“Well, I’ll talk to her. Reassure her,” Lisa said.
“That would be nice,” Zell said. She got the room number they’d been moved to since Cutter was out of intensive care and promised to head to the hospital just as soon as possible. She ended the call. Before she went anywhere, she was going to take a shower.
“Cailey!” she called. She bustled outside, rounding the corner of her house to the front yard, where she’d last seen Cailey. But Cailey wasn’t there. She scanned the yard, but it was empty. She moved to the backyard calling out for Cailey. But the backyard was empty, too, the squirrel feeder they’d planned to mount later still sitting on the patio.
She ran back to the front yard, yelling Cailey’s name loudly. Her mind ran to the little girl who’d disappeared months ago, the one they’d never found. She’d lived not too far from Sycamore Glen. Zell raised her voice and yelled the child’s name even louder still.
CAILEY
I was sitting on Mr. Doyle’s back deck eating a fudge pop—my favorite—when I heard Zell hollering for me. “I think someone’s looking for you,” he said and gestured in the direction of her voice, loud and panicked sounding. I hopped up and went running toward Zell’s house, the pop still in my hand.
“Hey! Hey!” I yelled when I rounded the corner and spotted her pacing back and forth in her front yard. “I’m over here!” I waved my arms over my head, the Popsicle dripping a little as I did, droplets like brown rain sprinkling down.
Zell was in the front yard, and as soon as she saw me, she stopped moving and stared at me like I was a ghost coming toward her. I crossed the street in a hurry and met her in the middle of her yard. I looked over to see if Mr. Doyle had followed me, but he hadn’t. I guessed he went inside to check on his mother. She was taking a nap, but later he was going to take her for a walk in her wheelchair. He said he was waiting till it wasn’t hot as Hades to go. He said I was welcome to walk with them, but I said I’d have to ask Zell. He made a face and said it wasn’t likely she would say yes. I asked why, and he said, “Long story.”
Zell gave me a quick hug when I got to her, then she looked at me like my mother did when she was disappointed. I tried to figure out what I could’ve forgotten to do for Zell, but I couldn’t think of anything. The nice thing about Zell’s house was I didn’t have to do a thing. She mostly did it all, which was a nice change.
“Where were you?” Zell asked. “And where’d you get that fudge pop?” She was acting like I stole it.
“From Mr. Doyle,” I said, and pointed toward his house like Zell didn’t already know where he lived. Then I remembered. At the pool she’d seen me talking to him after he gave me my trophy and asked me not to ever go to his house. She’d said I didn’t have to understand, that I just needed to listen to her. When he offered me the Popsicle, I forgot all about that. All I could think of was eating that fudge pop, how cold and good it would taste on a hot day.
“I didn’t ask him for it,” I said really quickly. “He offered.” I wanted Zell to see I had good manners even if I wasn’t the best listener in the world. The last thing I wanted was for her to get mad at me and send me home.
“Cailey, please stay away from him. I’m telling you, it’s for your own good,” Zell pleaded with me, casting a glance at Mr. Doyle’s house as she spoke.
“He just gave me a Popsicle. He said I looked hot out here. He was being nice.” I tried to assure her, but she wasn’t buying it. Grown-ups sure do like to worry. Even when they don’t have anything to worry about, they invent stuff. It was kind of like my mom, telling me not to talk to strangers. My mom had been so wrong—just look at how nice people had been. I mean, before Cutter’s accident I didn’t even know Zell, and now I practically lived with her.
Zell waved her hand in the air. “Oh, well, it doesn’t matter. You’re OK and I’ve got exciting news.” She put her arm around my shoulders and began walking me back toward her house. She kind of stunk after working on the habitat all morning, but I didn’t dare say so.
When she said she had news for me, I honestly thought she was going to tell me that Mr. John had said he’d dig us a pond. I was starting to feel at home with Zell and John, starting to think we might actually finish this project of ours. I wasn’t even thinking about Cutter. The truth was, lately, I hadn’t thought about my mom and brother much at all. First, my selfishness had landed my brother in the hospital, then I went off and lived the good life while he was there and forgot about him. I was the worst sister in the world.
“Yeah?” I asked. “What is it?” I was already thinking of the special fish I’d ask Zell to buy for the pond. I’d seen them on a show on TV before. They were big and fat and orange, like overgrown goldfish. I would name them—
“Your brother’s awake,” Zell said. “We’ve got to get ready and get up to the hospital.” She beamed at me, and I felt the Popsicle start to drip down my hand. “He’s going to be so happy to see you!” She gave me a little hug, and I made my face smile back at her because I should’ve been happy.
I mean, I was happy. Relieved, too. But in the same moment, at the exact same time, I was sad, too. Because I would be going home. Possibly as soon as that night. No more dinners with Mr. John and Zell. No more Zell asking, “So what do we feel like for supper?” No more wildlife habitat. No more going over to hang out with Lilah next door. No more waking up on the sofa with an afghan covering me because Zell thought I looked cold. I’d have to take my Fourth of July trophy off her mantel.
“That’s great,” I said, hoping I sounded the way a normal kid would when she heard that her brother who might have died wasn’t going to die after all. “I can’t wait to see him.” When tears welled in my eyes, I made it seem like it was because I was so relieved. And I was. But I was also thinking about what it would be like to go back to being the one who took care of people instead of being the one who got cared for.
Zell and I took showers superfast and got dressed. I met her downstairs in the kitchen, and she handed me a big, shiny apple. “You haven’t had lunch, and I don’t think that Popsicle is going to hold you.” She gave me a wink that told me I was forgiven. “We’ll go get lunch after the hospital to celebrate. How’s that sound?”
It sounded nice. It sounded like a fitting end to what had been the best summer I could remember.
On the way to the hospital, we passed a billboard of that little girl who’d disappeared. It had a big picture of her, smiling and looking at us all as we drove past, heading to our everyday lives while she remained lost. I could tell it was her school picture. (School pictures always look the same no matter what school you go to. I’d been to enough to know.) The billboard asked the question, “Have you seen me?” with a phone number and the promise of a big reward for anyone who helped find her. It gave me the heebie-jeebies, and I had to look away really quickly, even though her face stayed in my mind.
I saw Zell notice it, too, but neither of us said anything about it, even though I knew both of us were thinking about earlier when Zell couldn’t find me. Zell had it wrong, though. Mr. Doyle was a nice man who was just a little lonely. He had to take care of other people a lot so he didn’t have the greatest life. I understood how that felt.