Rogue's Bluff

By E. Bard

Could things get any worse for sixteen year old Colt Thompson? When his best friend turns up dead at the local swimming hole, Colt is thrown headlong into the mystery. Was it really just a horrible accident or something much worse? As fingers start pointing, and tongues start wagging more than a few eyes are looking at Colt. But he’s as clueless as the next guy. And he’s getting really tired of always shouldering the blame -real or imagined.

The secrets, lies and dangers hidden just below the surface of quiet little Schill Harbour are no strangers to Colt Thompson. More than ever, they’re making themselves known. So maybe now is the time for Colt to start a little digging on his own. And taking matters into his own hands!

This is the alternative version of Cape Ingénue for boys. It contains several new sections but the story is much the same. Cape Ingénue is the girl version.

• Language: English
• Publisher: E. Bard
• Release date: Nov 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9780987794222

E. Bard

About six years ago I began working on a few stories that I could customize for my children, their friends and a couple of relatives. I had it in mind that I could occasionally produce these customized paperbacks as a small, experimental business. It never fully took shape, but my children and the friends and parents who read the novels enjoyed them. They encouraged me. The books here are the original self published editions so I've priced them for a quick cheap read.Please feel free to leave your honest review. I would really like to know what you thought of the books. They're just meant to be enjoyed - they're not literature. So a great big thank you to all you readers out there who took the time to download them. And please remember... Your reviews will help me decide whether or not to turn these novels into series.Check out my website if you want info on the customized paperback versions. (Yes customizing these novels is still an option. It's just not a full throttle gig. Examples are shown on the website and blog).

Book preview

ROGUE’S BLUFF

E. Bard

Copyright © 2011 E. Bard

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Any use of currently existing people, places or events is for entirely fictional purposes and is entirely coincidental. This book is the alternative version of Cape Ingénue. It is the same story with more of the male main character’s perspective.

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 recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

CHAPTER ONE

Sometimes very few things can be as interesting or as thought provoking as the wonderful, mind-bending and extraordinary world of the fish. Yes, the fish. Sure, it seems pretty unlikely. In a great big universe full of fascinating things, a lot of people would scoff. Really, fish?

Yes. And if there was anyone that could testify to that, it was Colt Thompson.

How can that be? You might ask. Isn’t a fish just something people eat? You might argue. Isn’t it something we all look at for a few minutes, maybe just to ooh and aww at because it’s someone’s house decoration? Or maybe it’s something to catch (but not like a disease or anything)?

Well, sure. You might think that. That is until you have that up close and personal relationship with one. And, no, not one of those aquarium kind of relationships. Not one of those house decorations or smelly fillets on your plate relationships. Not one of those it’s my first pet so why is it floating upside down and not doing anything kind of relationships either.

It’s something more in the moment. Realistic. Three dimensional.

When you have that kind of relationship, it’s like you realize for the first time that you can actually interact with this strange, unique, and possibly terrifying creature, the fish. You can be part of its mysterious and extraordinary world. And it too can be curious and maybe interact with you.

Well, sort of.

For Colt Thompson, it was just that kind of introduction to the astounding world of fish that let him know just how fascinating and thought provoking that creature could be. In fact, it was so much so that years and years after Colt’s three dimensional, realistic and in the moment relationship with a fish, the young man continued to think about that fish periodically. And it was during times of extreme stress, really the darker moments of the young man’s life, that he would even dream about that fish.

At this point, you might wonder, just what kind of relationship could anyone have with a fish that would cause them to dream about that fish and think about that fish years after interacting with that fish?

The answer to that of course would probably be… not good. It might even be more along the lines of strange, unique and possibly terrifying. The terrifying part mostly being the result of physically experiencing that three dimensional participation in the world of the fish. Because that world can be cold. And dark. And completely without lots of air for you to breathe.

So it’s probably not a stretch to imagine that when Colt had his very first up close and personal relationship with a fish, it was terrifying. Considering he was only four at the time, you might even think, very terrifying.

You could probably imagine it. Being four year old Colt that is. Being a helpless little kid that accidentally falls off the end of a dock and is dragged by sodden clothes and heavy shoes to the bottom of a very murky watery world. If you weren’t so shocked by your abrupt change in circumstances, you might panic. But not if you were Colt.

No, Colt didn’t panic. Maybe it was because he was only four and still hadn’t fully realized he was completely submerged. Maybe he was too stunned. Or maybe he was just lucky. Lucky that someone had seen him fall into the water. Lucky that someone rescued him quickly enough that he was only left with the one frightening encounter with the FISH.

In reality, it had been a very short encounter.

But at the present moment, Colt wasn’t in reality. He was currently lost somewhere in his subconscious mind, reliving an alternate version of that reality. It was the kind of alternate version of that reality that can only be created by years and years of imagination being inflicted on it. Imagination that can create an absurd situation or rather, a panic induced nightmare.

And Colt was experiencing that now.

He was staring down the FISH again. Only this time, he was his sixteen year old self, alternately dissociated from his situation and floating around like an observer, and then trapped again in his four year old self staring at the FISH. The only real problem in this particular dream was that the fish was now the size of his head. And it was growing.

So you can probably imagine how this would be considered a nightmare. After all, everything is pretty dim and shadowy. You can hardly move because you’re surrounded by water. There’s that FISH. And it’s about to interact with you.

But then you realize, almost as an afterthought because that’s the way things occur to you in this kind of dream, that this might in fact be a dream. It’s only a fish. It’s not like it can wrap slimy tentacles around you. Really. Besides, if you think about it, the only way the fish can interact with you or display its curiosity about you is to use its blubby little mouth.

Unfortunately that can be surprisingly unpleasant. Particularly when you realize it has teeth.

And for some reason, those teeth are much larger than you remember. Much, much larger.

You can’t really blame the fish though. That’s what you think as you try not to start panicking again. It’s not like the fish has hands or anything. It’s not like it can talk to you. And really, if you’re in that three dimensional situation, floating around when you’re trying to stay put, it’s not like you could talk to it either.

So you just kind of stare. It’s not like there’s anything else you can do. You are trapped in this dream, so you might as well get a good look. After all it’s probably the closest thing to an alien you’ll ever meet.

Once you’ve calmed down, it’s really not so bad. Sometimes the fish just looks kind of roundish and shadowy with funny bulging eyes and fluttery little fins on the side. In a way, it really is almost cute. At least until it swims up to you with its not so little mouth pointed at your face and it starts making blub blubs at you.

Not very cute blub blubs you observe. It’s way too toothy for that.

So up until then it’s all getting pretty interesting and you are pretty curious. Because you can hardly see the details of that smallish, then largish thing in the murky water – what with the biting cold making it hard to keep your eyes open and all.

Then you discover that you need something like that fish to focus on.

Because if you don’t, you’ll probably just start to think about air again. And maybe you’ll start to think about those teeth again. And panic. There’s always panic to think about.

So you distract yourself again with those really cool looking multicoloured bubbles that all of a sudden seem to be…

But there’s that FISH again. And as you’re trying to concentrate on the shadowy kind of cuteness of the swimming thing, wondering about its motives and why it seems to be just as curious about you as you are about it, you realize that toothy sort of little mouth is coming right at you. Only that mouth really isn’t so little this time. And somehow the FISH is now even bigger than your head.

In fact it’s kind of flattened out a little and grown a large razor sharp fin on its head and sprouted two long sharp fins from its sides.

So maybe that part isn’t so cute.

And then you notice it has kind of sharp looking not very little teeth in such a wide smile that it could shame a whole river full of crocodiles. Luckily only your forehead is the first thing to find that out. You feel that tooth right between your eyes. And it’s emphasized by those painfully frigid temperatures.

Hmmm.

Strange. You were sure that mouth and those teeth could have bitten a much larger part of your head, if not your entire head.

You’re slightly relieved because it could have been much worse.

Ah, dreams.

Unfortunately, that sharp little nip just makes you almost…

It was just one of those random thoughts. Well, one of those recurrent random thoughts maybe. In fact, every time Colt had that dream, he had that same thought. It was always the last thought before he woke up.

With a gasp.

Colt lifted his head and blinked. He felt his cheek peel away from his forearm and heard a tiny clinking noise. He blinked again. The end of his fork, the one that had been stuck to his forehead, dropped onto the table. Luckily it wasn’t the prong end that had stuck him between the eyes.

Taking a second to re-focus, Colt sat up. He hadn’t had that dream in a couple of months. More noticeably, it hadn’t been that big a shark the past few times either. So the stress must really have been getting to him.

’Bout time you woke up. If you let that microwave keep beeping like that I would have had to eat your dinner.

At the sound of his uncle’s voice, Colt swivelled his head in the direction of the voice. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at his uncle. Well, uncle was how Colt referred to him. But Colt wasn’t so sure it was the right designation. He’d just always thought of him that way. In reality he was a cousin or second cousin of his father’s or something. Maybe he was an even more distant relative.

And business associate.

Here it is, his uncle said leaning over the table. He slid the crusty plastic tray under Colt’s nose. I think it’s still a bit warm. But you’ll have to hurry. You’ve slept off most of your dinner break.

Thanks, Colt said.

The boy looked up again to see his uncle staring down at him. The concern in the man’s eyes looked almost genuine.

Well, Colt thought. Will miracles never cease?

You should think about quitting and come to work for me. Your community payback must be done by now.

Colt rubbed his face again.

Better hours. Looks like you could use it. His uncle continued.

Yeah. Maybe. Colt replied.

Not in a million years.

But I’ve got another week or two. Can’t remember exactly.

Hmm, the man said grimly as he headed out the kitchen. You might not last that long.

Colt almost had to agree. He couldn’t go on much longer like this. Something had to change pretty soon. Crap, he was even falling asleep at the dinner table on break!

The boy looked down at his dinner tray. It was way too small but it smelled okay. And at least it wasn’t fish.

Digging into his food, it was easy for Colt to shake off the last part of his dream. He needed to.

Even after all these years, that nightmare was still trying to cling to him. The funny thing was, even though he had only been four at the time, he dreamed of the accident like it was happening to him now. Like it was happening to sixteen year old Colt.

Weird.

The boy wondered why, after all this time, he still had the dream. At least it wasn’t as terrifying as it used to be. For years the dream had been a vivid re-enactment of what happened to him.

He’d been on vacation at some beach somewhere. It was sunny and loud. The whole family was there. They were supposed to go swimming and maybe boating. But then, like any little kid, Colt got distracted. For some reason he was running. Next thing he knew he had just run straight off the end of the pier without even thinking about it. Maybe he was chasing something and …

It didn’t really matter. He’d hit the water and gone straight to the bottom. At least he’d remembered to hold his breath. It was strange how quickly he’d lost the shock. He could open his eyes under the water, but he couldn’t move very well. His clothing was just too heavy.

And he really did see that fish.

It had even bitten him. Just nobody believed that part. They said he’d splashed too much. He would have scared all the fish away. Even a little dogfish. His father concluded that Colt must have just bumped something on the way down and gotten a scratch. Because that kind of thing usually happened to Colt.

Luckily, his father had jumped in only a couple of seconds later. He’d pulled Colt out almost right away – but not before the boy had a lungful.

After that he’d dreamed about it whenever he was stressed out. Only thing was, in the past couple of months the dream was happening to him at whatever age he was when he was having the dream. Even with his current age’s perspective it could be terrifying. Other times it was weirdly interesting. Until he had to breathe.

Then it was just like he remembered.

Crumpling his empty tray and downing the last of his now warm milk from the carton, Colt mentally pulled himself together for work. He didn’t want to go back. And he hated these early dinners because he still had to work all the way to eleven.

On his way to the front door he nearly collided with his uncle.

We’re busy with meetings tonight, the man said. So the later you’re back from work, the better.

Hmm, the boy muttered. What?

It was a good thing Colt was still feeling pretty tired. He’d never get to work on time if he started in with his uncle by snapping off a typical smart remark. But what the heck was his uncle doing telling him to be back late when he’d only just expressed concern over his nephew’s exhaustion? Friggin’ crazy relatives!

Instead, Colt just asked his uncle about his father. It was really more of an after thought, just something to help him avoid saying anything he really wanted to. Besides, Colt hadn’t seen his dad since Thursday.

Good one, Hale said gruffly. Got a call just before you got home. Forgot to tell you. He’s in the tank again. But don’t worry. Dan will pick him up in the morning.

Figures. So how can you have the meetings without Dad?

Priorities. Business first you know. Your father can get filled in later. Then after a pause he added, Like the last few times.

Yeah, Colt said sharply as he headed out into the bright sunshine. He was quick enough to hide his scowl.

So now the family business meetings didn’t have to include him or his father. Imagine that.

If you took up my offer, I could fill you in later as well.

Without rising to snag the bait, Colt kept moving farther away into the warmth.

Feeling the hot sunlight burn away some of his irritation, the boy made a last second detour. He could spare another minute or two more before heading back to work.

***

Perfect was exactly how the afternoon had started. And this perfect a Saturday was rare. The kind that Sandrin and her friends would take to full advantage.

Standing in the golden filtered sunlight of autumn, Sandrin Hawkes stood and listened to her heartbeat. The steady patter kept her company and led the beat to the music she was listening to in her head. But she could still hear the rustle of the dried gold and russet leaves and the distant roar of the waterfall through it. For some reason it was something that she couldn’t quite block out. She closed her eyes, felt the sun on her lids and cranked up the music on her iPod. It was too bad the charge was dying. If she was lucky, she might get another full song out of it.

The waterfall, actually two small waterfalls that fed into a much larger, dramatic fall, was part of a very innocuous looking stream. It gurgled gently as it emerged from the forest to meet the road. The stream was slow and calm down by the road as it slipped lazily under the cracked paved surface of the culvert. Few people would have guessed that only a short distance away, the water had carved its way through the shear rock faces of the hilly land.

Sandrin and her friends knew about it, along with most of the kids in town. They had spent several late afternoons there, splashing around in one of the turbulent pools to cool off after work, meeting friends and keeping the searing heat of summer at bay.

But just then, the music in her head failed her. Her calm exterior might go next.

She knew she was going to have to walk back to the edge of the cliff and peer down into the pool again. She couldn’t stop herself. She felt like she owed it to someone. Did she owe it to herself? Did she owe it to him?

Each time she had moved back onto the path leading away from the cliff, or hid in the comfort of the trees, it seemed unreal. If she stepped into the sunlight, bright enough to bring tears to her hazel eyes and warm her chestnut locks, she could believe it wasn’t real.

It was like he really wasn’t down there. It was as if she had imagined the whole thing and was just waiting for her friends to return from the car because they forgot something. She could almost convince herself of that.

Slowly, Sandrin took a step. She was going to have to look again; if only to remind herself that it really was true. Composure wasn’t everything.

Her feet crunched on some dry leaves as Sandrin edged forward. In places the ground was slippery and she skidded a little. Sandrin drew a quick breath and stopped. She was going to have to be more careful. Sandrin rested a hand on the papery bark of a yellow birch, feeling the smoothness of the freshly peeled section beneath her fingers.

The sound of the waterfall was much louder here.

Now concentrating more on her footing, Sandrin reached forward with her hands almost subconsciously, connecting with trees as she made her way along. Here the ground dipped toward the rocky vertical descent to the pool, and the going became a little tricky.

With a solid grasp on the tree to her left, one foot on the roots and the other on a sharp jut of rock, Sandrin stared straight ahead at the grey rock wall facing her from the other side of the waterfall pool. She took a deep breath before looking down.

Peeking over the edge, Sandrin could see the jagged rocks, the frayed rope they all used to make their way down to the pool. She looked at the pool, at the rolling frothing water just below the fall, at the cold, scooped out rock basin. She scanned the calmer edges of the pool, the smooth rocks perfect for stretching out on. Then slowly she let her eyes move to the other gravely surfaces surrounding the water, barely touched by the oddly gentle ripples that had lost all their vigour by the time they reached the pool’s extremities.

Sandrin and her friends had set their towels there dozens of times like countless teenagers before them. Only there weren’t any towels there now. There was something else.

There was Kevin.

Sandrin looked at Kevin, floating face down at the far end of the pool. Almost like someone in a dream, Sandrin took it in. Without even knowing it, the girl was looking for signs. Signs of anything. A struggle? An accident? How could he be there?

If she was more confident in her ability to climb, she would have scrambled her way down to the pool. She could have pulled him out. She could have... what?

From where she was, Sandrin could tell, as could her friends, that the boy had been like that for a while. The parts of his arms that extended from his jacket sleeves were the colour of the rocks. Even though she couldn’t make out the details that were possible if she was up close, she could still see that his skin had an unnatural rubbery quality to it. But maybe that was her imagination. Still, the boy had probably been in the pond all night.

If she wasn’t so in shock, and occupying her mind with details, Sandrin knew she would have cried.

She had been the first to see Kevin’s lifeless form in the water. She had been looking at the rope, the only safe way down to the pool, when she realized the bottom half of the rope was gone. When she saw the rope in the water, she saw him. Kevin. And time stopped.

***

Standing on the edge of the precipice, feeling the warm salty air against his face was exactly what Colt needed. Because going back to work right now made him feel like he was about to lose it.

He just had to breathe for a while.

Lately his schedule had just been too crazy. All he did these days was eat, sleep, work and school. Well maybe not school all that much. Besides, the days he bothered to go to school were more like a holiday. A holiday from his life.

And he couldn’t really count sleep either. He barely ever got enough of that. Not with all the extra hours he was putting in, all the stuff that had been happening with his dad and step mom, his uncles… No, he hadn’t come anywhere close to enough sleep.

And that just made him think of food. Well, if you could call all those pre-packaged frozen edible alternatives food. He never really got enough of those.

This pretty much left him with work. Yes, there was always plenty of that. He’d had to cut school for that.

He’d put in all those extra hours at the quarry because the weather was good. They’d been working around the clock every day they could. And even when the weather wasn’t good, there were all those preparations for flooding or high winds.

Besides, the more hours he could put in now meant his work term would be up faster. Once it was finished he was free and clear. He could walk away. If he really wanted to.

But his work term, community service, payback to society… whatever it was supposed to be called was almost up anyway. And if he could just hold on, delay everything else that was going on at home right now, just long enough, he would have time to think.

Then he could figure out what to do. He could concentrate on tying up all those loose ends, filling up all those holes in his plans. He could fix things once and for all. Fix everything.

And he wouldn’t need to involve his friends.

Heck, he barely had time to see his friends anyway.

But he’d already asked his friends for help. They were involved. Because he just didn’t have a choice.

Still, he could have kicked himself. He should never have asked them. It wasn’t like him to involve anyone else.

More than anything Colt wished his dad would just snap out of it. If he needed help from anyone, it was his dad. He really needed his dad for this.

Dwelling on that now when what he really needed to do was clear his head wasn’t going to help him any. He scuffed his shoes on some loose pebbles he sent flying over the cliff’s edge.

He, Colt, needed to snap out of it. He needed to handle things himself. Like always.

Colt knew that what he really needed to do now was to keep tabs on his family. Whether he had the time or not. Particularly, now that his dad was, well, out of it most of the time.

There was no way around it. He was just going to have to cut back on sleep even more, make use of every break he had.

There was just no one else. It would be too dangerous to involve anyone else. His friends had done enough, really more than enough for him lately. And it was time to make sure that they got out before anything bad happened.

But there was one thing he had to do as soon as he was finished work. He had to find out about tonight’s meeting. Colt had to find out exactly what his family was up to. Then he could work on the plan.

Crap, Colt thought. He still needed to involve his friends for that. He’d need all of them. Em, Kev, Brogan. Yes, if they all helped, it would get done. Tonight maybe.

Yes. He could get it done tonight. If they all helped. Just one more time.

***

It’s this way, Wren’s voice broke through Sandrin’s thoughts. We go off the path here.

Sandrin could hear the noise of several people approaching. She called out to them, but her voice cracked. Her over here