“Put that thing out, Pea. You’re the worst smoker I’ve ever seen.”
“And I’ve actually gained a pound this week. I’m going back to eating only cabbage soup. Or maybe carrot sticks.” Peanut put out her cigarette. “Hey, how about the old sawmill? No one would look for her there.”
“Too cold. Too indefensible. Some wily tabloid photographer would find a way in. Four roads lead up to it; at least six doors would need to be guarded. And it’s public property.”
“County hospital?”
“Too many employees. Sooner or later someone would sell the story.” Ellie frowned. “What we need is a secret location and a cone of silence.”
“In Rain Valley? You must be joking. This town lives for gossip. Everyone will want to talk to the press.”
Of course. The answer was so obvious, she didn’t know how she’d missed it. This was just like that time in high school when they’d stolen the attendance sheet on senior skip day. Ellie had planned the whole thing. “Call Daisy Grimm.”
Peanut glanced at the clock. “The Bachelor is on.”
“I don’t care. Call her. I want everybody who is anybody in this town at a six A.M. meeting at the Congregational church.”
“A town meeting? About what?”
“It’s top secret.”
“A secret town meeting, and at dawn. How dramatic.” Peanut pulled a pen out from the ratted coil of her auburn hair. “What’s the agenda?”
“The Flying Wolf Girl, of course. If this town wants to gossip, we’ll give them something to talk about.”
“Oo-ee. This is going to be fun.”
For the next hour Ellie worked on the plan, while Peanut called their friends and neighbors. By ten o’clock they were done.
Ellie looked down at the contract she’d devised. It was perfect.
I _____________________ agree to keep any and all information about the wolf girl completely confidential. I swear I won’t tell anyone anything that I learned at the town meeting in October. Rain Valley can count on me.
________________________ (signature required)
“It won’t hold up in court,” Peanut said, coming over to her.
“Who are you? Perry Mason?”
“I watch Boston Legal and Law & Order.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t need to be legally binding. It just needs to seem like it is. What does this town love more than anything?”
“A parade?”
Ellie had to concede that point. “Okay, second most.”
“A two-for-one sale?”
“Gossip,” she said, realizing Peanut could make guesses until dawn. “And secrets.” She stood up and reached for her coat. “The only problem will be Julia.”
“Why’s that?”
“She’s not going to like the idea of a town meeting.”
“Why not?”
“You remember how it was for her in town. No one knew what to make of her. She walked around with her nose in a book. She never talked to anyone but our mom.”
“That was a long time ago. She won’t care what people think of her now. She’s a doctor, for cripe’s sake.”
“She’ll care,” Ellie said with a sigh. “She always did.”
He is deep in a green darkness. Overhead, leaves rustle in an invisible breeze. Clouds mask the silvery moon; there is only the sheen of light. Perhaps it is a memory.
The girl is crouched on a branch, watching him. She is so still that he wonders how his gaze found her.
Hey, he whispers, reaching out.
She drops to the leaf-carpeted floor without a sound. On all fours, she runs away.
He finds her in a cave, bound and bleeding. Afraid. He thinks he hears her say “Help,” and then she is gone. There is a little boy in her place, blond-haired. He is reaching out, crying—
Max came awake with a start. For a moment he had no idea where he was. All he saw around him were pale pink walls and ruffles … a collection of glass figurines on a shelf … elves and wizards … there was a vase full of silk roses on the bedside table and two empty wineglasses.
Trudi.
She lay beside him, sleeping. In the moonlight her naked back looked almost pure white. He couldn’t help reaching out. At his touch, she rolled over and smiled up at him. “You’re going?” she whispered, her voice throaty and low.
He nodded.
She angled up to her elbows, revealing the swell of her bare breasts above the pink blanket. “What is it, Max? All night you were … distracted.”
“The girl,” he said simply.
She reached out, traced his cheekbone with her long fingernail. “I thought so. I know how much hurt kids get to you.”
“Picked a hell of a career, didn’t I?”
“Sometimes a person can care too much.” In the uncertain light, he thought she looked sad, but he couldn’t be sure. “You could talk to me, you know.”
“Talking isn’t what we do best. That’s why we get along so well.”
“We get along because I don’t want to be in love.”
He laughed. “And I do?”
She smiled knowingly. “See you, Max.”