I felt the harshness of each concrete step through my boots. I paused as I reached the glass doors, glancing to my left, seeing a bulletin board with all sorts of notices. Missing pets. Town functions. An event at the library. But one piece of paper made my chest tighten.
I reached out and plucked it from the board. My empty hand reached for the door, but when I pulled, I found it locked. A young man behind a desk looked up at the rattle of metal and glass. His eyes widened for a moment, and then he must’ve pushed a button because the door made a sound.
I pulled again, and it opened with ease. The soles of my boots echoed on the linoleum floor. Just a few more breaths.
“Are you okay?” the man asked.
I laid the paper on his desk, the photo on it staring up at us, the stark letters—Missing—a glaring accusation. The face on it was only a little younger than mine, but it was smiling and carefree. It had been a long time since I’d been that. It was too exhausting trying to read Dad’s moods or being on alert for one of his drills that could happen at any time.
I touched a finger to the side of the photo, not wanting to get dirt on the girl’s face. “I know where she is.”
The man’s mouth opened and closed. “Where?”
“At my house. In the shed with the green roof.”
His eyes narrowed on me. “How old are you?”
“Eleven.”
His gaze traveled over my shoulder, out the glass doors. “Did you come here alone? This isn’t something to joke about. Is that a horse?”
A side door opened. “What’s all the fuss out here, Nick?”
A man with tanned skin and salt-and-pepper hair appeared, and his gaze immediately moved to me. “Now, who’s this?”
Nick scowled. “She says she knows where Shiloh Easton is. Probably a prank. You know how these kids are.”
The older man came towards me and crouched. “What’s your name, little one?”
“Everly. Everly Kemper.” I did my best to keep my voice from shaking.
The man shared a look with Nick. “You live up on the mountain?”
I nodded. “The girl. She’s there. My dad…he said he had to save her from the evil and that she would be in our family now. But she doesn’t want to be there. She wants to go home. And Mom’s gone. She had to go midwifing, and no one can talk Dad down when he’s like this. But it’s been five days, and the girl…she won’t eat or drink. And Dad keeps getting madder. I didn’t know what to do.”
All the words tumbled out of me. It wasn’t anything like I’d practiced on my long ride into town. I fisted my hands, my nails biting into my palms, to keep from letting everything else fly.
The man’s jaw looked as if it were carved out of granite, but he patted me on the shoulder. “Everything’s going to be just fine. I’m Sheriff Hearst. I’ll figure everything out.” He turned to Nick. “Let’s call in our team. As fast as they can get here.”
Nick jumped on the phone, and Sheriff Hearst guided me towards the side door, but I halted halfway there, looking towards the doors. “Storm, my horse. She needs some water.”
“Did you ride all the way here?”
I nodded. “She’s probably thirsty.”
“And I’m sure you are, too.” The sheriff waved at Nick. “Get the horse some water.” Nick gave a lift of his chin, and the sheriff looked down at me. “Let’s get you something to drink and maybe a snack, too.”
He seated me in a room with two vending machines and a little kitchen. “Have a seat.”
The chair made an ugly sound as I pulled it back, and by the time I sat down, the room was getting a little fuzzy. I barely registered Sheriff Hearst placing an array of items in front of me. Water and a soda. Some crackers, and a candy bar.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had packaged food. Maybe when I was seven? About the time Dad pulled me and Ian out of school. He’d demanded that we live off the land as much as possible. Nothing store-bought. Those companies were trying to poison us.
But I remembered the chips Mom used to pack in my lunch, and they were my favorite. My hands trembled as I went for the crackers. But I could barely taste them.
Everything went in and out of focus as a female deputy came to sit with me. I watched from my spot at the table as officers assembled in the main room. They donned vests and guns. My stomach cramped, and I squeezed my eyes closed. I did the right thing. I said it over and over in my mind, just hoping I might believe it.
When I opened my eyes, the armed men and women were gone. I toyed with the crackers as the woman asked me questions. “Has your dad ever hurt you?”
I shook my head. He’d been strict, but his punishments were training. Teaching us to go without because we might not always have access to the comforts of home.
The woman shifted in her chair. “Has he ever touched you anywhere that made you feel uncomfortable?”
I blanched. “No. He’s not like that. He just…” I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. “His mind plays tricks on him.”
It was the best way I could think to explain him. His brain told him lies. Like the one that decided a family was evil because they were going to a town fair, but their daughter could be saved because she hadn’t wanted to go. So, he’d stolen her away.
I tuned the deputy out and stared into the main room, letting my eyes go unfocused. That same side door opened, and a group of people filed in—a family. The mother was red-eyed and panicked, while the father tried to calm her and hold onto the girl in his arms, who couldn’t have been more than six or seven.
Two boys followed, looking around the room. The oldest was probably in high school. His fists clenched and flexed, and anger lit his eyes. But the younger wasn’t more than a few years older than me. Worry lined his face. He looked from the room back to his parents, taking his mother’s hand and squeezing it.
It had to be the little girl’s family. Shiloh Easton. I said the name in my mind, shaped it with my mouth. She would go home to this family who loved her.
I watched as the mom kissed the boy on his head. He didn’t dodge away like Ian did when my mom showed him affection. This boy let her love on him, seeming to understand that she needed it.
Our gazes locked from across the room. There were a million questions in his eyes. I wasn’t sure I had any of the answers he needed, but I couldn’t look away. I stared into those dark depths as if he held me hostage.
The bang of the door against the wall broke our trance. The entire Easton family was on their feet in a flash, surrounding Sheriff Hearst. He held Shiloh in his arms. I couldn’t hear what he said, but the mother wept, and I caught tears streaming down the father’s face, as well. The siblings hugged their sister tightly. But the boy with the haunting eyes kept looking back at me where I sat. All alone.
1
Everly
PRESENT