Even though the storm pushed them all over, Ihaan managed to make it to another island. It was much smaller and had fewer trees than the island on Red Squirrel Lake.
Ranger Kate could see a cave through them, including a small light.
Dempsey came ashore. He shook out his fur and peered over his shoulder at Ihaan and Kate.
They joined him, and Ranger Amelia immediately confronted them. “Well, well, well. You finally made it.” There she was, sitting on a small ledge in the pouring rain, with the leaf whistle over her neck.
Ihaan and Kate crawled out of the canoe and hopped onto the beach.
The second Ihaan put pressure on his right foot, he collapsed to his knees.
Clenching her teeth, Ranger Kate glanced at him and told Amelia, “You’re going to pay for what you did.”
“What did I do? You realize I hurt him for a reason, right?”
“Yeah! So you can scare him away from the provincial park!”
“Yes and no.”
“What are you talking about?”
What was she talking about? Ihaan’s head started hurting. He wanted to remember something but couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried.
“See? He wants to remember,” Amelia said to Kate. “You know who he is, but you’re too shy to say it out loud. This leaf whistle is mine until you two remember who you are.”
“Who are you?” Ranger Kate inquired.
With every passing second, Ihaan’s headache worsened. He felt like his head was splitting in two and grabbed it to stop that from happening.
A clap of thunder overtook the sky.
Ihaan’s deep brown eyes rolled over to one of the thwarts in his canoe.
The Spirit Animals joined him. They seemed to switch sides during the short time they were apart. Nevertheless, it seemed a few of them were still with him.
While a group of animals were with Amelia, a few more joined Ihaan and Kate on the beach.
They nodded at him and said at the same time, “Please, Ihaan. You need to remember how you died.”
How he died? Did that mean Ihaan, indeed, was a ghost?
Ranger Kate hated to see him in so much pain. Not only was Amelia torturing him physically, but also psychologically. She wanted to hurt her so badly, but that was impossible. Only a Spirit could hurt another Spirit. However, something happened there—something that forever changed her perspective of Ihaan and Amelia.
Amelia asked, “Sensei Kate, do you remember how your son died?”
“Why are you asking me this?”
“Because you know something he doesn’t.”
“Fine. My son died in a canoe accident on Red Squirrel Lake ten years ago.”
“What from?”
“He broke his ankle after it got caught in a thwart. Because of it, he couldn’t swim.”
“Why did you not try to save him?”
“Because he told me to.” A few tears ran down Kate’s cheeks as the memory entered her brain. She wanted to save her son, especially after hearing his pained screams when he broke his foot, but then remembered what he told her the day before.
“Mommy, the provincial park is my home. I want to play my music to the animals. That is the only way I’ll make the park a better place.”
***
Ranger Kate’s words triggered Ihaan’s memory. He saw the storm and a lone canoe with two figures sitting in it: a boy and his mom.
A great wave crashed down on it and caused his right ankle to become twisted in the front thwart. The boy splashed into Red Squirrel Lake’s chilly water but struggled to stay afloat with his injured ankle.
His mom paddled toward him, but he yelled, “No!” at her.
“Ihaan, please! I can’t let you die!” she cried out. “You’re all I have left.”
“It’s okay. I belong here. One of these days, we will find each other again,” Ihaan told her.
“But, Ihaan—”
“I love you, Mommy.”
And that was it. The current pulled Kate’s son underwater, and he was never seen nor heard from again.
ns 15.158.61.16da2
