Shadow Creek

by Joy Fielding

  Jennifer looked up at the sky, then back at her tent, and didn’t move. “I’m kind of claustrophobic.”

  “Oh.” Val paused, not sure what else she could say. “I thought you just didn’t like anything where you weren’t in control of your feet.” She recalled the conversation they’d had the day before. Was there anything this girl wasn’t afraid of?

  “I guess I must seem pretty pathetic to you.”

  “No more pathetic than I probably seem to you.”

  “I don’t think you’re pathetic.”

  “I don’t think you are, either.”

  A brief moment of silence, then, “Can somebody else join this little lovefest?” James emerged from his tent. “Or are dogs not welcome at the table?”

  “I’m really so sorry about that,” Jennifer said as Val groaned.

  “Please tell her to stop apologizing.”

  “Stop apologizing,” James said dutifully, lowering himself to the ground. “So, what’s going on here? Are we bonding?”

  “Jennifer is claustrophobic.”

  “Really? I read somewhere that all phobias are actually a fear of death.”

  “I read the same thing,” Jennifer said brightly, clearly thrilled they’d found some common ground.

  “And just what are you afraid of, James?” Val asked.

  James thought for a few seconds before answering. “Teenage girls.”

  Val laughed, glancing over her shoulder toward his tent. “Speaking of which, how’s my daughter doing?”

  “Sleeping like a log. Hasn’t moved a muscle all night. Or at least, hasn’t moved since she stopped getting up to go to the bathroom every two seconds.”

  Val felt a dull headache starting to gnaw at her temples. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the thoughts she felt forming.

  “Something wrong?” James asked.

  “Do you mind if I go in there to check on her?” Val was already moving toward James’s tent.

  James was immediately behind her. “Why do I have this sudden, horrible feeling in my gut?”

  Val opened the flap of the tent James was sharing with Brianne, her eyes struggling to adjust to the cocoon-like darkness. She was able to make out James’s empty sleeping bag on the ground by her feet, and then Brianne’s sleeping bag against the tent’s canvas wall. From this angle, it looked as if Brianne were indeed sound asleep inside it. The sleeping bag was curled into a semi-fetal position and the hood of Brianne’s sweatshirt was protruding from its top. Still, there was something that wasn’t quite right. Val edged closer, straining to hear the sound of Brianne’s breathing.

  It’s too quiet, she realized, her hand reaching toward the sleeping bag, gently touching the rounded curve of its side, feeling for her daughter’s hip, her back, her legs. “Shit,” she exclaimed loudly, pulling back the top of the bag to reveal the empty sweatshirt beneath, the rest of the clothes from Brianne’s overnight case stuffed into the bottom half of the sleeping bag. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

  “That little skunk!” James exclaimed.

  “Don’t tell me,” Jennifer said as Val and James reemerged into the chilly air. “She’s not there?”

  “Do you know where she is?” Val asked accusingly.

  “No. I swear. I would tell you.”

  “Oh, Val,” James said. “I’m so sorry. I watched her like a hawk for hours. I went with her to the john, I can’t tell you how many times. I thought she’d finally fallen asleep. And then I guess I must have dozed off …”

  “It’s not your fault. She’s not your responsibility. I should have kept watch.”

  “There’s no way you could have foreseen she’d do something like this.”

  “She and Tyler must have cooked up this whole thing …”

  “You think they’re together?” Jennifer asked.

  “Where else would she be?” Val wasn’t sure which scenario she preferred—that her daughter was with Tyler or that she was out wandering the woods at night on her own. In the dark. In the rain, she thought, feeling a few drops land on her shoulders. “Great.”

  “Maybe she’s with your friend’s son,” Jennifer said. “Hayden, right? I mean, they were together earlier. Maybe she’s with him.”

  “You think so?” Val found herself desperately wanting to believe this was a possibility.

  “What’s going on out here?” Melissa asked sleepily, poking her head out of her tent.

  “Brianne’s missing,” Jennifer said.

  “Again?” Melissa pushed herself into the open just as Val took off, running toward the other side of the campsite.

  She ran blindly, suddenly unable to remember exactly where Gary’s tent was located. In the dark, one section of the campground looked pretty much like all the others, and the tents were essentially variations on the same theme. “Where are you, Gary?” she whispered loudly into the darkness.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” James stage-whispered behind her.

  “Which tent do you think is his?”

  “I think it was over that way,” Melissa offered, joining them, Jennifer right behind her. “There, that one.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Maybe.”

  Val drew closer. “Gary?” she called out, first softly, and then more forcefully, her lips pressing against the tent’s stiff canvas. “Gary?”

  No answer.

  “Damn it.”

  “It’s starting to rain,” Jennifer said.

  “Thank you for that weather update,” Melissa said.

  “It’s not my fault it’s raining.”

  “Gary?” Val called again, silencing them. “Gary, are you in there?”

  “Could you yahoos keep it down out there?” someone called out. “There are people here trying to sleep.”

  “Sorry.” Val heard a loud sob escape her lips. “Damn it.” The last thing she needed to do was start crying.

  “Val?” Gary emerged from his tent about ten yards down the way.

  Val rushed toward him. “Oh, thank God.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “We can’t find Brianne.”

  “What?”

  “We thought she might be with Hayden.”

  “Hayden’s asleep.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Gary quickly returned to his tent. He was back seconds later, shaking his head, his eyes reflecting his concern. “He’s gone.”

  “Which means they’re probably together,” Jennifer said. “That’s good, isn’t it? At least it means she’s not with Tyler.”

  “I don’t know what it means,” Val said. “Hayden didn’t say anything to you about meeting up with Brianne?”

  “No. Not a word. We talked about our plans for tomorrow, said good night, went to sleep. I didn’t hear another thing until two minutes ago when I heard you calling my name.”

  “Maybe he went to the bathroom,” Melissa said.

  “I’ll go check,” James volunteered.

  “I’ll come with you.” Jennifer quickly followed after him.

  “I’ll check our tents again,” Melissa offered.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Val said.

  “If she’s with Hayden, then we know she’s safe,” Gary assured her.

  “Do we?”

  “Could you shut up out there?” someone yelled.

  “Quiet!” another voice shouted in response.

  Melissa was back almost immediately, followed in the next few seconds by Jennifer and James. Val knew by the expressions on their faces that they hadn’t found either Hayden or Brianne. “We should spread out,” she said, “each take a different direction …”

  “Look,” Gary interjected, his voice calm and steady. “It’s not going to do anyone any good if we all go running off half-cocked and get ourselves lost in the process. It’s dark and it’s starting to rain. There’s no way we’re going to find them until it gets light.” He touched Val’s arm reassuringly. “Hayden is an experienced camper. If he’s wi
th Brianne, he’ll make sure they find their way back here. I guarantee it.”

  “And if he’s not with Brianne?”

  “Where else would he be?”

  “We should notify the park rangers,” Val said.

  “Agreed. But we can’t do anything until morning, and I’m certain that by then it won’t be necessary.”

  “Maybe we don’t have to wait until morning,” Jennifer said.

  “You have a better idea?” Val asked.

  Jennifer reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the slip of paper on which Henry Voight had written his phone number. “I know somebody we can call.”

  TWENTY

  BRIANNE FELT SEVERAL DROPS of rain on her shoulder and glared up at the sky. “Thank you. That’s just what I need.”

  “What’s your problem now?” her companion asked, stumbling through the dark woods until he reached her side.

  “It’s starting to rain, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “And I guess that’s my fault, too.”

  “It probably is.”

  “Of course,” the young man conceded. “Everything is my fault.”

  “No arguments from me on that score.” Brianne began spinning around in helpless circles. “Damn it! Where the hell are we?”

  “You think I know?”

  “I thought you knew everything, big shot.”

  “Look. I don’t know why you’re so angry at me. I’m the one who said we should stay in the car.”

  “I’m sorry, but are you referring to the car you drove into the fucking ditch?”

  “It was pitch black. You were yelling at me. I didn’t see the damn thing.”

  “You didn’t see it because you were too damn drunk to see anything.”

  “I wasn’t that drunk.”

  “Drunk enough to be half an hour late, drunk enough to start throwing punches, drunk enough to get stuck in a fucking ditch!” Brianne stomped away, her heels drilling tiny holes in the wet earth as twigs from overhanging branches slapped the side of her face and poked at her ear. “Ow. Damn it.”

  “I had, like, six beers,” her companion insisted, following after her.

  “More like sixteen. You reeked. You still reek. Shit—you smell just like my grandmother.”

  “What?”

  “I said you smell like my grandmother, tough guy. God, I can’t believe what a mess you’ve made of everything.”

  “So why’d you get in the car with me?”

  “Because you fucking grabbed my arm and pushed me inside. You practically kidnapped me.” Brianne stopped so suddenly that her companion walked right into her, stomping all over her toes. “Ow. Watch where you’re going.”

  “Take it easy. It was an accident.”

  “Yes, you’re very good at those. Why’d you have to drink so much anyway? You knew you’d be meeting me.”

  “I was in a bar when I got your call. What was I supposed to do until midnight?”

  “I don’t know. Play darts? Listen to music? Have a soft drink instead of getting plastered?”

  “I’m starting to think I didn’t get plastered enough.”

  “Don’t think. It’s not your strong suit.”

  Tyler Currington brushed several raindrops from the tip of his nose. “Geez, Brianne. When did you turn into such a bitch?”

  “I don’t know, Tyler. Maybe around the same time you turned into fucking Muhammad Ali.”

  “Muham … what? What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the fact you could have killed that boy.”

  “What? No way. I hardly touched him.”

  “You knocked him out.”

  “It was a lucky punch.”

  “Not so lucky for him.”

  “He’s fine,” Tyler insisted. “Besides, I did it for you.”

  “For me?”

  “You were the one yelling at him to back off.”

  “I just wanted him to go back to the campground.”

  “Where he probably is right now. Telling everybody what happened.”

  “I doubt that, since you left him unconscious by the side of the road,” Brianne reminded him. “What if something happens to him?”

  “Nothing’s going to happen to him.”

  “You don’t know that. Damn it. I have to get back there.” With that, she took off again, running blindly in the dark.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?”

  “To find the main road.”

  “Then you’re going the wrong way.”

  “I am not.”

  “I think you are.”

  “Okay, big shot. Which way do you think it is?”

  Tyler squinted through the dark, his right hand lifting into the air, his index finger poised and ready to point. “That way. No, wait. Maybe that way. I don’t know,” he admitted in defeat seconds later. “I’m all turned around.”

  “Great. So, what are you suggesting? That we stay here all night?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know much, that’s for sure.” She resumed walking.

  “Would you at least slow down?”

  “I don’t want to slow down. I want to go home.”

  “You’re gonna walk all the way back to Brooklyn? In those shoes?”

  Brianne wasn’t sure if Tyler was serious or trying to make a joke, but she had no patience for him either way. She was tired and wet and angry, although she wasn’t sure if she was angrier with him or with herself. She never should have arranged to meet him. She should have listened to her mother. At the very least, she should have listened to Hayden’s entreaties to return to the campground. He’d been looking out for her and she’d repaid him by leaving him unconscious and alone by the side of the road. If anything happened to him, it would be all her fault. I want my mother, she thought, and had to swallow several times in order to keep from saying the words out loud.

  “Everything would be okay if we’d stayed in the car,” Tyler was muttering from somewhere behind her. “At the very least we wouldn’t be out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, getting soaked to the skin. We could have crawled into the backseat, fucked ourselves silly all night, which I kind of thought was the plan …”

  “Yeah, like you were in any condition to do anything.”

  “Hey. Tyler Currington always rises to the occasion.”

  “Please. Spare me.” Brianne’s stomach lurched at the thought of the two of them rolling around in the backseat of his car. To think she’d once actually found him appealing. So appealing she’d actually surrendered her virginity to him. She groaned at the memory of trying to wipe up the resulting blood with her T-shirt, the one her mother had found on the floor of her bedroom.

  What is this? her mother had asked suspiciously, holding the stained shirt up to the light. Is this blood?

  I’m sorry, Mommy, she said silently, trying to push her mother from her thoughts. “Damn it.” Did she always have to be so … right?

  “What’s the matter now?”

  “It’s starting to rain harder, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  In the distance, thunder rumbled.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Brianne checked the sky for lightning.

  “I told you we should have stayed in the car.”

  “Thank you. That’s very helpful. Do you want to say it again?”

  “Why does it have to be so fucking dark?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because it’s night and we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere?”

  “Do you think you could lay off the sarcasm for a little while?” Tyler asked.

  “I don’t know,” Brianne answered. “Think you could lay off the stupidity?”

  “Okay. Here’s a thought. Why don’t you just shut up? Okay? How’s that for a bright idea?”

  “Dickhead.” Brianne’s eyes filled with tears, mingling with the rain pelting her cheeks. Damn you anyway, Tyler Currington, she thought, forging ahead with absolutely no idea w
here she was going. And damn you, Sasha, for introducing us in the first place. And damn you, Daddy, for being late and fucking everything up. Again. As always. Damn everybody, she thought, the high heel of her shoe catching on the side of a stray log, sending her sprawling into a pile of leaves.

  Tyler was immediately at her side. “Are you all right?”

  Brianne brushed the dirt and wet leaves from her face and hands, then burst into tears, her already weak ankle starting to throb once again. “No, I’m not all right. I’m wet and I’m cold and I think I just broke my fucking ankle.”

  “Come on. You didn’t break it.”

  “Oh, really? I’m sorry, when exactly did you get your medical degree?”

  “It’s probably just twisted. What did you expect in those stupid shoes?”

  “They’re not stupid,” Brianne said. “You are.”

  “I’m not the one running through the woods in high heels. Come on. Stop crying, and try to stand up.”

  Brianne sniffed back her tears and reluctantly did as she was told, but the pain proved too intense and she sank back to the ground. “I can’t. Oh, God. It’s really starting to hurt.”

  Another rumble of thunder, like a distant explosion, shook the sky.

  “Was that lightning I just saw?”

  “I didn’t see anything,” Tyler said.

  “I did. I saw lightning. Great. Now we’ll probably get electrocuted.”

  “Nobody’s getting electrocuted. Come on. Try again.” He reached for her arm.

  “Don’t touch me, you jerk.” She pulled the shoes from her feet, hurling them in his general direction for emphasis.

  “What the?” Tyler ducked, then threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “Okay, fine. I give up. You don’t want my help? You don’t want anything to do with me? You want me to leave you alone? Fine by me. I won’t help you. I’ll leave you alone.” He turned around and began stomping away.

  “You’re just going to leave me here?” Brianne shouted after him in disbelief.

  Tyler spun back toward her, his face glistening with a combination of rain and fury. “What do you want from me, Brianne? Tell me. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just tell me what you want.”

  I want my mother! “I want to get out of here.”

  “Then the first thing you have to do is stand up.”