Midnight Pass

By Candace Rice

Kali lost her father and then her twin brother when she was twelve, but there is something mystical about her unhappy life. Near her home is Midnight Pass linking two islands, a sandbar that has risen and then disappeared many times, but its rise and fall is far more significant than anyone knows. Forces of evil are combining to destroy humanity, and Kali must play her part in defeating them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Strict Publishing International
• Release date: Sep 14, 2010
• ISBN: 9780857791146

Candace Rice

Candace Rice grew up by the side of the deep blue waters and sparkling sands of Sarasota, Florida. She has a deep interest in history and myths, as well as in the mystical and magical forces of nature.

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MIDNIGHT PASS

by Candace Rice

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2010 Candace Rice

Published by Strict Publishing International

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

DEDICATION

For my father and his love of the sea. His family originally moved to Sarasota in 1935. After years of sharing his memories and stories of the beautiful beaches, untamed ranchlands, and marvelous fishing, he moved our family to Sarasota in 1967. Although we had a home on the mainland, his mother had lived on Midnight Pass Road on Siesta Key since the early1950s. From her cabana on Crescent Beach, we spent many summer afternoons walking to Point of Rocks and watching the fascinating variety of sea life captured in the clear pools left at low tide.

To my brother Jack and his penchant for history on Florida… allowing fanciful musings as a background to some stories.

To Bernadette, who brought me back to the island for a day in the sun, reminding me of the magnificent white sands and warm blue waters after so many years.

Note: Though the names of many of the locations are real, this is a work of fiction and not meant to depict any event, person, or group of people as a historical fact or representation.

Prelude

It was almost unbelievable.

Hurricane Donna had wrought destruction on the mainland, and yet here on Crescent Beach as Doris and Jonathan made their way to the southern tip and gingerly up towards Point of Rocks, there was no sign of it. There was no seaweed, no fish carcasses, or anything out of the ordinary on the white sands of the sunlit beach.

They should have evacuated, of course. They had taken a terrible risk by staying, even though everyone knew that hurricanes never directly hit Sarasota. Sure enough, Hurricane Donna ripped across the Everglades and skirted thirty miles to the east of them, having come in from the Atlantic side instead of pushing its spinning winds across the Gulf. Even so, the winds and torrents of rain were more ferocious than the newly married couple had expected, making the clean, sparkling beach all the more surprising.

Their wedding had taken place on the back lawn of the couples’ island home, and they could think of nowhere better to spend their honeymoon.

The powdered sand was cool on their feet, and the sun reflected as blinding light from the sands and water. They hoped to see some of the locals, to ask if anyone else had any comments on the strange shifting effect the hurricane had had on Midnight Pass.

It’ll close again. Jonathan kicked his bare foot through the sand while he thought about the inconvenience of traveling the length of the island to get his boat from the dock on the inlet at the back of their house to the Gulf. I swear, by the nineties, Siesta and Casey Key are going to be one long island.

Doris shaded her eyes and looked out onto the rocks. It’s strange the storms are powerful enough to open and close the Pass, but these ugly rocks always survive. With Jonathan holding her hand, she stepped up onto the limestone, and immediately drew her foot back to the sand. Ouch.

Jonathan studied the small cut on her foot, and frowned when he ran his palm over the rock, smoothed by years of tidal waves. There were no sharp edges that he could detect, and he asked, What the hell did you step on?

I don’t know, Doris replied irritably, studying a small slice that was closing rapidly over the sand on the bottom of her foot. But it’s already stopped bleeding. She looked down the length of jumbled rocks towards the water. They really should get these boulders out of here.

The god Hurakan had wreaked havoc around the world, slowly clenching his fist and harboring a great anger… but on the sacred sands of Zara Zote he continued to brush the crystal beaches with the cleansing waters of near misses from his fury. The ignorance of the new people angered the god, and Hurakan reluctantly accepted that the ancient tribe would not return to the shores. After a vicious storm that traveled the whole mainland in 1960, he let the sands of the Spiritual Pass slowly rise forever.

He stormed through the ethereal halls of the over and underworlds, and Hanub Ku, the highest god, tried to temper him. More and more the malevolent gods were siding with Hurakan, as the peoples of the land turned their backs on them. Balam, jaguar god who protected the people, growled a futile low warning.

Tepeu returned from his temple in the sky, after being summoned by the high god. He was questioned relentlessly as to his failure to watch over his creation of humanity, and when the waves finally settled after Hurakan’s tantrum in 1960, he kissed the drying quartz sands with his blessing. Hanub Ku frowned when Tepeu turned his back for an instant, whispering to Balam not to worry because the small grains of sand were waiting for the fertile mother who would deliver the people’s salvation.

Tepeu’s inattention to his creation gave Mam, the chaotic evil god of the underworld, time to poke his finger through the blessed crystals on the beach. Hanub Ku nodded when the vile god returned, accepting the challenge. The prospective mother would deliver the baby, but the woman herself would be corrupt, raising the child in ignorance and without comfort.

By the time Doris and Jonathan walked through the salt water and back to their car, Tepeu’s kissed quartz had sealed behind the completely healed wound on her foot, in accordance with Mam’s challenge… and by morning, Doris was pregnant.

CHAPTER I - 1973

Twelve-year-old Kali dashed down the sloping back lawn, with her white blonde braids flying behind her. While scrambling towards the dock she turned back to look at the sunroom, expecting to see her mother standing at the windows, frowning and shaking her head. June was murderously hot, and it caused the girl to have to squint through the burning mirages waving off the surface of the black grill on the patio behind the white stucco walls of the house. Her mom had not exactly told her she could not go out on the water… but then, Kali had not exactly asked her permission, either.

There was no sign of her yet, so Kali continued running on bare feet, toughened to leather from trudging on the crushed shell that was used as the surface for the driveway and paths around the house. The Florida crabgrass crawled along the surface of the yard leading to the small dock, with its ropey vines connecting the patches of thick rough blades and hard knots that dug into feet like knuckles. Even the sandspurs, dry and pinpricking sharp in the hot summer sun, could not penetrate the soles of the girl’s feet. Wait, Tommy… wait up, she called out. Kali finally reached the dock, just as he untied the line from the piling. Tommy, wait up, she panted, and her voice warbled slightly as her legs pumped down the weathered grayed planks.

Tommy grabbed onto the edge of the dock and watched his sister running down the short pier. Come on, Kali, we gotta’ hurry. His other hand was busy pulling on a thin rope that was tied to the splintered piling and disappeared beneath the dark green water. At last, the thin handle of the bait bucket was visible and it surfaced, cascading water down the rusting metal sides. He laid it in the boat just as Kali climbed aboard.

I told you I was coming, she complained, and she made her way to the plank that served as seating in the center of the thirteen-foot skiff. Kali threw her braids over her shoulders and tugged at the knots on her checkered midriff top.

Bracing his feet on the deck, Tommy shoved against the piling, sending them drifting away from the short pier. His hand wrapped around the wood handle, and after two quick yanks on the cord, the small outboard motor roared to life. While he guided the boat, Kali stared up at the house, wondering if they had managed to escape. She there, yet? Tommy asked. His face was determined as he focused on guiding them around the inlet.

Kali shook her head. Nope, not yet. The square bow of the boat was just turning around the mangroves that formed a small floating island blocking the view to the bay, when she saw her mother run to the backyard and raise her hands to her mouth. She was calling for them, but the words were lost over the