Chloe stepped out of the cottage onto the porch. “I bet she’s holed up in one of the abandoned cottages,” she said.
“She could be right across the street, for all we know. I think we should go door-to-door.”
Chloe could be right. Shelly had done exactly that during a storm a few years earlier. She knew enough to get inside somewhere. Would she know enough to select a cottage as far from the beach as possible? It was anyone’s guess. She could be anywhere.
“If she is in a cottage somewhere, and we knock on the door, she won’t answer it,” she said.
“We won’t knock, then,” Chloe said.
“We’ll just snoop around the cottages and see if we can spot her.”
“I’ll start with Jill’s,” Rory said.
“Then let’s split up to cover the streets on the other side of the beach road.”
“Look for a light on,” Daria said as she walked into the cul-de-sac with them. She pulled up the hood of her windbreaker, holding it closed with a hand beneath her chin. It had grown so dark outside that she could barely see the expressions on the faces of Rory and her sister. Shelly was not crazy about the dark. She would turn on a light if she had sequestered herself in someone’s cottage.
Only, there were no lights on. They searched Jill’s and Linda’s cottages, then separately covered six streets west of the beach road.
Every single cottage was dark. It might as well be the dead of winter, Daria thought. There was no one around. Not even any cars. The wind literally blew her off her feet from time to time and made her eyes tear. A few shingles flew past her as she walked, along with a child’s plastic pail and the lid of a garbage can, projectiles being flung through the darkening air.
The rain had started, and it felt like darts against her face as she fought her way back to the Sea Shanty. Rory and Chloe were already on the porch, and any hope she’d had that one of them had found Shelly vanished when she saw the look of defeat on their faces. She started to cry, and was surprised when Rory put his arms around her.
“I’m sure she’s all right,” he said.
“Chloe and I thought she might be at St. Esther’s.”
Daria suddenly drew away from him. St. Esther’s!
“I was just about to call over there,” Chloe said.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”
Chloe went into the cottage to make the call, and Daria pictured Shelly hiding out in the church, where she would no doubt feel secure.
Of course that’s where she was! She even had a key. The thought of her safe inside the church was an enormous comfort.
A car turned into the cul-de-sac, and Daria walked out to meet it, hoping that Shelly might somehow be inside. She had to plant her feet wide apart to avoid being blown away as the car pulled in front of the Sea Shanty. She recognized the sheriffs-office insignia on the side of the car, and Don Tibbie, one of the deputies, struggled to open the car door against the wind. He was alone, and she knew he was most likely driving around to make sure Kill Devil Hills was evacuated.
“Daria?” he asked.
“Is that you?”
The hood of her windbreaker nearly masked her face.
“It’s me,” she said.
“Have you seen Shelly anywhere?”
Don leaned against the car, the wind tearing at his uniform.
“Don’t tell me she’s gone missing again,” he said.
“Yes, and this time we can’t find her.”
“Golly, that girl,” Don said.
“Well, you know you’ve got to get out of here now, Daria. The wind is just about too high to get over the bridge as it is. You’ve got maybe a half hour left.”
“I can’t leave without her, Don,” she said.
Don put his hands on his hips and looked past her into the Sea Shanty.
“Is Sister Chloe with you?” he asked.
“Yes. And Rory Taylor.”
“Well, you at least have to move to a higher spot,” he said.
“I want to be here in case Shelly comes back,” Daria said.
“I know the risks.”
“I know you do,” Don said.
“Look, I’ll keep my eye out for her, okay?
