“Um ...” Alex was incredibly uncomfortable about this turn of events. His most hated enemy was practically begging him to accept his thanks. He probably could have asked for anything just then—even for the boy to just leave and never come back—but instead he just nodded. “Yeah. No problem.” He walked past Jared and headed up the stairs. “I guess that’s just my job, huh?”
He left Jared in the lobby as David followed him.
“See?” David whispered to him, “I told you he’s not bad!”
“Uh-huh,” Alex replied. He looked back down the stairs. Jared stared up at him and closed the door. Before he got lost in the shadowy darkness, Alex thought he saw a strange look on the older boy’s face. A look of gratitude.
Whatever it was, it didn’t look right on Jared Flemming.
For the rest of the day, whenever Alex turned around, there was Jared, asking if he could help him with whatever he was working on; or if he needed something to eat or drink; or if he wanted to play a game; or if he just wanted to be left alone. He even tried being friendly with Shadow. At first the dog, ever loyal to Alex, would have none of it; she growled each time Jared went near her. As the day went on, however, she relented and allowed him to pat her. He seemed good with her.
Alex wondered if he had a dog of his own. Maybe his dog was lost out there somewhere. Just like Jared had been until he found them.
Just like Alex had been, only a few days before that.
As much as he hated to admit it, Alex soon found that even he was beginning to pity Jared. In a few short, stupid seconds that day, he had gone from egotistical, cocky jerk, to a lowly, helpless, kid. Just like the rest of them.
The thought that he might end up being friends with Jared Flemming kept Alex up for most of the night. Exhaustion from the day’s events, however, won out, and the thoughts were soon replaced by the darkness of sleep.
KAITLYN
Kaitlyn woke up when she heard whispering. The past few nights she had slept soundly—the sleep of the exhausted—but now her guard was up again. Something was wrong, though for the briefest moment she couldn’t put her finger on it. Once she did figure it out she almost jumped to her feet.
Hannah wasn’t with her.
Hannah hadn’t left her side for the past week ... or more. She couldn’t remember how many days it had been since the little girl was in her life, but now that she wasn’t there a deep sense of loss crept over her. Hannah’s name was just about to bellow forth from her throat when a whispered voice made her catch it.
“What do you do?” it asked.
Hannah’s voice. She was sobbing—or rather, she was just coming out of sobbing.
Who is she talking to? Her question, and Hannah’s, were answered at the same time.
“I just have hope,” the voice said.
Alex.
It didn’t sound all that strong either; she could tell, even though he was hidden by the darkness, that he was trying to put on a brave face.
“But ... how?” Hannah asked.
Alex took a deep breath. Kaitlyn could hear his discomfort. Even before he put it into words, she could guess what they were talking about.
“I just ... I know he’s out there,” he continued, whispering. “I know he’s out there, because he would never give up on me. Even when there’s a whole bunch of those ...”
“Mudmen?” Hannah said.
“Yeah,” Alex said, with a little laugh. “Yeah—even with a bunch of mudmen on his trail, between him and me—I know that he’s still out there, and he won’t rest until he finds me. He’s my dad. That’s what dads do. That’s what your dad is doing, too.”
For a while, there was silence. Dark, empty silence. Kaitlyn didn’t know if she should call Hannah over, or if that would make it clear that she had been eavesdropping on their private conversation. She wished it wasn’t private. She wished they could talk about this stuff with everyone. Everyone was missing someone, everyone in the same boat. The only difference was that Hannah and Alex had lost someone before. If anything, they were more used to it than any of them! They were being selfish to only comfort each other; to not bring in the rest of them. Why did Alex have to be so selfish? So self-absorbed! So—
Their dads are all they have, Kaitlyn thought, suddenly ashamed that she had thought they were being selfish. The rest of them had both parents out there, somewhere. Her own dad, though he was hundreds of miles away, might not even be a part of this! For all she knew, things outside of Cape Breton were fine. He would be fine, and waiting for her. She at least had that.
She missed her mom.
“But ...” Hannah started again as Kaitlyn wiped a tear from her eye. “How do you know ... for sure?”
Alex took a deep breath. “The last time I talked to my dad—” He stopped short and took another long, slow breath. Kaitlyn could imagine his eyes starting to well up, even as hers did the same. “The last time I talked to my dad, he told me that he was scared, but that everything would be okay. That he was coming to find me. That he would find me. I know that he will. That’s all.”
Kaitlyn tried to keep back her tears. Her own mother had said pretty much the same thing the last time they had spoken—only she was supposed to have been back in just one hour. That was so many hours and days ago. Kaitlyn had no idea where her mom was, or what had happened to her, or if she was even still alive or—
No, she caught herself, steeling her
