Home > Forever Glimmer Creek

Forever Glimmer Creek
Author: Stacy Hackney

 

CHAPTER ONE

 


Rosie Flynn raced toward the figure across River Bend Park, trampling the orphaned leaves along the path. She recognized that particular hitch in the step and the halo of marigold curls. Even better, she spied the bulky tote bag underneath her arm.

Rosie skidded to a stop beside a tree that twisted and turned upward like ropes of licorice, her stomach fluttering. Please, please, please let the bag be for me.

Betsy Broome held out the bag. “I’ve brought you some—”

“Rope!” Rosie reached for the tote in Betsy’s arms and opened it to reveal a neat coil, the perfect length to loop around a tree. It was the same rope she’d forgotten at home, which wasn’t a surprise. After all, Betsy usually remembered what someone forgot—ever since her Miracle.

“Thank you! I’m filming my biggest scene right now, and this rope is crucial for establishing my lead’s motivation,” Rosie said, beaming at Betsy.

“I saw it on your front porch and knew I had to bring it here right away. I would never have guessed it was for one of your movies though,” Betsy said.

“You’re a lifesaver. Want to come see the set?” Rosie looked up as a breeze tickled her arm. Puffs of clouds slid across the sky and from behind the trees, silver-tipped water glinted on the horizon. It was a perfect day for filming.

Betsy looked down at her watch, her wrists jangling with gold bracelets. “Can’t. I’m late to senior choir. I missed half our practice last week because I was returning a ring to Miss Matilda. My choir teacher said he’s going to take away my solo if I can’t make it to practice on time.”

Rosie gave Betsy a quick hug. “Thanks for bringing the rope. Sorry I made you late.”

Betsy flashed a smile. “I’m used to it. Good luck with filming.”

Rosie skipped back across the park, swinging the rope above her head in triumph. “You’ll never believe it,” she called out. “Betsy brought us the rope, so now we can film the scene.”

Henry Thompson’s pale hair stuck up around his head in at least four places, and his skinny shoulders hunched over his chest. The script called for him to climb ten feet to the top of a tree limb and shimmy down the rope in a dashing, adventurer-like manner. Instead, he was pacing the ground and muttering something about unsafe working conditions.

Rosie sighed. Actors were so dramatic.

“Maybe I can wear a helmet. At least then I’d have some protection against skull fractures. You know head injuries can cause subdural hematomas, right?” Henry knotted his hands together. “Think about Betsy. She was selling peanuts to raise money for new band uniforms when she fell off the Landon High bleachers. A Miracle was the only thing that saved her from permanent amnesia.”

“You’re not going to fall,” Rosie said.

“I’ve already got an anxiety rash.” Henry thrust out his freckled arm.

Rosie tried to be patient. She gave Henry an encouraging smile.

“Henry, on our best friendship, I need your help. Sheriff Parker could show up at any minute, and he’ll tell us to stop filming because I don’t have a permit. How am I going to win an Academy Award someday if I never practice directing?”

Henry hesitated and then expelled a long breath. “Fine. I’ll do it. But you owe me.”

“You have my blood vow,” Rosie said in a dramatic voice.

Henry looked alarmed. “There’s no need for blood.”

Arms crossed and black braids quivering, Cam Abbott stomped over from the sidewalk. A cyclone of dust swirled around her feet. “Please tell me this is almost over. I have soccer practice in twenty minutes. Leila says we’ve got to improve our ball control.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll finish in fifteen,” Rosie said. She watched Henry attempt to swing a leg over the lowest limb, lose his balance, and tip over. Maybe she and Cam could somehow throw him onto the first branch like a professional stuntman.

Cam peered at the base of the tree and pointed to a notch in the trunk. “If you stick one foot there, you can hoist yourself onto the first branch. It’s like when we went to that ropes course for my birthday last year.”

“It took me a half hour longer than everyone else to finish,” Henry mumbled.

“But the instructor said you were the most careful person he’d ever seen,” Cam said brightly.

Rosie was pretty sure the instructor hadn’t meant it as a compliment. Still, Henry beamed at the memory.

“That’s true. Okay, I’m ready.” Huffing out a breath, Henry used the notch to anchor his right foot and clamber onto the lowest branch.

Rosie gave Cam a little bow. “Great save. Now we’re finally getting somewhere. This could be our best film yet.” She hurried over to where she’d set up the tripod and camcorder.

“You told me last month’s film was the best one yet when you made me dress up in that green monster suit,” Cam said, following behind Rosie.

“And I will never forget how convincing you were as a swamp monster,” Rosie added.

“Neither will Sheriff Parker,” Cam said darkly.

“Sheriff Parker shouldn’t have shut down our production because we scared a few kids. I’ve had to put the filming of Monster Town: A Most Frightening Epidemic on hold indefinitely. It was my homage to King Kong and The Bride of Frankenstein and all the old horror movies of the 1930s, and he ruined it.”

“Well, we can’t get caught this time. Dad said he was going to wake me up at five a.m. to run laps if I got in trouble with the sheriff again. He’s started calling himself SDA—Strictest Dad in America.” Cam rolled her eyes, but her lips curved up at the same time.

Rosie stopped adjusting the camcorder and swallowed hard. Longing unfurled inside her and rose like smoke off a summer campfire. “You’re lucky. I’d take an SDA over nothing.”

Cam grabbed Rosie’s arm and squeezed it tight. “You’ll meet him someday. I know it.”

Rosie managed a small smile and bent back to her camera lens. An image of her father flickered in her mind: tall and handsome with blue eyes crinkled in laughter. She imagined him swinging her around in a circle as the sun set behind them and painted the sky a brilliant shade of tangerine. Panning the scene in a slow sweep, she saw matching smiles on their faces and the hint of a breeze ruffling their hair. Nodding to herself, she straightened and ignored the ache in her chest. Of course Cam was right. She would meet her father someday.

“Come on,” Rosie said, handing Cam the voice recorder. “Let’s get this scene filmed before Henry chickens out.”

“Having a little trouble with your friend there?” Charlie Blue asked. All three Blue brothers had wandered over. They leaned on identical ivory canes and gazed upward at Henry, their matching blue eyes squinting.

“We have it totally under control,” Rosie huffed, using her best professional director voice.

“I don’t know about totally,” Cam said.

“Branch doesn’t look too steady,” Arthur added.

“Reminds me of the mast on the Blue Dolphin,” Bill chimed in.

“That mast tore right off in the wind,” Arthur said. “We shouldn’t have dared each other to take the Blue Dolphin out in that hurricane.”

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)
» The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash #4)