37.
~ "Take him down below deck. Get him out of those wet clothes." Alex ordered as soon as he made sure Dylan wasn't injured. He could feel the cold radiating from the child's body now and knew how dangerous it could be.
"Dylan, didn't I tell you to be careful?" Norma scolded.
"Norma, get him below deck and out of those wet clothes. Do it now." Alex ordered more severely. She looked up at him in alarm but he ignored her. Instead he brought up the boat's anchor and started the engines.
"Tom keeps dry clothes in the dresser." he called to her when he saw she was rushing Dylan below deck.
He was sure Dylan would be fine, but there was an unpleasant incident last year where a family had been out fishing and a child fell into the bay. The boy had been a little older than Dylan and he wasn't able to shake off the chill after a minor boating accident had caused him to fall into the water without anyone noticing. He hadn't been able to get out of the water very quickly and no one thought to get him out of his wet clothing. The child had succumbed to pneumonia a few weeks after the accident.
The sun was coming up, but it hadn't touched the air with any heat yet. It certainly wouldn't warm up the bay waters. Nothing warmed these waters. When Alex was ten, the Old Bear once had told him and his friends a horrible story about the body of a young woman some fishermen had found in the bay.
"Only God in his heaven knows how long she was down there, boys." The Old Bear had said with an evil smile. "The water is so cold, she was weighted in so deep, hardly any rot at all. No fish ate her up at that depth. Almost perfectly preserved to. Coroner thinks she might have been killed a few years ago. Murder stabbed her to death and wrapped her naked body up in a shower curtain. Weighted it with chains and concrete cinder blocks. Only reason she was even found was because of the drought we've had. Dislodged her."
The story, Alex later found out the grizzly details as a deputy, was true. Every word of it. As a child, it had given him nightmares for years. Worst part was, the killer was never found and the poor girl never identified.
The engines were sound and roared loudly towards the shore where Alex knew there was an ancient dock seldom used by anyone. It was close, private and he could build a fire.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the worn, dilapidated dock come into view. Thankful that it was closer than he thought. The boat was easy to maneuver and he shut the engines off and let her glide into the dock.
The boards were faded and missing in places, but any port in the storm.
Alex quickly cast a rope on a sturdy looking post and brought the red fishing boat into dock perfectly.
He quickly surveyed the area and saw the former summer camp was still abandoned and unused. Almost ten years it had laid forgotten since going bankrupt. It's owners cutting their losses and leaving everything behind. Allowing the bank, and nature to reclaim the property. Where the bank had failed to unload the scenic water front real estate, nature hadn't wasted any time with taking back the bunk houses and other large buildings. They were riddled and over grown with brush and wild greenery.
Alex ducked down below deck where he was relived to see Norma had stripped Dylan out of his wet clothing and put him into one of Tom's old flannel shirts. The child too small for it, but he looked warmer. Norma hard at work drying his hair.
"We're docked. Stay here, I'm going to build a fire for him." he nodded to her.
She looked back at him, her eyes wide and she looked worried.
"He's still really cold, Alex." she called after him.
"It's okay." he told her calmly. There was no need to panic her. "Just keep rubbing his skin to stimulate the blood flow."
Graceland, no doubt excited by everything gave off a bark at the tree line.
"Graceland!" Alex called to her and the dog growled suspiciously at the mass of greenery before jumping off the boat and onto the dock with her partner.
~ It was a simple matter of collecting fallen branches and twigs for a fire. The sandy shore line near the old summer camp was best and wouldn't be seen by anyone. In less than five minutes, Alex had the fire at a good hight that was well away from the trees.
He threw another branch on the flame before going back on the boat to get Dylan and Norma.
They were still below deck and she'd wrapped him in the blankets from the bed.
"Still cold?" he nodded to the child who's lips were slightly blue.
"No." Dylan lied bravely.
"Well, why don't you come outside? The sun's out and I've got a fire going." he said easily. Now wasn't the time to lecture Dylan about falling into the water or make him feel stupid for doing it. That was the kind of thing the Old Bear would do.
Dylan nodded, but looked cranky.
"Why did mom have to take off all my clothes?" he asked when Alex helped him slip into Tom's old wadding boots so that he could walk outside.
The child took Alex's hand and his little fingers were like ice. Norma followed with a blanket and a dry towel.
"Because your wet clothes would have kept you even colder." Alex told Dylan once they were outside on the weather beaten dock.
"She even made me take off my underwear." Dylan said bitterly and so female ears wouldn't overhear the complaint.
"Your underwear was wet to, son." Alex said in a hushed voice so Norma wouldn't hear. "Trust me, you don't want certain parts to stay cold for too long."
"Dylan, be careful!" Norma said eyeing the missing boards of the dock worriedly.
Dylan nodded and took his steeps slowly in Tom's oversized wadding boots.
"I almost wish I had a camera." Norma sighed. "This is actually adorable."
Alex tried not to laugh, he sensed that Dylan wouldn't want to remember this exact moment in time forever.
~ "What is this place?" Norma asked nervously after she was sure the fire was going to keep Dylan warm enough. She had been impressed that Alex had known what to do in such a situation. She hadn't understood that the water was so dangerous and that there were things other than drowning to be fearful of.
When they had pulled Dylan out of the water, his skin had felt like ice and at first, she thought he could just shake it off. He'd gone swimming before and the water was always cold till you got used to it. It was summer after all and the sun was out.
Alex seemed to know better and had become very sharp with his directions to take Dylan below and to get him out of his wet clothes. Alex's tone was so curt that Norma had no choice but to take him seriously and realized that Dylan might not be able to shake off the cold after all.
As soon as they were below deck and she stripped him naked in the bathroom, tossing his freezing and wet clothes in the bathtub, Dylan started shaking and complained about pins sticking his skin.
Norma heard Alex starting the boat's engines as she dried Dylan off and found him a warm flannel shirt to put on. Her son was still uncomfortable and shivering. His toes and fingers seeming especially painful to move and Norma made him move them to keep the blood circulating.
Her fear escalating when his lips stayed a dull blue color. Alex had told them they were docked and he was going to go build a fire, she thought he was taking them back to town and maybe to a hospital. Dylan still was so cold, but the Deputy didn't seem worried, so maybe they would be alright. She was happy to see the large campfire burning a few yards away from the rickety looking dock. Glad that Alex had enough sense to put Dylan into some comically oversize rubber boots so that he could walk himself to the fire.
After only half an hour as close to the fire as Norma would allow, and with Graceland siting on his lap for added warmth, Dylan looked much better.
Now she finally had a moment to look around and see the odd and creepy atmosphere.
What looked like little houses with pitched roofs were over grown with greenery. The elements had chipped away once brightly painted wooden facades and the entire place looked haunted.
Alex seemed to understand without her asking for more clarification.
"It used to be a summer camp." he said and gently put another branch on the fire. Dylan seemed transfixed by the flames. His eyes hypnotized and he didn't pay the adults much attention.
"Used to be?" Norma asked.
"It was shut down about ten years ago." Alex said with a shrug.
"Why? What happened?" Norma asked. She could imagine that White Pine Bay would be the perfect place for a summer camp.
"Well," Alex whispered and leaned in a little closer. She leaned in closer to as if to hear to a juicy piece of gossip. "The story goes that one summer, a kid drowned because of staff negligence. After the wrongful death lawsuit was settled out of court, the camp was about to opened up again. A few days before the first campers arrived, some crazy guy wielding a machete wanders into the camp and starts killing all the staff. Horney teenagers mostly."
"Alex." Norma groaned and leaned away from him in disgust.
"What? It was awful. There was only one survivor, she said he wore a hockey mask while he killed all her friends." Alex said earnestly.
"Alex, that's the plot of Friday the 13th!" Norma laughed.
"Where do you think they got it from?" Alex waved in the direction of the abandoned camp.
"Oh, was the killer coincidently named Micheal Myers?" Norma grinned.
"His mother, actually." Alex said teasingly.
"Who's Micheal Myers?" Dylan asked.
"No one, honey." Norma said and felt her son's forehead for signs of a fever. He felt warm, but that might have just been from being so close to the flames.
"Camp just went bankrupt about ten years ago." Alex grinned and stoked the dying flames.
"No one bought it?" Norma nodded to the fallen in buildings left to rot. "Not even the land?"
"Guess not." Alex said. "I remember the old man had to flush some teenagers and vagrants out here a few times. It's so overgrown now, doubt anyone remembers its' even here."
~ "Are you mad at me?" Dylan asked once Alex had shown him how to make sure that a camp fire was properly put out. The two of them kicking dirt over the embers after Alex had explained that water would cause too much smoke.
"Why would I be mad at you?" Alex asked in surprise.
Norma had wandered a little ways away from them, Graceland close beside her, to look at the forgotten campgrounds.
"For falling in the water." Dylan said.
"No." Alex shook his head. "I'm more worried your mom will be mad at me for not watching you."
"Mom's never mad at you." Dylan said matter of factly.
"Oh?" Alex smiled and shrugged. "Give it time."
"We can't go fishing anymore." Dylan complained.
"Sure we can."
"Mom won't let me."
"Sure she will. I'll talk to her." Alex promised. "Sometimes women are just glad to get the men out of the house for a few hours. She'll let us go fishing again if it means she'll have peace and quite."
Dylan was about to argue when Graceland started barking in a loud, long barks that could only mean danger. The dog was somewhere in the distance but he couldn't pinpoint where.
"Alex!" Norma shouted and Romero held a hand up for Dylan to stay put as Norma appeared out of the thick greenery. She was out of breath from running and she looked scared.
Graceland was still barking and the barking had become more aggressive.
"What happened?" Alex demanded as she raced to him and Dylan.
"Alex!" she panted. "There's a man! There's a strange man… over there!"
"Get him back on the boat. Now." Alex ordered.
Norma, for once, didn't need to be told twice. Whatever she'd seen in the overgrown forgotten campground, had frightened her.
If it had just been the three of them, Alex would have scooped Dylan up and taken them to the boat as one, but Graceland was still out there in the greenery and he couldn't leave her behind. Her barking still ringing out loud enough to stir birds from the trees.
"Alex?" Norma called when they reached the dock.
"Go below deck and lock the hatch door. I'm getting the dog." Alex said.
Norma nodded and he watched them carefully climb on board and go below.
"The one time I decide to leave the gun at home." he grumbled to himself before walking towards the campgrounds.
"Graceland!" Alex called and whistled for his partner to come. He hard her barking stop in recognition and then start again. She was close and wasn't moving.
'Probably some poor homeless guy.' Alex thought as he carefully walked past the weathered canoe shack. 'Probably more afraid of Norma and the dog than they were of him.'
The old bunk houses were in reasonably good shape and covered with graffiti. Band names and wanna be gang signs and backwards nazi symbols. Typical teenage crap.
Alex saw Graceland and whistled for her to come when a beer bottle when hurtling close to the dog's head, almost hitting her.
Graceland barked savagely and almost charged, but Alex shouted at her to stay.
"Hold!" he commanded and rounded to the end of the bunk house expecting to see some terrified and harmless vagrant who wasn't used to having his home disturbed by the savage dogs of the world.
"Fucking bitch dog!" Keith Summers snarled and threw another beer bottle at Graceland who lazily dodged it.
"Keith?" Alex nodded once the surprise at seeing him had worn off.
Keith Summers, like his sister Maggie, had always been a little worn down in the way of looks. Yet, Maggie had managed to look respectable which distinguished herself from her brother. Keith, squatting here in the abandoned campgrounds in dirty clothes, unshaved face and clearly hung over, reminded Alex of just how different the two siblings were. How time had altered things since they were children and were all friends.
"What are you doing here, Alex?" Keith demanded.
Alex let out a frustrated sigh and tried not to let his anger get the best of him. Tired not to let his thoughts linger on what Maggie had said Keith and Jimmy had threatened to do to Norma.
"You've been living here, Keith?" Alex asked.
"Girlfriend, kicked me out." Keith sighed. He was sitting in the tall grass and started to paw over a shopping bag for whatever was inside.
"You're trespassing." Alex reminded him. "You know you're not allowed to be here."
"Saw that sweet piece of ass Norma Bates a second ago." Keith said when he pulled out a beer from the shopping bag and opened it. "Wouldn't mind bending her over the table and teaching her a lesson. Something tells me she wouldn't mind."
Alex felt a ripple of nausea rise in him.
"Graceland, come on." he said to the waiting dog. He turned to go when Keith felt the need to make things worse.
"She'd probably like it." Keith said standing up slowly. "Maybe I'll just pay her a little visit when you're done with her. Seeing as how she goes through men so quickly."
Alex stayed calm. So calm that Graceland didn't become agitated or concerned. He turned to Keith Summers, his childhood friend. The childhood friend who he'd played with at this very camp. A lifetime ago.
"Keith, stay away from my family." Alex said with the stoic indifference he'd always used when on the job. "There's lots of places around here to hide a body. I promise no one will look very hard for you either."
Keith Summers looked ready to laugh. That lazy, good for nothing grin appeared on his face.
"Tell me, Alex." he said. "When you're humping on Norma Bates, she ever call out for Zac Shelby?"
~ Norma was waiting for Alex to come back when she heard the engines start up and felt the boat pull away from the dock.
"Stay here." she told Dylan.
Maybe she had over reacted to the homeless man she had spotted sleeping beside one of the old buildings. He was pretty rough looking, but she knew better than anyone what it was like living rough and shouldn't have judged.
She was embarrassed to say that the old abandoned summer camp had spooked her. Alex's referring it to the stupid horror movie hadn't helped. Either way, seeing that strange man and having the dog bark as if they were in trouble, had scared her enough to go running.
She unlocked the hold's door and saw the Alex was at the helm. Steering them away from the shore and towards the familiar sight of the village.
"Alex?" she asked.
"Just some homeless guy." he said. He didn't look at her but Graceland went up to her and nuzzled her hand affectionally. Her tail wagging eagerly.
"What happened?" she asked. He didn't answer still didn't look at her.
"Alex?" she asked again. It was odd that he was ignoring her.
"He was just some vagrant, Norma." he said wearily. "I'll report it when I go in tomorrow."
"Okay." she said feeling awkward.
"We should go pick up Norman. It's been along day." he said.
Oh no! What did Alex do? Oh dear!
I was asked in a review or message if Norma was going to meet Rebecca or some other woman in Alex's life and get jealous. Yes. Yes, she is. But we all know there is nothing to be jealous of.