Seventh Installment
Deborah’s heart sank. The dream of swimming free at Concord Lake was dashed, but she felt, after all the distress she had caused, that she owed it to her sister and everyone else to acquiesce. So, she promised, relieved that Meredith had not been angrier. The conversation ended with a silent hug, but the inner turmoil, for herself and, she suspected, for Meredith, would continue.
Swimming back and forth along the shoreline, with everyone watching her like a hawk, had no appeal whatsoever, but she decided to take one last swim before the vacation ended. She had heard that Alex lost his favorite T-shirt in his brief attempt to swim to her rescue. When he tore it off and flung it toward the dock, it had been carried by the wind and sucked under by the waves. All attempts to find it had failed. It was black and had sunk out of sight to the mucky bottom of the lake.
But Deborah wasn’t ready to give up. No one else had goggles. Hers might give her a better chance. Without telling anyone what she was doing, she donned her bathing suit, lime green cap, and Speedo goggles and waded out into the lake. The sun sparkled on the gentle waves, relaxed voices echoed from the cabin porch, and Jiffy sat alert beside Roxy’s chair at the tip of the dock. She paddled around for a few minutes and then began diving beneath the surface, going as deep as she could and staying under as long as she dared. She interspersed the dives with gentle stroking, checked to see if Roxy looked comfortable, and then dived again. It took fifteen minutes until she saw something out of place in the mud—a wrinkle, not a stick or a rock. When her pale hand reached through the murky water and clutched it, it came away from the bottom in a cloud of muck. She swam slowly to the dock and held the balled-up shirt before Roxy, smiling and placing a dripping finger on her closed lips. Roxy grinned.
Deborah rinsed out the shirt in the shallow water near the shore and held it up as she walked toward the porch. Alex stood as she approached. At first, he looked puzzled, but then recognition spread across his face. He said nothing, but reaching for the shirt, he wrung it tightly and walked silently to the clothesline. Meredith smiled, Tony looked sideways at Jason, who was playing games on his iPad, and Trisha got up to join Alex at the clothesline.
Deborah, also smiling, returned to the water to float on her back in the shallows, looking up at the deep blue sky and puffy white clouds.
The End
With All Due Respect 