The Vanished Child

by Sarah Smith

  Efnie Pelham turned dewy eyes toward Harry. She was tall, willowy, and athletic, a blond Gibson girl, lusciously pretty; only the wary would see any resemblance to her mother. Harry’s eyes were following Perdita restlessly as she supervised getting the sandwiches loaded into the car. Efnie tilted up her little straw boater and began bantering with Harry. Perdita knelt down to have a conversation with a little boy. Harry stepped forward to order the child back in line. Left alone, Efnie compressed her lips into a sudden tight line, then tossed her head.

  “Efnie’s got a dozen boyfriends,” Daugherty went on, oblivious. “We got an office pool goin’ which one she’ll take.”