Since Mrs. Dunn was adamant about McKenna not going to the cemetery, the girls could not take the car. The lie they spun forced them to hike. They didn't mind. It would only add to the adventure.

They reached the cemetery before noon. It was substantial in size, the iron fence that surrounded it rusting with age. The gate at the entrance hung open on hinges that had long ago oxidized and were now the color orange. Many of the smaller headstones had fallen over and lay half-buried in the grass and mud.

They arrived at the entrance and stopped at the weather-beaten sign. The letters on the old sign read H ll s  e C m t  ry.

"This is it?" McKenna exclaimed, disappointment settling over her. "It's just an old graveyard. There are a million of these old graveyards in this state."

"Oh, McKenna," Kelly laughed. "Don't exaggerate. But there's somewhere else I want to go first.”

McKenna shrugged. She followed Kelly past the gates of the cemetery. They walked until the road dead-ended into the other side of the lake.

“I've never been to this area before." McKenna squinted her eyes as the sun bounced off the water. “It’s beautiful. Why would they not finish the road? Someone could drive right into the water if they weren’t paying attention.”

"The road is finished. It used to go all the way across until the flood," Kelly said, her eyes studying McKenna. "And people have driven into the lake, either drunk or on drugs. There’ve been quite a few drownings, too. Sometimes, it gets pitch black out here. That’s one of the reasons it’s closed off now."

McKenna shivered. Drowning, what a horrible way to die. She shivered again.

"People used to swim and dock their boats here. There were houses here, too. When the flood happened, it covered everything. There's nothing but old houses and tree stumps under the water. I guess there's a real old one-room schoolhouse too. You can't swim here anymore, too much damage. The boats can't get close to this dock either, without tearing up the bottoms. Now they dock over by the dam. This area got closed off when they moved the cemetery."

"They moved the cemetery?" McKenna echoed, her eyes growing wide in her face.

"They had to," Kelly answered. "It flooded, too. I guess it was bad. They had to move over four-hundred graves. I heard bodies were floating up to the top of the water."

"Oh," she whispered. "How horrible."

"Yea, but that was a long time ago,” Kelly said. “I think it was back in the ‘40s. The Army Corps of Engineers did it. They had to move the graves farther up the hill.” She cocked her head toward the road. “That’s where the cemetery is now.”

“How do you know so much about it?” McKenna asked.

Kelly shrugged. “My dad’s a local history buff. He knows all about the lake. Did you know it was named Mosquito Lake because at one time it was just a creek, and there were so many mosquitos, they would eat you alive, given a chance.” She laughed then pulled McKenna by her arm. "That’s enough gruesomeness for one day. Come on, let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

Raven wanted to have their picnic in the cemetery, against McKenna’s wishes, so they found a spot devoid of graves under a large Elm.

McKenna had no appetite after hearing about the flood and the bodies. She still felt horrified and sick to her stomach. She didn't touch her lunch, sitting quietly while her friends chattered about their hair, makeup, and boys. Once they finished, her friends wanted to play a game they had created when they were younger. They used to call it The Headstone Game. They looked for their own last names on old headstones in the old cemeteries that surrounded their town. Now they just called it Searching for Names. It was a game McKenna always hated, but she played along to satisfy her friends.

***

"I found a Wilson!" Layla screamed from across the cemetery. "1941!"

"Ha, I found a... hey, come here, guys,” Layla shouted. “Check this name out!”

McKenna didn’t want to see it. She was starting to hate this cemetery.

"Damn," Raven swore, staring down at the headstone. “I’ll just bet she got teased a lot in school.”

"How do you know it's a girl?" Layla punched her softly in the shoulder. "Jan could be a guy, you know."

“No way. Jan is a female name. It’s short for Janet. And don’t punch me again, Layla,” Raven rubbed her shoulder. “That hurt.”

“That could be her husband next to her. I knew a Jan once that was a guy,” Layla argued. “And I didn’t punch you that hard.”

“It’s not a husband. Look at the dates of death. Jan was in his 60’s. The other person was only 20 years old. And you did punch me that hard.” Raven punched Layla in the shoulder to pay her back.

"What's wrong, Kenny?" Kelly suddenly asked. "You've gotten awfully quiet."

McKenna refused to look at the headstones. The thought of them being underwater tormented her. She shivered suddenly when another thought invaded her mind. "Do you think they moved all of the bodies?" She suddenly had a horrible feeling, close to panic. "Oh, God, Kel, you don't think some of them are still at the bottom of the lake, do you? What if they missed some or forgot some. Oh, those poor people!"

"Oh my God, Kenny, please stop!" Layla cried. "You're going to ruin this wonderful day!"

"Shut up, Layla," Kelly said through clenched teeth. Then to McKenna, she said, "I'm pretty sure they moved all the bodies. Isn't there some kind of law about that?"

"But four hundred bodies. How could they possibly?"

"I don't know. They probably used cranes or backhoes or whatever those machines are called. Kenny, you have to stop thinking this way."

"I can't help it. I just feel so..."

Now even Kelly sighed helplessly. "I had no idea this would upset you. I wouldn't have brought you here otherwise. I thought it would be fun."

"It's been fun, kind of," McKenna said without much conviction.

"Sure," Kelly said dryly. "I can tell. Let's get out of here. Let's go swimming."

Grudgingly, the other girls followed them. 

By the time they made it back to camp, it was past five o’clock, and Mrs. Dunn had everything ready for the evening meal.

"You girls have to eat," she insisted when Kelly told her they were going for a swim. "Then you have to wait an hour to digest. It might be too dark by then. I don't think swimming is such a good idea right now."

"Ah, Mrs. Dunn, you're killing me," Raven said. "I'm all hot and sweaty from the hike. I need to get into some nice cool water."

"The showers in the clubhouse have very cool water," Mrs. Dunn replied, then turned to help serve the others.

"Damn," Raven groaned. "I wanted to swim."

"We can swim first thing tomorrow," McKenna promised. "We'll have all day. I don't think there's anywhere else to go, is there?"

"Nope," Kelly replied. "We're staying right here. And Kenny's right. We'll have all day. Right now, I'm famished. And I'm ready to drop. If I tried to swim right now, I'd probably drown."

McKenna stared at her. “What about the…” she started to say before Layla jumped in.

“Oh, no,” Layla grimaced. “There she goes again.”

 “Stop it, Kenny,” Kelly whispered. “You can’t let your mother know we went to the cemetery.”

"I'm sorry, guys. I just don't know what's wrong with me. Let's go eat. Then you guys can scare me to death with more of your morbid tales. I'm sure that will cheer me up."

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