She's Up to No Good(101)

“If you’d called the station, we could have come out with a megaphone,” Tony grumbled.

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda. It’ll be fine.” Tony got as close as he could and turned off the engine as instructed. Evelyn stood and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Anyone need a ride home?”

“Mom!” Anna screamed, and Evelyn felt a pang in her chest at the fear in her daughter’s voice.

“You need to jump.”

Anna shook her head.

“You can do this.”

“I can’t.”

Tony touched Evelyn’s arm. “We’ll pull the boat around the other side. I’ll go get her.”

“Sofia’s on the ledge.”

“Sofia can jump.”

Evelyn shook her head. “I have to go up.”

“No.”

“Tony, she doesn’t know you. She’s scared. And she needs to do this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with climbing down the other side.”

“I’m not raising a coward. Besides, you’ve seen me drive a car. Do you want me trying to steer a boat?”

He ducked his head to hide his smile. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”

She gave him the old look, and, for a moment, they were eighteen again, together and free. “You told me once you thought I could fly. We’re about to see if you were right.” She called up to her daughter and told her to stay put. “I’m coming up.”

Tony drove the boat to the cove on the other side. Evelyn pulled off her caftan, then hopped out in the shallows and waded ashore to begin the climb to the top. “I’ll see you on the other side,” she called over her shoulder.

But Tony waited until she reached the top before he returned to the girls.

It wasn’t an easy climb, especially in sandals. But Evelyn made it, then climbed down the castle’s stairs, calling to her daughter, who wrapped herself around her waist, burying her tear-streaked face in Evelyn’s swimsuit.

“Hey now.” Evelyn stroked her hair. “What kind of adventure ends in tears?”

“It’s my fault we missed the tide. Sofia jumped down and I got scared.”

“Well, let’s fix that now.”

Anna looked up at her mother. “Mom, no.”

“Yes.”

“I can’t.”

“You can. And you will.”

The tears started to flow again. “I’m not brave like you are.”

Evelyn cupped her daughter’s chin in her hand, turning her face up to look at her. “I’m scared of things every day. But you have to make a choice: Do you let fear win, or do you go out there and look it in the eye and say, ‘You will not defeat me today’?”

She dropped her hand, then went to the edge, sat, and hopped down. “Come on.” She held out a hand to Anna. “We do this together.”

Anna looked unsure, but she followed her mother’s example, sitting, then taking Evelyn’s hand and jumping down onto the ledge.

Evelyn peered over the edge. Tony was in the boat, waiting.

“Whose boat is that?” Sofia asked.

“It’s a long story.” Anna still looked frightened. “Sofia, darling, show us how it’s done.”

Sofia turned to look at Anna. “You’re okay?”

“She’s fine. Unless you’re afraid?”

Sofia scowled at Evelyn as only a twelve-year-old girl can. “I’ll see you down there,” she said to Anna. And then she took a running jump.

Anna dashed to the edge and watched her friend fall. She hit the water feet first and surfaced a moment later. Her head bobbed as she got her bearings, then she swam to the boat. Tony pulled her in and hugged her tightly before smacking her gently on the head. She wriggled out of his grip and gestured up to Anna, yelling something indecipherable.

“It’s time to go,” Evelyn said firmly, taking Anna’s hand. “We take a deep breath, run, and jump. Stay vertical, hit the water feet first, then swim up.”

“You won’t let go?”

“Not unless you do.”

Anna looked at her mother and nodded once.

“Deep breath,” Evelyn said. “We go on three. One. Two. Three.”

The two ran in unison, leaping off the cliff, hands together as they fell through the air.

Anna surfaced first, sputtering, looking for her mother, whose hand she lost when they hit the water.

Evelyn didn’t appear.

“Mom!” Anna screamed.

Tony scanned the water for her, then, with no hesitation, dove into the ocean, swimming with a strong stroke toward Anna, who thrashed, looking around panicked.

“What are you two doing all the way over there?” Evelyn called, her foot on the rung of the boat’s ladder.

“Mom!”

“Come on, darling. I haven’t got all day, you know.”

Tony shook his head. “You are the absolute worst thing that ever happened to me, you know that?”

“I make life more interesting.”

He turned to Anna, who seemed dazed. “Are you okay to swim?” She nodded and started toward the boat. Once she was in, he pulled himself up the ladder and stripped off his soaked uniform shirt, shoes, and belt. “You may owe me a new gun,” he said to Evelyn.