmless, swirling in the sky like fluffy cotton, but behind us leaden gray clouds were drifting over the hills.It is going to rain. "We've got to move things in." I reminded everyone as the clouds gradually filled the sky.

"It won't rain." Darren disagreed and shook his head disdainfully. As soon as he finished speaking, a strong wind blew up on the flat ground, blowing water foam everywhere. "It's going to rain," Dodge said, standing up, looking at the stormy weather. "And it's raining heavily." He looked at me. "Are your tents waterproof?" I frowned. "Theoretically yes." I used my cousin's old tent.I thought it would be sunny these days, but I didn't expect to ask him if the tent could withstand the heavy rain. "Come to our tent, then," he said, "even if it's pouring rain it won't hurt our canvas top."

"Thank you." I jumped up, wrapped my towel tightly around my body, and ran to our tent.Once inside, I quickly dressed, stuffed the rest of my stuff into my bag, hoping the backpack would provide some protection, and ran outside.The two boys were moving food and other supplies into their larger tent, atop three brightly colored sleeping bags.three.Thinking of this, I can't help frowning. "Hey, has anyone seen—" At this time, the torrential rain fell. There was no sign of it.There is no drizzle before the storm.Bean-sized raindrops fell from the sky.I was drenched in an instant, rain dripping down my nose, and my hair, which had been dry after the swim, was drenched again.The T-shirt I had just put on was now against me like a cold second skin, uncomfortable.The beautiful summer days we were enjoying just a moment ago are gone.

I got into the boys tent. "Do you want to zip up the tent door?" I asked, my shoes all wet and sandy, and I walked carefully so as not to step on their things. "Just zip up the screen," Dodge told me. "The entrance keeps the water out." We sat in a row, watching the heavy rain pouring down through the half-moon gauze.What a heavy rain, big drops of water hit the beach, making small pits, falling into the sea, splashing a mist.It's mesmerizing to see us sitting there with no sense of time.The dark clouds were too thick, and it was already dark now.We seem to see the world through a filter, and the colors are filtered out.

"Who has a flashlight?" Darren asked. Someone was groping on either side of me, but the tent was still dark. "Where did he go?" Dodge asked loudly. “I put it right there in the opening, so if someone goes peeing in the middle of the night, it’s going to come in handy,” Darren said, and he happened to be fumbling for a flashlight on the tarp around me, so his voice was right next to my ear, “ Heather, I think the flashlight is right under your ass." "Really?" I felt that there was nothing under me, but I dodged obediently and let him check where I sat.Nothing at all.

"What are you looking for?" Emma asked, her voice was a little vague, as if she was in a trance. "Here, use this to light up." With a click, the tent became brighter. "God." Dodge laughed. "Emma, ​​sometimes I really feel that you are not a creature on this planet." Darren complained, but he reached out to take the flashlight from her with a doting expression on his face. "What?" She blinked and looked at us one by one, a little puzzled. "It's all right, Angel. At least you're still a beauty." I rolled my eyes and moved back to where I was just now.Every time I thought Darren wasn't that bad, he'd say something so pompous and without an iota of humor that I had to maintain my assessment: He's just a jerk.

"Yeah!" Just as I sat back, something hurt my butt.Are there two flashlights? no.It was the thing in my pocket that hurt me.I fumbled through my jeans and finally got the thing out. "Ah." I stared at it and couldn't help being surprised. brooch.I almost forgot about it.I'd forgotten all about Darren and Martin's fight.It glistened in the flashlight, its curved edges bursting with light.The flashlight wasn't bright enough to see the etching, not as clearly as I could see it in sunlight, but I touched the surface of the brooch and could feel the grooves.

"You cleaned it up!" said Dodge in surprise. I turned to see him looking eagerly at the brooch. "Hmm," I said, "very beautiful." "Show me, please?" I put it in his outstretched palm.He held the brooch in front of his face and turned the flashlight to get a better view. "Oh," he said, "that's cool. It doesn't look like an antiquity now." He also seemed fascinated by the symbols on the surface. "What do you think those patterns mean?" I asked, pointing to a looming swirl. "I don't know." Dodge shrugged, "I don't know what this thing is for?"

We all fell silent.Dodge was still looking at the brooch, playing with the pins on the back.I looked at him, trying to imagine how the jewel ended up buried deep in a collapsed cairn.That hill is in an isolated place.I think someone must have passed by, however, it seems unlikely that the person who left the brooch stumbled across the place.I thought of another possibility, and my heart tightened, feeling very uneasy.What if this is a token of love?Perhaps a distraught widow left it there, as a gift for her deceased husband, or left by a husband to his late wife, and that is where they once fell in love?Once again I feel like we shouldn't be taking it away.Maybe I can convince Dodge to put it back. With that in mind, I looked around the tent and at Darren, who was staring thoughtfully at a beer cooler half buried in the sand.Yes, I must do this.But wait until it's just me and Dodge.Darren sure didn't understand and would just laugh at me.Let's hope that doesn't happen to Dodge. After making such a decision, I felt that the big stone in my heart disappeared at once.I continued to watch the falling rain. "Emma, ​​after the heavy rain, we can only go to the sea to pick up our things." I told her sadly.The bag I was carrying my stuff in wasn't waterproof, and also, I hadn't thought to bring our sleeping bag.How stupid. "I don't want to sleep in a wet sleeping bag!" Emma complained. "We still have the car," I said, looking at Darren expectantly. He grinned. "Don't worry ladies, we'll make room for you here." "Where?" Emma looked around.The tent is full of boys' things, and there is not even a place to step down. "Believe it or not, it's a six-person tent anyway," Dodge explained. "Ha!" Emma snorted and mocked, "Heather said ours was a four-person tent. Four what, midgets?" As soon as numbers were mentioned, a thought that had just occurred to me returned to my mind. "Hey!" I yelled. "Where's Martin? He ain't back yet." Darren smiled. "The four-eyed frog is about to become a drowned chicken!" I glared at him angrily. "You are not allowed to say that about him!" "Oh, don't be so stingy!" He smiled at me, "Aren't you going to say that the two of you are on good terms?" "Darren, stop talking." Dodge scolded.The two glared at each other in the narrow tent, but this time, Darren obeyed obediently.Dodge looked at me with worried eyes. "Do you think you should give him a call?" I looked out at the heavy rain and the dark sky. "Call quickly," I said, "Call quickly. Wait, I'm bringing my phone." I pull the phone out of my pocket, scroll through my contacts, find Martin's name, press and hold his entry, and the "Call" box appears on the screen.The calling process lasted only two seconds before it was interrupted. "What's going on?" I stared at the phone without knowing why.Then I remembered what the girl in the metal shop told me, the one who lent us a temporary power supply. "Ah, no signal." Dodge took out his phone, looked at it, and sighed. "Mine too. How long do we have to wait before we go out and find him?" I look at my watch.Martin had been gone for hours.Dodge noticed my expression. "Going right now?" I hesitated, then nodded. "I stayed with Emma," Darren said loudly. "You know, maybe he'll come back." Emma's approval was lost in the rustle of Dodge's haste to his feet. "We all have to go. Put on your clothes, Darren." Emma was obedient and accepted Dodge's orders without saying a word, but during the ten minutes we tidied up, Darren kept mumbling and complaining endlessly.We put on our waterproof clothes and boots, Emma and I both had umbrellas, and the instant we were ready to go outside, the rain stopped.We had to throw away the umbrella, take off the waterproof jacket, and put on a thick knitted jumper. After all, the wind has not stopped and it is very cold.When that was done we walked across the sand in the direction I had seen Martin leave. "Why didn't anyone think he might come around and come back?" Darren asked. "Just because he went this way doesn't mean he's going to come back this way. During our trek in the dark, he might have come back." camp." "Then he'll be waiting there, and we'll see him when we go back." Dodge said firmly, "Don't make excuses to go back, Darren." Darren didn't complain after that, but I saw him glaring at Dodge and muttering something under his breath.After this incident, the relationship between him and Martin would not improve. There is only one path at the end of the beach.It winds its way up the rocky coast to a steep mountainside.Walking along the road to the top of the hill, we came to the same road we drove on when we came.Right now, there was only one direction Martin could go, so we headed down the road to the dirt parking lot.Walking is much longer than being cramped in a hot car.We walked down the steep hill to the beach as night fell. We walked for two hours this way, maybe longer.In the parking lot near the camp, we saw Darren's Volvo, and the rotten fish still stinks, and all the rain hasn't dampened it even an iota.But I barely noticed the stench.I kept my eyes on the beach, looking for the flashlight or the light of a campfire that would tell Martin was back.But I don't see anything.The dark clouds finally dispersed, and the hazy milky white moonlight projected onto the sea. "Martin?" I called, stumbling down the narrow road.No one responded. "Martin, are you here?" There was silence all around.My sneakers got stuck in the soft sand, and the sand got into my shoes, hurting my feet.But I didn't notice.Dodge scanned the water with his flashlight on, its light bouncing back and forth in front of me. I called out to Martin again. "Martin!" At this moment, I could hear the panic and guilt in my voice.I should have gone with him.He wants me to go too.What happened to him?My heart was tightly clenched together, and I was extremely uneasy.I walked forward quickly. I stopped in the middle of the camp, most of our stuff was in the boys tent, so the camp was pretty empty.The wind swirled, distorting the voices of the three people behind me.I turned and stared at them. "He's not here." I said nonsense. The worried looks on their faces gnawed at my guts.Even Darren was on edge. "Where else could he go?" asked Dodge, frowning in thought. "Maybe he fell somewhere," I said. "Maybe he sprained his ankle and can't walk?" A horrible image flashed before my eyes: Martin huddled in a ditch, soaked and shivering with cold.Darren shakes his head in front of me, breaking the picture. "Impossible. We walked a full circle along the road. If it is the situation you mentioned, we must be able to see him, otherwise he will call for help when he hears our voice." "Perhaps he passed out—" I said. Darren cut me off. "Don't jump to conclusions." "Then where is he?" My voice was sharp and my tone was very mean.I saw Darren's facial features twisted together when he heard it. "I don't know." He said, crossing his arms.His muscles bulged and he looked threatening. "Maybe... maybe he left, hitchhiking on the highway." "Leave without saying goodbye?" Dodge didn't believe such a statement.me too.Martin would never do that. "He lost his temper," Darren said again, making his point even more vigorously, "He's mad at me—" (Not for nothing, I thought.) "And then, you don't have anyone He went for a walk. Maybe he just decided to disappear. It was too much of a crowd of five, and that was it." "It's not like that," I argued feebly. Maybe that's the way it is, at least for Martin.Darren's words hit my nerves, and I became more and more uneasy.What if he felt that way?He must have been having a hard time, fighting Darren every once in a while.Dodge and I were his friends, but when he stormed off alone, the two of us went swimming together.Maybe he felt lonely and neglected; maybe he decided to leave. Looking at it this way, what Darren said seems somewhat possible.I bit my lip, unwilling to admit it, filled with guilt. Dodge relieved me. "Even if he thinks so, I don't think he's going to leave. He's not going to get in a stranger's car. Besides, we walked all the way down that road without seeing a single car." "We haven't seen anyone," Darren said, "but that doesn't mean Martin hasn't either." "You mean he saw a car that happened to be willing to stop and give a lift to a stranger?" Dodge asked rhetorically. Darren shrugged. "Possibly. Maybe he went the other way, to the bend. There's more traffic there." "Maybe." Dodge's voice was stiff, showing that he didn't believe it. "You think he doesn't even want his stuff?" "Who said he didn't?" Darren asked. We all looked at the boys tent, and then at each other. "I'll go take a look." Darren stepped out of the range of the flashlight. There was only the sound of the zipper of the tent curtain being undone, followed by a rustling sound.A smaller light glowed inside the tent, whiter than the light of a flashlight, like the light from a mobile phone.The light flickered back and forth as Darren searched the tent.We could go too, but for some reason, none of us moved, just stood there, around yesterday's fire pit, waiting. The lights in the tent went out, and I shivered, but not from the cold.Nervously, I put my hands in my pockets and fiddled with the brooch.Darren reappeared at last, zipping the tent door and straightening the porch, and was in no rush to report the results. "How?" Dodge asked, shining his flashlight on Darren, too lazy to wait. Darren shrugged. "He must have gone," he said. "His backpack is gone, his clothes are gone, just his sleeping bag and air mattress." Dodge frowned angrily, not believing this possibility. "When did he come back to get his things?" "Just when we were looking for him in the wilderness." Darren retorted, "I told you, Emma and I should stay. That way we can keep him and reason with him." Dodge snorted disdainfully, and I knew what he was thinking.Darren was more likely to help Martin pack and give him a lift on the road.Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair, messing it up all at once. "Damn it," he whined under his breath, "I just can't believe it." Neither can I.We drove Martin away.Darren was an alcoholic and had a temper tantrum, but me and Dodge broke his heart.I swallow painfully, hating myself. "So what do we do?" I asked. "Go to him." Dodge replied immediately. I blinked first, then nodded.Of course we should.only…… "How do you find it?" Darren's voice was a little sharp. "What?" Rather than saying that Qi Qi didn't understand, it would be better to say that he was very annoyed. "How do we find him? We don't even know where he is. In fact, he's probably almost home. We don't have mobile reception. Are you asking us to walk across Dumfriesshire?" "We can drive," Dodge retorted, as if it were obvious. "Then you drive? I'm drunk and can't drive." Dodge was very dismissive of this statement, and so was I.Darren hasn't had a drink for hours.How much did he drink before that?Or is this just an excuse? But that's a good excuse.If Darren can't drive, then we can't go to Martin, at least not tonight. "Listen," Darren's tone changed, as if to please. "We can't do anything tonight. We can only stay here. In the morning, we will drive to a place with signal. You can call him and ask the matter clearly. He will return home safely and find him Mom. I promise. I will definitely drive you there tomorrow." Dodge thought for a moment. "Get up and go?" he asked. "Get up and go." I don't like the idea of ​​waiting until dawn.Although Darren said the truth, the boulder in my heart still did not move.Maybe it was because it was so dark.Except for the faint light of the flashlight, the beach was pitch black, and it was time to replace the batteries.The sea water shone with silvery light in the moonlight.Darren suggested building a fire, and I readily agreed.I didn't even complain when he pulled out the whiskey.I need wine, only in this way can my heart be warmed up. I try to suppress a thought in the back of my mind, I always feel that Martin is not sitting in the back of a stranger's car on the way back to Glasgow, chatting happily, but in a darker, colder place, alone and helpless .