Hideaway

by Nicole Lundrigan

  “This is mine,” Carl said.

  “The dock?”

  “All of it. Everything.”

  He pointed beyond the dock to a small log cottage. Carl strode toward it, then climbed the two steps onto the deck. I followed as quickly as I could, my legs feeling like stumps fused to the ground. I leaned against the wall, watched Carl lift the welcome mat. “Urh,” he said. Then one by one he threw over a line of potted plants, flower stems cracking. Next he grabbed a knotted rug off the back of a patio chair and shook it.

  “Stolen again. Can’t get in. Urh. No, I’m not misinformed. Listen to her. Listen to her.” He began pacing in a tight circle, grabbing his beard and tugging.

  “Did you check to see if it’s unlocked?” I reached out, gripped the knob. Sure enough, when I twisted it the door swung open. “I’ve got the touch,” I said, grinning with relief. Carl’s face remained flat.

  He peered through the open door, whispered, “What touch? Urh. Exactly what touch are you talking about?”

  Inside the cottage he moved slowly, mouth open, inspecting everything.

  He stuck his nose in the air, sniffed. “It doesn’t smell right. They’ve been in here.”

  “Who?”

  “Who? They have. The Workers. I can tell.”

  My heart started to beat. Why couldn’t he forget about workers? Whatever they were. At least for a little while.

  He flicked a switch. Tinkling, then the buzz of an overhead light. The tiny room lit up. Shelves full of books and board games, worn furniture, a pile of nubby blankets, a teapot on a circular table. In the corner a nice-sized television, rabbit ears already tugged out. The walls were covered with photos in frames, hanging crookedly. A big family. I had a feeling the people living there loved each other, and that awareness made me feel heavy inside. I searched through them, but I couldn’t find Carl in a single one. Girl went straight for a round cushion on the floor. Turned three times then lay down, settling her head on her paws.

  “It’ll be good to stay here for a while,” I said. I sat on the edge of the couch and slipped my fingers into the taped mess on one foot. I managed to pry it off with a watery slurp. “I think we walked forever.”

  Carl didn’t hear me. He was arguing again. “I can see that. I’m not an imbecile. Stop it. Stop calling me that. Listen to her. Listen to what she says. I told you. All these are wrong. Wrong. Wrong! All of them!” He held up a framed photo of a girl, a fat grub pinched between her fingers, face grimacing. “I don’t know these people. I don’t know who these people are. They’re trying to fool me up. Trap me. Switched everything around, urh. Playing jokes. Not funny, not funny.”

  “Carl?” I wrenched the gray mound off my other foot. “You all right?”

  He put the photo down on the table, turned toward me. Narrowed his eyes. “You look different. I don’t recognize you either. I don’t.”

  “It’s just me.”

  “It’s just me.”

  When he repeated my words this time, there was an edge to his tone.

  “I washed my face, Carl. In the lake.”

  “Your color’s gone.”

  “Yeah. Lots of dirt. My spots returned.” When I smiled, he didn’t smile back. I swallowed. Then I said, “I like it here, Carl. You got a great place.” Those stupid words came out of my mouth even though I knew the cottage belonged to someone else. We had just broken into it.

  He lowered his head suddenly. He reminded me of Chicken when Gloria hollered at him. Then Carl’s arms jumped up in the air as if his wrists were attached to strings. He yelled out, “Did you hear that?”

  I didn’t know what to say.

  “On the roof. Crawling around.”

  “Nothing, Carl. It’s nice and quiet.”

  “They’re out there. Whispering. Down on all fours. How many? How many?”

  He was breathing hard and the sight of his arms flapping made my heart clang in my chest. I’d never seen him do that before.

  “Maybe raccoons?” I offered. “Looking for garbage?”

  “Urh. Raccoons.” Carl sat on the floor right in the middle of the room, and crossed his arms over his body. One hand stuck into his armpit and the other reached up, twisted his beard, and tugged. There was a pale patch of skin along his jaw. It was growing larger. He hummed loudly, and it seemed like a long time passed. My head was nodding forward. Even though my whole body was wired, my brain was trying to sleep.

  Then he said, “He’s got a headache.”

  “Who?”

  “That man.” He pointed to a figurine balanced on the shelf beside him. It looked like an enormous chess piece, but with a human head on top. “Terrible pain. A lot of pressure in his cranium. Urh. Can’t get away from it.”

  I was going to tell Carl it was just cement, or a rock carved up to look like art, but I changed my mind. Instead I said, “That’s too bad. No fun if you’re bad in the head.” Then I realized I’d never seen Carl lie down. Or doze off. Or even close his eyes for more than a blink. “Why don’t you get a rest, Carl? My friend Mrs. Spooner always tells me life’s easier after a good sleep.”

  At once he stood up. His arms moved in that weird way again. It looked like he was tapping the air, feeling for invisible things. I pushed my back deeper into the couch.

  “What did you say?”

  “A rest, Carl. Everyone needs sleep.”

  He angled his head to the side. I heard his neck joints pop. A gravelly voice climbed out his mouth. It didn’t sound like Carl at all. “Why, Magic Boy? Why would you want that?”

  Girl was up from the bed, her ears alert. She went to Carl, used her teeth to tug on the hem of his coat. But Carl didn’t seem aware she was there.

  “I didn’t mean anything,” I said. “I didn’t. It’s just, just nice to be here.” I pulled my knees up to my chest, hugged my legs.

  “Wires in the ceiling. Birds, urh, can’t dig them out.”

  And he took a step backward, ripped a frame off the wall. An old man wearing a party hat, seated in front of a cake full of candles. “I don’t know you!” Carl yelled at the photograph. “I don’t know who you are!”

  Then he threw it, full force, across the small room. Metal crumpled and glass burst from the frame. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. He was standing right in front of the door. I couldn’t get around him if I tried. Girl yipped and clawed at Carl’s leg, but Carl reached for a second photo, threw that too.

  I curled into a ball, put my hands over my head. Pressed my body into the couch as far as I could.

  “Trying to fool me,” Carl yelled. “I know my rights! I know my rights!”

  I heard more smashing sounds. Explosions of glass. Then paper ripping. The flump of a heavy book falling. Plastic crushed into the floor. Girl kept whimpering and whimpering.

  When silence finally came and stayed, I didn’t get up. I never even opened my eyes. I kept my face against the itchy fabric of the couch, and I don’t know how I managed it, but I fell asleep.

  MAISY

  When I woke up I went to the kitchen and got cereal and milk in my bowl by myself. I stirred it around and around with my spoon, but I only pretended to eat. I thought I’d see Rowan there, but he was still lost. And Jenny the Head was lost again, too. Even though I put the metal in my pocket when I got up, things were getting worse.

  The man in the tie was talking to Gloria at the table, and they didn’t even notice me sitting at the counter. Today the man’s tie had fox faces all over it. Or it could’ve just been squares. Sometimes my eyes made things up.

  Gloria was making coffee. The man waved his hand at her. “Just black, thank you very much.” She put it down in front of him. “Should we wait for Mr. Janes?”

  “Telly darted home to bring back fresh clothes. He needs to have his things here.” She chewed on her thumb for a minute. “So he can stay.”

  “Okay, then.” The man took a loud slurp of his drink. That was rude, but Gloria didn’t say nothing. “Well, there’s definitely evid
ence someone’s been living under the old stone bridge, Mrs. Janes. We found remains of a fire. Debris. Tin cans, empty bottles, grocery boxes and such.”

  “Rowan wasn’t there?”

  “The dogs got a strong hit, so we’re confident your son has, in fact, been at the bridge.” The man slurped more, and then he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Gloria didn’t say nothing about that either.

  “And you just missed him?”

  “It’s possible, but we can’t say with certainty. Was he there two nights ago? Was he there yesterday? You see, Mrs. Janes, the dogs can only give us a yes or no. We can’t get a time frame, unfortunately.”

  “I see.”

  “They tracked a path from the bridge to the upper road. Got a strong hit on the sign for Little Sliding. But the scent ends.”

  “Just ends?” I saw Gloria’s mouth fall open, and the part between her eyebrows folded up. I could tell she was scared.

  “Yes ma’am. It’s possible someone might’ve picked them up.”

  “Hitchhiking? They could be miles away by now.”

  “Or it could’ve been the heavy rain. We know he was there. And we know he’s not there now.”

  “And that helps?”

  I stirred and stirred. The milk turned brown from all the colors in the cereal. When I looked up Gloria’s head was shaking back and forth and tears started coming out of her eyes. “That horrible man must’ve been forcing Rowan. Making him go like that. Threatening him. He’s a good boy, Detective Aiken. He wouldn’t just…do that.”

  “We’re exploring every avenue, ma’am. We’ve already started a second search. Covering everything. We’re going to find your son.” He reached down and tugged something out of the bag near his feet. “Mrs. Janes? One of my officers came across this. Nailed onto a tree about halfway between here and the bridge. Does it mean anything to you?” He put a piece of wood on the table. It looked like a sign with marked-up letters. Mostly washed off, but I could still read it. THEIF. It was Gloria’s sign because of the chocolate bars. Rowan showed it to me when we were walking back from the bridge that day.

  Her head stopped.

  “Rowan saw them.”

  “Saw who?”

  Her voice got wiggly. “Some children. I don’t know who owned them. Playing cops and robbers out back. Rowan wanted to play too, but those revolting youngsters wouldn’t let my son join in.” She pulled some more tissues out of the box. She crunched them in her fist. “That part I remember clear as day.”

  I stirred my cereal again. It was mush now. I made a mistake and that wasn’t Rowan’s sign. I must’ve had a dream that got stuck in my head. Or I remembered it upside down. That happened a lot.

  “Kids, hey? I figured as much. What with the spelling and all.”

  Gloria bent her head sideways and looked at the sign. Then she wiped her eyes. “What’s going to happen now?”

  “As I mentioned, ma’am, we’re going to expand the focus of our search. Shift our resources. This Carl, whoever he is, appears to be relocating. We’ll have an officer make frequent checks under the bridge, in case your son returns. But we’re also going to search roadways, have someone follow along the creek. Bus stations and the train station. There’s no guarantee Rowan went with this man, Carl. We’ll continue door to door. Canvas stores where they might have bought something. Get word out on the radio, monitor tips that come in. See if we can get a better description on the vagrant”—he looked at me—“and get that information out, along with the photo of Rowan, of course.”

  “I just don’t know what to do. I just can’t keep sitting here. I’m—I’m losing my mind.”

  Gloria stood up and was crying more. I went over and wrapped my arms around her and put my head on her back. My arms slipped into her soft bread sides. I hated seeing her sad. It was the worst thing ever.

  “This is the best place for you to be, ma’am. As hard as that is. In case he comes back. In case he calls.”

  With my ear on her back, I could hear Gloria’s insides. They were squirting and thumping and wheezing. As I listened, I felt a pain in my chest. Like someone punched me hard. Right on a rib bone. I knew my middle was hurting because I was so mad at Rowan. For running away into the woods. For letting that terrible Carl grab him up and steal him away on the road in a strange car. For making Gloria cry.

  I decided when Rowan came back I was not going to talk to him. I was going to make him disappear for a long, long time.

  “Thank you, Maisy-Bids,” she said. She twisted round and hugged me too. “You’re the only thing keeping me sane.”

  “Sorry, ma’am. When is your husband due back?”

  The clock on the wall was hanging funny. “Soon,” she said.

  “We thought, perhaps—”

  “He’ll let me know if Rowan showed up there. But Rowan didn’t even know where his dad was staying.”

  “Do you have other family?”

  Gloria blinked a bunch of times. “No. My father’s dead. And—and my mother, too.” That was Gran that I never met. “I do have a brother. Richard. Rick. But we aren’t close. He’s just not a good person, not stable, you know what I mean?”

  “I do,” he said, and he smiled a bit and gulped from his mug. “Family dynamics can be complicated. Especially during times of stress.”

  “Yeah, that’s my brother all right. Ratchets the problem right up, and then blames the fallout on me.”

  “Is it possible he could have gone there, though?” the man said. “To your brother’s?”

  “Zero chance. I don’t even know myself where he lives no more. Couldn’t reach him if I tried.”

  “We’ll check in with him just in case, Mrs. Janes. So we can cross it off our list.”

  Gloria told him her brother’s name and the place he was staying the last time she knew. The man wrote it all down.

  “It’s important to find people who can offer you some support.”

  “Telly’s giving me support.”

  “That’s good, ma’am. This is a traumatic experience for any parent to go through.” He stood up. “I’ll be outside, Mrs. Janes. Getting things organized. But I’m going to send in one of our staff. She’s a psychologist and I’d like her to chat with Maisy.”

  Gloria took my hand and squeezed hard. “She don’t need that. Talking to someone who shrinks heads. She’s doing just fine. Talks to me plenty.”

  “Sorry. I wasn’t clear. We’d like her help to get additional information from Maisy about this Carl individual. She’s phenomenal with children. She really is. I thought Maisy’d be more receptive talking to a woman.”

  “Oh. Oh, in that case.”

  Then he got up and went outside. I walked behind him, but when the screen went back, I didn’t push it open again. I watched him go down the steps and talk to a lady in a brown skirt. She kept nodding, and she had a big envelope in her hands. That was the lady who was going to do something to my head. I pressed my cheek onto the paint. The door didn’t feel happy, happy. Even in the sunlight it was cold as an icicle.

  Telly’s truck drove down the driveway. It was a tight squeeze with the other cars. He jumped out before he was even stopped. Or that was what it looked like.

  The man put up his finger to the lady, and went right over to Telly. “Mr. Janes?”

  “Yep.” His hair was wet. I didn’t see any bags of his clothes like Gloria said. Maybe they were in the back.

  “I spoke with your wife already about last night’s search, but…”

  “Go on.”

  “I didn’t want to alarm her, but there were signs of a struggle under the bridge.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Things smashed. Scattered. Garbage strewn about.”

  “That could be anything. Kids messing around. Animals, even. Or maybe that, that man didn’t keep things clean.”

  “Perhaps,” he said. He smoothed his tie. “There were also two individuals there when we arrived. But we weren’t able to talk to them.” />
  “Two individuals? What do you mean? Why not?”

  “They vacated the premises as we approached. My officers gave chase but weren’t able to locate them.”

  “Rowan? And that bum?”

  “At this point we can’t say for sure, but we believe one was a female. Based on the voice.”

  “So he’s with a woman now?” Telly rubbed at his eyes. “We know that, right?”

  “A female was in the vicinity. But she could have been with this Carl person. Or possibly it’s just two people in an unrelated circumstance.”

  “Then why’d they run?”

  “We’re trying to locate them. To get an answer to that question.”

  Telly blew out air. “I can’t believe I didn’t go out there. Didn’t go to the old bridge. I could’ve found him.”

  The man put his hand on Telly’s shoulder. “We’ll continue doing everything we can.”

  “Thanks, Detective. Thank you.”

  Then the man went back to the lady. She had on a blouse with a bow by her neck. The man pointed at the door, and the lady looked up and waved at me. I didn’t wave back.

  “Maisy?” She was on the other side of the screen now. Her face got close to mine. Her eyes and hair were brown, the same as her skirt. Her face looked like Jenny the Head, without the bite marks, though. “I’m Susan,” she said. “Can we talk a bit? Detective Aiken says you’re a very bright little girl. With an excellent memory. And we’d really love your help to find your big brother.”

  I nodded.

  “Is there a quiet place we can chat about the man you met, Carl? I have photographs.” She lifted up the envelope.

  I went into the kitchen, and she followed me. We passed Gloria. She was sitting in Telly’s television chair staring at the screen. But it was turned off. Maybe she was sleeping with her eyes open. She did that sometimes, so she could still see everything.

  The Susan lady sat down. I sat down, too. Her two hands were on the envelope. Her fingernails were full of skin hitches, just like mine, but she didn’t hide them the way I did.

  “So you and your brother like to explore the woods in the summer, hey?”

  Not really. Rowan did. I just followed him by accident. On purpose.