Joshua's Mission

by Vannetta Chapman

  “Listen to me.” He’d turned toward the front door, but now he stopped and put both hands on her shoulders. “Do not doubt for a minute that God is watching over that boy. I can’t believe He saved C.J. from Orion only to take him from us now. We’re going to find him, Alice.”

  She nodded, though she didn’t appear convinced. That was all right with Charlie. The important thing was that a little ray of hope had come back into her eyes and the shaking had stopped. He opened up the hall closet and grabbed an extra coat that he insisted she wear. Then Quitz was following them out to his truck, and they were headed toward the last place he had seen the boy.

  Alice insisted she could drive and might need her car, so she followed him to the beach.

  By the time they pulled up to the FEMA trailer where they’d had dinner, Alice had made the necessary phone calls. “Jim is picking up Joshua and meeting us here. Nancy assured me that Shelley is still sleeping, and the police said they will inform all of their officers who are on duty. No set amount of time has to pass before they declare a child… missing.”

  Charlie reached over and squeezed her hand. “We’ll find him.”

  Alice nodded and reached down to pat Quitz, who waited at her feet. “I know we will. They asked us to be in contact with everyone he’s seen in the last twelve hours and then update them. If no one’s seen him, they’ll begin a full-scale search immediately.”

  CHAPTER 55

  Becca was not asleep when a car pulled up outside. She’d been lying in bed, playing the conversation with Joshua over and over in her mind. Savoring each moment of it. Dreaming, with her eyes wide open and staring up at the ceiling. Dreaming of their life together.

  Then she heard the van.

  When no one knocked on the door, she walked into the living room and looked out the window. She could just make out Jim talking on his phone, but then he started across the street toward their homes, and she could hear his footsteps on the stairs as he headed up to the boys’ trailer. It was nearly midnight. She couldn’t imagine why he had returned, but she knew it couldn’t be good.

  That was when she saw the note on the table from Nancy, saying that she was staying at Alice’s, watching Shelley.

  She hurried back to their bedroom and shook Sarah awake. “Something’s wrong. Better get dressed.”

  Throwing on her clothes, her kapp, and a sweater, Becca hurried outside and up the stairs.

  When she knocked on the boys’ door, Jim opened it. “C.J.’s missing. Joshua is going with us to search. He’s getting dressed.”

  “I’ll go too.”

  She expected him to argue, but he nodded his thanks and said, “We’ll need to tell Sarah where everyone’s gone.”

  “She’s dressing now.”

  “Good. The police want us to question everyone who was at the beach with C.J. tonight.”

  “What about Alice and Shelley?”

  “Alice and Charlie are already at the beach. Nancy is staying with Shelley.”

  “Oh, yes. I read her note.” Becca felt her thoughts were scattered like so many leaves in a storm. She ran back downstairs.

  Sarah was fully dressed and pinning on her kapp. As she helped Becca straighten hers, she asked, “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure, but Jim needs us to go to the beach.”

  “The beach?” Sarah’s gaze met Becca’s in the mirror.

  Becca thought they perfectly reflected each other’s look of confusion.

  “Ya. C.J. is missing. We’re all going to search.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened, but instead of asking questions she finished pinning on Becca’s kapp and grabbed her shawl. They hurried outside, where Jim and Joshua were already waiting next to the van. Joshua caught her hand, squeezed it once, and then opened the back door and helped her and Sarah in. Jim started the van, and they sped off into the darkness.

  “Alice thought C.J. was coming home with you and Alton.” Jim glanced over at Joshua, who shook his head.

  “He told me Charlie was coming back to get him. I thought that sounded a little odd at the time, because we were there and our trailer is right across the street from their home, but… ” Joshua stared out the window, and then he seemed to shake himself, pulling his attention back to the people in the van. “I know the boy is close to Charlie, so I let it slide.”

  “Charlie hasn’t seen him,” Jim said. “He left early with Quitz and had never agreed to go back out for C.J. The boy told Charlie he was going home when you and Alton left and not to worry.”

  “Where’s Alton?” Sarah asked.

  “He said something about night surfing.” Joshua scrubbed at his face.

  Becca could see his expression in the light of oncoming traffic. He looked tired—weary actually. He also looked scared.

  “Do you know who with?” Jim asked.

  “Dax and Zach.”

  “I thought Zach was in jail.”

  “No. They didn’t have enough evidence to hold him on the drug charges. After we ate dinner on the beach, I saw Alton answering a text. When I asked what it was about, he laughed and said not to worry, that they were meeting around eleven once the full moon was high in the sky.”

  Jim gave one quick nod. It all seemed inconceivably reckless to Becca. She didn’t like the idea of catching waves in the daylight, let alone at night. She’d found the courage to wade in the surf up to her knees, but that was as far as she’d managed to go.

  They lapsed into silence for the last few miles.

  When they reached the FEMA trailer on the beach, Charlie’s truck and Alice’s car were both out front. Lights blazed from the trailer as well as the outdoor patio. A newer pickup was parked off to the side. Becca had never seen it before.

  As they all tumbled from the van, Charlie and Alice rushed toward them.

  “We don’t have any new information,” Jim said. “But everyone wants to help look.”

  “When did you last see him, Joshua?”

  Becca turned to stare at Joshua. He rubbed his right hand up and down his jaw, and then he said, “A few hours ago.”

  Alice had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Though the moon had been shining brightly when Becca had gone to bed, and then a small rain shower had passed through. Now the moon was shining again. Alice’s clothes looked damp to Becca. It could be that was why she was shaking, or maybe it was from fear.

  “Was that Chevy truck here then?” Jim asked.

  “Nein.”

  Sarah worried her kapp strings. “I heard C.J. talking to Alton. C.J. wanted to go with him.”

  “Surfing?” Alice asked, her voice incredulous.

  “Ya, but Alton said no, that maybe he could when he was a few years older.” Sarah looked as if she didn’t want to continue, but finally said, “C.J. insisted he was old enough, but Alton said you’d have both their hides. He told C.J. to hurry to the van before he missed his ride, and then he walked away.”

  No one said anything for the space of a few breaths as they considered their next move.

  Sarah stepped closer to Alice and said, “Alton was preoccupied and not actually giving the boy his attention. I could tell it hurt C.J.’s feelings. I suppose he wanted to be included as one of the grown-ups. It was quite obvious how badly he wanted to go with Alton.”

  Tears streamed down Alice’s face. “Where do you think he went?”

  “I’m not sure, but if he’s like my bruders, he probably tagged along behind Alton without his knowing it.”

  Jim checked the time on his phone. “All right. It’s just after midnight now. Alice, I want you to call the police and update them. Then you wait here. More than likely, C.J. will find his way back to the trailer. Sarah, come with me and we’ll head north. Joshua, you and Becca search south. Everyone meet back here in one hour. Charlie, head toward the road with Quitz and look for any signs that C.J. decided to walk home on his own.”

  Jim walked over to the MDS van to remove a backpack from the luggage area at the back. From that h
e pulled out flashlights and whistles for each of them. “If you find him, call me on your cell phone and I’ll alert the others. If you don’t have cell service or don’t have a phone, blow the whistle.”

  Charlie had been quiet up to that point, but now he squared his shoulders and cleared his throat. Finally he held up a hand, as if to stop them all in their tracks. “As we search, we need to pray. God will protect C.J. I’m sure of that. Alice and I will check around this area in case the boy curled up and fell asleep somewhere. Then I’ll head to the road.”

  They all solemnly considered his words for a moment, and then the teams scattered in different directions. Moonlight bounced off the water. The air smelled clean after the light rain shower that had passed through, and the sand was actually easier to walk on because it was packed down.

  Becca and Joshua walked close enough that their shoulders were practically touching. Becca said, “The look of fear on Alice’s face… it was heartbreaking.”

  “She’s been through a lot,” Joshua reminded her. “She’s a good grandparent—good parent—to those kids.”

  They had only walked for a few minutes when Becca made out a group of men walking their way. At first she thought it might be teenagers, on the beach late at night. But then she felt Joshua tense beside her. He’d recognized Alton before she did. From the rigid expression on his face, Becca feared that the night was about to take another turn for the worse.

  CHAPTER 56

  Joshua saw Alton, laughing and joking with his buddies, walking carefree across the sand and carrying his Englisch surfboard. Anger flashed through his body, temporarily clouding his vision. He clutched his hands at his side and forced his temper down. He reminded himself of his revelation the week before.

  Delight to show mercy.

  Even now? Even when a child was missing?

  Alton must have realized who was walking toward him, because he stopped in his tracks and the joke he was telling died on his lips.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “C.J. is missing.”

  “What? That’s not possible—”

  “He was last seen talking to you.”

  Alton dropped the board in the sand and looked left and then right, as if C.J. might pop up out of the surf.

  Finally he said, “That was hours ago.”

  “We know that. What we don’t know is where he is now.”

  “Well, I don’t know where he is. He’s supposed to be home in bed.”

  “He’s supposed to be, but he’s not. Sarah heard him talking to you, begging to come along.”

  “And I told him no.” Alton’s voice rose to match his brother’s.

  “But did you watch him? Did you see where he went next? Did you make sure he didn’t follow you?”

  “The boy isn’t my responsibility—”

  “He is, Alton. We are responsible for one another, or have you forgotten that? Have your friends and fun blinded you to that?”

  Alton shook his head as if to clear it, but Joshua could tell that his words had hit their mark. “We’ll look. We’ll all look.”

  “I wish I could help, man, but I have to go.” This from Zach, who was sniffling and wearing a shark tooth necklace. He reached down and picked up the board Alton had been using. “I’ll take this back to the truck for you.”

  “Yeah, we have to be at the docks in three hours,” Dax said. “We’d help if we could, but—”

  Both of Alton’s friends peeled away.

  “Tell me where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.”

  “Surfing. That’s all.”

  Joshua wanted to accuse him of drinking, wanted to find some reason to yell at his brother, but in fact he seemed sober and appropriately upset at the thought of C.J. missing. Still, he couldn’t find it in his heart to soften his tone or attitude toward Alton.

  “We’d better go back and tell Alice.”

  “She’s waiting at the trailer,” Becca explained. “If no one’s found him, she’s to call the police and they’ll start a formal search.”

  Instead of defending himself any further, Alton rushed ahead of them toward the trailer. His two friends were already piling into the truck, but Alton stopped them, ran to the back, and climbed up into it, searching frantically.

  “Joshua, bring your flashlight, please.”

  Joshua and Becca hurried to where he was standing in the bed of the truck. By this point, Alice was walking toward them, her arms clutched around her middle, forming a protective barrier against any bad news.

  “It’s not here,” Alton murmured, moving back toward the cab of the truck and looking between each surfboard inside. He stopped long enough to holler at the guys in the truck. “Dax, come out here!”

  “What are you looking for, dude?” Dax sounded groggy, as if he was already half asleep. He’d been about to start the truck, but now he got out and joined Alton.

  Joshua moved toward the driver’s side of the truck, reached in, and pulled out the keys. He didn’t want this group leaving until the police had arrived. Perhaps they knew something, something they weren’t sharing. He didn’t think they would have hurt C.J., but they may have seen more than they had so far admitted.

  “The boogie board,” Alton said. “It was here when we left.”

  “Was it?” Dax scratched at the back of his neck.

  “Yes, it was.” Alton turned to Joshua, Becca, and Alice, who were all now standing beside the truck. “C.J. did ask to go with me, Alice. I told him no, that you would be expecting him at home, and he said he was old enough to stay out later.”

  Alton shook his head, a look of pure grief covering his features. “You were right, Joshua. I should have walked him to the van. I… I was in a hurry. I was worried I’d miss the best part of the waves.”

  When he glanced up at Alice again, a resolve had settled over his features. “He probably took the boogie board and walked down the beach. We’ll find him.”

  “Hey, man. I have to—” Zach stopped midsentence when Alton turned on him.

  “We’ll find him. We’ll all look. With everyone searching.”

  “He’s been gone for hours,” Joshua reminded him. Becca reached out and touched his arm, nodding her head toward Alice, who had slid down onto the ground and was leaning against the truck.

  “Alice, are you all right?”

  “Just… couldn’t… ” She gulped and tried again. “My legs just gave out. What if… what if he took that board out into the ocean? What if C.J. is out there in the waves, in the darkness?”

  Alton jumped out of the truck and knelt down in front of Alice. “He wouldn’t do anything that reckless. C.J. is smarter than that. He may be stubborn, and he was certainly angry with me, but he wouldn’t do anything as foolish as to try and night surf alone. We will find him, Alice.”

  Zach and Dax had climbed back into the truck, but Alton literally pulled them out, giving them directions, telling them to look in the sand for small footprints and the trail of a boogie board being drug beside a small boy.

  They had just begun to set out, when the night was split by a shrill whistle, coming from the direction that Jim and Sarah had gone. For one moment they all stared at one another, and then they began to run.

  CHAPTER 57

  Charlie had walked several yards down the road and turned back when he heard one of Jim’s whistles pierce the night.

  Quitz barked and began to prance about.

  “That’s coming from the north,” he said to the dog. “We’d best see what they found.”

  Instead of fearing the worst, envisioning the worst, he prayed as they hurried toward the sound. Though it was still quite dark, he saw the light from flashlights bouncing from the direction of the FEMA trailer. Toward the north he could now make out the dying embers of a bonfire. As he drew closer to what he thought was Jim and Sarah, he saw a tight circle of people, more than he would have ever guessed to be up at such an hour.

  Quitz broke from his side with a yelp and dov
e into the middle of the group of folks. Charlie peered into the shadows and caught sight of Alice, her eyes wide with hope. When Quitz reached the middle of the group, Charlie heard a sound that brought pure delight to his heart—the sound of C.J.’s voice.

  “Hey, girl. I’m okay. I’m okay now.”

  Someone had thrown another piece of driftwood on the fire and it blazed high, lighting the small group in its glow. Jim stepped back, a smile spreading across his face. “Quitz must have been every bit as worried as we were. She’s acting as if she hasn’t seen C.J. in a month.”

  The group loosened up, and Alice walked through it to her grandson, knelt in the sand, and pulled him into her arms. The boy’s face was streaked with tears, and Charlie noticed that his swim trunks were wet. He was shivering in the coolness of the evening. Someone had draped an old beach towel around his shoulders. Lying on the sand next to him was a boogie board.

  Alice didn’t say anything. She didn’t admonish him or tell him how worried everyone was. She didn’t ask where he’d been or what he’d been thinking. She simply put her arms around him and allowed her tears to flow.

  One of the young men pulled away from the group, tugging a girl by the hand and walking toward Charlie. “Evening, Mr. Everman.”

  Recognition dawned on Charlie—the boy was Spider Nix, who always sat at the back of his senior English class, flirting with girls or sleeping whenever he thought he could get away with it. Not a bad kid—just a kid who didn’t understand what Shakespeare had to do with his life.

  “Is the boy your grandson?” Spider asked.

  Alice and C.J. glanced up, and Charlie nodded. “You could say that.”

  Spider pulled Charlie back away from the group. “He’s a little cold and a little scared. Other than that, I think he’s fine.”

  And then Spider tugged on the hand of the dark-skinned girl, pulling her close to his side. “Janice, meet Charlie Everman, the best teacher I had in high school.”

  “Pleased to meet you… ” Charlie said.

  “Janice. Janice Cooper.”