Follow the Leader
The week passed with little interaction between Brittney and Chris. She had holed up in her room and refused to talk to him on the rare occasion that she actually came out. When the day finally came Brittney barely slept. She kept waking up every few minutes to be sure it wasn’t too late about 6:00 Chris stuck his head in to check on her as was his habit. Her heart began to pump in her chest but she didn’t move.
She listened as he showered and dressed and got a crying Joseph and brought him downstairs, then he went to the kitchen to get breakfast. She tip-toed to the top of the stairs and could hear water running in the kitchen The door-bell rang and she dashed around the corner as Chris let Tara in. “Brittney’s still asleep and Joseph’s eating breakfast” he said as he let her in. They disappeared in the direction of the kitchen and she could hear Chris giving Tara instructions.
As soon as she was sure they were far enough away she dashed down the stairs and ran out the door. She jumped into the back of Chris’s blue pickup and pulled the tarp over her. Only after she was completely covered did she allow herself to breathe.
A few moments later she heard the door open and footsteps heading toward the car. She held her breath expecting any second for Chris to pull the tarp off and reveal her hiding place but he didn’t. She heard the door slam and the engine start and the next thing she knew the car was moving and she was home-free.
After what seemed like a life time Chris stopped the car and got out, she waited for a little bit until she was sure he was inside the hospital then sat up. But she wasn’t at a hospital she was in a forest and Chris was nowhere to be found she stood up and jumped out the back of the pickup looking around a little nervously as she did but there wasn’t a sign of him. She began to walk and called his name over and over but there was no answer.
Suddenly she heard a noise a rustling and a crunch like leaves. She began to run toward the noise “Grampa Chris” she called as she looked behind a tree, another rustle. She ran on faster and faster rustle after rustle she ran smack dab into an old man who was shaking slightly and holding onto a little old cane. “What are you doing out here little girl?”
“I’m looking for my Grampa Chris.”
The man was shaking so badly that she wondered what he was even doing way out here in the middle of the woods when he could hardly walk or talk. “Well I doubt your Grandpa’s gone too far.”
There was another rustle to Brittney’s left and she would’ve sworn she heard whispering. The old man had placed a shaking hand on Brittney’s shoulder and shout out in a wavering voice. “Now who ever you are come on out this is no time to play games.” There was another rustle and the most hideous creature Brittney had ever seen stepped out from the bush. Fear gripped her and she felt the old man’s hand tighten on her shoulder. The creatures head was down but when it looked at Brittney she began to shake horribly then when she thought she couldn’t take any more her world went black.
It was nearly noon and Tara was watching MTV and talking to Lizzy. Joseph was playing on the floor with a small pile of blocks. “Na Na” he repeated for like the hundredth time since she’d gotten here. She didn’t understand this baby’s language usually Brittney was the one who got him what he wanted. Where is that girl anyway? She wondered glancing at her watch and realizing how late it was it had been nearly 5 hours since Mr. Baker had left and she hadn’t heard a sound from Brittney.
She got up to go and cheek on her knocking gently on the door as she neared “Brittney” she called softly “Brittney” the girl didn’t stir. There was something odd about the way the girl was laying and she went over to the bed and pulled back the covers. A large stuffed dog lay in the bed but Brittney was no where to be seen She couldn’t help it she screamed
Tara ran down stairs ignoring Joseph’s cries coming from the living room, she grabbed the phone off the counter and dialed the number as fast as her shaking fingers would allow her too all the while scolding herself for not paying more attention. The phone rang 5 times before going to voice mail she hung up and tried again with the same result.
She turned too the fridge and scanned through the emergency numbers and found the name she was looking for. She pounded in the numbers, the phone rang. If this didn’t work her next call would be the police.
Ring… Ring Mary jumped and nearly fell off the couch where she had been standing while she dusted the cobwebs off the ceiling. The phone rang again and she climbed down and grabbed it up off the coffee table “hello” she answered.
“Hello,” A panicked voice filled the ear piece. “This is Tara, Brittney’s babysitter.” The girl began talking so fast Mary could barely keep up with what she was saying but she had been able to pick up two words: Brittney’s missing.
“Now Tara just calm down please I can’t help you if you don’t listen.” Tara stopped talking and she could hear her taking deep breaths over the phone. “Now just listen to me, I know how to handle this ok. Now I’m going to call Chris and tell him what happened and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. OK?”
“But I already tried calling Chris, twice, he didn’t answer his phone.”
“I’ll figure something out ok. Now I don’t want to hear from you again for at least an hour unless she comes home ok?
“Ok!” with that the line went dead.
Mary hung up the phone her hands shaking slightly and ran up stairs to her room she went to the closet and pulled out the small wooden box lock-box she kept her universal-cell-phone in. She brought the box to her bed and unlocked it. She held down the number 5 and Chris’s name popped up.
“Hello”
“Chris its Mary. I just got a call from Tara.”
“What happened?” he asked fear suddenly overtaking his voice.
“Brittney’s missing.”
Silence filled the line
“Chris?”
“I heard you. She probably climbed into the truck before I left. She’s probably freaking out thinking I was going to the hospital.”
“Oh no! Do you want me to see if I can go find her?”
“No Mary that’s ok. Why don’t you call Tara and tell her Brittney just called and your on your way to pick her up.”
“What about you?”
“I have a call to make. There’s a small group of scientists that are studying at the woods that might be able to find her for me.”
“OK. Call me if there are any changes.”
“I will, thanks Mary.”
Tara sat down on the couch she had filled a sippy cup with juice and for now it was keeping Joseph quiet enough to think. She couldn’t believe what was happening. How did could this have happened to her? Sure she probably watched TV a lot and talked and hung with her friends but she had always kept an ear out for what Brittney was doing. How did the little girl manage to get past her? And what would happen to Brittney now? She was probably so alone and frightened. Oh why oh why had she not paid more attention to her? Why did she always watch TV when she came over?
The phone rang and Tara dived for it picking it up before the second ring. Joseph stopped drinking his juice and stared at her curiously for a moment before continuing “Hello?” She nearly yelled into the phone
“Hi Tara this is Mary. Brittney just called and I’m on my way to pick her up - .”
“You found her?” relief flooded Tara and she slumped into the couch. “Where is she?”
Mary hesitated for just a moment. “the hospital.”
“Oh why doesn’t her dad keep her?”
Mary hated lying but she knew that it was the only way as she said. “her dad’s with her now but Kara is in such bad shape they won’t let Brittney into see her.”
“Oh! What do you want me to do now?”
“I’m going to pick Brittney up then take her back to my place for a couple days I think she really needs to be with family for awhile and I live closer to the hospital.”
“Ok, Bye.” Tara waited for the other click before hanging up. She was really confused something about the conversation didn’t sit well with her and she couldn’t help but feel that maybe Brittney hadn’t really been found at all but they were just trying to make her feel better.
Joseph was digging through a toy box in the corner and Tara decided to go see if there was anything in the fridge that she could eat preferably something sweet. As she reached the fridge her eyes caught sight of the emergency numbers and her hand stopped on the door as she read Mary’s number again. The number was a Chicago number. So they hadn’t found Brittney after all Chicago was at least 2 hours away. Tara had had enough of this she was calling the police.
“What did she say?” Kirita sat up in her bed although her body was getting weaker and weaker everyday her mind was still as sharp as ever and her husband had to fight with her tooth and nail to get her to rest.
Her husband set the phone down on the bedside table and sat on the bed beside his wife. Worry lined his forehead but he smiled at his wife. “She found her.”
“What is it Christilone?” She knew her husband well enough to know that there was something more that he wasn’t telling her.
Christilone sighed “She’s coming to Imaginess!”
“What do you mean you can’t help me?” Tara nearly shouted into the phone.”
“Its standard procedure Ma’am we can’t go chasing after every kid who disappears.”
“Please sir isn’t there anything you can do?”
“Look I’ll put out a missing persons alert to the team and if anyone sees a little 11 year old blonde running around we’ll let you know ok?”
“Ok thank you very much.”
“I do my best have a nice day.”
Tara hung up the phone still not content with how things were looking. It was getting dark and a nervous shudder ran down her spine suddenly she didn’t much like the idea of staying in the house alone. She picked up the phone again maybe her mom wouldn’t mind keeping Joseph at the house for a few days.
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