Last Light (37 page)

While she waited for Doug to get home, she sent Jeff to get Deni from Chris’s.

He came back without her. “Mom, she wasn’t there. Chris said she hasn’t seen her since church this morning.”

Kay looked up at her son standing in the doorway. “Do you think she came in and we didn’t see her?”

“Got me. All I know is she didn’t go where she said she was going.”

It was the way of her children, to always call it to her attention when another of them disobeyed. They were legalistic when their siblings disobeyed, but expected grace and mercy when they were caught themselves.

Kay sighed. “I’ll see if she’s in her room. Maybe she came in and took a nap. Go tell Beth and Logan to wash up for dinner.”

Jeff came in and looked over her shoulder at the meager offerings. “That’s all we get?”

“That’s all we have.” She should be grateful for the provision. Yesterday, she’d wondered how they’d make it through today. Somehow they had. But it seemed they were always hungry, and the gnawing feeling of emptiness grew worse every day.

She left the food on the counter and went upstairs. Deni’s door was closed, so Kay knocked, waited. No answer. She opened the door and stepped into the dark room.

Deni wasn’t there. Her bed was made up, probably for the first time since she’d been home, and the room was unusually clean.

Something was wrong.

Downstairs, she heard the door close. Doug had probably come home. She heard him talking to Jeff.

She stepped toward the bed, and saw a note lying on the comforter. Slowly, she picked it up and went to the window to read it in the declining light.

Dear Mom and Dad
,

Kay bolted for the stairs and stumbled down them. “Doug, she’s gone! Deni’s gone!”

Jeff was at the bottom of the stairs, and she almost ran over him. “What did she do now?”

“She took off! Where’s your father?”

“Out back,” he said.

She raced through the house and out the back door. “Doug, Deni’s gone! We’ve got to find her!”

Doug was putting out the fire under the grill. He looked up. “Gone where?”

“To
Washington
!” Her face twisted as the tears burned her eyes. “How could she do something so stupid? How could she take off without food or money?” She thrust the letter at him.

He read it quickly, the lines deepening in his face. “God help us. How long do you think she’s been gone?”

“Maybe hours,” she cried. “When she left after lunch, and kissed us and thanked us . . . Doug, she was saying
good-bye
.”

“But how? Who did she ride with? Did she take her bike?”

“I don’t know.” Kay ran to the garage. It was too dark to see the bikes, so she pulled open the door, letting in what was left of daylight. Deni’s bike was still here.

Doug was behind her when she swung around.

“She didn’t take it,” Kay said. “What does that mean?”

Doug shook his head. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t have left on foot. Maybe she got a horse somehow.”

Kay pulled the garage door shut. It clanged and vibrated throughout the garage. “Doug, you’ve got to go after her. You’ve got to stop her before she gets any farther!”

By now, Logan had come to see what was wrong. “Mom, what is it?”

She burst back into the house. “Your sister’s run away.”

“Why?”

Jeff answered his question. “Because she’s an idiot. A complete moron.”

Kay turned on him. “That’s enough, Jeff! Your sister is in trouble.”

His cheeks blotched red. “She
deserves
to be in trouble.”

“I said, that’s enough!” She turned to Doug, astonished that he was just standing there, staring into space.

Beth came down from her room. “What’s all the yelling about?”

Kay swung around. “Have you seen your sister?”

“No, not since she left after lunch.”

Kay grabbed the letter back from Doug, tearing a corner as she did. Her hands were shaking as she read again. “Doug, we have to
do
something.”

“I am. I’m going to Chris’s. She’ll know something.”

“Dad, I just went there,” Jeff said. “She said she doesn’t know where Deni is.”

His eyes flashed. “She’s lying. I’m going over there.”

“I’m coming with you!” Kay turned back to the kids. “Jeff, stay here and eat, and take care of the house.”

“I will.” Even as he said it, he started for his plate. She couldn’t blame him, really. He was starving, as were Beth and Logan.

But she had lost her appetite.

“Pray for Deni,” she cried as she started out the back door, locking it behind her. “Pray God will help us find her.”

The look on Chris’s face told Kay and Doug she knew exactly whom Deni had gone with. But she wasn’t telling.

“Really, I don’t know,” she insisted weakly.

Chris’s parents had come to the door to see what was wrong. “Chris,” her father said, “don’t lie to them. If you know who Deni’s with, tell them.”

Chris’s mouth trembled. “I tried to talk her out of it. I warned her it would be dangerous, but she wouldn’t listen.”

Kay took Chris by the shoulders and stared into her face. “Chris, you listen to me,” she said through her teeth. “My daughter is with some stranger on her way to the East Coast with no food and no money. So help me, if you don’t tell me who she went with, I can’t be responsible for what I do!”

Chris’s eyes widened, but she wouldn’t budge. “She’s okay, really. He isn’t a stranger. And he has food and money.”

“He?” Doug asked. “She went off with a
guy
?”

Chris looked as if she’d been caught, and she swallowed hard. “I don’t know. I think it was a man. Maybe it was a woman . . .”

Kay shook her and screamed into her face, “Don’t you understand she could be in danger? What is wrong with you? Don’t you care about her at all?”

“Kay!” Chris’s mother tried to get between them. “That’s enough. Let her go.”

Chris started to cry as Kay dropped her hands. “Of
course
I care! But I promised her—”

“You shouldn’t have!” Kay screamed. “What kind of friend are you?”

Doug pulled Kay back, making her more angry. His voice was broken, raspy, as he appealed to Chris again. “Please . . . I’m begging you.”

Finally, Chris dropped her hands and looked down at her feet. “She went with Vic Green.”

Kay gaped at her. “Vic? Mark’s father? But—he was at our house this morning. Did they plan it then?”

Chris sucked in a sob. “No. They’ve been talking about it for a while. They went in this crazy-looking wagon he built, pulled by four horses.”

Kay’s face twisted as she tried to imagine that relationship. “I didn’t even know Deni knew him. I thought today was the first time they’d met.” She looked up at Doug, saw the anger pulling at his face. She felt the tremor of rage passing through him as he held her.

“Come on,” Doug said. “We’re going over to Vic’s house. Maybe she’s still there.”

“She’s not,” Chris said. “I saw him leave hours ago. Not that long after church was over. He fixed this covered wagon up with Goodyear tires and captain’s chairs, and everyone was rushing to see it when he rode out of the neighborhood. Deni wasn’t with him. She must have met him someplace.” Her father pulled her into his arms, and she buried her face in his chest. “I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Branning. I should have told you when she started talking about it. I knew it was the wrong decision. I tried to tell her.”

Kay found no comfort in knowing the truth. “Did Mark go with them?”

She shook her head. “No. He lives with his mom next door to where the Abernathys lived. But maybe he can give you some ideas about where they’re going.”

They left the girl weeping, and hurried off.

Doug ran up the street to Vic Green’s house, Kay right on his heels. “Doug, do you think he’s dangerous? Shouldn’t we get a gun?”

Doug jogged up the steps to the door. “I’m the one who’s dangerous, Kay. When I get my hands on him—” He banged on the door, with no response. He knocked harder, unwilling to give up.

“Doug, he’s not here.”

He hammered with his fists. “Maybe he is. Maybe he’s just a coward and doesn’t want to answer it. Maybe I should just kick it in.”

Kay stopped him. “That’s a waste of time. Mark lives around the corner. Let’s go talk to him.”

Doug stopped banging and dropped his hands. Breathing hard, he turned and looked toward Mark’s house. “All right, let’s go to Mark’s.” He walked so fast that Kay could hardly keep up.

When they got to Mark’s, Doug banged again. This time, Mark’s mother, Martha, answered the door. “Doug! Kay!”

“We need to see Mark.” Doug struggled to keep his voice even. “It’s an emergency.”

“Well, sure.” Martha stepped back from the door. “I’ll get him.”

She led them into the darkening house, then walked out back and called her son. Mark was at the grill stirring a pot, but he came inside when his mother told him who was there.

“Mr. and Mrs. Branning. How’s it going?”

“Our daughter is missing.” Fear wobbled on Kay’s voice. “Do you know anything about it?”

He frowned. “Missing? What do you mean?”

Doug met the boy’s gaze. “Chris said Deni left town with your father.”

“Oh no.” Mark’s mother brought her hand to her mouth. “He
didn’t.
Mark, did you know about this?”

“No!” The look of disgust on his face looked genuine, but Doug couldn’t be sure. “I mean, Deni told me she was thinking about it. But I thought I talked her out of it.”

“Then you knew your father was leaving town?” Doug asked.

“Well, yes. I saw the rig he was building. He had business to do . . . I heard him invite her one time, but I didn’t think she took it seriously.”

“Heard him?” Kay asked. “Where?”

“They were both over here looking at my car. She’d been swimming at his house a lot, and they’d gotten to be friends.”

Martha’s lips were tight against her teeth. “That lowdown, sorry excuse for a man! How
dare
he?”

Her indignation didn’t make Doug feel any better. He could feel Kay’s body trembling next to his, so he unclenched his fists and put his arm around her. “Mark, we need you to tell us where your father was going, when he left, and how far you think he could have gotten by now.”