Why?

I'm her father, I said. We need to find her. It's very important.

She's in the cabin two doors down, Alicia said, like we were all idiots.

No, Madeline said. She's not. She's gone.

Then Alicia began to nod slowly, like maybe that made sense to her. Okay, she said, drawing the word out.

What? I asked.

Well, okay, Kerry's already pretty jumpy, right? She looked for confirmation from Madeline, who nodded. But today, she was totally freaked out. I was just sitting out front, reading Stephen King, and Kerry comes running up from the main building, she looks like she's seen a ghost, you know? She was totally freaked out about something. She goes into her cabin and I went in to see her and she was putting on her backpack and I asked her what's going on and she wouldn't say anything. She just said she had stuff to do and she had to go right away.

She didn't say why? I asked. She didn't say what had freaked her out?

No, but it was something, that's for sure.

When was this? I asked.

Like, late this afternoon?

Where did she go?

I don't know. She started walking one way, then she looked over toward the parking lot, stopped all of a sudden, turned around and started going the other way. And she was walking along the trees there, you know? Instead of going down the pathway. Like she didn't want people to see her. She looked directly at Madeline. Is she gone? Am I going to have to do all her chores in the morning?

We'll talk about that later, Madeline said.

I asked, Did you talk to Syd? I mean, Kerry? Before this thing today? Did you talk to her much?

Some. A bit. I guess.

What did she tell you about herself? Did she tell you why she was here? Did she talk about anything? Why she was on edge?

Not really. But she's majorly screwed up, honestly. She doesn't want to do any jobs where she has to go into the dining room or work the front desk. She only wants to do stuff where she won't run into people. I don't think she really likes people. I mean, she's the first person I ever met didn't have a cell phone. She said she didn't use them anymore, that they weren't safe. I know they say if you talk on them too much they make your brain get cancer or something, but I think they're safe.

To Madeline, I said, You have a pay phone here?

No. There are a few around town, but we don't have one.

If you wanted to use a pay phone, where would you go? I saw one at the main intersection downtown.

You wouldn't have to go that far. Just down the road, where the pizza place is, they've got one there.

I looked at the sliver of Alicia in the open doorway. Thank you for your help. I'm sorry we troubled you.

She said, Did you say Syd'? A second ago?

Yes, I said. That's my daughter's name. Not Kerry, Sydney.

She vanished for a moment, then, when her face reappeared, she extended her hand to me. There was a piece of folded paper in it.

This got slipped under my door earlier tonight, she said. Someone got the wrong cabin, but I didn't know anyone named Sydney so I didn't know who to give it to.

I took the paper and unfolded it. It read: Syd: I'm here to bring you home! Meet me by that little covered bridge in the center of town! Love, Patty.

Chapter FORTY-FOUR.

WHAT? BOB SAID. What does it say?

I handed the note to him. It had filled me with a mixed sense of hope and puzzlement. He read it a couple of times and said, Didn't you say Patty was dead?

Yeah, I said. But maybe I was wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But this note could be some kind of trick. It might be from someone else, meant to lure Sydney out into the open.

I asked Alicia, You didn't see who left this? You haven't seen anyone around? A girl with streaks in her hair?

Alicia shook her head.

So I thanked her again, and walked back to the office with Madeline and Wyatt. I had Madeline take down my cell number in case Syd reappeared, or anything else happened. Then Bob and I returned to the Mustang, fishing the guns out of the back of our britches before we settled into the seats. I wanted to study the note, so I gave him the keys.

We'll check out the covered bridge, I said, once we were in the car.

Yeah, said Bob.

The note was handwritten. I was trying to recall whether I'd ever seen a sample of Patty's handwriting. If I had, I couldn't remember. It was hard to tell from the note whether it bore any of the trademarks of a teenage girl's style. It appeared to have been hurriedly written, and on a rough surface, as if the paper had been held against the side of the cabin when the pen was applied.

If it isn't Patty who wrote this, I said, whoever did write it will be looking for Sydney, not us. And if it is Patty, she'll certainly know us when she sees us.

And, I was thinking, if it really was Patty, what the hell was she doing? How did she know Sydney might be up here, and why was she trying to mount a solo rescue?

The thing is, Sydney may not be around anymore, Bob said, interrupting my thoughts. Something spooked her, made her run.

Maybe, I said. And if she's worried about being seen, she may not want to be standing at the edge of the highway with her thumb out.

You think she has a car? Bob asked.

It was possible. I was guessing she ditched the Civic because she was afraid the bad guys would be looking for it. Did she grab another car? Did she hitchhike to Stowe?

I don't know, I said. Let's assume she's still around, otherwise there's no point in our being here. And if she's going to call anyone, maybe she'll use that pay phone by the pizza place.

That's an idea.

We turned the car around, powered down both of the windows, and pulled onto Mountain Road, heading in the direction of the town's center. Bob was taking it slow, scanning the sides of the road, attempting to peer onto porches, down side streets, occasionally glancing into the rearview mirror in case a car started bearing down on us in a hurry.

We were looking for not one girl now, but two.

Sydney might have gotten a room somewhere else, I said.

Maybe, Bob said, watching out his side.

I continued my scan. Bob said, Take a look behind us. Is that a car back there, with no lights on?

I twisted around in my seat, looked out the back window. Hang on, I'm just waiting for it to go under a streetlight' Yeah. You're right. Looks like one of those new Chargers. That, or a Magnum. It's got that big grille, you know?

Yeah, Bob said, his palms sweaty on the steering wheel. I think it might have picked us up just after we got back onto the main road.

It's definitely holding way back.

Covered bridge, dead ahead, Bob said.

I turned eyes front. It was odd, as covered bridges went. Only the pedestrian walkway, on the left side, was protected with a roof. The roadway itself was uncovered. In darkness, it was impossible to tell whether anyone was hiding under the covered part.

You want I should pull over? Bob asked.

No, I said. Not if that other car's following us. Try to get past it, turn a corner or something, I'll jump out and run back to the bridge.

Okay, he said. Do you know my cell number so you can call me?

I took out a pen and wrote it on the back of the note that had been left for Sydney, wrote my own number on a corner of the page, tore it off and handed it to Bob.

The Mustang rolled over the bridge. The other car, a dark, menacing shadow, was about twenty car lengths back.

Okay, Bob said, get ready.

He made a stop at the sign, turned left and floored it. Then he hit the brakes, and I prepared to jump out and run down between two buildings.

Gun! Bob whispered.

I nearly fell over reaching back into the car as Bob handed me one of the Rugers. Whether it was the one with one bullet, or the one with three, I had no idea. I tucked it into the back of my pants.

I scurried off into the shadows as the Mustang pulled away.

The car with its headlights off slowed at the intersection without signaling or stopping and continued on after Bob. It was a Charger, with tinted windows. I couldn't tell who was behind the wheel, or whether the driver had company.

Once that car was a safe distance up the street, I ran across the road and down the other street in the direction of the bridge. All there was to hear was the sound of my shoes hitting the pavement, and my hurried breathing.

I got to the end of the bridge, entered the covered portion, and waited a moment for my eyes to adjust.

Patty? I called. Not too loud, but loud enough.

I waited two seconds for anyone to respond.

Patty? I called again.

Mr. B.?

I could detect movement on the bridge, at the midpoint. I started walking, quickly. Patty! I said.

I thought she might run toward me, but as I approached I could see that she looked frightened, as though she doubted it was really me. But when I got to her, and threw my arms around her, held her next to me, she said, The fuck are you doing here?

You're okay, I said, holding on to her, not wanting to let go. You're okay.

Yeah, I'm okay, she said, and now she was hugging me, too. Her hands touched the gun in the small of my back and pulled away suddenly. Why wouldn't I be okay?

I let go of her enough to look into her eyes. I thought you were dead.

Fuck, no, here I am, she said.

I gave this girl this girl I now knew to be my daughter another hug.

What's the deal, Mr. B.? she said. You're crying.

I'm sorry, I said. I'm just glad to find out you're okay. I tried to focus. Everyone's been worried sick about you. We were thinking the worst. I thought about Carol Swain, whose level of concern wasn't exactly off the scale, but she needed to know that her daughter was okay. You have to call your mother, I said. You have to let her know you're safe.

Yeah, sure, Patty said, rolling her eyes.

You do. But Patty, have you seen Syd?

Patty shook her head. What are you even doing here? she asked me. How did you'

What about you? I asked. I needed to get past my emotional response and ask some questions. What are you doing here?

Patty seemed to be struggling for an answer. I'm here looking for Sydney.

I figured that, I said. But how did you know?

She called me, Patty said quickly. She called and told me she was here.

When?

Just, like, yesterday? Patty said.

How is she? Is she okay?

Yeah, yeah, she's cool, she's good.

I felt relief starting to wash over me, but I still had many questions. How did you get up here?

I, you know, I hitched. Took a while.

Patty, why didn't you just tell me? If Syd told you where she was, why didn't you let me know? I could have brought you up here.

Her mouth twitched. I' I was pissed at you. About the other night. I wanted to make you proud of me. I wanted to bring Syd back myself.