***
Martha finished up her work at the restaurant late that night. She hoped that Sarah had gotten her message to go and pick up Ashlyn from school. Even though she needed the money, she hated not knowing if Sarah had gotten her message. She figured she must have or Mrs. Miller would have called and talked to her at the restaurant.
As she slipped out into the cool evening air, she took a deep sigh. She hated leaving her daughter for so long, but she had to do what she could in order to make her life happy. Just a few months before, Martha, her sister Sarah, and Ashlyn came to this small Colorado town from Arizona.
Martha had hoped that a change in scenery would do them good. Sarah was only seventeen and had lived with Martha since their parents had been killed in a car accident five years before. She helped out with Ashlyn and the housework.
Climbing into her car, Martha thought about what she could pull together for a late dinner. Sarah would probably have fed Ashlyn and put her to bed, but she wasn’t a big fan of the macaroni and cheese that her daughter adored. Visions of a ham sandwich filled her mind as she steered the car out of the small parking lot.
The drive home was short and uneventful. Most of the town had gone to sleep for the night. Martha turned up the radio and smiled as her favorite song filled the car. She pulled into the driveway of their mobile home only a few minutes later, and realized that all the lights were still on. That was odd, considering the girls both had school in the morning.
As she got out of the car, Sarah burst out the front door. “Martha! I can’t find Ashlyn! I got your message to pick her up at school, but by the time I got there, Mrs. Miller told me that you had already picked her up. I came home, but you weren’t here, and neither was Ash!” Tears had begun to stream down Sarah’s pale cheeks. Her light brown hair was disheveled and her blue eyes were bright red from crying.
“I didn’t pick her up. I had to pull a double at the restaurant. That’s why I left you a message to pick her up. Why didn’t you try and call me?” Martha didn’t hide her anger and worry. She hated the fact that Sarah tried to be overly independent sometimes, especially when it came to important matters.
“I thought that I could find her! But she’s not here! I rode my bike around town looking for her too! I didn‘t know what else to do!” Sarah cried. “Okay, let’s try and calm down and find her. Maybe she’s at a friend’s house or something. Let’s go inside before the neighbors get upset with us for making such a scene.” Martha wrapped her arm around her sister and pretended to be as calm as she sounded. As far as she knew, Ashlyn didn’t have any friends yet. However, maybe things changed. For her sake, she definitely hoped so.
“Wait, I need to drive around and see for myself. Come with me.” She took Sarah by the arm and led her to the car. They drove around town for about an hour before they both realized that it would do no good. Ashlyn wasn’t anywhere to be found.
After they returned home, the women entered the house and Martha sat down and tried to think about where to continue from that point. She didn’t want to seem like she was overreacting, but her first instinct was to call the police and report her daughter missing. She considered driving around town and looking again, but it was late and she had no idea where to begin.
Her instincts told her that something was terribly wrong.
Martha picked up the phone and called the police department. She shook with fear as she spoke with the dispatcher. The dispatcher assured her that she would send the police chief himself to look into the matter.
***The Man***
He had always wanted to do something like this. However, there never was an opportunity. Everyone in town was so well-known to one another that he felt like he couldn’t get away with taking the children.
However, when the Anderson family moved there a few months before, he knew that he stood a chance. He wanted to give her a better life and that meant taking the one she had. They lived on the poorest end of town, and no one would really know what the little girl was truly like. Maybe she did like to run off.
Smiling to himself, he glanced at Ashlyn in the seat next to him. She was happily licking an ice cream cone and talking as he made his way up the highway. They were going for a drive in the mountains.
“Where are we going?” Ashlyn had asked when he pulled up in front of an ice cream shop in the neighboring city.
“I thought it would be a good day for a drive. There is a pretty river that has a family of rabbits that lives next to it. Do you want to see it with me?” He smiled at her and she returned it with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Okay, but I have homework. I just need to be home for dinner!” She sat up straighter in her seat, trying to look as grownup as she felt.
They had both gotten an ice cream cone and continued up the canyon into the mountains. This little girl was a real chatterbox. It would be nice when the quiet would return to his car.
The drive was longer than he remembered. He knew that he would have to hurry if he was going to get back in time so that no one would be suspicious. About a half hour later, he saw the sign that pointed him in the direction he wanted to go. Steering the car off onto a dirt road, he followed the curvy lane as it headed through a thick bunch of trees.
“I thought you said that there was a river?” Ashlyn asked suspiciously.
“It’s back here. We have to walk a little ways, but we will find it soon enough,” he stated, feeling the impatience mount in him. Now that the time had come, he was nervous.
He parked the car near a campsite and pulled a bag out of the trunk. Ashlyn stepped out of the passenger’s seat and watched him.
“It’s getting dark already. I need to get home. My mom is going to worry about me!” Ashlyn was beginning to panic. “Take me home!”
She began to scream at the top of her lungs. If she could get the attention of someone around her, then maybe they could take her home to her mother.
Anger welled up in him. He thought that they were friends and that she trusted him. Without another word, he pulled her towards him and placed his hand over her mouth. She began to squirm violently, but he was much larger than she was and she couldn’t free herself from his grasp.
He walked her into an area of thick foliage and held her with one arm as he rummaged in his bag. She took this opportunity to try and bite him. Anger came over him, and he slapped her across the face. She began to cry and he threw her to the ground and began to kick her in the abdomen.
Suddenly, she moved and the kicks found her face. She tried to scramble away and got a few feet from him. With tears pouring down her face, she stood back up and turned to run.
Finally finding what he was searching for, he grabbed her arm and threw her roughly on the ground in front of him. Pulling out a length of thin rope that he had used to tie items to the top of his car, he wound it around her neck and tightened it.
She looked up at him in shock.
He stared down at her tear streaked face as he watched the life slip away from her.
Her whimpers ceased as she struggled for breath. In just a few minutes, she was lying lifeless at his feet.
A rush of adrenaline came over him as he smiled down at her. He unwrapped the rope from her neck and heaved her up over his shoulder. The next project would be to find a good hiding place for her little body. He turned and grabbed her backpack from the front seat of the car and began to go up a nearby incline.
He hiked up a ways from the campground.
Her body began to feel heavy, so he dropped her to the ground and pulled her along by her leg. After finding a small clearing up the hill, he laid her out on her back. Taking one shoe off her foot, he left her there to be found whenever someone chose to look there.
To make sure she was found sooner than later, he planted some clues for the police. As he headed back towards the campground, he threw her backpack in another clearing, and threw her one tennis shoe into the lake at the bottom of the hill. He smiled as he drove away. Now he just needed someone to
find her.
Making his way back down to his car, he slipped inside and turned on the ignition. He wiped the blood from his hands and drove away. Knowing that he had to get back to town before the girl was reported missing, he sped down the canyon. Since he didn’t have to work, he knew that no one had missed him yet.
He rolled down the window and let the cool spring air rush in. He felt great.
***
About an hour after Martha had called the police, the chief of police, Armin Wilson was knocking on her front door. She quickly let him in and had him sit in the living room. After telling him about the events of the day, he just shook his head and offered a small smile. Kids would be kids.
“Mrs. Anderson, I’m sure your daughter is at a friend’s house. I need you to calm down a little bit,” the police chief tried to sooth her.
“And my daughter is missing! I’m not going to calm down! She just doesn’t disappear!” Martha screamed at the smug man in front of her.
Chief Wilson sat back and rubbed his forehead with his hand. He seemed incredibly composed as the woman in front of him was out of control with worry. It was the same old story. Kids make friends and decide to play. Maybe the friend’s parents let them stay a little longer, and before they know it, it’s late in the night.
“I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. I’ll have my officers talk with her teacher and see if she has made any new friends in the class. Maybe they just went out to play and she forgot about the time.” He smiled at her.
“Ashlyn is a good girl and would tell me if she was going to go play with friends. Why are you not taking this seriously?!” Martha wanted to slap the officer in front of her.
“I understand, but children can sometimes be unpredictable. I’ll do what I can and let you know if I find anything.” The chief stood and shook her hand. He had seen many of these situations. Children didn’t think sometimes. He was sure that the little girl would come home and the mother would feel foolish. It was best just to tell her what she wanted to hear right at the moment.
As he left, Martha closed the door and sat heavily on the couch. Lowering her face into her hands, she allowed herself to finally cry. She knew in the pit of her stomach that something was terribly wrong and she wanted to hold Ashlyn again. Sleep was going to be impossible until she found her daughter.
She walked down the narrow hallway of the mobile home and stood in the open doorway of Ashlyn’s room. The bed was still unmade from that morning and toys and clothing were scattered across the floor. Everything was in shades of pink and purple. She was a girly little girl.
Walking to the window, she parted the blinds and looked out. The cloudless sky held so many promises, but at that moment, Martha felt like the whole world had slipped out from beneath her feet. She sat on her daughter’s bed and picked up her stuffed teddy bear. The stuffed animal smelled sweet and childish, just like her daughter. She just sat there holding on to that teddy bear, crying her eyes out. Where was her daughter?
A day later
The sun rose bright and warm the next morning. Martha had fallen asleep on Ashlyn’s bed and awoke to Sarah shaking her. She didn’t even realize that she had spent the night in her daughter’s room. Blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of her eyes, she sat up and looked around. The realization of what had happened the night before filled her with dread.
“Sarah, have you heard from the police yet?” She rose quickly from the bed and went out into the living room. She felt frantic now. Something was terribly wrong. “I’m going to call them right now. My seven year old daughter is missing! Why aren’t they more concerned?”
“I don’t know. If it’s okay, I’ll take the day off of school and help look.” Sarah felt really guilty that she wasn’t able to help more. She also felt terrible that she wasn’t there in time to pick up her niece at school the previous day. If she had been there, this wouldn’t be happening right now.
“That’s fine. Give me the phone.” Martha grabbed the telephone off of the table at her sister’s side and walked back to her own bedroom. She slammed the door violently and dialed the numbers she had only dialed less than twelve hours before.
“Wellington Police Department,” a dry and bored male voice answered the phone.
“Yes, this is Martha Anderson. I spoke to Chief Wilson last night about my daughter’s disappearance. Is he in yet?” Martha replied.
“Let me transfer you to his office.” The line went dead momentarily.
“Chief Wilson speaking,” a gruff voice answered a few seconds later.
“Yes, Chief. This is Martha Anderson, and I’m calling to see if you had any news about my daughter’s disappearance.” She wanted to throw something at this man. Something bothered her about his nonchalance about the whole situation.
“She hasn’t come home yet? No, I thought that she would show up later, so I haven’t done anything with the case just yet. As I told you before, children have a way of sneaking to a friend’s house and not calling their parents. I’ll talk to her teacher today and start talking to her friends. I’m sure that she hasn’t gone far.” He tried to be as reassuring as possible.
Martha tried to get a handle on her anger. A child went missing, and the police hadn’t even looked for her yet? “Thank you, Chief. I will go over to the school myself and talk to her teacher. I told you that Ashlyn doesn’t have any friends yet, as we are new in town. Something is wrong.” She hung up the phone and grabbed her purse and her jacket.
“Where are you going?” Sarah asked as Martha reappeared in the living room.
“The police haven’t done a single thing to look for Ashlyn yet. I’m going to go down to the school and talk to Mrs. Miller before school starts. Do you want to come with me?” Martha wanted her sister by her side as she looked for her daughter. The three of them had been through a lot together.
Sarah nodded and pulled on her own jacket and followed Martha out the door. As they drove the few blocks to the elementary school, both women were silent. Guilt was eating at both of them. If they would have handled the situation differently yesterday, then Ashlyn would be there now.
Mrs. Miller was just finishing writing the outline for the day up on the chalkboard as Martha and Sarah entered the room. She turned in surprise.
“Is everything alright? You look like something’s wrong!” Mrs. Miller rushed up to them. Her small face was flushed with the sudden excitement. Even as they looked at her, they knew that she had no idea what had happened.
“Ashlyn never came home from school yesterday. I just want to ask you about the last time you saw her,” Martha stated calmly.
She didn’t feel calm, but she knew that if she showed her true feelings that she would upset the young teacher.
“She left with you, Ms. Anderson. We were waiting outside by where you pick her up. She saw your car and ran for it. I saw the car too, so I thought that she was okay.” Panic started to cloud the teacher’s hazel eyes. She hadn’t taken very much time to look at the car. She had trusted that Ashlyn knew her mother’s vehicle.
“I was working a double at the restaurant. I had asked Sarah to pick her up, but she was gone before she got here.”
Martha wanted to cry. She was so frustrated.
“Yes, Sarah stopped by about ten minutes after Ashlyn was picked up. I told her that you had already gotten her and that she should be with you. Oh, my goodness. What happened to her?” Mrs. Miller began to panic. Her breathing became harsh and she had to sit down before she had a panic attack.
“That’s what we were trying to find out. The police haven’t started to investigate yet, so we thought that we would go around and see what we could find out.” Martha put a reassuring hand on Mrs. Miller’s shoulder.
“She wanted to walk home when you didn’t show up before the rest of the students left. I told her that I would walk her home in five minutes if you didn’t arrive. A colleague stepped out to speak with me, and Ashlyn said she saw your car. I saw a car myself, and I waved at her
as she walked away. I didn’t see her get into the car,” Mrs. Miller cried. “I should have paid more attention! I’m always so careful to make sure that my students are safe!”
“Mrs. Miller, please, I just need you to stay calm. We just need to figure out where she went after she left the school.” Martha had a bad feeling. Ashlyn hated waiting after school. She thought she looked like a baby waiting for her mom to pick her up. What if she decided to walk home and never made it? She was a clever little girl and she would have found the opportunity to trick Mrs. Miller when she was distracted.
“I should have made sure it was you! Can I do anything else to help you?” Mrs. Miller sniffled. She pulled a wad of tissues from the box on her desk and began to blow her nose.
“Not right now. I’m going to try and see if I can trace her steps home. Just stay calm. You have a classroom full of children who need you to be okay,” Martha hugged her and grabbed Sarah by the arm and turned to leave.
Martha’s gut told her that Ashlyn wasn’t okay, but she knew that she wouldn’t stop trying to find her.
-NEWS REPORT-
“Breaking news: a seven year old has been missing from Wellington, Colorado since late last night. An Amber Alert has been issued for Ashlyn Anderson. She was last seen leaving school yesterday afternoon. She was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jeans. At the time of her disappearance, she was carrying a pink and purple striped backpack. If anyone has seen her, please call the number at the bottom of your screen.” A school picture of Ashlyn flashed across the screen. As the time passed by, hope of finding her was growing gradually slim.
***
Fear began to spread through the town when it became obvious that Ashlyn was nowhere to be found. The police had started to look for her the morning after she had disappeared, but all the leads ended up in a dead end. As far as anyone knew, Ashlyn had tried to walk home from school by herself and never made it home.
Thrills: Vol.2 Page 17