They fanned out and continued looking. Later, Abilene made her way gradually toward the side of the pool, thinking that the keys might’ve dropped out of the pocket while she was returning with the shorts. She reached the wall without finding them. Standing there, she checked the granite in hopes of spotting wet footprints left by Helen.
The granite was wet all right. Puddled. And there were countless footprints. After a moment of confusion and excitement and fear, she realized that she was looking at the water they’d all left on the pool’s apron last night. It simply hadn’t dried.
Out of breath, Cora asked, ‘Anything?’
‘She might’ve climbed out over here, but I can’t tell for sure. It’s still all wet from us.’
‘But where the hell are the keys? Maybe we oughta get the other two in here for some help.’
‘Why bother? The keys just aren’t here. Either Helen already found them or they went down the hot spring.’
‘We’d better keep looking.’
‘We should be looking for Helen, not the keys. If she hasn’t got them… we can’t leave, anyway, until we find her.’
‘Helen!’ Cora shouted. ‘Helen!’
In the silence that followed the boom of her voice, Finley called from outside, ‘Did you find her?’
‘No, damn it!’
‘Find the keys?’ Finley asked.
‘No!’
‘Why don’t you come on out?’ Vivian called.
‘We’re on our way,’ Abilene answered. To Cora, she said, ‘Hey, for all we know, Helen might be back at the sleeping bags and wondering what happened to us.'
‘Fat chance.’
Abilene didn’t believe it, either.
It was about as likely, she thought, as waking up and discovering that Helen’s disappearance had been nothing but a bad dream.
They made their way slowly back through the pool, studying its bottom. Then they passed under the archway. Abilene felt guilty about quitting the search, but it was good to be in the sunlight again and very good to see Finley and Vivian. She climbed out. The morning air felt cool after the heat of the water.
‘Helen might’ve already found the keys,’ she said.
‘Unless they fell down through the grate,’ Cora added.
‘Maybe the guy took them,’ Finley said.
‘Anything’s possible,’ Abilene said.
‘They might even still be in the pool,’ Cora explained, ‘and we just couldn’t find them. Maybe later we should all go in and do a really thorough search.’
‘The main thing’s finding Helen,’ Vivian said. ‘We can get by without the keys, if we have to. We can walk out. But… God, where is she?’
‘Somebody must’ve grabbed her,’ Finley said.
Though Abilene had already suspected as much, the words struck her like a blow. ‘There’s gotta be some other explanation. ’
‘Like what? She left her shoes here. And the chips. Obviously, she went in the water to look for the keys. But she didn’t come out.’
‘How could she go in there?’ Vivian sounded as if she might start crying. ‘Was she out of her mind?’
‘Took a lot of guts,’ Cora muttered.
‘I’m sure she thought she’d let us down,’ Abilene said. ‘Wanted to make things right.’
‘But God!’
‘The thing is,’ Finley said, ‘her shoes are still here. And the chips. So she didn’t come out this way. Unless she was taken out by someone.’
‘No footprints,’ Abilene said.
‘She could’ve been taken out this way,’ Finley said. ‘The sun’s pretty damn hot. Footprints wouldn’t have lasted all that long.’ Turning around, she gazed across the field. ‘Maybe took her into the woods. If it was that kid we saw yesterday.’
‘I’m not sure he was big enough to handle Helen,’ Cora said. ‘Maybe he wasn’t alone.’
‘Look,’ Vivian said. ‘Suppose she was in the pool and someone came in from here? She might’ve climbed out the other side and run upstairs to get away from him. She could be hiding somewhere in the lodge. Maybe she even heard us calling, but she was afraid to answer.’
‘It was all wet over there,’ Abilene said. ‘It was still wet from last night, but she might’ve gone out that way.’
‘She’s gotta be somewhere,’ Cora said.
‘We’d better search the lodge,’ Abilene said, feeling a renewal of hope. ‘Start there, at least.’
‘Come on.’
With Cora in the lead, they returned to the car. She tugged
open a rear door and Abilene braced it wide while she climbed in, crawled over the seat back and came out with a tire iron in her hand. Abilene let the door drop shut. Cora smacked the rod against her palm. ‘Just in case,’ she muttered.
‘We’d better take flashlights, too,’ Abilene said, ‘I’ll go get ’em.’ Without waiting for a response, she trotted up the remains of the slope. When the pavement leveled out, she broke into a run. Her moccasins pounded the concrete. Then she was in the deep grass and weeds of the front lawn, racing toward the section of the woods where they’d spent the night.
It felt good to be moving fast, making her own breeze, a breeze that cooled her wet skin and clothes, that slipped through her hair and caressed her hot scalp. If only there was nothing else. Just the running, the feel of the air, the sweet mixture of aromas, the strong quickness of her body. Like being a kid on a summer holiday. Savoring all the wonderful sensations, free and excited.
Just that, and no dread.
None of this numbing, gnawing fear that Helen might be gone forever.
She’ll be all right, Abilene told herself. We’ll find her. Or she’ll just show up.
Nearing the edge of the woods, Abilene suddenly knew that Helen was sitting on the porch steps of the lodge. Watching her. Wondering why she was in such a hurry. Any moment, Helen would call out, ‘What’s going on?’ Abilene would turn around, and call, ‘Where the hell have you been?’ and run to her, overwhelmed with relief and joy.
She looked over her shoulder.
The porch steps were gray, sunless, deserted.
Abilene’s throat thickened. Plunging into the forest, she didn’t dare to hope that she would find Helen waiting with the sleeping bags.
How could this have happened?
How pould Helen have gone there alone?
It was daylight. Daylight can trick us into thinking we’re safe. The spooks that haunt the night have gone back to their dark lairs. So we think.
And if they haven’t, at least we figure we can see them coming. And get away.
Helen must’ve been possessed by that false confidence that comes with the morning light. Figured she’d do her good deed for the day. Save us the trouble of returning to the pool.
Why’d you have to do it!
Abilene burst into the clearing. She staggered to a halt on top of her own sleeping bag.
No Helen. Of course not.
The sight of the girl’s baggy, plaid Bermudas ripped Abilene’s heart. Tears flooded her eyes. She gasped out painful, breathless sobs. With wet fists, she rubbed her eyes. But new tears came, blurring her vision.
No time for this!
