The Troublesome Angel

by Valerie Hansen

  “At the zoo. Not today.” The hair on the back of his neck was bristling. Running away from his mother’s house or disappearing at Stacy’s was one thing. Getting lost in the wilderness, like the first time she ran away, was quite another. “I haven’t seen Missy since I visited your group and saw her making an owl.”

  “Oh, dear.” Emily’s eyes widened in fear and disbelief. “Why would she lie to me like that?”

  “I’m afraid she has a one-track mind when it comes to some subjects, especially a certain rescue dog.” Angry, Gray couldn’t make up his mind who to be mad at first: himself, Emily, Stacy or God. He fought the urge to run out of the dining hall and shout the little girl’s name at the top of his lungs, even though he knew it probably wouldn’t help.

  Emily was wringing her hands. Tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t want you to worry,” Gray said, lightly patting her shoulder to comfort her. “Sit down, eat your dinner and look after the rest of your group. I’ll tell James what’s going on. I know what Missy is expecting, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

  Stacy’s emergency beeper went off as she was coming out of the grocery store in Cave City. She directed the clerk’s helper to her truck so he could load her purchases in the back, then went to a pay phone to call her message service.

  “This is Stacy Lucas. What do you have for me?”

  “A lost child,” the operator said. “A six-year-old girl. I wasn’t sure if I should bother you. The call didn’t come from any of your regular sources but the man said it was urgent. He sure sounded like he meant it.”

  Stacy’s stomach leaped into her throat and stuck there like a big wad of dry cotton. “What was his name?”

  “He said it was Payne. I didn’t catch his first name. It was real unusual, though.”

  Not again! “Could his name have been Graydon Payne?”

  “Might have been. Hard to say. He was talking so fast I could hardly understand a word he said.”

  Suddenly light-headed, Stacy leaned against the edge of the wall-mounted phone booth. She and Gray had gotten used to chasing after Missy. If he was upset, the current situation must be serious. “Where was the child last seen?”

  “At a camp up in…” Shuffling papers, the operator found her notes. “In Ravenden. Is that too far away for you? I can always call somebody else if you’d like.”

  “No,” Stacy said quickly. “I know exactly where it is. It’s not too far.”

  “You sure? This guy sounded kind of dithered.”

  “I don’t doubt that a bit.” Stacy was already laying out her route in her head and going over the supplies she’d need. “Call Mr. Payne back and tell him I’ll try to be there in about an hour. And tell him not to worry. I’ll be bringing Lewis.”

  “I thought you’d decided to retire that dog?”

  “I had. But this is a special case. Lewis already knows the missing child so he’s the best choice.”

  “I suppose that’s why the guy asked for you by name.”

  “Undoubtedly,” Stacy said flatly. “I’ll be on the road in five minutes. Bye.”

  She’d hung up and was running for her truck before the operator had a chance to respond.

  The idea of seeing Gray again was so physically unsettling and had built to such a peak by the time she reached Ravenden, Stacy wondered if she might be coming down with the flu.

  “I should be so lucky,” she muttered. Beside her, Lewis thumped his tail. “Yeah, I know. You love this.”

  Uptight beyond belief, she made a disgusted face. There it was again—the L word! What a mockery her indiscriminate, unconscious thoughts had made of her determination to put Gray out of her mind for good.

  “Yeah, yeah, go ahead and wag your tail, Lewis.” Stacy gave him a pat of assurance to counteract her slightly gruff tone. “At least one of us is going to have fun tonight. But it sure isn’t going to be me.”

  Scowling, she wheeled into the hard-packed dirt drive leading to the children’s summer camp. The place had been there so long and had such a sterling reputation, it was always full to capacity. And no wonder. The kids were well-fed, entertained, and housed in dormlike buildings with real beds instead of having to pitch tents on the hard ground. As far as Stacy was concerned, that was not camping.

  Gray was pacing and waiting for her at the archway marking the main entrance. When she stopped beside him, he reached for the door handle on the passenger side of her truck, spotted Lewis, and changed his mind.

  “I’ll just ride back here, instead,” he said, vaulting over the side of the truck bed with ease.

  Stacy opened the sliding window behind her so they could still communicate and called, “Move over here so we can talk. You can fill me in while I drive. Where should we start?”

  “Past the main campground and then to the east,” he said, hanging on to the window frame for balance and crouching behind her. “That’s where I last saw Missy.”

  Other children were grouped around the dining hall doorway, watching the truck pass, so Stacy slowed down. Looking in the rearview mirror she saw Gray gesturing.

  “Turn there, at the rail fence,” he ordered. “It’s not a regular road but it’s passable almost all the way. We can save time if we drive.”

  Stacy didn’t park until the trail got too narrow for her truck to squeeze through. Lewis was straining at his leash, eager to begin, the moment she got out of the truck.

  “Hand me my backpack before you climb down,” she told Gray. “Everything slid around back there on that crooked stretch of road between here and Hardy.”

  Gray complied, then joined her. He held up the pack so she could slip her arms through the shoulder straps. “No kidding. Do you always stir your groceries like that?”

  “Not hardly.” She glanced at the dimly lit disarray in the truck bed. The day was nearly over. Long shadows from the trees blurred her jumbled cargo even more. “Grab a couple of bottles of water, if you can find them in all that mess, and something sweet, too, for energy.”

  “Right. What else?”

  Stacy assessed his clothing. Jeans, hiking boots, a T-shirt and windbreaker were better choices than he’d made the last time they’d hit the trail together.

  “That’s all. You’ll do just as you are. Stuff the extra provisions in your jacket pockets and let’s go.”

  He followed her orders without hesitation, then led the way to the glen where Missy was last seen. “Her group was sitting over there, under those trees, making animals out of pinecones. She started talking about Lewis. Said she wanted to go see his puppies. Like a fool I didn’t realize how important it was to her.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Stacy said. “Missy has to be held responsible for her own actions someday. If something bothered her, she should have spoken up, come to you and told you how she was feeling. Unless she learns to do that she’s never going to be able to cope with the changes in life that she can’t control.”

  He wanted to say, “I think she left so you’d come after her,” but decided to keep that opinion to himself. It wasn’t fair to attribute his personal wishes to Missy. Maybe her wanting to see Stacy again had nothing to do with what had happened. Maybe the little girl was merely so spoiled, so used to getting her own way, she’d disappeared to punish him when he’d refused her request to go see the pups.

  “I really thought she liked me, trusted me,” Gray said, clearly sorrowing. He sighed. “I guess I was wrong.”

  The pathos in his voice cut all the way to Stacy’s soul and made its home there. How such a caring, sensitive man could have come from the Payne clan, could have developed in the same family that had shaped Mark and the others, was a complete mystery to her.

  To say so, however, would be a really stupid move. Assuming she was able to compliment Gray without sounding overly judgmental about the others, he could still misunderstand her motives. He might even think she was making a pass at him! Then what? The
compelling possibilities of such a scenario sent her imagination into overdrive, making her blush. Oh, heavens.

  “Heaven, indeed,” Stacy muttered, disgusted with her wandering mind. “I think you and I should pray hard that everything works out tonight.”

  “I’ve already been praying nonstop.”

  She made a disgusted face. “Well, I hate to admit it, but I haven’t. That’s a bad habit of mine. I tend to wait till things are about as bad as they can get before I panic and ask God for help.”

  Closing her eyes and bowing her head she said, “Father, it’s me again. Late, as usual. Please help us find Missy and keep her safe while we search.”

  Gray was about to add his Amen when Stacy went on, “And thank you for giving her an uncle who loves her and cares what happens to her, no matter how she behaves.”

  It suddenly struck her how the same kind of tolerance was available from God when any person became his child. And in her case, it was sure a good thing He allowed mistakes. Boy, was it!

  Continuing in silent prayer for a few moments, Stacy finally said, “Amen.” When she lifted her gaze to meet Gray’s she saw a sparkle of unshed tears in his eyes. That was no real surprise. She’d known for some time that her former nemesis had a tender heart.

  Which merely meant he was living the Christian life as well as he could, with God’s help. It did not, however, mean he’d renounced the trappings of his elaborate life-style or was any closer to understanding why different kinds of things were more important to her.

  Stacy knew that critical truth had better be foremost in her befuddled brain or she’d be prone to add another bad blunder to her already considerable list of them. It would be far too easy to heed her secret yearnings and make the mistake of thinking Gray cared as much about her as she did about him. Maybe even returned her love!

  Her heart skipped a beat. Allowing herself to imagine something like that, to dwell on it, would be the crowning disaster in a life already jam-packed with them. To love, with no chance of receiving equal love in return, was not only foolish, it was pointless. She’d been brought there for only one thing. To save lives.

  This time, Stacy remembered to ask for help before she was in dire straits. Father, she called silently, please help me keep my mind on my job and my heart focused on what you’ve put me here for.

  Instantly, her concentration peaked and she was back on track. “Come on, Lewis,” she said with eagerness and confidence. “Let’s go. We’ve got work to do.”

  Guiding the dog to the tree Gray had indicated, she ordered, “Find Missy.”

  The ridge they mounted was topped with a thick growth of small oaks and sycamores, interspersed with a smattering of cedars and an occasional green briar. Gray had learned to avoid the wiry, thorny vines the hard way, by grabbing one.

  He drew up beside Stacy, breathing hard, and switched off the flashlight she’d given him. The batteries wouldn’t last if they used the lights too much. “Well? What do you think?”

  Stacy had been watching the sky, noting recent changes. Some stars still shone through the clouds but thunderheads were building, darkening. She didn’t like the humid feel of the air or the lingering heat, either. If the dew point was as high as she figured it was, they could be in for some rotten weather.

  “I think we’d better find Missy pretty soon or we’re all going to get very wet,” she said flatly. “Look at those clouds. I can feel a change coming.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I’d hoped it was just my imagination.”

  “I hope so, too, but I doubt it. See how antsy Lewis is? He knows something’s up.”

  Gray nodded. “Maybe we’re close to finding Missy.”

  “Maybe. How does she cope in thunderstorms? Do they scare her?” Worried, Stacy let Lewis lead her down the opposite side of the ridge with Gray following close behind.

  “I don’t know. I hope not. We—I mean Mark and Candace—haven’t had her that long.”

  “I was afraid of that. I just hope she doesn’t take shelter under a big tree when the lightning starts. That’s the worst thing she can do.”

  “One of the counselors mentioned that kind of danger the first day we were up here,” Gray said. “Assuming Missy listened. She was still mad at me for making her bunk with all the other girls.”

  “I imagine she was. I can see how emotionally attached to you she is. It’s too bad…” Thunder drowned her out.

  “What did you say?”

  Stacy shook her head, disgusted with the fanciful idea she’d almost expressed. Missy didn’t need a man like Gray. She needed a real home, with two parents to love her, not a bachelor father whose absence would constantly remind her of the daddy she’d lost. Missy’s real daddy had tried to raise his child alone and look what had happened.

  “Nothing. I was just rambling,” Stacy hedged.

  “Now be quiet and let me concentrate on doing my job, okay?”

  “Sure. Sorry.”

  “I’m the one who should apologize. I’m just jumpy tonight.”

  “Join the club.”

  “I’m afraid I’m already a charter member.” She pressed her lips into a thin line, more determined than ever to find Missy for him. “I’m going to let Lewis go as fast as he wants from now on. It’ll be dangerous going up and down these hills at that pace, especially in the dark, so if you want to drop back, I’ll understand.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. I’m sticking to you and that dog like glue.”

  Pleased, she said, “Good. Watch your step, then, and don’t crowd me. Here we go.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  The rumble of thunder echoed across the green hills like the constant beat of faraway drums. Incessant lightning reflected off the heavy clouds to illuminate the entire sky and forest below. The still, humid air was charged with electricity.

  “I don’t like the feel of this,” Stacy called back.

  Gray studied the horizon through the trees. “I agree. Look at that cloud wall.”

  Stacy knew exactly what he meant. She’d been watching the almost straight black line of the weather front as it developed. It lay suspended above the lighter horizon like a menacing blanket. If a tornado developed, they’d probably spot it in that eerie glow beneath the cloud line.

  She pulled Lewis to a stop, wiped perspiration from her forehead, and said, “Whew. This is a workout. You holding up okay?”

  “I’m fine.” Leaning over, Gray rested his hands on his knees and took full advantage of the brief time-out. “Why are we stopping? Is something wrong?”

  “No. Just taking a breather.” Stacy pointed. “Look how green the sky is.”

  “I noticed. What do you think we should do?”

  “Well, quitting is out of the question,” she answered immediately. “And I don’t suppose you’d consider going back for your own safety and letting Lewis and me find Missy by ourselves.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “I didn’t think so.” She smiled at him. “You do have your good points, Mr. Payne.”

  “I hope so. Do you think we’re getting close?”

  “We have to be. An adult, walking at normal speed, can travel about two miles in an hour. That equals a twelve-square mile search area, which multiplies to fifty square miles the second hour. But Missy’s a child. She won’t have made such good time.” Pausing, Stacy patted her dog. “And we have Lewis, which definitely throws the odds into our favor. We’ll find her.”

  “I sure hope you’re right.” Gray eyed the cloud wall. “At this point, I wouldn’t even mind some wind or rain.”

  “I know what you mean. Anything to break up the front. As soon as I give Lewis a drink we’ll get going again.” Making a shallow cup of one hand, she poured water into it from her canteen and offered it to the panting dog. “He shouldn’t drink too much till we’re done because he’s working so hard, but this will give him some relief.”

  “How about you? Need more?” Gray asked, holding up one of the plastic bott
les he’d gotten from her truck.

  “I’m fine. You drink that,” Stacy said. “Just don’t overdo. I don’t want to have to stop to doctor you.”

  “You won’t.” Gray tipped the bottle up and drank deeply. “I used to jog a lot when I was in college. Even ran a couple of marathons.” He smiled wryly. “Don’t ask me where I finished.”

  “Finishing at all is quite an accomplishment.”

  “Thanks.” He tucked the small, half-empty bottle back into his pocket. “You ready?”

  A bolt of lightning shot to earth over the next ridge, followed closely by an echoing boom of thunder that seemed to come from all around them. “I sure am. Let’s go. I want us out of here as soon as possible!”

  Lewis sailed over a low ridge, hesitated, sniffed the air, then leaped a huge, fallen tree and began to wiggle as if he’d just located his best buddy. He dodged back and forth so much in his excitement that his long leash tangled around some of the tree’s broken limbs.

  Squealing with glee, Missy threw her thin arms around the dog and kissed him. “Lewis! I knew you’d find me.”

  Gray scooped the little girl up in his arms before Stacy could untangle her dog enough to properly restrain him. To her surprise, Lewis didn’t bare his teeth this time.

  “Missy, you have got to stop doing this. You’re giving me hair to match my name.” Gray’s voice was gruff but his enormous relief was still evident.

  The child didn’t reply. She simply held tight to her uncle’s neck and grinned at Stacy over his shoulder.

  Greater thunder shook the trees. Flashes of lightning made the sky glow and flicker as if the clouds hid a thousand gigantic searchlights gone berserk.

  “We need to find shelter,” Stacy shouted above the din. “This weather is going to get real nasty in a few minutes.”

  “I know.” Gray’s arms were wrapped around the child, sheltering her as best he could. “What we need is a storm cellar. Or a cave.”

  “Fine. Where do you suggest we find one?”

  Missy raised a thin arm and pointed. “Over there.”