The Madeleine Richards Box Set (The Madeleine Richards Series Book 4)

by Juliette Duncan

  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

  She put her Bible down and prayed.

  “Lord God, thank you for my precious Maddy. Please watch over her and be near to her. Let her turn to you for comfort as she faces these new challenges ahead.”

  God had been faithful to her, so why should she doubt Him now? She went to bed feeling at peace, confident that God had it all in hand.

  Chapter 7

  After school the following day, Maddy and Hannah walked to the church hall for the next concert rehearsal.

  "Why are you walking so slowly? Hannah asked. "We're going to be late!"

  "I don't know if I really want to go." Maddy stopped. "I feel embarrassed, and I don't think I want to face everyone."

  "Come on. It'll be okay. You'll feel better once you start dancing. You don't need to say much to anyone."

  "Alright. I guess I'll go. I just hope that girl doesn't want to talk to me again. I don't know if I'll handle it if she does."

  They continued walking, but by the time they arrived, the practice had already started. They threw their bags into the corner of the hall, and joined the others on stage for the group routine they'd just started to learn.

  Hannah glanced at Maddy, and was pleased to see that she was concentrating on what she was doing. Maddy was such a good dancer. She'd picked the routine up really quickly, unlike herself. She had to work really hard at it. This will do her good, Hannah thought. Get her mind off everything for a while.

  "Great work girls," Steve Taylor said as they ended the routine. "Take a break while the boys practice their skit, but be ready to come back when I call."

  Maddy didn't see the older girl walking up to her. She jumped when she was tapped on the back, and turned around to face the girl, whose name she didn't know.

  "Hello there. Just wondering how you are today? Are you okay?"

  She looks kind, Maddy thought, but I don't want to talk. I'll just tell her what she wants to hear.

  "I guess I'm okay. Still not happy about moving, but I suppose I'll get used to it." What a lie! I'm not happy about it, I'll never get used to it, and I'm not going to go.

  "That's good to hear. I'm glad you're okay." She smiled at Maddy and then at Hannah. "I'm here if you ever need to talk about it, though. I've got to go now. See you later!"

  Maddy looked at Hannah and rolled her eyes.

  The rest of the practice passed in a blur. It was hard to focus. She couldn't stop thinking about how much she'd miss the group if she did have to leave. No, it's not going to happen. I'm not leaving.

  As they were finishing the last song, she saw her mom standing at the back of the hall talking with some of the other moms. They were looking at the ring that Hank had given her, and Maddy could see that she was excited and bubbly.

  If only she could feel that way. It was all so confusing. She hated hurting her. But she hated the thought of leaving all her friends behind even more. There had to be something that could be done that would make them change their minds.

  As they walked to the car, her mom said that she had news that she couldn’t wait to tell her. "Guess what I got today, Maddy?"

  "What did you get?"

  "My wedding dress!"

  "Oh. That was quick! I didn't know you were going to Smithtown today."

  "It was kind of a last minute thing. I was able to get the day off work. We also started looking at houses. We didn't find one, but it's still very exciting!"

  "Right. Great," Maddy replied, trying to hide the panic she felt.

  This is not good. If they're already looking at houses, and she's got her wedding dress, it means that it's all going to happen, including moving. No! This can't be happening! I've got to think of some way of stopping it.

  Chapter 8

  Over the following weeks, Maddy continued to think of ways to stop the move. She came to the conclusion that the only thing that might work would be to run away. She and Hannah could head off to the hills, to the secret hideaway they’d found the previous year, and stay there long enough for her mom and Hank to take notice and change their minds.

  She’d leave a note, saying that while she didn’t want to hurt them or make them worry, this was the only thing she could think of doing that would make them understand that there was no way she was going to move.

  Maddy shared her idea to Hannah one afternoon when they were hanging out together on their bikes. She thought that the best plan would be to say that she was going over to Hannah’s for a while, and for Hannah to say that she was going to Maddy's. Doing that would buy them some time, as they wouldn’t be missed until later in the day.

  "Do you really think that will work?" Hannah asked after Maddy had told her the plan.

  "Do you have a better idea?"

  "No. But it sounds fairly scary. We've never slept out before on our own. What if something bad happens?

  "It'll be fine, Han. We'll be okay. I'm sure it will work. Mom will be so worried. It'll make her see sense."

  They decided to go the following day, and went home to pack.

  Maddy found it difficult to pack without being noticed, but she managed to get a few things together, including a sleeping bag and some food. She squeezed them into a backpack, which she took down to the shed while her Mom was in the shower.

  The following morning, she walked into the kitchen where her mom was sitting drinking her coffee.

  "Good morning, sweetie. Sit down and have something to eat." Maddy gulped. Okay, this is it.

  She sat down to have breakfast with her mom, but the butterflies in her tummy meant she couldn’t eat much.

  "I’m not really hungry at the moment, Mom," she said, after picking at the bagel Sarah had warmed up for her. "Is it okay if I go over to Hannah's for a while? We'll probably just hang out together at her place, and we might go for a ride on our bikes, so I probably wouldn't be back until late afternoon."

  "That's fine, Maddy. Hank will be here soon, and we're just going to sort out more things for the wedding, so you'd probably be bored anyway if you stayed here. Don’t ride too far though. And make sure you’re home by 3pm. We're going to Gran and Grandpa's for dinner."

  "Thanks, Mom," Maddy replied. She gave her mom a kiss on the cheek, opened the back door, and ran down the steps, not daring to look back in case she changed her mind.

  Once she’d taken her bike from the shed, she couldn't help herself, and she glanced over her shoulder. She saw her mom standing at the top of the stairs, coffee cup in hand. Sarah waved to her, and called out to ride carefully. Maddy hoped that her mom hadn't noticed the backpack.

  She jumped onto her new bike and rode off to meet Hannah.

  They'd agreed to meet halfway between their houses, in the park down by the river. It was a warm spring morning, and there were quite a few people about. Maddy arrived first, and she scanned the area to see if anyone was watching her. No, it seemed everybody was going about their own business. She wheeled her bike behind some overgrown bushes and waited. Minutes passed. She kept peeking out to see if she could see Hannah.

  No. Only a mom pushing a baby in a stroller that had seen better days, dragging a crying toddler behind her. An elderly couple holding hands out for a morning stroll. A man jogging with a large yellow colored dog on a lead. Hang on… maybe that's the dog that’s been attacking our chickens! Can't do anything about it now.

  No Hannah. When would she get here? Maddy looked at her watch. She was late. Maybe there'd been a problem and she wasn't going to come. No! That couldn't happen! She looked at her watch again, then peeked out and saw Hannah rounding the corner not far from where was hiding.

  After checking that no-one else was around, Maddy stepped out of the bushes and waved. "I thought you were never coming."

  "Mom gave me some extra jobs to do before I was allow
ed to leave." Hannah climbed off her bike and Maddy pulled her quickly behind the bushes, in case somebody came along.

  "Are you sure about this, Maddy?" Hannah asked once they were sitting on the grass.

  "Absolutely! There's no other way. I felt bad lying to Mom, but she's still not listening to me."

  "Okay," Hannah said. "I wasn't happy about lying to my mom either. I'm feeling a bit nervous about sleeping out on our own. Are you sure we'll be alright?"

  "It'll be fine. We've got our sleeping bags and food. Nothing bad is going to happen. Come on, Han… let's get out of here."

  The girls peeked out to make sure no-one was coming, and then pushed their bikes out onto the path. They'd decided to head out along the river towards the falls, but then double back and head up into the hills to their secret hideaway.

  They rode along the path in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Anyone who might have seen them would have thought they were just two girls out for an early morning ride. When they reached the edge of the park, they had to leave the path and ride on the road. A few miles out of town, as they neared the falls, the pastor of their church passed them and tooted his horn.

  Good, Maddy thought. That will hopefully mean they'll look for us in the wrong place.

  "Maddy, wait for me!" Hannah was struggling to pedal up yet another hill. How she wished her bike had gears.

  Maddy waited, and when Hannah finally caught up, they continued on slowly as they looked for the track they'd planned to take.

  "Is that it?" Hannah was pointing to an almost invisible break in the bushes.

  "Yes, I think so. We'd better get off the road quickly in case another car comes," Maddy replied.

  They pushed their bikes through the bushes, and onto the track that led to the path up into the hills.

  "We'll need to cover up our tire tracks, otherwise they'll see where we left the road." Maddy said. They left their bikes, and looked around for something they could use to cover up the tell-tale tracks.

  "Here's something." Hannah had picked up a small, leafy branch that was lying on the ground.

  "Perfect," Maddy said. Hannah picked it up. They stopped at the edge of the track and listened to make sure there weren't any cars around, before heading back onto the road. Hannah used the branch to smooth away their tire marks and their footprints, while Maddy kept a lookout.

  Once they'd covered their tracks, they began to ride carefully along the path. It was hard work, and they had to get off their bikes and walk when it became too rough. When they found the path that led to the hills, they were able to ride again until they reached the point where the path started to climb steeply.

  "I don't think we'll be able to take the bikes up there." Maddy had hopped off her bike and was looking upwards. "It's way too steep, and look at all those rocks. No, we're going to have to leave them here."

  "I think you're right, but where?"

  "What about over here?" Maddy had found a small hollow behind some bushes which they both agreed wouldn't be easy to see from the path. After camouflaging the bikes as much as possible, they headed up the path that was now no more than a narrow, rough track.

  The girls clambered up with relative ease, even though they were carrying backpacks.

  After several minutes of climbing, they came across several smaller tracks heading off in different directions. They stopped, unsure of which track they should take.

  "I think it's this way." Maddy pointed to the path that led further along the ridge to the left.

  "I’m not sure," Hannah replied. "I thought it was this way," she said, pointing to a track that led off to the right, up a steep hill.

  "Maybe," Maddy replied," but I think I remember that big rock over there. We had to climb over it to get back onto the track when we came last year."

  Hannah looked at it. "Yes, I think you’re right. It probably is that way."

  They started to walk again, but Hannah stopped straight away and looked up at the sky. "Did you hear that?"

  "Hear what?" Maddy stopped and looked around.

  "Sounded like thunder," Hannah said.

  "No… it can't be." She looked up at the sky. "It's all clear. The sun's out. It's all good. Let's keep going," Maddy said confidently. However, she'd heard it too. And she didn't like the sound of it.

  She led the way, and picked up the pace to get to the cave as quickly as possible. Her heart was pounding as they made their way along the ridge. The path was almost non-existent, and at times they needed to hold on with both hands as they clambered over the rocks that stood in their way. Not only had the temperature dropped, but the noise of the thunder in the distance had become louder.

  "I think that's it!" Hannah exclaimed. "There's the entrance!" She hurried to catch up with Maddy, who had just stopped in front of a small gap hidden between two massive rocks.

  They looked out at the hills in the distance. As they stood there, the sun disappeared behind dark, menacing clouds, casting eerie shadows over the normally pretty hills and valleys. Thunder rumbled all around them. They shivered as a cold breeze touched their faces. Hannah grabbed Maddy's hand.

  "I'm scared, Maddy," she whispered.

  "We'll be okay, Hannah," Maddy replied, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Let's get inside."

  They squeezed through the opening, and once inside peered at their surroundings. A small hole in the top of the cave allowed some natural light to filter through, but it was still too dark to see properly. Maddy reached into her backpack for her torch, and shone it around the cave. It was just as they remembered it, but the pile of rotting rubbish in the corner suggested that someone else had been there since their previous visit.

  A clap of thunder exploded above them, causing them to jump into each other's arms. Hannah began to shiver. "Let's get our sleeping bags out," Maddy said. "I brought a light and some cards. We can sit and play Rummy until the storm passes."

  Chapter 9

  Meanwhile, back at home, Sarah was just starting to become a little worried about Maddy.

  "I think I'll phone Shirley," Sarah called out to Hank. She peered out the window to see if there was any sign of Maddy. "She should have been home by now, and there's a storm brewing."

  "Good idea, but she's probably on her way. But call anyway."

  Shirley McDougall was surprised to hear from Sarah when she answered the phone a few seconds later.

  "I haven't seen Hannah since she left this morning for your house. I thought she was with Maddy at your place."

  "Maddy told me she was going to your house first, and then for a ride, but that she'd back by three pm. I haven't seen Hannah at all today. I'm just a little worried now, especially because of this storm. It's looking like it could it be quite nasty." Sarah looked nervously out the window again as she spoke.

  "I wonder what those two monkeys have been up to?" Shirley’s normally jolly voice faltered a little as she tried to process what Sarah had just said. "It's unlike them not to come back when they said they would. And telling us that they'd gone to each other's houses… seems like they're up to something."

  "Yes, I think so. I'll get Hank and we'll go out looking for them. I can't remember if Maddy said where they were going to ride to. I think she just said that they'd go for a ride. We'll check out their normal route down to the skate park, and then we'll come around to your place and decide what to do from there."

  When Sarah put the phone down, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had a bad feeling about this. A clap of thunder boomed overhead, making her jump.

  "Hank, we've got to go. Something's happened to them. I just know it."

  They dashed out to Hank's pickup and jumped in.

  "Where are we going?" Hank asked as he started the engine. He hadn't heard Sarah's conversation with Shirley McDougall, but when Sarah told him that neither girl had turned up at the other's place, and that they hadn't been seen since they'd left their homes that morning, he said it sounded as if they must have planned
it.

  "Let's just have a look for them anyway," Sarah said. "They might have had an accident."

  "We'd have been called if that was the case," Hank replied. He sensed Sarah's concern, and reached out and squeezed her hand. "We can go for a drive and take a look if that will make you feel better."

  They drove off slowly towards the skate park on the other side of town. Sarah scanned both sides of the road for any sign of the girls, but didn't see anything. When they got to the skate park, she jumped out of the pickup, and ran over to the group of young people who were hanging out there.

  She recognized a few of the boys from Maddy's class, but wasn't sure of their names.

  "Have any of you seen two girls on bikes today?" she asked of no-one in particular. They stopped talking and looked at Sarah and then at each other.

  "No, sorry," one of them replied. The others just shook their heads. By this time Hank had also walked over to the group.

  "Better get home, boys. Bad storm on the way," he said, just before another clap of thunder rumbled overhead.

  Sarah scanned the area again just in case they'd missed seeing something, but there was nothing to see.

  "Come on, let's go to the McDougall's," Hank said. "They're not here, and we need to get inside too. The wind's picking up. It's not looking good."

  They just made it back to the pickup before a branch from a tree crashed to the ground in front of them. All around, trees began blowing wildly in the wind, and leaves and rubbish were being whipped up and were circling through the air as the wind increased in intensity. They could hear the wind whistling through the tree tops as they drove carefully to the McDougall's house, dodging flying objects and debris that was already strewn along the road.

  Brian McDougall, Hannah's dad, was outside when they arrived, frantically putting away anything that was lying around the yard that could get blown away. The rest of the family was inside, huddled together in the kitchen.

  Hank and Sarah raced up the steps to escape the rain that had just started to fall. Shirley McDougall opened the door and let them in. Sarah and Shirley looked at each other, and saw fear in each other's eyes. Sarah shook her head, and told Shirley that there was no sign of the girls.