EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) (6 page)

I threw my shorts back on and raced to the beach. I looked all around and spotted him walking on Fleets Neck Beach. He must have swum across the channel since there was no other way to get over there.

When I turned to go home, I stepped on a shell and felt pain on my heel. Looking down, I saw my pink and black colored zebra-striped knee-high riding socks and realized how ridiculous
I must look. Besides the socks, I was wearing a yellow sports bra and red shorts. Shaking my head, at the wacko I’d become, I quickly ran inside before anyone saw me.

When Mom and Grammy got back from shopping, I got my saddle out of the garage.

“Mom, can I drive over? I have to practice.”

She handed me the keys and crossed herself.

“Mom, please stop!”

“I was just fooling around.” I
wasn’t sure if I believed her.

We made it to the barn with Mom screaming less than usual, so I thought it was a good driv
e. Mom got into the driver seat. “Have fun. I’ll be back in an hour.”

I
ran in with carrots, excited to see Milton, a gray, part quarter horse and thoroughbred. After leasing him for a couple of summers, we had a special bond.

“Milton,” I called out and he stuck his head out of the stall. “Hi. I’ve missed you.” I rubbed his nose and
he nudged my arm for the carrots.

I
brushed him down and since Carlos and Julio, the grooms, were busy with a hay delivery, I got Milton ready myself.

W
e walked outside and Sara, the riding instructor, was giving a group lesson in the school ring, so I headed for the far riding ring, which was empty.

“Hey stranger,” Sara called out
as I passed. “Nice to see you.”

“You too. I
’ve missed this place and Milton,” I added.

“I’m sure he missed you as well.”

I had a great time trotting, cantering and galloping. Flying through the air was exhilarating.

Afterwards, I washed Milton in the
outside shower stall and got soaked in the process, but it felt good. Suddenly, two black sedans speed by and I was really surprised. There were signs all along the driveway warning drivers to slow down because the horses could get spooked and buck off the riders. The cars disappeared, but I knew they’d be back since there was no exit over there. Sure enough, they raced by faster than before.

I put Milton in one of the pastures and went to watch Sara teach.

As I sat on the fence, Sara called out, “Can you help me with the poles?”

“Sure,
” I said and jumped down.

“Did you see those cars before?” Sara asked
, as we each grabbed an end.

“Yeah, I did.
I couldn’t believe how fast they were driving.”

“I
know. I screamed slowdown, but they didn’t,” Sara said angrily. “I yelled for the kids to get off their horses. When they went behind the property, I called the police and waited in the road. They came out and drove on the grass around me.”

“It was probably a car service and they thought this was a winery.”
Some people hired cars when they went winetasting.

I saw Mom
driving up the driveway and ran inside to grab my bag and saddle.

As we exited
the farm, the two black cars were parked across the street and a police officer was talking to one of the drivers. Why were those cars still around almost thirty minutes later?

I felt s
o gross and sticky that I ran up to shower. There was horsehair all over my arms and face. As I walked out of the bathroom, someone screamed, “Boo.”

I jumped
for dear life and there stood Lily laughing. “Wow, you were really scared!”

“You almost gave me a heart attack
. Don’t do that.”

“Why did you shower?” Lily asked, as she put on her bathing suit. “I want to go swimming.”

“I went riding. Why are you here? Weren’t you catching the bus with our dads tonight?”

“The office didn’t need me today
, so I came out with Mom.”

“
Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you.”

I wanted to tell Lily about my possible sighting of him, but decided to wait till later.

After we got out of the pool and Lily was wrapping herself up in a towel, I said, “Lily, I saw that blond guy from the park jogging on our beach this morning.”

Lily sighed and sat down on a chaise. “Give me a break. That’s impossible.”

“It looked just like him. I swear. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m pretty sure it was him.”

“There’s no way. You’re hallucinating.”

“
But it’s possible it was him,” I insisted.

“I’m 99.9
99% sure it wasn’t him. Want to bet ten dollars?”

I didn’t, but
said, “Sure.” It wasn’t like we would ever know anyway.

Lily
put on her ear buds and closed her eyes. She was done talking about imaginary people.

I checked Facebook and texted some friends. When that got dull, I decided to start my school reading since I found one of the books. The first poem on the list was written by John Keats called ‘To A Lady Seen for a Few Moments at Vauxhall.’

S
ONNET TO A LADY SEEN FOR A FEW MOMENTS AT VAUXHALL

Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb,
Long hours have to and fro let creep the sand,
Since I was tangled in thy beauty's web,
And snared by the ungloving of thine hand.
And yet I never look on midnight sky,
But I behold thine eyes' well memory'd light;
I cannot look upon the rose's dye,
But to thy cheek my soul doth take its flight.
I cannot look on any budding flower,
But my fond ear, in fancy at thy lips
And hearkening for a love-sound, doth devour
Its sweets in the wrong sense: - Thou dost eclipse
Every delight with sweet remembering,
And grief unto my darling joys dost bring.

Time normally makes memories fade, however, that wasn’t the case here and I felt a little less foolish fantasizing about a stranger. The words “sweet remembering’ explained that perfectly since my reaction to the boy in the park was comparable.

“How come you look so miserable? Stop reading that stuff and let’s do something.”

“Sure, what do you want to do?” I asked, snapping out of my doldrums.

“I don’t
know, but I need some exercise. How about tennis?” Lily rose from the chaise.

We went inside to ask one of our moms for a ride and they wanted to join us.

“If the courts are full we’ll play doubles,” Mom suggested.

“
Otherwise, we’ll play singles,” Lily countered.

When we arrived, there was one court available so Lily and I had to play with our moms.

As we were leaving the park, I noticed two cars idling in the parking lot with dark tinted windows. It looked like those same two cars from the morning.

Back home
, Lily and I were doing laps when both dads appeared.

That night, t
here was a new moon and it was eerily dark on the beach when Lily and I took Amber for a walk. Apart from the intermittent house lights, the only illumination came from the boats in the bay.

“It’s really eerie out here when it’s this dark,” Lily said.

“I know. The other night I got scared being out here alone and turned around.”

There was a boat that had its lights on and as we passed
, it went completely dark. From the light of a nearby boat, I saw that someone was standing on the deck.




Lily and I woke up and smelled baked goods all the way upstairs.
In the kitchen, we found everyone preparing a birthday breakfast for Grammy.

“Happy Birthday, Grammy!” Lily and I
yelled out together and kissed her.

Mom was scooping scrambled eggs into a bowl
and Aunt Cecile was making a fruit salad. Uncle Ian, who hated to cook, was preparing the coffee and tea. Dad was flipping pancakes and making a terrible mess. Grammy looked upset and sat down at the table.

As Mom put the eggs on the table,
she whispered, “Don’t worry, I’ll clean it up.”

“Paige, ar
e you riding today?” asked Lily while reaching for a blueberry muffin.

“Yeah, I have a lesson. Want to come?” I asked, knowing what she’d say.

“No way. Never again.”

I laughed. One summer,
Lily was bored waiting for me to come home every day, so Aunt Cecile signed her up for a two-week session.

The firs
t day she had a lot of fun, but that wasn’t the case on her second. Lily was told to clean a horse stall and she adamantly refused to do it. When a girl began mucking my stall, I got upset and Lily thought I was insane. “Why do you care if someone picks up the horse poop?”

“
I want to do it myself,” I whined.

“Are you crazy?” Lily stared at me in utter disbelief.

After camp, Lily ran to her Mom and shrieked, “Did you know that you paid for me to clean stalls?” Lily was convinced that the pony camp was just a ruse and that parents were paying for their kids to do child labor. That was the end of Lily’s equestrian life and she never went back.

After breakfast, I drove to my riding lesson.

Sara set up the gates and I was thrilled to jump the rails. Towards the end of my lesson, something spooked Milton and I saw a man in a suit walking behind the bushes.

Sara
saw him too and called out, “You can’t be over there. This is private property.”

Without saying a word, the man
walked down the hill towards the street.

As Mom and I
left the farm, a dark car was blocking the driveway. This was so weird.

“What are they doing? Beep the horn
.”

Before I did, the car pulled away.

The rest of the day Lily and I hung out by the pool. When Lily started playing her guitar, I read some more poetry.

A poem called ‘When
I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be’ was really depressing.

WHEN I HAVE FEARS THAT I MAY CEASE TO BE

When I have fears that I may cease to be
    Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
    Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
    Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
    Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
    That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
    Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

Since his parents, grandmother and brother died, Keats was cognizant of his own mortality or he wrote this poem when he was ill. Keats died when he was twenty-five. Time was the theme of the poem and it alluded to fulfilling dreams of fame and love. In the end, Keats knew that he would “stand alone” since dying was a solitary journey.

That evening we had reservations
to celebrate Grammy’s birthday at her favorite restaurant, The Bayview Inn in Jamesport. We sat on the outside deck and as I looked down the street, I saw two dark cars idling nearby.

“Dad, I keep seeing dark cars with tinted windows everywhere,” I said.

“So have I. The North Fork is getting very popular and there are a lot of wine tours so there are a lot of car services out here now. I read that it’s a booming business.”

“It’s better than people driving drunk,” Mom added approvingly.

“Even with that, I keep reading about many alcohol-related accident,” Grammy said.




Sunday morning, Lily and I joined our dads on the driving r
ange. Lily liked golf, but I only went if she asked me to come.

“Thanks
for coming,” Lily said smiling, knowing exactly how I felt.

“This is so boring. You owe me.”

“Fine, how about later we go to the beach and look for your fantasy man.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I shot back, ignoring her sarcastic tone.

Mom, as pre-arranged, picked me up at the golf course and drove me to Meadow Hill Farms for my hack. There was no one there, so I was alone. When I was almost done, I noticed a black car pull in the driveway. It slowly inched up the path at a snail’s pace, made a K-turn halfway up the long driveway and stopped in the middle facing the riding ring. I really felt uncomfortable being watched and shortened my ride.