by Norah Wilson
What else? She looked around the room quickly. What had she taken last time she’d run away?
The telescope. It wasn’t perched by the window where it should be.
“She took her telescope?”
The voice came from behind her. She whirled to see Scott standing in the door frame.
“Yes, she did. Her sleeping bag too. But how did you…?”
He reached down to soothe an anxious Axl with a pat on the head. “I was awake and saw the light come on. Then I saw you at the window,” he said. “I knew something was wrong.”
“Sid’s gone,” she said. “She’s run away again.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s check her friend’s house.”
“You think she might be at Danika’s?” April dared to hope it. She’d still be pretty pissed, but it was better than stowing away in a vehicle and traveling hundreds of miles. Oh God. What if she had done that? Gotten into someone’s car? She battled a surge of nausea.
“I’ll call her father.” Scott stepped out of the room and shot down the stairs to the house phone.
She went to the window and looked out on the yard below. Yes, there was some moonlight, but there were many more patches of impenetrable darkness where the light didn’t reach. “Oh, Ladybug where are you?”
Below the kitchen door slammed, and April’s heart leaped in her chest. Oh, please let it be Sidney.
She ran to the top of the stairs. Scott stared back up at her.
“She’s not with Danika. Her father even woke her up to see if she knew anything about Sid’s whereabouts. She says she doesn’t.”
“What else?” There had to be a what else. She could tell by the look on his face. “What were you doing outside?”
“Her bicycle’s gone.”
Chapter 42
THIS WAS IT. The special place Scott had told her about. The place where the stars seemed close enough to pluck right out of the sky. The place he’d gone when he was sad. If ever there was a place to make a last-ditch, desperation wish, this was it.
She wished he’d told her how far it was, though. She’d almost turned back so many times, thinking maybe she’d set off in the wrong direction. But then the trees on the side of the road parted and she’d caught a glimpse of Harkness Mountain, much closer up than it looked from the farm. So she’d pressed on.
There was a little skiff of fresh snow on the shoulder of the road, and she found that offered better traction to her fat bicycle tires than the slicker, snow-packed pavement. But even at that, she’d spun out twice. The last time, she’d kinda hurt her elbow a bit breaking her fall. It still burned a little, which made her think she might have skinned it. Considering that she now had a tear in the elbow of her coat, that was a real possibility. But she hadn’t quit.
Thankfully, she hadn’t encountered any traffic. If she’d seen headlights, her plan was to hop off the bike, toss it up on the snowbank, crawl up there herself, and hope they drove on past without seeing her. No way would anyone in Harkness drive past a kid on a bike at midnight and just keep going. They’d figure out who she was and take her back to her mother.
After pedaling for what seemed like forever, she found the turnoff to the mountain. She was relieved to see the road had been plowed recently. They usually kept it up pretty good so families could get out there for sledding, but it didn’t always get plowed as quickly as the main roads.
Ten minutes later, she’d found the parking lot at the base of the mountain. The trails were well marked, so it was easy to find the one that took her to the river. She’d had a moment of panic when she reached the river’s edge.
She would have to be very careful. The river was only partially frozen. It was sort of open right at the edge, then there were sheets of thin-looking ice stretching part way across from each side, but they didn’t quite come together in the middle. When the moon came out from behind a cloud, she was able to see the current in the middle of the river. She turned left and headed upriver. And she did so on foot.
There the path had been beaten down by snowmobile traffic. Good for walking, but not so good for a bike. Not that she’d risk riding her bike so close to the river’s edge anyway. If she took another spill, she might wind up in the water.
She’d never been to Slamm’s Landing before, but she knew it even before she got there. Knew it from the increasing loudness of the river. Scott had said it was right beside a rapids where the river narrowed. Because the water rushed so fast, there wasn’t much ice at all. Just a little at the edges.
Then she spied the rock. Scott had told her it was pinkish sandstone, but in the dark, all she could see was the parts that were snow-covered. She’d have to be careful. It was likely to be slippery, and her tired legs were turning to rubber.
She made it up onto the big rock without too much trouble. Without trees to shelter it, the powdery snow had pretty much blown clear, leaving the rock exposed. Moving gingerly, she found a place to sit down. She brushed a bit of snow from the perch, then took her sleeping bag from her backpack. Folding it into a thick cushion, she put it on the rock, then parked her butt on it. Perfect. Later she might climb inside the bedroll, but for now, she’d just sit on it.
She took a moment to glance up at the sky. It looked pretty clear, but she knew there were some drifting clouds up there. They’d blocked the moon plenty of times on the drive out here. But right now, it was clear and stars shone like diamonds.
She hopped up and assembled the telescope. As she was preparing to look through it, one of those clouds drifted over the moon. She tipped her head up, knowing the stars would seem even brighter without the moon’s wash of light. And darned if Scott wasn’t right! The whole sky was strewn with stars. Totally plastered from horizon to horizon! Their cold pinpoints seeming to grow bigger, closer, with the moon’s retreat.
Forgetting about the telescope for now, she went back to sit on her sleeping bag. Her plan was to stay there until dawn, wishing on every star she could. And then she’d wish a while longer, because even when you couldn’t see the stars anymore, they were still there. Scott said so. He’d promised it was true.
She turned back, intending to try out the telescope, but the sleeve of her jacket hit the tripod. Before she could grab it, it fell off the rock, landing on the thin ice inches from the rushing water.
Oh, no! Not her telescope! Scott had given it to her. She couldn’t lose it.
She wouldn’t lose it.
Setting her mouth like Scott did when he tackled a tough job, she slid down off the rock the same way she’d clambered up. Then she made her way around it and down to the water’s edge. The telescope lay just out of her reach, frustratingly close but just a bit too far. She stepped one foot onto the ice and pressed. It creaked but didn’t give. If it would just bear her weight for a second, she could lean down, snatch the telescope, and leap back.
She put a little more weight on the ice. It creaked again but held.
Maybe if she took her coat off, she could use it to try to snag the telescope and pull it closer. Except what if her coat got wet? She was already colder than she could ever remember being after riding her bike all the way out here. If she got her coat wet, that would suck. Same with the sleeping bag.
And what if she missed and knocked the telescope into the water?
Maybe she should go break a branch off a tree and use that instead. A branch would offer more control than a floppy coat or the sleeping bag. Except she’d have to trek quite a ways back or forward along the trail to reach a tree. There were no trees close to the water right here. Because, duh, if there were trees overhanging the river, it wouldn’t be the perfect place to look at the stars.
And she was getting tired, really tired now. She really didn’t want to walk way back to the trees.
She heard a splashing sound and looked down to see that a tiny rogue wave had caught the edge of the telescope, spinning it closer to the water. Shoot! If she left now to get a branch, it could be gone by the time she
got back, swallowed by the Prince River.
Okay, she’d do it really quick
Taking a deep breath, she stepped on the ice and reached for her telescope.
Chapter 43
“WHERE DO you think she’d go?”
April shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. But Scott, look at this.”
She passed him Sid’s phone. His heart squeezed in his chest when he saw the photo. Him and April trading a lover’s glance on Christmas day, and Sid smiling almost slyly in the foreground.
He gave the phone back to her. Clutching it, she looked up at him, a world of agony in her eyes. “God, this is all my fault. I let her play that pretend game.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” he said gruffly. “If you want to start down that road, there’s no end to it. If I hadn’t offered you the job, if I hadn’t practically twisted your arm to make you stay, both of you would have been gone from Harkness the day after you landed here.”
“Yeah, but we’d have been in Dartmouth with my brother.” She grimaced. “There’s no way that would have been better for Sid than the months she’s had here. I just wish…”
Her voice broke. She looked so miserable, he couldn’t resist the urge to comfort her. He put his arms around her and she pressed herself against his chest.
“I’m so scared,” she said. “Should we call the police? Search and rescue?”
He could have pointed out that Titus represented the better part of S&R in the region and he was off with Ocean. He’d come at top speed, though, if Scott called him.
“Before we hit the panic button, let’s go see if we can track her,” he said. “She’s on her bike; maybe Axl can help us determine direction of travel.”
Two minutes later, they were both bundled up against the cold. It wasn’t a terribly bitter night, thank God, but Scott knew how cold it would be on a bicycle. Granted, it wasn’t as dramatic as on a motorcycle, but the wind generated by speed still stole your body warmth.
Scott had also paused to grab a search and rescue bag. Titus always kept several of them at the ready.
Axl tromped out the front door ahead of them. He circled around, then headed down the hard-packed snow of the driveway as fast as his arthritic old legs could carry him. At the mouth of the driveway, he did another circle, then took off down the road.
“Good boy,” Scott called, and they loped after him. After about a hundred yards, a bicycle track appeared in the loose snow on the shoulder.
“Look!” He pointed to the tracks. “She must have found it less slippery on the shoulder. We’ll be able to follow her now.”
“Oh, thank God!”
He called Axl back. Reluctantly, the dog returned, but he made a weird yodeling noise at Scott as though to tell him he was making a mistake.
“It’s okay, boy. We’re going after her, but we’ll do it in Uncle Arden’s Jeep.” He turned to April. “Can you wait here with Axl while I go get the vehicle?”
She was already reaching for Axl’s collar. “Got him. Hurry!”
He raced back down the road, sticking to the shoulder as Sid had done. The driveway had never seemed so long. Then he had to duck into the house to grab Uncle Arden’s keys. With zero regard for the engine, he fired up the old Jeep, put it in gear and shot off down the drive.
When he stopped for them, Axl was unable to get up into the vehicle by himself. April went to lift him, but Scott told her to hang on; the old dog was heavier than he looked. He hopped out and helped Axl into the back seat while April jumped into the front. He was back behind the wheel and letting out the clutch while April was still fumbling with the seatbelt.
He glanced at her. “Can you get it fastened?”
He heard the seatbelt click home.
“Yeah, got it.”
“I’ve got to keep an eye out for deer and moose,” he said. “I can still scan back and forth and see her bike track, but if it changes, make sure I don’t miss it.”
“Like that?” She pointed, but he’d already seen it. A patch on the shoulder of the road where the snow had been scraped down to the gravel beneath.
“Looks like she wiped out.”
“Oh, no!” She put a hand to her mouth. “She must have skidded on the ice.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Her trail starts again up there. See?”
She looked further down the road to where the tire tracks resumed. “I hope she’s not hurt.”
“Doesn’t look like anything too serious,” he said. “She probably tried the snow pack on the road a while after her spill, but decided to get back on the shoulder.”
About a mile down the road, they found another wipeout spot. This time, Sid had obviously just gotten up and continued on the shoulder. Good girl.
“How far could she have gone?” Beside him, April was getting tenser by the moment. “And where the heck could she be headed? She’s got to be so cold.”
Up ahead, his headlights illuminated the sign for Old Mountain Road. As he drew closer, he could see Sid had taken it.
Shit. He knew where she’d gone. Shit, shit, shit.
He started braking.
“Oh, God!” April said when she saw the road sign and the evidence of Sid’s wobbly turn. “Does she know where Slamm’s Landing is? That you used to go there for the view of the stars?”
“I’ve told her about it,” he said, cursing himself. “Enough that she can probably find it.”
Or get herself in trouble trying to find it.
He took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at April. She looked grim, her face ghostly white.
“How fast can we go on this surface?” she said, her voice eerily calm.
“We’re about to find out.” He punched the accelerator and the Jeep leaped forward. Thankfully, Uncle Arden believed in studded winter tires. They gripped the snow-packed surface as he sped along. In the back seat, Axl whined anxiously.
In just under six minutes, they pulled into the parking lot at the base of Harkness Mountain. Sid’s bike track led straight across the parking lot to the big sign with the trail map. And there it was! Her bike. She’d obviously abandoned it.
He brought the Jeep to a skidding halt and they piled out. There was enough snow that they should be able to track her without the aid of a dog, but Axl wasn’t about to be left behind. He yipped sharply. Scott opened the door to grab his S&R backpack and Axl leaped out. As Scott strapped the heavy bag on, the old dog loped toward the river trail.
He turned to April and offered his hand. “Come on.”
She took it, and together they sprinted off after Axl.
“We’re almost there,” he told April after a few moments. “She’ll be all right.”
“Oh, God, she has to be. If not…God, Scott.”
“She’s fine. Bound to be cold. I’ll give her my coat. And she’ll warm up quickly in the Jeep. It’s got a good little heater.”
He thought some of the tension went out of her, so kept it up. “You said she took her sleeping bag, right? So it’s not like she doesn’t have something for extra warmth. And—”
A sharp, short scream rang out. Sidney’s scream.
April yanked her hand free of Scott’s. “Go!” she shouted. “You can reach her faster. Help her, Scott.”
“I’ll get her.”
He took off, racing as fast as the footing would allow. His breath sawed in and out as he ran, the cold air searing his lungs, and his muscles screamed from the exertion.
Don’t let me be too late. Please God, don’t let me be too late.
Chapter 44
SCOTT’S HEART leaped into his throat when he rounded the bend and saw Sid stand up in frigid knee-deep water and try to step out. Before his horrified eyes, she slipped on the ridge of ice at the edge and went down again, right on her butt. Even that close to shore, he knew the pull of the rapids would be strong, especially with the weight of Sidney’s waterlogged wear. Axl had reached her and was barking frantically up on the bank.
“Hang o
n, Sid!” He called, putting on an extra burst of speed.
As he covered the last few yards, he saw Axl wade partially into the water. His back feet were on the snowy bank, but his front end was submerged to his chest. Sid clutched at his fur and the old dog held his ground. Seconds later, Scott arrived. The water was shallow at the edge but deceptively fast-moving. And Sid was sitting in it, soaked to the skin, trying not to get pulled away by the current.
He waded in, pushing past Axl. Quickly, he scooped her up. Instantly, his own clothes were soaked, but he didn’t give a damn. She’d probably been pretty damned cold before she fell in. Now she was in immediate danger from hypothermia.
Axl backed out of the water and shook himself. Dammit, he’d be a hypothermia risk too.
“I’m sorry, Scott.” The words came out through clacking and chattering teeth. “I lost the telescope. It f…f…fell off the wishing rock, and I t-t-tried to get it back, but the ice broke.”
“Oh, honey, don’t worry about that. We can get you another telescope any old day. But we can’t get another Sid the Kid.” He looked up the trail. April was running toward them as fast as she could.
“I think you brought a sleeping bag, didn’t you?” he asked, glancing around.
“It’s up there.” Her voice sounded a little slurred.
He had to move fast. “I’m just going to put you down a second so I can get at my stuff. I’ve got a really great space blanket in here and some warming packs. Does that sound good?”
“Y-y-yes.”
April skidded to a halt beside him before he could put Sid down.
“Oh, Sidney. You must be freezing.”
“Can you take her?” he said. “I’ve got to get the stuff out of my pack.”
She took Sidney from his arms.
As he shrugged out of the pack and started assembling what he needed, he heard Sidney chattering out broken apologies while April hugged her tight and assured her everything was all right.
